IPhone App crashing if downloaded from app store or testflight - ios

Question

I am done with development process of the app, before releasing it to app store i had done several rounds of testing (Adhoc testing on IOS version 6.0.1). while doing Adhoc testing i didnt find any issues with the build. Everything was working fine. After submitting to app store i got the report from apple team saying that application is crashing on iphone 5 having IOS version 6.1.3. So i updated my iphone to 6.1.3 . After updating to latest version, i uploaded the build to testflight and downloaded the app from it. it was crashing. i uninstalled the app from phone and directly connected to system and installed directly through xcode with out any code changes. App started working fine. I am confused with reason behind crashing. I am certain it is not an issue with the code because same code is working fine if i directly install through xcode.
whats the difference b/w installing app through testflight and directly from xcode ?
What might be the problem ?
i symbolicated the crash logs and found nothing wrong with code.
does anyone has faced similar kind of problem ? if got fixed plz help me out. your help is highly admired. Thanks
below is my crash log
Version: ??? (???)
Code Type: `enter code here`ARM (Native)
Parent Process: launchd `enter code here`[1]
Date/Time: 2013-05-07 10:19:43.206 -0700
OS Version: iOS 6.1.4 (10B350)
Report Version: 104
Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)
Exception Codes: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0x43462d40
Crashed Thread: 0
Thread 0 name: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
Thread 0 Crashed:
0 libobjc.A.dylib 0x3bc905d0 objc_msgSend + 16
1 Foundation 0x348031dc _NSDescriptionWithLocaleFunc + 48
2 CoreFoundation 0x33f7b42e __CFStringAppendFormatCore + 11158
3 CoreFoundation 0x33ef289e _CFStringCreateWithFormatAndArgumentsAux +
4 Foundation 0x34802cf8 +[NSString stringWithFormat:] + 56
5 Nuedoo 0x0002f8a2 -[VCache updateWithXML:] (VCache.m:122)
6 Nuedoo 0x0003f00a -[VParser parseXMLFile:] (VParser.m:80)
7 Nuedoo 0x0002ecda -[VBrowser open:] (VBrowser.m:23)
8 Nuedoo 0x0002d6e8 -[Vaayoo_FrameworkAppDelegate:] (Vaayoo_FrameworkAppDelegate.m:57)
9 UIKit 0x35e09a9c -[UIApplication _handleDelegateCallbacksWithOptions:isSuspended:restoreState:] + 248
10 UIKit 0x35e09620 -[UIApplication _callInitializationDelegatesForURL:payload:suspended:] + 1164
11 UIKit 0x35e0182e -[UIApplication _runWithURL:payload:launchOrientation:statusBarStyle:statusBarHidden:] + 694
12 UIKit 0x35da9d1a -[UIApplication handleEvent:withNewEvent:] + 1006
13 UIKit 0x35da97a8 -[UIApplication sendEvent:] + 68
14 UIKit 0x35da91ea _UIApplicationHandleEvent + 6194
15 GraphicsServices 0x37ac15f4 _PurpleEventCallback + 588
16 GraphicsServices 0x37ac1222 PurpleEventCallback + 30
17 CoreFoundation 0x33f6f3e4 __CFRUNLOOP_IS_CALLING_OUT_TO_A_SOURCE1_PERFORM_FUNCTION__ + 32
18 CoreFoundation 0x33f6f386 __CFRunLoopDoSource1 + 134
19 CoreFoundation 0x33f6e20a __CFRunLoopRun + 1378
20 CoreFoundation 0x33ee1238 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 352
21 CoreFoundation 0x33ee10c4 CFRunLoopRunInMode + 100
22 UIKit 0x35e00468 -[UIApplication _run] + 664
23 UIKit 0x35dfd2b4 UIApplicationMain + 1116
24 Nuedoo 0x00056efa main (main.m:14)
25 Nuedoo 0x0002ce84 start + 36
Thread 1:
0 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x3c189d98 __workq_kernreturn + 8
1 libsystem_c.dylib 0x3c0d7ad6 _pthread_workq_return + 14
2 libsystem_c.dylib 0x3c0d77f2 _pthread_wqthread + 362
3 libsystem_c.dylib 0x3c0d7680 start_wqthread + 4
Thread 2 name: Dispatch queue: com.apple.libdispatch-manager
Thread 2:
0 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x3c1795d0 kevent64 + 24
1 libdispatch.dylib 0x3c0b4d22 _dispatch_mgr_invoke + 806
2 libdispatch.dylib 0x3c0b0374 _dispatch_mgr_thread + 32
Thread 3:
0 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x3c189d98 __workq_kernreturn + 8
1 libsystem_c.dylib 0x3c0d7ad6 _pthread_workq_return + 14
2 libsystem_c.dylib 0x3c0d77f2 _pthread_wqthread + 362
3 libsystem_c.dylib 0x3c0d7680 start_wqthread + 4
Thread 4 name: WebThread
Thread 4:
0 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x3c178e30 mach_msg_trap + 20
1 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x3c178fd0 mach_msg + 48
2 CoreFoundation 0x33f6f2b6 __CFRunLoopServiceMachPort + 126
3 CoreFoundation 0x33f6e02c __CFRunLoopRun + 900
4 CoreFoundation 0x33ee1238 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 352
5 CoreFoundation 0x33ee10c4 CFRunLoopRunInMode + 100
6 WebCore 0x39ee9390 RunWebThread(void*) + 440
7 libsystem_c.dylib 0x3c0e20de _pthread_start + 306
8 libsystem_c.dylib 0x3c0e1fa4 thread_start + 4
Thread 0 crashed with ARM Thread State (32-bit):
r0: 0x1f5c0ab0 r1: 0x39a512ae r2: 0x34004b3a r3: 0xffffffff
r4: 0x43462d38 r5: 0x00000000 r6: 0x34004b3a r7: 0x2fdd3178
r8: 0x2fdd367c r9: 0x0e6944ab r10: 0x3c307c20 r11: 0x1f5c0ca0
ip: 0x3c3b8704 sp: 0x2fdd3164 lr: 0x348031e1 pc: 0x3bc905d0
cpsr: 0x20000030
</string>
<key>displayName</key>
<string>Nuedoo</string>
<key>name</key>
<string>Nuedoo</string>
<key>os_version</key>
<string>iPhone OS 6.1.4 (10B350)</string>
<key>system_ID</key>
<string></string>
<key>version</key>
<string>??? (???)</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Answer 1

Installing the app directly through XCode will use your 'Debug' configuration (depends also on how it's set in your build scheme). Archiving it first, will use your Adhoc/Release configuration.
The configurations may differ in search paths, constants, preprocessor macros and other things used during compile/build time.
Since it's working well when built directly from xcode, you may have a look at the differences between your Run build configuration ('Debug') and your 'Archive' build configuration ('Adhoc' in the image above).
To view differences between your configurations, select your app target and search for the fields with <Multiple values> (inside Build Settings tab)
You may also be able to set your 'Run' step to use the 'Release' configuration (with a correct provisioning that accepts your device), in which case you should be able to catch the exception when connected to xcode (and maybe have a better look at what's causing it using breakpoints).

Answer 2

KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS is ether a bad cast or a zombie object. If it was a bad cast it should crash in debug as well as release. The debugger can hide some memory errors. The good news it the crash in repeatable in the release build. You just need to profile your app in Instruments
using the Zombie Instrument.
Here is a good tutorial:
http://www.dimzzy.com/blog/2011/02/hunting-down-zombies-in-ios-apps/