For those on Android, you may have experienced an issue with some apps crashing every time you open them. This was the case the last two days for me and I was not sure what the problem was. The apps were from different developers and for a moment I thought the issue had something to do with my phone.
Well, it looks like the problem has nothing to do with your smartphone. The problem was brought about by a buggy update to the Android System WebView app. The update was rolled out a couple of days back and affected a number of apps. For my case, apps including Blue Mail, Truecaller and a handful of other apps were affected.
To fix the issue, Google has advised users update the Android System WebView and the Google Chrome browser. Android System WebView is what allows Android apps to display web content. It comes pre-installed on all Android devices.
“We have resolved the issue with WebView that caused some apps on Android to crash for some users. Updating Android System WebView and Google Chrome via Google Play should now resolve the issue,” a Google spokesman said when speaking to the BBC.
To update the Android System WebView:
- Go to the Play Store
- Search for Android System WebView
- Choose the Update option
- Do the same for Google Chrome browser
Read: Google Reduces Play Store Cut to 15 Percent, with a Catch