diff --git a/src/import/RomImporter.lua b/src/import/RomImporter.lua
index 0db7980c..cb3c005e 100644
--- a/src/import/RomImporter.lua
+++ b/src/import/RomImporter.lua
@@ -5,6 +5,25 @@ local HostShell = require("src.core.HostShell")
 local RomImporter = {}
 RomImporter.__index = RomImporter
 
+-- love.system.pickFile is a NATIVE BRIDGE, not part of LÖVE: it exists only on
+-- builds that compiled one (Android, and iOS builds patched by
+-- mobile/ios/patch_love_src.py). A build without it must fall back to the
+-- copy-it-into-the-save-folder flow that every caller below already has --
+-- calling the nil field instead took the whole app down the moment the player
+-- pressed Import ROM:
+--
+--   src/import/RomImporter.lua: attempt to call field 'pickFile' (a nil value)
+--
+-- love.system.createFile was already guarded this way at its one call site;
+-- these three were not. Every caller here treats `false` as "no picker
+-- available" and shows its own notice, so a missing bridge now degrades to
+-- exactly the path a picker-less Android device has always taken.
+local function pickFile(...)
+  local fn = love.system.pickFile
+  if not fn then return false end
+  return fn(...) and true or false
+end
+
 -- Cache generation tag; bump to force every imported version to re-extract.
 local CACHE_FORMAT = "rom-cache-v8:"
 -- The completion marker is written under each version's cache prefix
@@ -984,7 +1003,7 @@ function RomImporter:chooseMod()
         self.modNotice and self.modNotice.ok)
       return
     end
-    if not love.system.pickFile("mod") then
+    if not pickFile("mod") then
       self.modNotice = { ok = false,
         text = "Could not open the file picker. Copy a mod .zip via USB." }
     else
@@ -1047,7 +1066,7 @@ function RomImporter:chooseSaveImport(version)
       return
     end
     self.androidPendingVersion = version
-    if not love.system.pickFile("sav") then
+    if not pickFile("sav") then
       self.androidPendingVersion = nil
       self.saveNotice[version] = { ok = false,
         text = "Could not open the file picker. Copy a .sav via USB." }
@@ -1135,7 +1154,7 @@ function RomImporter:choose(version)
       self:startData(data, name)
     elseif consumePickedRomError(self) then
       return   -- a rejected pick explains itself instead of silently reopening
-    elseif not love.system.pickFile() then
+    elseif not pickFile() then
       -- Picker unavailable (API < 19, or no document-picker app installed):
       -- fall back to the USB folder-drop path as a friendly notice, not an
       -- error (which would read as a rejected file).
diff --git a/tests/rom_importer_no_picker_test.lua b/tests/rom_importer_no_picker_test.lua
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..29dd6ae4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/rom_importer_no_picker_test.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+-- #482: pressing Import ROM crashed on iOS with
+--
+--   src/import/RomImporter.lua: attempt to call field 'pickFile' (a nil value)
+--
+-- love.system.pickFile is a native bridge, not part of LÖVE, so it is absent
+-- on any mobile build that did not compile one. The mobile path called it
+-- unguarded, so a missing bridge took the app down instead of falling back to
+-- the copy-into-the-save-folder flow each caller already had for a device with
+-- no document picker.
+--
+-- Self-contained: `luajit tests/rom_importer_no_picker_test.lua`; also
+-- dofile'd by tests/run_tests.lua.
+package.path = "./?.lua;./?/init.lua;" .. package.path
+if not _G.love then _G.love = require("tests.love_stub") end
+
+local S = require("tests.harness").suite("rom importer without a picker")
+local eq = S.eq
+local check = S.check
+
+local RomImporter = require("src.import.RomImporter")
+
+love.system = love.system or {}
+local saved = {
+  getOS = love.system.getOS,
+  pickFile = love.system.pickFile,
+  getSaveDirectory = love.filesystem.getSaveDirectory,
+}
+
+love.filesystem.getSaveDirectory = function() return "/tmp/pokemon-love2d" end
+love.system.getOS = function() return "iOS" end
+-- the condition the crash reports were in: a build with no native bridge
+love.system.pickFile = nil
+
+local function freshImporter()
+  return setmetatable({
+    android = true,          -- RomImporter treats iOS as the mobile path
+    workState = nil,
+    ready = { red = false, blue = false, yellow = false },
+    notice = nil,
+    modNotice = nil,
+    saveNotice = {},
+    chooseVersion = nil,
+    startData = function(self, data, displayName)
+      self._started = { data = data, name = displayName }
+    end,
+    _installMod = function(self, name) self._mod = name end,
+    _importSave = function(self, version, name) self._save = name end,
+  }, RomImporter)
+end
+
+-- ------- Import ROM
+
+local ri = freshImporter()
+local ok, err = pcall(function() ri:choose("red") end)
+check(ok, "Import ROM does not crash without a picker: " .. tostring(err))
+check(ri.notice ~= nil, "and it explains itself instead of doing nothing")
+eq(ri.notice.detail, "/tmp/pokemon-love2d",
+  "pointing at the folder to copy the ROM into")
+check(not ri.pickPending, "with no pick left pending on a picker that never opened")
+
+-- Yellow takes the same path: the crash was never version-specific.
+ri = freshImporter()
+ok = pcall(function() ri:choose("yellow") end)
+check(ok, "Import ROM for Yellow does not crash either")
+
+-- ------- Import mod .zip
+
+ri = freshImporter()
+ok, err = pcall(function() ri:chooseMod() end)
+check(ok, "Import mod does not crash without a picker: " .. tostring(err))
+check(ri.modNotice ~= nil and ri.modNotice.ok == false,
+  "and reports that the picker could not open")
+
+-- ------- Import save
+
+ri = freshImporter()
+ok, err = pcall(function() ri:chooseSaveImport("red") end)
+check(ok, "Import save does not crash without a picker: " .. tostring(err))
+check(ri.saveNotice.red ~= nil and ri.saveNotice.red.ok == false,
+  "and reports that the picker could not open")
+eq(ri.androidPendingVersion, nil,
+  "leaving no pending import for a pick that never happened")
+
+-- ------- and the picker is still used when the bridge IS there
+
+local pickCalls = 0
+love.system.pickFile = function() pickCalls = pickCalls + 1 return true end
+ri = freshImporter()
+ri:choose("red")
+eq(pickCalls, 1, "a build WITH the bridge still opens the picker")
+check(ri.pickPending, "and waits for the pick to come back")
+
+love.system.getOS = saved.getOS
+love.system.pickFile = saved.pickFile
+love.filesystem.getSaveDirectory = saved.getSaveDirectory
+
+S.finish()
diff --git a/tests/run_tests.lua b/tests/run_tests.lua
index b2809cfe..d75e356d 100644
--- a/tests/run_tests.lua
+++ b/tests/run_tests.lua
@@ -3337,6 +3337,9 @@ runSuites({ "tests/rom_importer_android_pick_test.lua" })
 
 -- ---------------------------------------------- Android mod / save SAF pick
 runSuites({ "tests/rom_importer_android_mod_pick_test.lua" })
+
+-- ---------------------------------------------- import with no picker (#482)
+runSuites({ "tests/rom_importer_no_picker_test.lua" })
 -- ---------------------------------------------- parity workstream tests
 -- Each tests/parity_*.lua is a self-contained file (own bootstrap + check,
 -- error()s if any assertion fails).  Globbed, so dropping a new parity