App crashes on launch for iOS 12 users after App Store release (Xcode 16.4) — BKSProcessErrorDomain bootstrap-failed

Hi everyone,

I'm building an app in Xcode 16.4 with a minimum deployment target of iOS 12.

The last time I built with this configuration was November 2025 — that build worked perfectly fine. I'm aware that builds from Xcode 16.4 will no longer be accepted by Apple after April 28, 2026, so I decided to push one final update before that deadline.

Here's what I did:

  • Built the app with no changes to build settings
  • Uploaded to TestFlight
  • Tested on iOS 12, iOS 26, and a few other versions — everything looked good
  • Passed App Review
  • Published to the App Store

Now users on iOS 12 are reporting that the app crashes immediately on launch. Users on iOS 13-26 are unaffected.

We've effectively lost a significant portion of our users overnight. We'd really like to restore functionality for them before April 28 — after that we plan to raise the minimum deployment target anyway.

There are no crash logs available, as the app appears to never reach application code at all. Below are the relevant logs from Console.app:

default  16:33:49.012231+0400  SpringBoard  Bootstrapping MY_BUNDLE_ID with intent foreground-interactive

error  16:33:49.021533+0400  SpringBoard  [MY_BUNDLE_ID] Bootstrap failed with error: <NSError: 0x280f59aa0; domain: BKSProcessErrorDomain; code: 1 (bootstrap-failed); reason: "Failed to start job">

error  16:33:49.021748+0400  SpringBoard  Bootstrapping failed for <FBApplicationProcess: 0x101cb4070; MY_BUNDLE_ID; pid: -1> with error: Error Domain=BKSProcessErrorDomain Code=1 "Unable to bootstrap process with bundleID MY_BUNDLE_ID" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Unable to bootstrap process with bundleID MY_BUNDLE_ID, BKSProcessExitReason=0, NSLocalizedFailureReason=Failed to start job, NSUnderlyingError=0x280f58780 {Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=3 "No such process" UserInfo={NSLocalizedFailureReason=The process failed to exec, NSLocalizedRecoverySuggestion=Consult /var/log/com.apple.xpc.launchd/launchd.log for more information, NSLocalizedDescription=Unable to get valid task name port right for pid 241}}, BSErrorCodeDescription=bootstrap-failed}

default  16:33:49.021934+0400  SpringBoard  Adding: <FBApplicationProcess: 0x101cb4070; MY_BUNDLE_ID; pid: -1>

default  16:33:49.022111+0400  SpringBoard  <FBApplicationProcess: 0x101cb4070; MY_BUNDLE_ID; pid: -1> exited.

default  16:33:49.023325+0400  SpringBoard  Removing: <FBApplicationProcess: 0x101cb4070; MY_BUNDLE_ID; pid: -1>

default  16:33:49.039576+0400  assertiond  Submitting new job for "MY_BUNDLE_ID" on behalf of <BKProcess: 0x100d119f0; SpringBoard; com.apple.springboard; pid: 48; agency: SystemShell; visibility: foreground; task: running>

default  16:33:49.039982+0400  assertiond  Submitted job with label: UIKitApplication:MY_BUNDLE_ID[0xed03][58]

error  16:33:49.040128+0400  assertiond  Unable to obtain a task name port right for pid 241: (os/kern) failure (0x5)

error  16:33:49.040286+0400  assertiond  Failed to start job with error <NSError: 0x100c3f180; domain: NSPOSIXErrorDomain; code: 3; reason: "The process failed to exec"> {
    description = "Unable to get valid task name port right for pid 241";
    failureReason = "The process failed to exec";
    recoverySuggestion = "Consult /var/log/com.apple.xpc.launchd/launchd.log for more information";

Has anyone encountered this recently? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I tried rebuilding from scratch without any code changes and uploading a fresh build to TestFlight — but now it won't even launch from TestFlight on iOS 12.

I'm seeing exactly the same issue. I've filled a radar (feedback/22395634)

App crashes on launch for iOS 12 users after App Store release (Xcode 16.4) — BKSProcessErrorDomain bootstrap-failed
 
 
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