serious UI issues on nvidia shield in respect to controllers and config files

Is there an existing issue for this?

• This is a bug in RetroArch frontend
• I have searched the existing issues

Description

i do not know where to begin. i have always had weird UI issues over many versions but thought the latest build would have resolved a lot.

• loading a saved config frequently causes a crash
• controller buttons will change or stop working if other controllers disconnect. reconnecting other controllers can sometimes fix the current controller buttons
• randomly while in a session of using the app whether a core or content is loaded or not the menu accept and back buttons flip or change buttons entirely or if the active controller disconnects due to idle. this is while in the same core and same content. i am not talking about button changes with remaps between cores or content. even still, the buttons for the main UI change as well
• saving a specific controller button config in the main input setting will cause it to not save but actually load the previous save config. no idea how i got it to save once. i know because one specific button is not auto assigned in a previous save.
• saving and loading remap files within quick menu will disable buttons such as D pad without ever changing them.

Expected behavior

• loading a config file will load and not crash
• disconnected controllers should not cause connected controller buttons to change or stop working and vise versa
• buttons should not randomly change or stop working after time or from idle
• saving a controller configuration in the main UI should save the file, not load a previous file or defaults
• saving and loading remap configs should remap buttons correctly

Steps to reproduce the bug

• load a main config causes crash
• let a secondary controller disconnect/reconnect a secondary controller
• other than letting app idle i do not know how buttons randomly change.
• manually set button assignments in main UI config, then save the config file
• save or load a remap in the quick menu at any level; core; playlist or single content

Version/Commit

1.22.2

Bisect Results

not sure

Present in the nightly version

I don't know

Platform & operating system

android 11

Affected Cores

n/a

Environment information

nvidia shield 2019
2019 shield controller, 2019 remote, and 8bitdo m30 bluetooth are the controllers

Relevant log output

Start by reproducing the reports on Android 11 with the Nvidia Shield 2019, its controller and remote, and the 8bitdo M30. Exercise main config loading and saving, controller disconnect and reconnect, and quick-menu remap save/load while collecting logs. Done means each behavior has a reliable reproduction and the affected configuration or controller path is identified.