Over the past few hours a large number of Android users have been experiencing constant Gmail and other app shutdowns, with some finding that uninstalling the Android system Webview will stop crashing.
Update 3/23: After 11pm PT on Monday night, Google issued a permanent fix for the app crashing issue. This includes updating both Android System WebView and Chrome to version 89.0.4389.105:
Google has since confirmed that an unexpected application crash was the result of a bad update to the Webview system component, which was pulled yesterday evening and replaced by the newer versions mentioned above.
The company has also provided a fix for rare cases on Android 10 or 11 where a manual update of Webview or Chrome may “fail to complete.” Go to Settings> Apps & Notifications> Google Play Store> Storage & Cache> Clear Data. You can then proceed by following the update steps, Google has noticed how this workround clears some of your Play Store settings, including parental controls and auto-update-update preferences.
Original 3/22: This issue prompts Android to throw away warnings on how to “keep apps off”. Applications that are in the background and not currently open are also affected.
If this bug is affecting your device, all Android apps that use the WebView system component, which is responsible for displaying web content and is updated with Chrome every few weeks, will continue to crash. This includes Gmail – which many users are now seeing broken – and many other third-party applications. Google has acknowledged the email issue and is actively working on a fix. Users are advised to visit the web interface:
“We are aware of the issue with Webwave due to some apps crashing on Android. We are currently working to fully validate the scope and an improvement is in progress. “- Google Spokesperson
The immediate solution to this problem involves finding the Play Store list for the Android system webview – by visiting this link directly, or by going to the “My Apps and Games” page, swiping left on the “Installed” tab, and scrolling down – Be one of the first apps to be. After that, tap “Uninstall” and confirm at the prompt that appears.
If it doesn’t work for any reason, another course of action is System Settings> Apps & Notifications> View all apps> Android System Webview> Tap the three-dot overflow menu in the upper-right corner> Uninstall Updates> OK. These instructions are for Android 11 on Pixel phones, but it should have the same process on other OS versions and OEM devices.
Following that step, with Samsung support, the series of crashes should stop Recommended Same action today. It is not affecting all users, but it is very widespread in Pixel and other devices.
Google seems to have taken a bad update on the Android system webview. When this particular release is corrupted, it is important to keep the webview on the latest version for security fixes once the issue is resolved.
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