Plex Media Server always crashes when Android phone connects

Plex Media Server
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1

Server Version#: Server ver. 1.22.1.4228
Player Version#: Android mobile ver. 8.14.1.23548
I have found that every time my Android phone connects to the server it instantly crashes. I am able to play 4k content on a nVidia Shield and a web browser on the server just fine. I merely open up the Android mobile app and the home screen says there is no connection. However, there is one library that can get titles. But the second I go to the home screen it crashes. Pressing the retry button also definitely crashes it. I’ve just replicated it at least 5 times perfectly.

The first time I opened the mobile app after the update it didn’t remember the home screen and required me to reset customization, which required reconnecting to the server and selecting libraries.

Here are the logs. Plex Media Server Logs_2021-03-27_13-11-17.zip (490.6 KB)

2 Likes
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Hi team,
I actually think I am seeing this too.

I have been troubleshooting this all morning/afternoon since upgrading my plex server to the latest code.

I too am finding that as soon as I connect my Android phone to the app, the server itself crashes.

I can confirm that if NO android devices connect, the system will remain stable, but the instant my phone connects the server crashes.

My Windows based Plex app is fine, as are my TV’s and do not crash the server on launch. Obviously when the server crashes, they will keep playing till their buffer runs out. I have checked my windows event logs and there is nothing of consequence being logged.

One bit of behaviour I have noticed is that if you run the android app, the server will crash, but if you restart the server without coming out of the app, the app asks you to enter your pin and will progress fine at which point it takes you to the home screen and you can navigate without issue. .

You can cause the crash on demand If you exit app completely (android kill process mechanism) relaunch the app from scratch on android, enter your server pin and server will crash again. This process is repeatable and has so far shown to have a 100% chance of happening.

I have enabled verbose logging and pulled the logs. I don’t want to post the logs publicly here, therefore if a member of the team needs them, please PM me and I will supply.

I have also noticed that it crashes 100% if you keep the android app on the PLEX homescreen. If you navigate to a library and sit in that library, it will show empty, but if you restart the server at that point while sitting in library, it will allow you to navigate so long as you don’t go back to home screen. As soon as you hit the home screen the server crashes.

Server is Windows 10 install - version 1.22.1.4228
Android app is Android 11, Samsung S21 Ultra but also seen on Samsung Tab S6 Lite - App version 8.14.1.23548

I have tried rolling back several server app versions and noticed each one is crashing.

I don’t know when my android apps got updated to the version released on 15th March. I don’t use the Android version particularly often and today is the first day I noticed this issue.

1 Like
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I think I have just solved this,

On the Android app, I have deleted both the cache and data stores for the app and configured my login again. Server no longer crashes when the Android app is launched and I can navigate all of the Android menus including the home screen fine.

Please give this a go.

@PLEX admin team, can we get a bug opened for this?

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That seems to be a good work around. It’s worth noting that deleting the cache didn’t fix it, but deleting the “User Data” seems to have fixed it.

Thanks for the help!

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I’ve forwarded to engineering for response.
Hopefully they will reply on Monday.

There was a known issue which behaved this way and was fixed.
The work around was to reset the home screen.

Not sure which version the fix is in. 8.15 ?

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Same problem: Android app on Pixel 3a phone and Samsung Galaxy A. Plex is currently useless.

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Same problem in Android and Android TV app.
When I open the app, the server crash.

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I’ve chatted with the Engineering team members already on their “Monday”. :slight_smile:

They would like the logs which catch this failing so they can fix it.

the work around should not be necessary.

Standard Android debug player logs is all they need.

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