iOS 12.5.8 fails to bootstrap app

Hello, I released a new build for my app but it fails to run on iOS 12.5.8 (tested on iPad Air, iPhone 6, iPhone 5s). The launch storybard is shown, then the app stops abruptly. There is no crash log. It runs fine on iOS 13 or higher.

Xcode 26.3 was showing a call stack (something with UIView) that did not include any app code. Now with Xcode 26.4 (and its new command line tools) there is an info popup with a debug metadata dump. However, I don’t intend to focus on Xcode here because it officially does not support iOS 12. It’s ok if I cannot debug, I just want the app to run on the device like the previous build did. Since there is no crash log, and the console is showing a bootstrap error, I believe my app code has not been executed and is therefore not at fault.

  • Build 674 released on 23-Mar-2026: worked fine on iOS 12, built with Xcode 26.3
  • Build 675 released on 29-Mar-2026: Bootstrap error as described, with both Xcode 26.3 and 26.4

Deployment target = 12.4

Tried Instruments but it fails as soon as I hit record.

In the console I found BKSProcessErrorDomain code 1. Here on the forum I found a post where the cause was no internet access but my device does have internet access. I made only very little code changes to my app between 674 and 675, no storyboard updates. I get the impression the loader does not even begin to execute my code. At this point I wonder if:

  • some certificate has expired (see release dates above), or
  • if something is incompatible in my main storyboard (though I did not change anything there), or
  • the device ran out of memory (1 GB)

Note: The app has 4 targets:

  • main app target
  • framework
  • AU app extension
  • intents app extension

Thanks, Sven

PS: Misclicked subtopic which should have been General (sorry).

Here’s the redacted console excerpt:

standard	22:21:13.187990+0200	SpringBoard	Evaluate: making new window key: <SBMainSwitcherWindow: 0x159e5f640>, for reason: push
standard	22:21:13.188303+0200	SpringBoard	Removed: <FBUIApplicationSceneDeactivationAssertion: 0x283c9dfe0; reason: systemAnimation; all scene levels; hasPredicate: NO>
standard	22:21:13.198299+0200	assertiond	Submitting new job for "com.example.app" on behalf of <BKProcess: 0x141d15d50; SpringBoard; com.apple.springboard; pid: 48; agency: SystemShell; visibility: foreground; task: running>
standard	22:21:13.198867+0200	SpringBoard	Bootstrapping com.example.app with intent foreground-interactive
standard	22:21:13.201136+0200	assertiond	Submitted job with label: UIKitApplication:com.example.app[0x1d9f][58]
standard	22:21:13.201244+0200	SpringBoard	Icon touch canceled (tap gesture may still succeed): <private>
fehler	22:21:13.201329+0200	SpringBoard	[com.example.app] Bootstrap failed with error: <NSError: 0x283e4cd80; domain: BKSProcessErrorDomain; code: 1 (bootstrap-failed); reason: "Failed to start job">
fehler	22:21:13.201421+0200	SpringBoard	Bootstrapping failed for <FBApplicationProcess: 0x15d13b3e0; com.example.app; pid: -1> with error: Error Domain=BKSProcessErrorDomain Code=1 "Unable to bootstrap process with bundleID com.example.app" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Unable to bootstrap process with bundleID com.example.app, BKSProcessExitReason=0, NSLocalizedFailureReason=Failed to start job, NSUnderlyingError=0x283e4c5d0 {Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=3 "No such process" UserInfo={BKLaunchdOperation=launch_get_running_pid_4SB, NSLocalizedDescription=Unable to get pid for label UIKitApplication:com.example.app[0x1d9f][58], BKLaunchdJobLabel=UIKitApplication:com.example.app[0x1d9f][58], NSLocalizedFailureReason=No such process}}, BKSProcessJobLabel=UIKitApplication:com.example.app[0x1d9f][58], BSErrorCodeDescription=bootstrap-failed}
standard	22:21:13.201507+0200	SpringBoard	Adding: <FBApplicationProcess: 0x15d13b3e0; com.example.app; pid: -1>
standard	22:21:13.201606+0200	SpringBoard	<FBApplicationProcess: 0x15d13b3e0; com.example.app; pid: -1> exited.
standard	22:21:13.202002+0200	assertiond	Unable to get pid for 'UIKitApplication:com.example.app[0x1d9f][58]': No such process (3)
fehler	22:21:13.202145+0200	assertiond	Failed to start job with error <NSError: 0x141e1aba0; domain: NSPOSIXErrorDomain; code: 3; reason: "No such process"> {
    description = "Unable to get pid for label UIKitApplication:com.example.app[0x1d9f][58]";
    failureReason = "No such process";
    userInfo = {
        BKLaunchdJobLabel = UIKitApplication:com.example.app[0x1d9f][58];
        BKLaunchdOperation = launch_get_running_pid_4SB;
    }
}
standard	22:21:13.202238+0200	assertiond	Deleted job with label: UIKitApplication:com.example.app[0x1d9f][58]
standard	22:21:13.202804+0200	SpringBoard	Removing: <FBApplicationProcess: 0x15d13b3e0; com.example.app; pid: -1>
standard	22:21:13.221231+0200	SpringBoard	Application process state changed for com.example.app: <SBApplicationProcessState: 0x28336f0a0; pid: -1; taskState: Not Running; visibility: Unknown>
standard	22:21:13.221566+0200	SpringBoard	Process exited: <FBApplicationProcess: 0x15d13b3e0; com.example.app; pid: -1> -> <FBApplicationProcessExitContext: 0x283e37b10; exitReason: (none); terminationReason: (none)> {
    stateAtExit = <FBProcessState: 0x28337c760; pid: -1; taskState: Unknown; visibility: Unknown>;
}

Addendum:

I’ve created a simple minimal UIKit app that produces the same bootstrap error on the iPhone 5s with iOS 12.5.8. Launch storyboard shows, then suddenly disappears.

The project is configured for automatically managed signing. My provisioning team profile expires in 11 months, my dev certificate in Oct 2026, and all other items in the details have checkmarks.

iOS 12.5.8 fails to bootstrap app
 
 
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