This afternoon, a number of Android users (including themselves) suddenly saw notifications appear on their devices saying that apps had stopped. Lots of error-giving apps suddenly can’t be opened, and they include important apps like Gmail, a number of banking apps, Google Pay, and others.
There are reports of the problem on DownDetector, Reddit and Twitterand the Google Workspace Cloud Status Dashboard confirmed they are aware of the issues with the Gmail app on Android. According to the status message, there will be an update on the issue by 8:05 p.m. ET (see below for more information).
If you are having this problem, one thing that has worked for many people is to go to the Google Play Store on your device and uninstall the latest update from a system app called “Android system webview“It’s the app that provides Chrome-like browser rendering in apps, and according to developers and end users, a lot of the errors people see indicate the problem lies there.
Uninstalling updates made my phone calm down and go back to normal, and it may work for your device. As noted below, Google has confirmed an issue with WebView and is currently working on a fix.
Update (8:26 p.m. ET): 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 to crash on Android. We are currently working to fully validate the scope and a fix is underway.”
