App update problem: "Unable to verify app"

After a recent app update, I started getting a few user reports of a problem opening the app (seemed to be crashing on startup). I asked them to turn on AirPlane mode any try again, and they then get the following message when trying to open the app:


"Unable to verify app: A connection to the app store is required for the first launch of '{appName}' on this iPhone. Please connect to the internet and try again."


This is obviously coming from iOS not the app, and I am not getting any particular crash reports relating to startup issues, so it does not seem to be getting as far as the app code. The above message seems to also imply this is the case. These users are regular users of the app, so it has clearly been launched in the past.


I really can't find out much info about this error message (other that it is related to licensing), so am a little baffled as to what is going on. Can anyone shed any light on what may be happening?

We're seeing similar reports from our own users, most of whom have reported this started occurring right after they updated their version of iOS (starting around 13.3.1). Most users are working around it by reinstalling the app, but this is far from ideal.


This is a pretty big showstopper given the app crashes immediately on launch and there are no crash reports left behind indicating what the problem might be.

Did you file a bug ? Could you report bug number here ?


Do you know if it occurs on 13.4 ?

App update problem: "Unable to verify app"
 
 
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