App Crashes on iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 After App Store Installation

Question

SampsonEzieme OP

Created Jan ’25

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Hello everyone,

I'm experiencing an issue with my app, and I would greatly appreciate any guidance. Here's the situation:

My app works flawlessly on the simulator for all iPhone models (16, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max, SE, etc.).
It runs without issues on physical iPhone 11 devices (both mine and a friend's).
However, when my friend installs the app from the App Store on their iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16, it crashes immediately upon opening.

Steps I’ve taken so far:

Verified that the app works on the simulator for the same models where it crashes in real life.
Updated the app's minimum deployment target to iOS 18, but this did not resolve the issue. The app still crashes on the physical iPhone 15 Pro and 16 models while continuing to run fine on previous physical devices and all simulated ones.

Additionally, I had another friend beta test the app through TestFlight on their iPhone 15 Pro, and they received an alert message indicating that the app had crashed when they tried to open it. This confirms the issue still exists after my attempted fixes.

I'm unsure what could be causing this discrepancy between the simulated and physical devices, or what the alert message in TestFlight might signify. Has anyone encountered a similar issue, or does anyone have suggestions on what I should do to fix this?

Thanks in advance for your help!

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Answer 1

SampsonEzieme OP

Apr ’25

Accepted Answer

Update (belated but hopefully helpful):

I originally posted this on January 26 and meant to follow up sooner — life got pretty busy with some personal situations, and it slipped through the cracks. I wanted to provide closure in case anyone else runs into something similar.

After further testing, I discovered that the issue wasn’t with the app itself or with newer iPhone models. The root cause turned out to be a version mismatch. Both friends told me they were running iOS 18, but it turns out neither of them had actually updated their devices. They thought they had, but they were still on earlier versions — and those were the devices that were crashing.

What made things especially confusing was that the app worked flawlessly on simulators for the same models, and I was comparing behavior against another friend’s iPhone 16 Pro Max that was running iOS 18 via TestFlight — and that one had no issues at all.

Lesson learned: Always double-check the actual iOS version on physical devices when troubleshooting. Don’t assume based on what someone says — even well-meaning friends can unintentionally steer you in the wrong direction. Verifying this early can save a lot of time and stress.

Thanks again to everyone who read or offered support — really appreciate this community!

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