[CI] Flaky: DotNetWatchTest.DotNetWatch on iOS — timed out waiting for the app to start

[rolfbjarne]

Flaky Test Report (automated CI post-mortem)

Test: Xamarin.Tests.DotNetWatchTest.DotNetWatch(iOS,False,False)
Platform: iOS (simulator)
Category: Flaky (app launch timeout)
Period: 2026-07-01 → 2026-07-06

Summary

DotNetWatchTest.DotNetWatch on iOS intermittently fails with a launch timeout across unrelated PRs. The app is built successfully (only a Settings.plist deprecated warning) but the harness never sees it start:

Timed out waiting for the app to start. Output:
dotnet watch 🔥 Hot reload enabled. …
dotnet watch 💡 Press Ctrl+R to restart.
  Determining projects to restore...
  All projects are up-to-date for restore.
… warning : The settings file '…/maui/Settings.plist' is deprecated, and will be ignored. …

Occurrences

PR	Build	Date	Branch	Direct link
#25893	14540529	2026-07-01	net11.0	logs
#25918	14573434	2026-07-06	net11.0	logs

Total: 2 unrelated PRs (both targeting net11.0).

Classification

Identified as flaky because:

• It appeared across 2 unrelated PRs (dependency-update / R2R hashing) that don't touch dotnet watch.
• The failure is a launch timeout ("Timed out waiting for the app to start"), which is characteristic of simulator-launch flakiness rather than a build/logic error.

Note: so far only observed on net11.0 PR builds; if it also shows up on main this may warrant a closer look at whether it's net11.0-specific. A separate variant ("Build failed before the app could start.") was seen for the MacCatalyst configuration on the dependency-update branches and is tracked separately if it recurs.

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This issue was automatically generated by CI post-mortem analysis.

[rolfbjarne]

CI Post-Mortem Update (July 13–20, 2026)

This failure was seen again this week:

PR	Build	Date	Bot	Details
#26134	14702858	Jul 20	AcesShared 64	DotNetWatch iOS timed out waiting for app to start

Total: 1 occurrence this week.

[dalexsoto]

New occurrence on #26219 @ 7eba89bf3ebbd71bd9b5785a47b89288fa4073cf, build 14735371 — dotnettests_ios / Run tests: Xamarin.Tests.DotNetWatchTest.DotNetWatch(iOS) built successfully, then timed out waiting for the app to start while dotnet watch reported hot reload enabled.

This brings the known total to 4 occurrences across 4 monitored PRs and is the first recorded occurrence here on a PR targeting main, so the flake is not limited to net11.0. Build 14735371 is still active and the PR is CONFLICTING / DIRTY; no retry is permitted while conflicts remain.

[dalexsoto]

External retry update for #26219 @ 7eba89bf3ebbd71bd9b5785a47b89288fa4073cf: build 14735371 simulator_tests attempt 2 became active at 05:07 UTC and is rerunning dotnettests_ios, including the recorded DotNetWatch app-start timeout. No retry was initiated by this monitor.

Observable budget usage: 1 lifetime / 1 current-head request.

[dalexsoto]

Final external retry outcome for #26219 @ 7eba89bf3ebbd71bd9b5785a47b89288fa4073cf: build 14735371 simulator_tests attempt 2 completed successfully. Dotnettests_ios passed, including DotNetWatch(iOS), and the overall build succeeded.