Android androidx.lifecycle.LifecycleDispatcher.init crash

After the last update of my app, some users start complaining about a sudden crash after the app startup. I checked the Firebase Crashlytics crashes, but could not find any crash. Then I checked the Google Play crashes and ANRs and noticed a crash regarding the app startup.

java.lang.RuntimeException:   at android.app.ActivityThread.installProvider (ActivityThread.java:7595)  at android.app.ActivityThread.installContentProviders (ActivityThread.java:7069)  at android.app.ActivityThread.handleBindApplication (ActivityThread.java:6942)  at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1500 (ActivityThread.java:255)  at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage (ActivityThread.java:1978)  at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage (Handler.java:106)  at android.os.Looper.loop (Looper.java:236)  at android.app.ActivityThread.main (ActivityThread.java:8019)  at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke (Native Method)  at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run (RuntimeInit.java:600)  at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main (ZygoteInit.java:967)Caused by: androidx.startup.StartupException:   at androidx.startup.AppInitializer.doInitialize (AppInitializer.java:162)  at androidx.startup.AppInitializer.discoverAndInitialize (AppInitializer.java:198)  at androidx.startup.InitializationProvider.onCreate (InitializationProvider.java:38)  at android.content.ContentProvider.attachInfo (ContentProvider.java:2411)  at android.content.ContentProvider.attachInfo (ContentProvider.java:2381)  at android.app.ActivityThread.installProvider (ActivityThread.java:7590)  at android.app.ActivityThread.installContentProviders (ActivityThread.java:7069)  at android.app.ActivityThread.handleBindApplication (ActivityThread.java:6942)  at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1500 (ActivityThread.java:255)  at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage (ActivityThread.java:1978)  at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage (Handler.java:106)  at android.os.Looper.loop (Looper.java:236)  at android.app.ActivityThread.main (ActivityThread.java:8019)  at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke (Native Method)  at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run (RuntimeInit.java:600)  at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main (ZygoteInit.java:967)Caused by: androidx.startup.StartupException:   at androidx.startup.AppInitializer.doInitialize (AppInitializer.java:162)  at androidx.startup.AppInitializer.doInitialize (AppInitializer.java:148)  at androidx.startup.AppInitializer.discoverAndInitialize (AppInitializer.java:198)  at androidx.startup.InitializationProvider.onCreate (InitializationProvider.java:38)  at android.content.ContentProvider.attachInfo (ContentProvider.java:2411)  at android.content.ContentProvider.attachInfo (ContentProvider.java:2381)  at android.app.ActivityThread.installProvider (ActivityThread.java:7590)  at android.app.ActivityThread.installContentProviders (ActivityThread.java:7069)  at android.app.ActivityThread.handleBindApplication (ActivityThread.java:6942)  at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1500 (ActivityThread.java:255)  at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage (ActivityThread.java:1978)  at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage (Handler.java:106)  at android.os.Looper.loop (Looper.java:236)  at android.app.ActivityThread.main (ActivityThread.java:8019)  at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke (Native Method)  at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run (RuntimeInit.java:600)  at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main (ZygoteInit.java:967)Caused by: java.lang.ClassCastException:   at androidx.lifecycle.LifecycleDispatcher.init (LifecycleDispatcher.java:43)  at androidx.lifecycle.ProcessLifecycleInitializer.create (ProcessLifecycleInitializer.java:35)  at androidx.lifecycle.ProcessLifecycleInitializer.create (ProcessLifecycleInitializer.java:30)  at androidx.startup.AppInitializer.doInitialize (AppInitializer.java:155)  at androidx.startup.AppInitializer.doInitialize (AppInitializer.java:148)  at androidx.startup.AppInitializer.discoverAndInitialize (AppInitializer.java:198)  at androidx.startup.InitializationProvider.onCreate (InitializationProvider.java:38)  at android.content.ContentProvider.attachInfo (ContentProvider.java:2411)  at android.content.ContentProvider.attachInfo (ContentProvider.java:2381)  at android.app.ActivityThread.installProvider (ActivityThread.java:7590)  at android.app.ActivityThread.installContentProviders (ActivityThread.java:7069)  at android.app.ActivityThread.handleBindApplication (ActivityThread.java:6942)  at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1500 (ActivityThread.java:255)  at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage (ActivityThread.java:1978)  at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage (Handler.java:106)  at android.os.Looper.loop (Looper.java:236)  at android.app.ActivityThread.main (ActivityThread.java:8019)  at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke (Native Method)  at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run (RuntimeInit.java:600)  at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main (ZygoteInit.java:967)

From what I understood this could be related to some library trying to load something in the app startup that is causing this crash. Just a few devices experience this issue. Note that I use R8 within my app, and after some research, I thought that maybe adding the following would help:

Build.gradle

multiDexKeepProguard file('multidex-config.pro')proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android-optimize.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'

multidex-config.pro

-keep class androidx.startup.AppInitializer-keep class * extends androidx.startup.Initializer

proguard-rules.pro

-keepnames class * extends androidx.startup.Initializer-keep class * extends androidx.startup.Initializer { <init>(); }

But none of this worked. I have updated again the app with these changes, but some users are still experiencing this issue. Also, it seems that clearing the app cache solves this problem.

Has anyone found this problem before? Thank you all for your time.