You are typing a message or scrolling through a feed and the screen freezes. You get thrown back to the home screen with a popup saying the app keeps stopping error on android. You open it again and it crashes again. Do not panic or think your phone is broken.
This is a very common software glitch. It is usually caused by a bad cache file, a buggy background service, or full storage. Here is exactly how to fix it right now without losing your data. Try these methods in order.
Fix 1 Force Stop and Clear Cache
Whenever an app crashes, this should be your first step. It deletes temporary junk files without deleting your accounts or logging you out.
- Go to Settings and tap on Apps.
- Tap on See all apps and find the crashing app.
- Tap Force Stop.
- Tap on Storage and cache.
- Tap Clear Cache. Do not tap Clear Storage yet.
Go back and open the app. This simple step solves the problem most of the time.
Fix 2 Update Android System WebView
If multiple apps are crashing at the exact same time like Gmail and Chrome, the app is not the problem. The issue is a hidden background service called Android System WebView. When this gets a bad update from Google, many apps stop working.
- Open the Google Play Store.
- Search for Android System WebView.
- If you see an Update button, tap it immediately.
- Do the same thing for Google Chrome.
If the download gets stuck, go to Settings, then Apps, find Google Play Store, go to Storage and tap Clear Cache. Try downloading it again.
Fix 3 Clear App Data
If clearing the cache did not work, we need to wipe the app clean. Doing this will log you out of the app and delete any offline files downloaded inside it. You will need your password to log back in.
- Go to Settings and tap on Apps.
- Find the crashing app.
- Tap on Storage and cache.
- Tap Clear Storage or Clear Data and hit OK.
When you open the app next, it will act like you just installed it for the first time.
Fix 4 Free Up Phone Storage
Android phones hate being full. If your internal storage is completely full, apps do not have the physical memory they need to load. This makes them crash instantly.
Go to Settings and tap on Storage. If the bar is red and you only have a few megabytes left, you need to clean up. Delete old WhatsApp videos, remove games you do not play, or use the Files by Google app to clear large junk files. Aim for at least two to three gigabytes of free space.
Fix 5 Uninstall a Buggy Update
Sometimes developers push a bad update to the Play Store. If an app was working perfectly yesterday but keeps crashing today, the new update is likely the problem.
- Go to Settings and tap on Apps.
- Find the app causing trouble.
- Look at the top right corner for three vertical dots.
- Tap Uninstall updates.
This rolls the app back to the factory version which is usually much more stable.
The Bottom Line
Dealing with app crashes is annoying, but it is rarely a hardware issue. Clearing the cache or fixing the WebView service gets things running smoothly again in a few minutes. If you tried everything and that one specific app is still crashing, the developer probably broke it. Uninstall it, wait a day for a patch, and download it again.
