App crashes from signed APK but not Android studio

Question

My application runs just fine when installed from Android studio but as soon as I install and signed APK to any device the app will not run. Below is a crash dump from a friends device that was provided from the Google Play Developer Console. Obviously it has something to do with the layout but I'm not sure what is causing it in the release build but not while testing. No Errors show up when I'm testing it on my device and there are no errors in android studio. I'm fairly new to developing so I am not sure what to do. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{com.j.a.p/com.j.a.p.MainActivity}: android.view.InflateException: Binary XML file line #11: Binary XML file line #11: Error inflating class android.support.design.widget.NavigationView
        at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:3253)
        at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:3349)
        at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1100(ActivityThread.java:221)
        at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1794)
        at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:102)
        at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:158)
        at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:7224)
        at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
        at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:1230)
        at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:1120)
    Caused by: android.view.InflateException: Binary XML file line #11: Binary XML file line #11: Error inflating class android.support.design.widget.NavigationView
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:551)
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:429)
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:380)
        at android.support.v7.a.w.a(SourceFile:257)
        at android.support.v7.a.p.setContentView(SourceFile:109)
        at com.j.a.p.MainActivity.onCreate(SourceFile:31)
        at android.app.Activity.performCreate(Activity.java:6876)
        at android.app.Instrumentation.callActivityOnCreate(Instrumentation.java:1135)
        at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:3206)
        ... 9 more
    Caused by: android.view.InflateException: Binary XML file line #11: Error inflating class android.support.design.widget.NavigationView
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.createView(LayoutInflater.java:657)
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.createViewFromTag(LayoutInflater.java:776)
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.createViewFromTag(LayoutInflater.java:716)
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.rInflate(LayoutInflater.java:847)
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.rInflateChildren(LayoutInflater.java:810)
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:527)
        ... 17 more
    Caused by: java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
        at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Native Method)
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.createView(LayoutInflater.java:631)
        ... 22 more
    Caused by: android.view.InflateException: Binary XML file line #17: Binary XML file line #17: Error inflating class android.support.design.internal.NavigationMenuView
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:551)
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:429)
        at android.support.design.internal.c.a(SourceFile:97)
        at android.support.design.widget.NavigationView.<init>(SourceFile:165)
        at android.support.design.widget.NavigationView.<init>(SourceFile:94)
        ... 24 more
    Caused by: android.view.InflateException: Binary XML file line #17: Error inflating class android.support.design.internal.NavigationMenuView
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.createView(LayoutInflater.java:657)
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.createViewFromTag(LayoutInflater.java:776)
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.createViewFromTag(LayoutInflater.java:716)
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:498)
        ... 28 more
    Caused by: java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
        at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Native Method)
        at android.view.LayoutInflater.createView(LayoutInflater.java:631)
        ... 31 more
    Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException: Binary XML file line #17: Error creating LayoutManager android.support.v7.widget.LinearLayoutManager
        at android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView.a(SourceFile:540)
        at android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView.<init>(SourceFile:485)
        at android.support.design.internal.NavigationMenuView.<init>(SourceFile:39)
        at android.support.design.internal.NavigationMenuView.<init>(SourceFile:35)
        ... 33 more
    Caused by: java.lang.NoSuchMethodException: <init> []
        at java.lang.Class.getConstructor(Class.java:528)
        at java.lang.Class.getConstructor(Class.java:492)
        at android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView.a(SourceFile:537)
        ... 36 more
    Caused by: java.lang.NoSuchMethodException: <init> [class android.content.Context, interface android.util.AttributeSet, int, int]
        at java.lang.Class.getConstructor(Class.java:528)
        at java.lang.Class.getConstructor(Class.java:492)
        at android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView.a(SourceFile:532)
        ... 36 more

Answer 1

Try deleting proguard directory in your project On any proguard files such as proguard-android.txt or proguard-rules.pro.

2nd option - try in your build.gradle file

 buildTypes {

        debug {
            minifyEnabled false

        }
        release {
            minifyEnabled false

        }
    }

Use any of the options or a combination of both