Google Pixel Owners Complain About Repeated App Crashes, Could Be Android WebView Bug: Report

Apps reportedly close immediately after being opened

Written by Sheldon Pinto, Edited by Manas Mitul | Updated: 19 July 2023 10:57 IST

Google Pixel Owners Complain About Repeated App Crashes, Could Be Android WebView Bug: Report

The Pixel 7a is the latest device from Google to be launched in India

Highlights

The issue seems to affect both Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 series smartphones
The issue affects both Google and third-party apps
There is no confirmed working solution for the same just yet

Google's Pixel smartphone users have started complaining about seeing app crashes on their devices. The app crashes seem to affect Google's own preinstalled apps such as Gmail, Messages, Chrome and even random third-party apps. At the moment, there seems to be no defined solution to this app crashing issue in sight. Some users believe that this is a bad Android System WebView update that's affecting both new, recent and old Pixel smartphones. Regardless of the solutions, this issue does seem to be spreading gradually.

First reported by 9to5Google, issues regarding app crashes seem to be popping up in the r/GooglePixel subreddit on Reddit. There are a number of threads complaining about the crashes and while a majority of commenters appear to be having the same problem, the solution for most varies from individual to individual with some reports of the issue getting resolved by itself.

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Most of the users complaining about the same online own a Pixel 6 or a Pixel 7 series devices. This would include devices like the Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro. While this issue seems to be spreading gradually, it does seem to affect all Pixel smartphone users. While there are also comments on some threads about both Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 smartphone owners not being impacted by the crashes, the most recent comment mentions a Pixel 5 model seemingly affected by the same issue.

While the apps take just five seconds to crash after being launched, the solutions found across threads seem to vary. So, there seems to be no defined solution for the same.

Most users claim that a restart does not seem to help. Some state that the issue is down to carrier services, advising others to uninstall updates for the service if possible. Others have posted success after a factory reset, while some claim that even a factory reset does not solve the issue.

Many state that this could be a bad Android System WebView update. WebView is a tool which basically lets a user access the chrome browser in an app to display information from a webpage without leaving the app. Since a lot of apps utilise this, it's no wonder that a bad update could lead to numerous crashes.

As reported by some users in the same threads, uninstalling the latest Android System WebView update has resolved the problem for a few. In previous instances which appeared to affect Samsung's Galaxy smartphones, Google had to issue an update for the same to solve the problem of repeated app crashes.

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Google Pixel 6

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display 6.40-inch

Processor Google Tensor

Front Camera 8-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 12-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB

Battery Capacity 4614mAh

OS Android 12

Resolution 1080x2400 pixels

More Google mobiles Google mobiles price in India

Google Pixel 6 Pro

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display 6.70-inch

Processor Google Tensor

Front Camera 11.1-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 12-megapixel + 48-megapixel

RAM 8GB, 12GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB

Battery Capacity 5003mAh

OS Android 12

Resolution 1440x3120 pixels

More Google mobiles Google mobiles price in India

Google Pixel 7

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Sharp, 90Hz display
Good quality cameras
Good gaming performance
Bloatware-free software, timely updates
Good battery life
IP68 rating

Bad
Video recording could be better
Gets warm under load
No bundled charger
Relatively slow charging

Read detailed Google Pixel 7 review

Display 6.30-inch

Processor Google Tensor G2

Front Camera 10.8-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 12-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 128GB

OS Android 13

Resolution 1080x2400 pixels

More Google mobiles Google mobiles price in India

Google Pixel 7 Pro

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Sharp, 120Hz display
Good quality cameras
Good gaming performance
Bloatware-free software, timely updates
Premium design, IP68 rating

Bad
Gets warm under load
No bundled charger
Underwhelming battery life
Relatively slow charging

Read detailed Google Pixel 7 Pro review

Display 6.70-inch

Processor Google Tensor G2

Front Camera 10.8-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 48-megapixel + 12-megapixel

RAM 12GB

Storage 128GB

OS Android 13

Resolution 1440x3120 pixels

More Google mobiles Google mobiles price in India

Google Pixel 5

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display 6.00-inch

Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G

Front Camera 8-megapixel

Rear Camera 12.2-megapixel + 16-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 128GB

Battery Capacity 4080mAh

OS Android 11

Resolution 1080x2340 pixels

More Google mobiles Google mobiles price in India

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Further reading: Google, Pixel, Android System WebView, Android System Update, Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Bugs

Sheldon Pinto

Email Sheldon Pinto

Sheldon Pinto is based in Mumbai, and has several years of experience in reviewing smartphones and gadgets. As a Senior Reviewer at Gadgets 360, you will always find him deeply immersed in his reviews, switching from one phone to another. When the battery dies out, Sheldon is always browsing the web for a good sci-fi movie or reading up on cars and bikes. He also loves creating lists of interesting places to eat and travel. Sheldon is available on Twitter at @shellshocd, and you can mail him at ...More