google says it resolved an issue causing gmail and other android apps to crash for some people on monday. The problem was apparently caused by a bug in an earlier version of android’s system webview, a system component that allows android apps to display web content.
To fix the problem, the tech giant said that people should go to google play to update android system web view and google chrome.
these are the steps established by google:
1. Navigate to play store app2. search android webview3 system. select the “update” option 4. repeat these steps for google chrome
Issues with gmail and other android apps started showing up on Monday afternoon and lasted about seven hours, according to google’s status dashboard for gmail. Many people took to Twitter and Reddit to report issues with Android apps crashing, including Samsung and Pixel phone owners.
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“We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support,” Google said in the final update to its Gmail status dashboard. “Rest assured, system reliability is a top priority at Google, and we’re making continuous improvements to improve our systems.”
While google was fixing the problem, some people found that uninstalling the buggy version of webview provided a temporary solution. samsung support twitter account even suggested people take that step.
if you used this workaround while waiting for google to fix the problem, you need to reinstall webview to restore full functionality to your phone, in addition to updating chrome. keeping applications up to date is important to get the latest security fixes.