A number of Android apps started to crash, including Gmal, for me on my Android phone last evening and this morning. Tried the normal reboot, update apps and system update. Those did not help.
While searching for information if there is a known issue I found this:
Android apps like Gmail are crashing and ‘WebView’ is to blame article tells “A number of Android users (self included) suddenly saw notifications pop up on their devices saying that apps had stopped running. Many of the apps throwing errors suddenly can’t be opened, and they include important ones like Gmail, a number of banking apps, Google Pay and others.”
The recommended first solution was
Uninstalling one Android app could get your phone working normally again.
I did not try that immediately because it seems that Google has confirmed the issue and its link to the WebView app. According to a spokesperson, “We are aware of an issue with WebView causing some apps on Android to crash. We are currently working to fully validate the scope and a fix is in progress.” According to the status message, there will be an update.
I checkedv Android system WebView info at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.webview. There was a new update available. Installing it solved the problem for me with Samsung A70.
4 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
R. Lawler / Engadget:
Android apps like Gmail and Google Pay were crashing and “WebView” was to blame; Google says the problem is now fixed — This afternoon, a number of Android users (self included) suddenly saw notifications pop up on their devices saying that apps had stopped running.
Android apps like Gmail are crashing and ‘WebView’ is to blame
Install a newer update to clear up any error messages.
https://www.engadget.com/android-gmail-stop-running-webview-234125352.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGVjaG1lbWUuY29tLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADaCmLh1-npMIPAKnMRbHkVN6yaJSCA8kfskBWvsv8ORqoQ8GvlAKFG3JVLWIKmP4VUf1RZbZKZZh909q9Jndw2d_js41Rl8YukgmraJgRLmjbfNMOimxJPlMcDYdHXLhv9ZsCPVspO3iV9ICiMaWiagEcX8dPmQYnmTkv6-J-SH
Update (3/23 5:30 AM ET): Google’s status page now gives the all clear, and instructs affected users to open the Play Store and download the latest update for WebView as well as Google Chrome to avoid errors. I tried this on my phone and initially downloaded the previous update that was causing problems, but after I checked again and downloaded the new update everything is working smoothly once again.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Are your Android apps crashing? You’re not alone (Updated: Gmail fixed)
https://www.androidauthority.com/android-apps-crashing-1210994/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Some apps were crashing for Android users.
The issue was due to a system component called Android System WebView that lets Android apps display web content.
Google now has a fix that requires users to update Android System WebView to version 89.0.4389.105 and Google Chrome to the latest version. Both are available on Google Play.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fixed this. Here is the link https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/galaxy-s21-series/permanent-fix-for-app-crashes-available/td-p/3124439