Why does my game crash only on certain Android or iOS versions?

Because operating systems change between versions, new and deprecated APIs, behavior changes, new restrictions, OS-specific bugs, so your code can hit a difference one version has that others don't, crashing on that version but not the ones you tested. A feature you use might be missing on older versions, or a newer version might add a restriction that breaks old behavior. Capturing crashes tagged by OS version from real players reveals which versions crash and points at the version-specific difference behind it.

How do I fix a crash that only happens on a specific OS version?

Capture crashes tagged by OS version, and look at the pattern, all on one version points at a version-specific cause. Then fix or guard it: update the deprecated or changed API, handle the OS's different behavior on that version, provide a fallback for a feature unavailable on some versions, or guard the problematic path on the affected versions (checking the OS version and adjusting). Since you may not run the affected version, you fix it from the captured OS-tagged data and the cross-version pattern.

What Causes Crashes on Specific OS Versions?

Quick answer: Crashes on specific OS versions come from differences between OS versions: changed or deprecated APIs, behavior changes, OS-specific bugs, and features available on some versions but not others. Your code hits a difference on untested versions.

Crashes that hit only certain OS versions are common because operating systems change between versions, and players run many. Here's what causes crashes on specific OS versions.

Why OS Versions Differ Enough to Crash

Operating systems change between versions, new APIs, deprecated features, behavior changes, so a crash on a specific OS version means your code hits a difference that version has.

Changed or deprecated APIs, an API your game uses that changed or was removed in a version
Behavior changes, the OS handling something differently in a particular version
OS-specific bugs, defects in a specific OS version that affect your game
Features unavailable on some versions, a capability your code assumes that older (or newer) versions lack
New restrictions, newer OS versions adding permission or security restrictions that break old behavior
Compatibility issues, your game built or targeting assumptions that don't hold on some versions

The bug is in your code's interaction with a particular OS version's behavior, so it crashes on versions with that difference and not others.

Why You Don't See Them

You test on certain OS versions, so a crash specific to a version you don't run won't happen for you. OS-version-specific crashes are invisible from your testing unless you test every version players use, which is impractical, so capturing from the field is needed.

Bugnet captures crashes tagged by OS version from real players, so OS-version-specific crashes surface with the version context. Seeing that crashes cluster on a particular OS version is the clue that it's a version-specific issue and which version.

Finding and Fixing OS-Specific Crashes

Finding them means capturing crashes tagged by OS version and looking at the pattern, all on one version points at a version-specific cause. Then you fix or guard it, update the deprecated API, handle the behavior change, provide a fallback for the missing feature, or guard the path on the affected versions.

Bugnet groups crashes and shows the OS version breakdown, so a version-specific crash stands out as a cluster. So crashes on specific OS versions come from changed APIs, behavior changes, OS bugs, and feature differences, and finding them means capturing crashes by OS version to reveal which versions fail and why.

OS-version-specific crashes come from changed/deprecated APIs, behavior changes, OS bugs, and feature differences between versions. Your code hits a difference a version has. Capture crashes by OS version to find which fail, then fix or guard the path.