[Bug] [Android] System.IO.FileNotFoundException when <BundleAssemblies>True</BundleAssemblies>

Description

After upgrade from Xamarin.Forms 4.4.0.991640 to 4.5.282-pre4 I noticed that when

<BundleAssemblies>True</BundleAssemblies>

app crash on start with exception

System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly ‘Xamarin.AndroidX.AppCompat.Resources, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null’ or one of its dependencies.

My working setup for release in 4.4 is

<AndroidLinkMode>Full</AndroidLinkMode>
<AotAssemblies>True</AotAssemblies>
<AndroidEnableProfiledAot>false</AndroidEnableProfiledAot>
<EnableLLVM>True</EnableLLVM>
<BundleAssemblies>True</BundleAssemblies>

in 4.5 everything works fine only if

<AndroidLinkMode>Full</AndroidLinkMode>
<AotAssemblies>True</AotAssemblies>
<AndroidEnableProfiledAot>false</AndroidEnableProfiledAot>
<EnableLLVM>True</EnableLLVM> 
<BundleAssemblies>False</BundleAssemblies>

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create new solution
2. Upgrade Xamarin to 4.5.0.282-pre4
3. Set:

<AndroidLinkMode>Full</AndroidLinkMode>
<AotAssemblies>True</AotAssemblies>
<AndroidEnableProfiledAot>false</AndroidEnableProfiledAot>
<EnableLLVM>True</EnableLLVM>
<BundleAssemblies>True</BundleAssemblies>

1. Run app on the real device

Expected Behavior

App starts.

Actual Behavior

App crash with System.IO.FileNotFoundException exception.

Basic Information

• Version with issue: 4.5.0.282-pre4
• Last known good version: 4.4.0.991640
• IDE: Visual Studio 2019
• Platform Target Frameworks:
  • Android: Xamarin.Android 10.1
• Android Support Library Version: 28.0.0.03, AndroidX 1.1.0
• Nuget Packages:
• Affected Devices: all

[tranb3r]

Here is another repro project: TestAndroidX.zip

In debug mode, an image will be displayed on the main page. In release mode, the image is not displayed, because of the exception.

The exception is only happening with <BundleAssemblies>True</BundleAssemblies>. It makes no difference whether R8 or Linker are enabled or not. I’m using XF 4.5.0. This exception can be easily reproduced on the emulator.

Stack trace of the exception (no crash, it’s silent): ImageElementManager: Error loading image: System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'Xamarin.AndroidX.AppCompat.Resources, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' or one of its dependencies. File name: 'Xamarin.AndroidX.AppCompat.Resources, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' at Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android.FileImageSourceHandler.LoadImageAsync (Xamarin.Forms.ImageSource imagesource, Android.Widget.ImageView imageView, System.Threading.CancellationToken cancellationToken) at Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android.ImageViewExtensions.UpdateBitmap (Android.Widget.ImageView imageView, Xamarin.Forms.IImageElement newView, Xamarin.Forms.IImageElement previousView, Xamarin.Forms.ImageSource newImageSource, Xamarin.Forms.ImageSource previousImageSource) at Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android.FastRenderers.ImageElementManager.TryUpdateBitmap (Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android.IImageRendererController rendererController, Android.Widget.ImageView Control, Xamarin.Forms.IImageElement newImage, Xamarin.Forms.IImageElement previous)

[jonpryor]

@15mgm15 asked:

Do we have some sort of work around?

The workaround is to not set $(BundleAssemblies)=True.

After internal discussion, we are strongly considering removing support for $(BundleAssemblies) in .NET 5, as it increases on-device memory use and slows down app startup times.