# The curious case of a weird VerifyError crash

DevFeed: [The curious case of a weird VerifyError crash](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/the-curious-case-of-a-weird-verifyerror-crash-25583.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.marcogomiero.com/posts/2025/bug-hunting-story/>)

Author: Marco Gomiero

Published: 2025-04-06T00:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Posts on Marco Gomiero](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/posts-on-marco-gomiero.md>)

Topics: [Android](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/android.md>), [debugging](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/debugging.md>), [R8](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/r8.md>), [Kotlin](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/kotlin.md>), [Compose](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/compose.md>)

Tags: [android](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/android.md>), [android-gradle-plugin](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/android-gradle-plugin.md>), [crash](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/crash.md>), [debugging](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/debugging.md>), [dependency](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/dependency.md>), [issue](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/issue.md>), [kotlin](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/kotlin.md>), [r8](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/r8.md>)

## AI overview

A journal-style debugging account of a VerifyError runtime crash in FeedFlow's Android release build after upgrading the Android Gradle Plugin to version 8.7. The investigation tests R8, Compose, Kotlin, and dependency combinations, then narrows the problem to code in the dependency graph involving date-string parsing.

## Source excerpt

This post can be considered as a journal entry. I had to clear my thoughts and vent off through writing after spending time debugging this issue. Maybe it will be helpful for future references or an example of the process to follow in such cases. The other day I was doing the usual dependency update routine of FeedFlow when I discovered a runtime crash that happened in the release version (so with R8 enabled) after updating the Android Gradle Plugin (AGP, in the rest of the article) to version 8.7.