diff --git a/osu.Android/CrashDiagnostics.cs b/osu.Android/CrashDiagnostics.cs
index 4abf6f0f9111..3e8ce28d976b 100644
--- a/osu.Android/CrashDiagnostics.cs
+++ b/osu.Android/CrashDiagnostics.cs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 using Android.Content;
 using Debug = System.Diagnostics.Debug;
 using osu.Android.Native;
+using System.Collections.Concurrent;
 
 namespace osu.Android
 {
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ internal static class CrashDiagnostics
 
         private static string? internalDir;
         private static string? externalDir;
+        private static readonly ConcurrentDictionary<string, int> exceptionCounts = new ConcurrentDictionary<string, int>();
         private static string? sentinelPath;
         private static string? installedLogPath;
         private static bool sentinelWritten;
@@ -285,6 +287,13 @@ public static void WriteInstallState()
 
         private static void writeManagedException(string source, Exception? ex)
         {
+            if (ex is EntryPointNotFoundException && ex.Message.Contains("CFStringCreateWithCharacters"))
+                return;
+
+            string key = $"{source}_{ex?.GetType().Name}_{ex?.StackTrace?.GetHashCode() ?? 0}";
+            if (exceptionCounts.AddOrUpdate(key, 1, (_, count) => count + 1) > 10)
+                return;
+
             try
             {
                 string block =
diff --git a/osu.Android/OsuGameActivity.cs b/osu.Android/OsuGameActivity.cs
index 5b60f456dc80..2b11f820e99c 100644
--- a/osu.Android/OsuGameActivity.cs
+++ b/osu.Android/OsuGameActivity.cs
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ namespace osu.Android
     // frame — the SurfaceView is sized correctly on creation and there is no orientation-change
     // event during startup. This is defensive hardening alongside the main fix in osu.Android.props
     // (disabling trimming + profiled AOT, which was the actual cause of the startup crash).
-    [Activity(ResizeableActivity = true, ScreenOrientation = ScreenOrientation.SensorLandscape, ConfigurationChanges = ConfigChanges.Orientation | ConfigChanges.ScreenSize | ConfigChanges.UiMode | ConfigChanges.SmallestScreenSize | ConfigChanges.ScreenLayout | ConfigChanges.ColorMode | ConfigChanges.Density | ConfigChanges.Touchscreen | ConfigChanges.Keyboard | ConfigChanges.KeyboardHidden | ConfigChanges.Navigation, Exported = true, LaunchMode = DEFAULT_LAUNCH_MODE, MainLauncher = true)]
+    [Activity(ResizeableActivity = true, ScreenOrientation = ScreenOrientation.Landscape, ConfigurationChanges = ConfigChanges.Orientation | ConfigChanges.ScreenSize | ConfigChanges.UiMode | ConfigChanges.SmallestScreenSize | ConfigChanges.ScreenLayout | ConfigChanges.ColorMode | ConfigChanges.Density | ConfigChanges.Touchscreen | ConfigChanges.Keyboard | ConfigChanges.KeyboardHidden | ConfigChanges.Navigation, Exported = true, LaunchMode = DEFAULT_LAUNCH_MODE, MainLauncher = true)]
     [IntentFilter(new[] { Intent.ActionView }, Categories = new[] { Intent.CategoryDefault }, DataScheme = "content", DataPathPattern = ".*\\.osz", DataHost = "*", DataMimeType = "*/*")]
     [IntentFilter(new[] { Intent.ActionView }, Categories = new[] { Intent.CategoryDefault }, DataScheme = "content", DataPathPattern = ".*\\.osk", DataHost = "*", DataMimeType = "*/*")]
     [IntentFilter(new[] { Intent.ActionView }, Categories = new[] { Intent.CategoryDefault }, DataScheme = "content", DataPathPattern = ".*\\.osr", DataHost = "*", DataMimeType = "*/*")]
@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ public OsuGameActivity()
 
         protected override void OnCreate(Bundle? savedInstanceState)
         {
+            // Force orientation immediately to prevent unnecessary surface recreation on startup.
+            RequestedOrientation = ScreenOrientation.Landscape;
+
             // Crash diagnostics first. The native handler write target is internal storage
             // (FilesDir/native_crash.log); a one-shot mirror copies it to external storage
             // here on the *next* normal startup so the user can pull it without root.
@@ -166,7 +169,7 @@ protected override void OnCreate(Bundle? savedInstanceState)
             if (Resources?.Configuration != null)
                 IsTablet = Resources.Configuration.SmallestScreenWidthDp >= 600;
 
-            // Phones: manifest already requests SensorLandscape; do not re-assign at runtime —
+            // Phones: manifest already requests Landscape; do not re-assign at runtime —
             // a no-op assignment is harmless on most devices but a redundant RequestedOrientation
             // write can still nudge the SurfaceView into a recreate cycle on some OEMs while the
             // SDL draw thread is mid-Vulkan-init. Tablets get a more permissive policy applied
@@ -175,7 +178,7 @@ protected override void OnCreate(Bundle? savedInstanceState)
             if (IsTablet)
                 RequestedOrientation = DefaultOrientation = ScreenOrientation.FullUser;
             else
-                DefaultOrientation = ScreenOrientation.SensorLandscape;
+                DefaultOrientation = ScreenOrientation.Landscape;
 
             foreach (string asm in new[] { "osu.Game.Rulesets.Osu", "osu.Game.Rulesets.Taiko", "osu.Game.Rulesets.Catch", "osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania" })
             {
@@ -397,13 +400,22 @@ public void SurfaceCreated(ISurfaceHolder holder)
                 if (oldRef != IntPtr.Zero)
                     global::Android.Runtime.JNIEnv.DeleteGlobalRef(oldRef);
 
-                surfaceEvent.Set();
-                Debug.WriteLine("[osu!] Native surface JNI global reference created");
+                Debug.WriteLine("[osu!] Native surface JNI global reference created (waiting for SurfaceChanged for signal)");
             }
         }
 
         public void SurfaceChanged(ISurfaceHolder holder, global::Android.Graphics.Format format, int width, int height)
         {
+            if (width > 0 && height > 0)
+            {
+                surfaceEvent.Set();
+                Debug.WriteLine($"[osu!] Native surface signal set (size: {width}x{height})");
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                surfaceEvent.Reset();
+                Debug.WriteLine("[osu!] Native surface signal reset (invalid size)");
+            }
         }
 
         public void SurfaceDestroyed(ISurfaceHolder holder)