diff --git a/build/PatchElfPageSize.targets b/build/PatchElfPageSize.targets
index 9be15f4da475..003209930eae 100644
--- a/build/PatchElfPageSize.targets
+++ b/build/PatchElfPageSize.targets
@@ -269,6 +269,6 @@ finally
     <ItemGroup>
       <_NuGetNativeLibs Include="$(NuGetPackageRoot)/**/runtimes/android-*/native/*.so" />
     </ItemGroup>
-    <PatchElfPageSize FilePath="%(Identity)" Condition="'@(_NuGetNativeLibs)' != ''" />
+    <PatchElfPageSize FilePath="%(Identity)" Condition="'$(PatchElfPageSizeEnabled)' != 'false' AND '@(_NuGetNativeLibs)' != ''" />
   </Target>
 </Project>
diff --git a/osu.Android.props b/osu.Android.props
index 9ad425da8662..7d5474ea97d2 100644
--- a/osu.Android.props
+++ b/osu.Android.props
@@ -13,10 +13,12 @@
          the patch in some build orderings. This suppression is harmless since we do fix them. -->
     <AndroidPageSize16KBCompatibilityCheck>false</AndroidPageSize16KBCompatibilityCheck>
   </PropertyGroup>
+
   <!-- Patch NuGet-provided .so files that ship with 4 KB ELF alignment to 16 KB.
        See build/PatchElfPageSize.targets for details.
        TODO: Remove once ppy.Veldrid.SPIRV ships 16 KB-aligned native libraries. -->
   <Import Project="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)build\PatchElfPageSize.targets" />
+
   <!-- Release-only optimisations: AOT for low-latency gameplay, trimming for smaller APK.
        Suppress trim analysis warnings because the project uses reflection extensively
        (Newtonsoft.Json, Realm, AutoMapper, RuntimeBinder). -->
@@ -24,7 +26,20 @@
     <RunAOTCompilation>true</RunAOTCompilation>
     <AndroidEnableProfiledAot>true</AndroidEnableProfiledAot>
     <SuppressTrimAnalysisWarnings>true</SuppressTrimAnalysisWarnings>
+    <!-- Disable ELF patching in Release to prevent signature corruption -->
+    <PatchElfPageSizeEnabled>false</PatchElfPageSizeEnabled>
+    <PublishTrimmed>true</PublishTrimmed>
+    <TrimMode>partial</TrimMode>
   </PropertyGroup>
+
+  <ItemGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'Release'">
+    <!-- Force Microsoft.CSharp into the trimmer input graph (.NET 10+).          -->
+    <!-- A bare TrimmerRootAssembly is ignored if the assembly is not in the      -->
+    <!-- linker's input set; adding this reference ensures it is included.       -->
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.CSharp" Version="4.7.0" NoWarn="NU1510" />
+    <TrimmerRootAssembly Include="Microsoft.CSharp" RootMode="all" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+
   <ItemGroup>
     <!-- IMPORTANT: ppy.osu.Framework.Android v2026.318.0 only ships net8.0-android34.0 assets.
          NuGet silently falls back to those assets when the app targets net10.0-android (API 36).
@@ -33,9 +48,23 @@
          TODO: Remove this comment once ppy.osu.Framework.Android ships net10.0-android assets. -->
     <PackageReference Include="ppy.osu.Framework.Android" Version="2026.318.0" />
   </ItemGroup>
+
   <PropertyGroup>
     <!-- Fody does not handle Android build well, and warns when unchanged.
          Since Realm objects are not declared directly in Android projects, simply disable Fody. -->
     <DisableFody>true</DisableFody>
   </PropertyGroup>
+
+  <!-- Fix for .NET 10 Android AOT misclassifying non-managed assets in runtime pack.
+       This is critical for Android 16 (API 36) which has stricter manifest/parsing rules. -->
+  <Target Name="FixRuntimePackAssetTypes" AfterTargets="ResolveRuntimePackAssets;ComputeFilesToPublish;ComputeResolvedFilesToPublishList">
+    <ItemGroup>
+      <RuntimePackAsset Update="@(RuntimePackAsset)" Condition="'%(Extension)' != '.dll'">
+        <AssetType>native</AssetType>
+      </RuntimePackAsset>
+      <ResolvedFileToPublish Update="@(ResolvedFileToPublish)" Condition="'%(Extension)' != '.dll'">
+        <AssetType>native</AssetType>
+      </ResolvedFileToPublish>
+    </ItemGroup>
+  </Target>
 </Project>
diff --git a/osu.Android/AndroidManifest.xml b/osu.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
index bb3cb2c56d07..b0e837ed958c 100644
--- a/osu.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
+++ b/osu.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
 <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" package="sh.ppy.osulazer" android:installLocation="auto">
 	<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="33" android:targetSdkVersion="36" />
-	<application android:allowBackup="true" android:supportsRtl="true" android:label="osu!" android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher" android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher" android:largeHeap="true">
+	<application android:extractNativeLibs="true" android:allowBackup="true" android:supportsRtl="true" android:label="osu!" android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher" android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher" android:largeHeap="true">
         <provider android:name="androidx.core.content.FileProvider" android:authorities="sh.ppy.osulazer.fileprovider" android:grantUriPermissions="true" android:exported="false">
             <meta-data android:name="android.support.FILE_PROVIDER_PATHS" android:resource="@xml/filepaths" />
         </provider>
diff --git a/osu.Game.Rulesets.Catch.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml b/osu.Game.Rulesets.Catch.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
index 16be596df96b..7b91d6c42d64 100644
--- a/osu.Game.Rulesets.Catch.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
+++ b/osu.Game.Rulesets.Catch.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@
 <!-- using a different name because package name cannot contain 'catch' -->
 <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" android:versionCode="1" android:versionName="1.0" package="osu.Game.Rulesets.Catch_Tests.Android" android:installLocation="auto">
 	<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="33" android:targetSdkVersion="36" />
-	<application android:allowBackup="true" android:supportsRtl="true" android:label="osu!catch Test" />
+	<application android:extractNativeLibs="true" android:allowBackup="true" android:supportsRtl="true" android:label="osu!catch Test" />
 </manifest>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml b/osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
index c308a3d4a3e4..9e73f565bdab 100644
--- a/osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
+++ b/osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" android:versionCode="1" android:versionName="1.0" package="osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania.Tests.Android" android:installLocation="auto">
 	<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="33" android:targetSdkVersion="36" />
-	<application android:allowBackup="true" android:supportsRtl="true" android:label="osu!mania Test" />
+	<application android:extractNativeLibs="true" android:allowBackup="true" android:supportsRtl="true" android:label="osu!mania Test" />
 </manifest>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/osu.Game.Rulesets.Osu.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml b/osu.Game.Rulesets.Osu.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
index 93b0d73e85c8..542eb77b90fa 100644
--- a/osu.Game.Rulesets.Osu.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
+++ b/osu.Game.Rulesets.Osu.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" android:versionCode="1" android:versionName="1.0" package="osu.Game.Rulesets.Osu.Tests.Android" android:installLocation="auto">
 	<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="33" android:targetSdkVersion="36" />
-	<application android:allowBackup="true" android:supportsRtl="true" android:label="osu!standard Test" />
+	<application android:extractNativeLibs="true" android:allowBackup="true" android:supportsRtl="true" android:label="osu!standard Test" />
 </manifest>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/osu.Game.Rulesets.Taiko.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml b/osu.Game.Rulesets.Taiko.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
index f8213d7936e5..e1f74ce665c2 100644
--- a/osu.Game.Rulesets.Taiko.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
+++ b/osu.Game.Rulesets.Taiko.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" android:versionCode="1" android:versionName="1.0" package="osu.Game.Rulesets.Taiko.Tests.Android" android:installLocation="auto">
 	<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="33" android:targetSdkVersion="36" />
-	<application android:allowBackup="true" android:supportsRtl="true" android:label="osu!taiko Test" />
+	<application android:extractNativeLibs="true" android:allowBackup="true" android:supportsRtl="true" android:label="osu!taiko Test" />
 </manifest>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/osu.Game.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml b/osu.Game.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
index 48fa69445873..04b18b98ca15 100644
--- a/osu.Game.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
+++ b/osu.Game.Tests.Android/AndroidManifest.xml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" android:versionCode="1" android:versionName="1.0" package="osu.Game.Tests.Android" android:installLocation="auto">
 	<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="33" android:targetSdkVersion="36" />
-	<application android:allowBackup="true" android:supportsRtl="true" android:label="osu!visual Test" />
+	<application android:extractNativeLibs="true" android:allowBackup="true" android:supportsRtl="true" android:label="osu!visual Test" />
 </manifest>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/osu.Game/Online/Spectator/SpectatorClient.cs b/osu.Game/Online/Spectator/SpectatorClient.cs
index f245e8cf3a27..a48902ec0538 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Online/Spectator/SpectatorClient.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Online/Spectator/SpectatorClient.cs
@@ -214,8 +214,10 @@ public void BeginPlaying(long? scoreToken, GameplayState state, Score score)
             Schedule(() =>
             {
                 if (isPlaying)
-                    throw new InvalidOperationException($"Cannot invoke {nameof(BeginPlaying)} when already playing");
-
+                {
+                    Logger.Log($"Cannot invoke {nameof(BeginPlaying)} when already playing. Ignoring.");
+                    return;
+                }
                 isPlaying = true;
 
