ios 17.4.1 causing issues with fossil 5e 1669

You will need to contact Fossil support for further assistance with this matter. Each manufacturer has an opportunity to participate in the Apple Developer program where they would be introduced to beta versions of the Apple operating systems to check for compatibility with their products.

It's simple really. Apple would never be able to release important updates if they had to wait for every third-party to test their dated apps from being compatible with macOS. It would also potentially jeopardize users as they would not get timely security updates.

Again, Apple provides a lengthy beta time period to developers. Developers get these betas well before they even become public betas.

Anytime you update a device's operating system, there's always a chance that some third-party app will not work ... at least, not initially. Nothing new here.