# Sendbird SDK crash - SendbirdChat instance hasn't been initialized yet

**URL:** <https://community.sendbird.com/t/sendbird-sdk-crash-sendbirdchat-instance-hasnt-been-initialized-yet/11318>\
**Category:** Android\
**Tags:** android, uikit\
**Created:** [May 21, 2026, 3:51pm UTC](https://community.sendbird.com/t/sendbird-sdk-crash-sendbirdchat-instance-hasnt-been-initialized-yet/11318 "2026-05-21T15:51:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sumitkr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.sendbird.com/sumitkr/32/6089_2.png) [@sumitkr](https://community.sendbird.com/u/sumitkr)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 3:51pm UTC](https://community.sendbird.com/t/sendbird-sdk-crash-sendbirdchat-instance-hasnt-been-initialized-yet/11318/1 "2026-05-21T15:51:57Z")

</div>

**[Problem/Question]**  
// Detailed description of issue.

We are seeing a crash happening with few of our users. It started happening once the uikit sdk version was updated to 3.25.2.

* * *

// If problem, please fill out the below. If question, please delete.  
**[UIKit Version]**  
// What version of the SDK are you using?

3.25.2

**[Reproduction Steps]**  
// Please provide reproduction steps and, if possible, code snippets.

Unclear - I am unable to reproduce this crash. Started happening after I upgraded the uikit version from 3.23.0 to 3.25.2

Here’s the stacktrace though -

**Caused by java.lang.RuntimeException**

SendbirdChat instance hasn’t been initialized yet. Try SendbirdChat.init().

**com.sendbird.android.SendbirdChat.sendbirdChatMain$sendbird\_release (SendbirdChat.kt:188)**

com.sendbird.android.SendbirdChat.sendbirdChatMain$sendbird\_release$default (SendbirdChat.kt:176)

com.sendbird.android.SendbirdChat.getSendbirdChatMain$sendbird\_release (SendbirdChat.kt:155)

com.sendbird.android.SendbirdChat.addChannelHandler (SendbirdChat.kt:1328)

com.sendbird.uikit.internal.contracts.SendbirdChatImpl.addChannelHandler (SendbirdChatImpl.kt:19)

com.sendbird.uikit.vm.ChannelViewModel. (ChannelViewModel.java:206)

com.sendbird.uikit.vm.ChannelViewModel. (ChannelViewModel.java:196)

com.sendbird.uikit.vm.ViewModelFactory.create (ViewModelFactory.java:41)

androidx.lifecycle.ViewModelProvider$Factory.create (ViewModelProvider.android.kt:146)

androidx.lifecycle.ViewModelProvider.get (ViewModelProvider.android.kt:123)

com.sendbird.uikit.providers.ViewModelProviders.resetToDefault$lambda$1 (ViewModelProviders.kt:259)

com.sendbird.uikit.fragments.ChannelFragment.onCreateViewModel (ChannelFragment.java:173)

com.sendbird.uikit.fragments.ChannelFragment.onCreateViewModel (ChannelFragment.java:96)

com.sendbird.uikit.fragments.BaseModuleFragment.onCreate (BaseModuleFragment.java:62)

com.sendbird.uikit.fragments.BaseMessageListFragment.onCreate (BaseMessageListFragment.java:173)

com.sendbird.uikit.fragments.ChannelFragment.onCreate (ChannelFragment.java:157)

**[Frequency]**  
// How frequently is this issue occurring?

It’s not happening always. Occurring with some users

**[Current impact]**  
// How is this currently impacting your implementation?

Can not replicate the behavior, the app will crash based on the error log.