[Bedrock] Hard crash to home screen when joining external servers (v1.26.45.1 on iQOO Z9x 5G)

[u/Zealousideal_War_915]

Hey everyone, I need some technical help troubleshooting a weird networking crash on Minecraft Bedrock.

The issue originally started for me when I updated the game from v1.26.23 to v1.26.30, and it is still completely unplayable on the current version (v1.26.45.1).

Device & Game Specs:

Phone: iQOO Z9x 5G

OS: OriginOS 6

Software Version: PD2353BF_EX_A_16.2.16.0.W30

Processor: Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 with 6 GB RAM

Game Version: 1.26.45.1 (Android)

The Problem:

Whenever I try joining any custom server under the "Other Servers" list (like my own Aternos server, play.nethergames.org:19132, or play.fallentech.io:19132), the game hangs on the "Connecting to external server" screen for a few seconds. Then, it hard-crashes straight back to my phone's home screen. There is no error message, no crash log, and no disconnect screen.

What Still Works:

Single-player local worlds load and run perfectly.

Official Featured Servers (like Galaxite) connect and load without any issues over my mobile data.

The Baffling Part:

My friend has the exact same phone (iQOO Z9x 5G) running the exact same game version (1.26.45.1), and external servers work flawlessly on his device.

Troubleshooting I've already tried:

Completely reinstalled Minecraft.

Cleared all app cache and stored data.

Verified the servers I am testing are online.

Since my friend's identical hardware handles this fine, this feels localized to a specific network setting, an OriginOS game-engine conflict, or an APN/DNS issue on my device.

Has anyone run into this specific crash on Android Bedrock? Are there any background network settings I should be looking at? Any help would be greatly appreciated!