diff --git a/.github/workflows/android-launch-smoke.yml b/.github/workflows/android-launch-smoke.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d69fe475e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/android-launch-smoke.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+name: Android TWA startup smoke (emulator)
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    paths:
+      - android/**
+      - scripts/android/launch-smoke.sh
+      - .github/workflows/android-launch-smoke.yml
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+jobs:
+  startup:
+    name: Launch Android TWA on a real emulator and capture crashes
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    timeout-minutes: 35
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@11d5960a326750d5838078e36cf38b85af677262 # v4
+      - uses: actions/setup-java@v4
+        with:
+          distribution: temurin
+          java-version: "17"
+      - uses: android-actions/setup-android@v4
+      - run: sdkmanager "platforms;android-36" "build-tools;36.0.0"
+      - uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@v4
+        with:
+          gradle-version: "8.13"
+      - name: Assemble unsigned debug APK with real launcher configuration
+        working-directory: android
+        run: gradle --no-daemon --stacktrace :app:assembleDebug
+      - name: Enable hardware virtualization for emulator
+        run: |
+          echo 'KERNEL=="kvm", GROUP="kvm", MODE="0666", OPTIONS+="static_node=kvm"' |
+            sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/99-kvm4all.rules
+          sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
+          sudo udevadm trigger --name-match=kvm
+      - name: Install, launch, and inspect TWA in Google Play emulator
+        uses: reactivecircus/android-emulator-runner@a421e43855164a8197daf9d8d40fe71c6996bb0d # v2
+        with:
+          api-level: 35
+          target: google_apis_playstore
+          arch: x86_64
+          profile: pixel_7
+          script: bash scripts/android/launch-smoke.sh
+      - name: Preserve startup logs for debugging even after a failure
+        if: always()
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@ea165f8d65b6e75b540449e92b4886f43607fa02 # v4
+        with:
+          name: menuminute-android-startup-logcat
+          path: android-launch-smoke/
+          if-no-files-found: warn
+          retention-days: 14
diff --git a/android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml b/android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
index c71ec1405..5f30c53fd 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
+++ b/android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
@@ -11,11 +11,24 @@
         android:usesCleartextTraffic="false"
         android:label="@string/app_name"
         android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
+        android:manageSpaceActivity="com.google.androidbrowserhelper.trusted.ManageDataLauncherActivity"
         android:supportsRtl="true"
         android:theme="@android:style/Theme.Translucent.NoTitleBar">
         <meta-data
             android:name="asset_statements"
             android:resource="@string/asset_statements" />
+
+        <!-- Android Browser Helper's LauncherActivity registers this component
+             on every startup. Omitting it causes an immediate fatal exception
+             while setting up the website's Android site-settings shortcut. -->
+        <activity
+            android:name="com.google.androidbrowserhelper.trusted.ManageDataLauncherActivity"
+            android:exported="false">
+            <meta-data
+                android:name="android.support.customtabs.trusted.MANAGE_SPACE_URL"
+                android:value="https://food.bababuilds.com" />
+        </activity>
+
         <activity
             android:name="com.google.androidbrowserhelper.trusted.LauncherActivity"
             android:exported="true"
diff --git a/scripts/android/launch-smoke.sh b/scripts/android/launch-smoke.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ab4223dee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/android/launch-smoke.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Run inside a clean Google Play emulator via android-emulator-runner.
+# Captures startup failures from the actual launcher before further Play releases.
+set -Eeuo pipefail
+pkg="com.bababuilds.menuminute"
+activity="com.google.androidbrowserhelper.trusted.LauncherActivity"
+out="android-launch-smoke"
+mkdir -p "$out"
+adb wait-for-device
+adb install -r android/app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk
+adb shell pm list packages > "$out/packages.txt"
+adb shell dumpsys package "$pkg" > "$out/installed-package.txt"
+adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release > "$out/android-version.txt"
+adb shell settings put global window_animation_scale 0
+adb logcat -c
+adb shell am force-stop "$pkg"
+echo "Launching $pkg/$activity in the clean emulator..."
+if ! adb shell am start -W -n "$pkg/$activity" > "$out/launch-result.txt" 2>&1; then
+  cat "$out/launch-result.txt"
+  exit 1
+fi
+sleep 22
+adb logcat -d -v threadtime -b crash > "$out/crash-buffer.txt" 2>&1 || true
+adb logcat -d -v threadtime AndroidRuntime:E TWALauncherActivity:V TwaLauncher:V QualityEnforcer:V ActivityTaskManager:W '*:S' > "$out/twa-startup-log.txt" 2>&1 || true
+adb shell dumpsys activity activities > "$out/activity-state.txt" || true
+cat "$out/launch-result.txt"
+if grep -Eq "(Process: $pkg|Process $pkg .* has died|FATAL EXCEPTION)" "$out/crash-buffer.txt"; then
+  echo "::error::Android launcher reported a Java crash. See captured crash-buffer.txt artifact."
+  sed -n '1,100p' "$out/crash-buffer.txt"
+  exit 1
+fi
+echo "Clean-emulator startup did not report a Java fatal exception."
+echo "NOTE: This checks the unsigned debug APK, not Google Play's re-signed bundle on the user's device."
diff --git a/tests/android-launch-manifest.test.ts b/tests/android-launch-manifest.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..47b2db4d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/android-launch-manifest.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import path from "node:path";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+const manifest = readFileSync(path.resolve("android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml"), "utf8");
+const application = manifest.split("<application")[1]?.split("</application>")[0] ?? "";
+
+describe("Android Browser Helper startup manifest completeness", () => {
+  it("declares the helper's site-settings activity before the TWA launcher", () => {
+    // LauncherActivity calls ManageDataLauncherActivity.addSiteSettingsShortcut()
+    // unconditionally; Android throws if its component is missing from the manifest.
+    expect(application).toContain(
+      'android:manageSpaceActivity="com.google.androidbrowserhelper.trusted.ManageDataLauncherActivity"'
+    );
+    expect(application).toContain(
+      'android:name="com.google.androidbrowserhelper.trusted.ManageDataLauncherActivity"'
+    );
+    expect(application).toContain('android:exported="false"');
+    expect(application).toContain(
+      'android:name="android.support.customtabs.trusted.MANAGE_SPACE_URL"'
+    );
+    expect(application.indexOf("ManageDataLauncherActivity")).toBeLessThan(
+      application.indexOf('android:name="com.google.androidbrowserhelper.trusted.LauncherActivity"')
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("preserves the installed package, Play Billing integrations, and trusted origin", () => {
+    expect(application).toContain("@string/asset_statements");
+    expect(application).toContain("@string/launch_url");
+    expect(application).toContain('android:name=".ExtraFeaturesService"');
+    expect(application).toContain(
+      'android:name="com.google.androidbrowserhelper.playbilling.provider.PaymentActivity"'
+    );
+  });
+});