A large number of Android users in the past few hours have been experiencing continuous shutdowns of Gmail and other applications, with some thinking that uninstalling the Android System WebView will stop the crash.
Update 23/03: Just after 11:00 pm Pacific time on Monday, Google issued a permanent fix for the application crash issue. It involves updating the Android WebView system and Chrome to version 89.0.4389.105:
Since then, Google has confirmed that the unexpected application failures were the result of an incorrect update of the WebView system component, which was removed last night and replaced with the new versions mentioned above.
The company also provided a fix for rare cases on Android 10 or 11 where a manual update to WebView or Chrome “may not be completed”. Go to Settings> Apps & notifications> Google Play Store> Storage & cache> Clear data. You can then proceed to follow the update steps, with Google watching how this workaround clears some of the Play Store settings, including parental controls and automatic update preferences.
Original 3/22: This problem starts with Android displaying warnings that warn how applications “keep closing”. Applications that are in the background and not currently open are also affected.
If this bug is affecting your device, all Android applications that use the WebView system component, which is responsible for showing web content and is updated along with Chrome every few weeks, will continue to crash. This includes Gmail – which many users are seeing broken now – and many other third-party applications. Google has recognized the email problem and is actively working to fix it. Users are advised to visit the web interface:
“We are aware of an issue with WebView that causes some applications on Android to crash. We are currently working to fully validate the scope and a correction is in progress ”. – Google spokesperson
The immediate solution to this problem involves finding the Play Store list for Android System WebView by visiting this link directly or by going to the “My apps and games” page, swiping to the left to the “Installed” tab and scrolling down – it must be one of the first applications. After that, tap on “Uninstall” and confirm at the prompt that appears.
If that doesn’t work for any reason, another course of action will be in System Settings> Applications and Notifications> See All Applications> Android WebView System> touch the three-point drop-down menu in the upper right corner> Uninstall updates> OK. These instructions are for Android 11 on Pixel smartphones, but it should be a similar process in other versions of the operating system and OEM devices.
Following these steps should interrupt the series of crashes, supported by Samsung recommending the same course of action today. It is not affecting all users, but it is widespread on Pixel and other devices.
Google seems to have released a bad update for the Android WebView system. Although this specific version has bugs, it is important to keep WebView at the latest version for security fixes, once the issue has been resolved.
Updating …
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