• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Google Play Services keeps stopping.

J

jcbhydro

Lurker
Good Afternoon,

For several weeks I have been plagued with the corrupted Google Play Services update which produces the persisting message ' Google Play Services keeps stopping'. Messages on the the internet make suggestions as to how to uninstall and re-install this app, but none of the suggested solutions seem to work.
This problem makes the unit virtually inoperable.
It is apparent that many Samsung Android users are having the same problem.
Any suggestion for a definitive method of correcting this problem would be gratefully received.

jcbhydro
 
The error repeats every 10 seconds or so, which I consider makes it inoperable. If the 'close app' option is not tapped then the errors accumulate, requiring multiple taps to get back to where you were.
jcbhydro
 
Hi ocnbrze,

When you use the term re-boot, do you mean a 'factory reset'?
I have hesitated to do the latter as I understand that this would mean doing a backup with the likelihood of 'restoring' the corrupted file with all the other apps.

jcbhydro
 
Reboot is synonymous with Restart, so no it is not a Factory Reset. That 'Reboot' reference is just a carry-over term referring to how a computer starts up, which is itself is a reference to an actual boot (footwear).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booting
But for the most part, doing a Restart (a.k.a. Reboot) is always something to do first. That solves a lot of random glitches that might occur so if the problem persists after a Restart than at least you know there's something more to look into than just a one-off problem.
If you do opt to do an actual Factory Reset, that may indeed solve your problem but it is something of a drastic measure. Instead, I'd suggest you try to fix the Play Store problem itself before you trying a more comprehensive option like a Factory Reset. Go into your Settings >> Apps menu (it will likely be buried as a submenu as Samsung alters the Setting menus in its devices) and scroll down and find the Google Play Store app in the list, tap on 'Force stop' then find and open 'Clear storage'. Using Clear storage will wipe the app's config settings and cache (note that 'Clear cache' is relatively harmless, 'Clear data' is more involved so be more judicious about using it). If there are also related apps like 'Google Play services' and 'Google Play Services for AR' you might want to do the same. Then be sure to restart (reboot) your phone so the necessary background processes get 'restarted' too (the Android operating system gets reloaded into RAM as your phone starts up). Wait a couple of minutes after your phone restarts for the Google Play services to update themselves (the Clear data step requires your phone to re-authenticate itself to your online Google account settings, because Google wouldn't be Google if it can't keep track of your Play Store actions.)
 
If you do have a bunk update on Google Play Services (yes, this can happen), then you can uninstall all updates for this app.

Depending on the device and Android version, the method can vary.

First, find the app in the app manager.

Settings
Apps & notifications
Google Play Services

Try to disable it.
If a toast message pops up (last one of a few) that states that you will uninstall any updates and return the app to the original factory version, then do so.

Disregard any warnings that pop up, you will not lose any vital data by disabling Google Play Services.

If that particular message does not appear, then look for a 3 dot icon (overflow) in the upper right.

Select that, and choose Uninstall updates.

Now, being that your device is old by tech standards, the factory version of this app my not be fully compatible with everything today.
But the factory version is a great starting point.

Enable the app again if you have not already done so.

If you have Google Play Store set to auto update, I highly recommend that you turn that OFF.
This setting is inside the Play Store app.

See if the above efforts solve the immediate issue with Play Services.

If not, then open the Play Store app and find Google Play Services.
If it shows an update available, first check the recent reviews to see if there are issues with recent updates, and if not, then allow it to do the update.

I abhor Google, but if I absolutely have to update any of their system apps, then I have discovered that I really need to get them right from the source.

I use multiple other app stores, and have had multiple issues with bad updates of Google system apps before.

Lucky for me that I don't use many of their apps at all.

But Google Play Services is tangled around most everything about your device (did I mention that I don't like Google?), and the constant barage of notifications if something is triggered can be most annoying.

I have a device that I deGoogled as much as possible without rooting it, and when I disabled Google Play Services the Wi-Fi kept shutting off.
A notification popped up that said 'Wi-Fi Manager won't work without Google Play Services'.
This is ridiculous, because the Wi-Fi works fine without the blasted Wi-Fi Manager (which, of course, cannot be disabled).

So that means that the only thing that the Wi-Fi Manager app does in reality is to make sure that you have Google Play Services running if you want to be able to use Wi-Fi.

I really didn't need yet another reason to not trust or dislike Google, but it is what it is.

I solved the issue by allowing Play Services to run, but blocked its internet access with a firewall.
Wi-Fi Manager sees that Google Play Services is running, and leaves me alone.

Sorry for the rant, but I wanted you to see that others are very aware of how annoying these pestilence notifications can be.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom