[Bug]: Application Not Launching on Android After Capacitor 7 Update

[pashkevich-d]

Capacitor Version

Latest Dependencies:

@capacitor/cli: 7.1.0
@capacitor/core: 7.1.0
@capacitor/android: 7.1.0
@capacitor/ios: 7.1.0

Installed Dependencies:

@capacitor/cli: 7.1.0
@capacitor/core: 7.1.0
@capacitor/android: 7.1.0
@capacitor/ios: 7.1.0

[success] iOS looking great! 👌
[success] Android looking great! 👌

Other API Details

npm 10.2.4
node v20.11.1

tsconfig
"target": "ES2022"
"lib": ["es2019", "dom"],
"module": "ESNext"

variables.gradle
    minSdkVersion = 23
    compileSdkVersion = 35
    targetSdkVersion = 35
    androidxActivityVersion = '1.9.2'
    androidxAppCompatVersion = '1.7.0'
    androidxCoordinatorLayoutVersion = '1.2.0'
    androidxCoreVersion = '1.15.0'
    androidxFragmentVersion = '1.8.4'
    junitVersion = '4.13.2'
    androidxJunitVersion = '1.2.1'
    androidxEspressoCoreVersion = '3.6.1'
    cordovaAndroidVersion = '10.1.1'
    coreSplashScreenVersion = '1.0.1'
    androidxWebkitVersion = '1.12.1'
    playServicesLocationVersion = '21.0.1'

Platforms Affected

• iOS
• Android
• Web

Current Behavior

After updating to Capacitor 7, some testers reported that the app no longer starts on Android 10 and 13. I was able to reproduce this issue myself. The app works fine on Android 14 and above, but on Android 13 and below, it either crashes or shows a white screen after briefly displaying the splash screen.

I initially suspected that the issue might be related to an older WebView version on these devices, but these testers have relatively new version of WebView.

Expected Behavior

The app should launch successfully without crashing or showing a white screen.

Project Reproduction

Additional Information

There are no errors in the logcat that seem helpful, except for the following:

E File: https://localhost/ - Line 789 - Msg: SyntaxError: Unexpected token '{' 2025-03-18 13:42:50.623 10890-10890 Capacitor com.my.app E JavaScript Error: {"type":"js.error","error":{"message":"Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token '{'","url":"https://localhost/polyfills.756929c5c2ec8349.js","line":1,"col":12907,"errorObject":"{}"}} 2025-03-18 13:42:50.623 10890-10890 Capacitor/Console com.my.app E File: https://localhost/polyfills.756929c5c2ec8349.js - Line 1 - Msg: Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token '{' 2025-03-18 13:42:50.639 10890-10890 Capacitor/Console com.my.app E File: https://localhost/ - Line 789 - Msg: SyntaxError: Unexpected token '{' 2025-03-18 13:42:50.639 10890-10890 Capacitor com.my.app E JavaScript Error: {"type":"js.error","error":{"message":"Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token '{'","url":"https://localhost/main.55aceb4de5cb47d2.js","line":1,"col":5556,"errorObject":"{}"}} 2025-03-18 13:42:50.639 10890-10890 Capacitor/Console com.my.app E File: https://localhost/main.55aceb4de5cb47d2.js - Line 1 - Msg: Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token '{'

[ionitron-bot]

This issue needs more information before it can be addressed. In particular, the reporter needs to provide a minimal sample app that demonstrates the issue. If no sample app is provided within 15 days, the issue will be closed.
Please see the Contributing Guide for how to create a Sample App.
Thanks! Ionitron 💙

[pashkevich-d]

Here is a minimal sample app reproducing the issue: the application starts successfully on Android 15 but fails to launch on Android 10.

https://github.com/pashkevich-d/capacitor-7-issue-reproduction

[jcesarmobile]

Those errors are coming from your code, not from Capacitor code. More specifically, from your frameworks code.

By default not angular, nor ionic support browsers/WebViews that old.

You can configure the supported browsers and enable polyfills following this answer (in your case you have to create the file mentioned since they weren't present in your sample app)

https://forum.ionicframework.com/t/problems-with-white-screen-after-splash-screen-on-android-7-and-below-ionic-7-with-angular/238019/2

[ionitron-bot]

Thanks for the issue! This issue is being locked to prevent comments that are not relevant to the original issue. If this is still an issue with the latest version of Capacitor, please create a new issue and ensure the template is fully filled out.