                 // transfer state at point of beginning play
diff --git a/osu.Game/Tests/Visual/Multiplayer/TestMultiplayerClient.cs b/osu.Game/Tests/Visual/Multiplayer/TestMultiplayerClient.cs
index 4faea505b930..99700ebd805d 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Tests/Visual/Multiplayer/TestMultiplayerClient.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Tests/Visual/Multiplayer/TestMultiplayerClient.cs
@@ -432,7 +432,9 @@ public async Task SendUserMatchRequest(int userId, MatchUserRequest request)
                     break;
 
                 case StopCountdownRequest stopCountdown:
-                    await StopCountdown(ServerRoom.ActiveCountdowns.First(c => c.ID == stopCountdown.ID)).ConfigureAwait(false);
+                    var countdownToRemove = ServerRoom.ActiveCountdowns.FirstOrDefault(c => c.ID == stopCountdown.ID);
+                    if (countdownToRemove != null)
+                        await StopCountdown(countdownToRemove).ConfigureAwait(false);
                     break;
 
                 case RollRequest rollRequest:
@@ -487,7 +489,10 @@ public async Task StopCountdown(MultiplayerCountdown countdown)
             Debug.Assert(ServerRoom != null);
             Debug.Assert(LocalUser != null);
 
-            ServerRoom.ActiveCountdowns.Remove(ServerRoom.ActiveCountdowns.First(c => c.ID == countdown.ID));
+            var existing = ServerRoom.ActiveCountdowns.FirstOrDefault(c => c.ID == countdown.ID);
+
+            if (existing != null)
+                ServerRoom.ActiveCountdowns.Remove(existing);
             await ((IMultiplayerClient)this).MatchEvent(clone(new CountdownStoppedEvent(countdown.ID))).ConfigureAwait(false);
         }