A sudden, weird, and concerning wave of apps crashing is going around the world. Several Android apps have suddenly started throwing notifications that they have stopped running.
An unknown but seemingly large number of Android users across the world are currently experiencing strange, unpredicted, and abrupt app crashes. The apps crash without warning or updating. Google is reportedly aware of the situation.
Popular and stable Android apps suddenly crashing across the world:
Popular Android apps such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and several others have suddenly started misbehaving, and crashing abruptly. This behavior is concerning, to say the least.
Independent outage monitor Down Detector has seen a spike in Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Google down reports today. The same phenomenon is corroborated by Redditors, Twitter users, and other social media platforms.
I'd be interested in reading a postmortem for this Android System Webview incident https://t.co/RrDWI8CoaV
— James Harvey (@jmhredsox) March 23, 2021
The Google Workspace Cloud Status Dashboard has confirmed the Android OS developer is aware of the problems, at least with Gmail. The latest status on the page has indicated the company is working to “investigate” the issue.
Google has confirmed that the weird issue doesn’t impact Google Workspace services. The company further advises affected users to use the desktop Gmail Web interface instead of the Gmail Android app.
You have to go to
Play Store > menu > My Apps & Games > InstalledScroll down to find Android System Webview. pic.twitter.com/u2ZQKdISVh
— Dylan Ramsey (@dylan_ramsey) March 23, 2021
What this basically means is that Google Services are working fine. Instead, there’s some as-yet-unknown issue or issues on the Android side.
While Google has confirmed issues with Gmail, Android smartphone users have noted several other Android apps are crashing or refusing to start. Some users noted even prominent banking apps, including Google Pay aren’t operating correctly.
Google hints at Android System WebView as the possible culprit behind abrupt app crashing?
Several social media users have indicated that Android System WebView is causing app misbehavior and crashes. WebView is essentially a platform, wrapped in an app format that provides Chrome-like browser rendering within other apps.
Some developers have come forward and claimed that many of the errors people are seeing indicate the problem lies in the Android System WebView. Hence, uninstalling the same seems to alleviate the situation significantly.
Simply put, if Android smartphone users are having trouble with apps crashing or not launching correctly, uninstall the Android System WebView app. There are a few simple methods for uninstalling the app.
Problemi Android: il crash delle varie app sembrerebbe sia dovuto all'applicazione Webview Update.
Seguite i passaggi qui sotto, riavviate il telefono e dovrebbe risolversi👇 pic.twitter.com/VB8L161ztX— Alessandro Regge (@91Reggae) March 22, 2021
Android users can head over to Android System WebView’s Google Play Store link and hitting Uninstall. Users can also go to the “My apps & games” page, swipe left to the “Installed” tab, and scroll down. The app should be one of the first few apps. After that, tap “Uninstall” and confirm the prompt that appears.
In case users are still facing trouble, then head over to their Android mobile device’s system Settings > Apps & notifications > See all apps > Android System WebView. After locating the app, tap the three-dot overflow menu in the top-right corner > Uninstall updates > OK.
It's been an app crash apocalypse all afternoon over here. Quick fix if you're an Android user: https://t.co/Hshpvm5Djc
— kjoiiooi (@kjoiiooi) March 23, 2021
Do remember to hit reboot after trying any one of the methods. It is important to note that Android System WebView is a system app. Android smartphone users should be able to uninstall only the updates to the app and revert it to the factory-installed version. In case users cannot uninstall, simply wait. It is quite likely that Google will release some bug fixes.
Reports indicate Google is aware of the problem. It seems the company may have released a “bad update” that seems to crash other apps when they try to access some functions.