[Bug]: 5.4.0 Crash on init for some phones, Caused by java.lang.IllegalStateException: initWithContext was not called or timed out

[jt-gilkeson]

What happened?

We updated to 5.4.0 and see a new crash in firebase: We haven't changed our init code in 2 years, the only change was updating from 5.1.37 to 5.4.0

Caused by java.lang.IllegalStateException
initWithContext was not called or timed out
com.onesignal.internal.OneSignalImp.waitForInit (OneSignalImp.kt:339)
com.onesignal.internal.OneSignalImp.waitAndReturn (OneSignalImp.kt:393)
com.onesignal.internal.OneSignalImp.getLocation (OneSignalImp.kt:123)
com.onesignal.OneSignal.getLocation (OneSignal.kt:70)
OurApplication.configureNotificationsService (OurApplication.kt:276)
OurApplication.onCreate (OurApplication.kt:141)
android.app.Instrumentation.callApplicationOnCreate (Instrumentation.java:1381)

 private fun configureNotificationsService() {
        OneSignal.initWithContext(this, BuildConfig.ONESIGNAL_API_KEY)
        OneSignal.Location.isShared = false // https://github.com/OneSignal/OneSignal-Android-SDK/issues/1821
        OneSignal.Notifications.addClickListener(PushNotificationOpenedHandlerObserver(this))
        OneSignal.User.pushSubscription.addObserver(pushNotificationSubscriberObserver)

        registerInAppPushNotificationChannels()
    }

Steps to reproduce?

1. Update from 5.1.37 to 5.4.0
2. Launch App

What did you expect to happen?

I expected the app not to crash on ini

OneSignal Android SDK version

5.4.0

Android version

15

Specific Android models

Event summary
OS version: android16
Model:Moto G Power - 2025
Date:Nov 11, 2025, 1:18:12 AM

Relevant log output

Code of Conduct

• I agree to follow this project's Code of Conduct

[jinliu9508]

Hello @jt-gilkeson, thanks for reporting this issue! The crash is caused by getLocation is called while OneSignal is still initializing. I would suggest running these codes in a background thread:

OneSignal.Location.isShared = false // https://github.com/OneSignal/OneSignal-Android-SDK/issues/1821
OneSignal.Notifications.addClickListener(PushNotificationOpenedHandlerObserver(this))
OneSignal.User.pushSubscription.addObserver(pushNotificationSubscriberObserver)

registerInAppPushNotificationChannels()

[jt-gilkeson]

It sounds like #1821 has been resolved and now we don't need to manually set location isShared off. Is that the call you are saying is causing this new issue?

When you say to run the rest of the calls in a background thread, how does the background thread know whether init has finished yet or not - i.e. how does that avoid this issue? i.e. is there a way to wait for the initialization status to change?

It seems kind of odd that if you publish a breaking change like this that can cause crashes, that you wouldn't call it out explicitly and provide a migration example for existing code?

[alberto-derodrigo-spacego]

Hi we have a similar issue with the last release.

initWithContext(context, ONESIGNAL_APP_ID)
if (OneSignal.isInitialized) {
    Notifications.addClickListener(this)
}

Notifications.addClickListener(this) throws the following error for some users.

Caused by java.lang.IllegalStateException: initWithContext was not called or timed out
       at com.onesignal.internal.OneSignalImp.waitForInit(OneSignalImp.kt:339)
       at com.onesignal.internal.OneSignalImp.waitAndReturn(OneSignalImp.kt:393)
       at com.onesignal.internal.OneSignalImp.getNotifications(OneSignalImp.kt:119)
       at com.onesignal.OneSignal.getNotifications(OneSignal.kt:62)
       at io.socialgamesonline.slotcom.features.OneSignalService.onPostAppCreated(OneSignalService.kt:46)

[gajicm93]

I've just had this on 5.4.0 after doing a "clear data" on my app:

