Tencent/tinker · error · TinkerRuntimeException

libName or appLike is null!

Error message

libName or appLike is null!

What it means

TinkerLoadLibrary.loadArmLibraryWithoutTinkerInstalled(ApplicationLike, String) validates its arguments and throws TinkerRuntimeException("libName or appLike is null!") when libName is null/empty or the ApplicationLike wrapper is null. The '*WithoutTinkerInstalled' variants are meant for loading native libraries through Tinker's ABI-selection logic even when Tinker patching itself is not installed, so the only precondition checked is argument sanity.

Source

Thrown at tinker-android/tinker-android-lib-no-op/src/main/java/com/tencent/tinker/lib/library/TinkerLoadLibrary.java:39

import com.tencent.tinker.entry.ApplicationLike;
import com.tencent.tinker.loader.TinkerRuntimeException;

/**
 * Created by zhangshaowen on 17/1/5.
 * Thanks for Android Fragmentation
 */

public class TinkerLoadLibrary {
    public static void loadArmLibrary(Context context, String libName) {
        if (libName == null || libName.isEmpty() || context == null) {
            throw new TinkerRuntimeException("libName or context is null!");
        }
        System.loadLibrary(libName);
    }

    public static void loadArmLibraryWithoutTinkerInstalled(ApplicationLike appLike, String libName) {
        if (libName == null || libName.isEmpty() || appLike == null) {
            throw new TinkerRuntimeException("libName or appLike is null!");
        }
        System.loadLibrary(libName);
    }

    public static void loadArmV7Library(Context context, String libName) {
        if (libName == null || libName.isEmpty() || context == null) {
            throw new TinkerRuntimeException("libName or context is null!");
        }
        System.loadLibrary(libName);
    }

    public static void loadArmV7LibraryWithoutTinkerInstalled(ApplicationLike appLike, String libName) {
        if (libName == null || libName.isEmpty() || appLike == null) {
            throw new TinkerRuntimeException("libName or appLike is null!");
        }
        System.loadLibrary(libName);
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to 1b7ea02c23)

Solutions

1. Create/obtain the ApplicationLike first (typically app = ApplicationLike(this) inside your Application) and pass it to the call.
2. Verify the libName constant is non-empty in every build variant (Log it).
3. Move the call to a lifecycle point where both arguments are guaranteed initialized, e.g. Application.onCreate.

Example fix

// before
TinkerLoadLibrary.loadArmLibraryWithoutTinkerInstalled(appLike, "native-lib"); // appLike still null

// after
@Override
public void onCreate() {
    super.onCreate();
    appLike = new ApplicationLike(this);
    TinkerLoadLibrary.loadArmLibraryWithoutTinkerInstalled(appLike, "native-lib");
}

if (appLike != null && libName != null && !libName.trim().isEmpty()) {
    TinkerLoadLibrary.loadArmLibraryWithoutTinkerInstalled(appLike, libName);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling loadArmLibraryWithoutTinkerInstalled(appLike, libName) with a null ApplicationLike (application not wrapped / passed too early) or a null/empty libName.

Common situations: Migrating an app to Tinker where ApplicationLike is created in attachBaseContext but the library load runs from a static initializer or another class that captures it too early; referencing a library name constant that only exists in one product flavor.

Related errors

• libName or context is null!
• you must install tinker before get tinker sInstance
• Context must not be null.
• tinkerLoadVerifyFlag must not be null.
• loadReporter must not be null.

AI-assisted analysis of Tencent/tinker@1b7ea02c23 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ef542c0a0efec30d. Report an issue: GitHub.