Fatal Exception: java.lang.NullPointerException: null cannot be cast to non-null type kotlin.String
       at com.onesignal.common.modeling.Model.getStringProperty(Model.kt:487)
       at com.onesignal.common.modeling.Model.getStringProperty$default(Model.kt:484)
       at com.onesignal.user.internal.properties.PropertiesModel.getOnesignalId(PropertiesModel.kt:12)
       at com.onesignal.user.internal.operations.impl.listeners.PropertiesModelStoreListener.getUpdateOperation(PropertiesModelStoreListener.kt:47)
       at com.onesignal.user.internal.operations.impl.listeners.PropertiesModelStoreListener.getUpdateOperation(PropertiesModelStoreListener.kt:13)
       at com.onesignal.core.internal.operations.listeners.SingletonModelStoreListener.onModelUpdated(SingletonModelStoreListener.kt:54)
       at com.onesignal.common.modeling.SingletonModelStore$onModelUpdated$1.invoke(SingletonModelStore.kt:66)
       at com.onesignal.common.modeling.SingletonModelStore$onModelUpdated$1.invoke(SingletonModelStore.kt:66)
       at com.onesignal.common.events.EventProducer.fire(EventProducer.kt:50)
       at com.onesignal.common.modeling.SingletonModelStore.onModelUpdated(SingletonModelStore.kt:66)
       at com.onesignal.common.modeling.ModelStore$onChanged$1.invoke(ModelStore.kt:96)
       at com.onesignal.common.modeling.ModelStore$onChanged$1.invoke(ModelStore.kt:96)
       at com.onesignal.common.events.EventProducer.fire(EventProducer.kt:50)
       at com.onesignal.common.modeling.ModelStore.onChanged(ModelStore.kt:96)
       at com.onesignal.common.modeling.Model$notifyChanged$1.invoke(Model.kt:662)
       at com.onesignal.common.modeling.Model$notifyChanged$1.invoke(Model.kt:662)
       at com.onesignal.common.events.EventProducer.fire(EventProducer.kt:50)
       at com.onesignal.common.modeling.Model.notifyChanged(Model.kt:662)
       at com.onesignal.common.modeling.Model.setOptAnyProperty(Model.kt:456)
       at com.onesignal.common.modeling.Model.setOptStringProperty(Model.kt:359)
       at com.onesignal.common.modeling.Model.setOptStringProperty$default(Model.kt:354)
       at com.onesignal.user.internal.properties.PropertiesModel.setTimezone(PropertiesModel.kt:48)
       at com.onesignal.user.internal.UserManager.onFocus(UserManager.kt:271)
       at com.onesignal.core.internal.application.impl.ApplicationService$handleFocus$1.invoke(ApplicationService.kt:395)
       at com.onesignal.core.internal.application.impl.ApplicationService$handleFocus$1.invoke(ApplicationService.kt:395)
       at com.onesignal.common.events.EventProducer.fire(EventProducer.kt:50)
       at com.onesignal.core.internal.application.impl.ApplicationService.handleFocus(ApplicationService.kt:395)
       at com.onesignal.core.internal.application.impl.ApplicationService.onActivityStarted(ApplicationService.kt:163)
       at android.app.Application.dispatchActivityStarted(Application.java:416)
       at android.app.Activity.dispatchActivityStarted(Activity.java:1619)
       at android.app.Activity.onStart(Activity.java:2171)
       at androidx.fragment.app.FragmentActivity.onStart(FragmentActivity.java:344)
       at androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity.onStart(AppCompatActivity.java:238)
       at android.app.Instrumentation.callActivityOnStart(Instrumentation.java:1699)
       at android.app.Activity.performStart(Activity.java:9287)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.handleStartActivity(ActivityThread.java:4344)
       at android.app.servertransaction.TransactionExecutor.performLifecycleSequence(TransactionExecutor.java:214)
       at android.app.servertransaction.TransactionExecutor.cycleToPath(TransactionExecutor.java:194)
       at android.app.servertransaction.TransactionExecutor.executeLifecycleItem(TransactionExecutor.java:166)
       at android.app.servertransaction.TransactionExecutor.executeTransactionItems(TransactionExecutor.java:101)
       at android.app.servertransaction.TransactionExecutor.execute(TransactionExecutor.java:80)
       at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:2830)
       at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:110)
       at android.os.Looper.dispatchMessage(Looper.java:315)
       at android.os.Looper.loopOnce(Looper.java:251)
       at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:349)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:9041)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java)
       at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:593)
       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:929)

[SUKI-Huang]

Same here:
I already downgrade to 5.1.18 to ensure users on production won't get crash temporary.
Does there any fix plan or schedule on next version?

 Caused by java.lang.IllegalStateException: initWithContext was not called or timed out
       at com.onesignal.internal.OneSignalImp.waitForInit(OneSignalImp.kt:339)
       at com.onesignal.internal.OneSignalImp.waitAndReturn(OneSignalImp.kt:393)
       at com.onesignal.internal.OneSignalImp.getNotifications(OneSignalImp.kt:119)
       at com.onesignal.OneSignal.getNotifications(OneSignal.java:62)

[jinliu9508]

@gajicm93 Could you share your step to reproduce? There is a ticket for your issue #2413

[gajicm93]

@gajicm93 Could you share your step to reproduce? There is a ticket for your issue #2413

There were no special steps, it happened on first app start after I cleared app data in settings.

So I guess it happens on fresh clean install. @jinliu9508