Recent Update Crashes Android Apps

An update to some component in Android causes some apps to crash consistently when you use them. Google is working on a solution.

 

The problem is in the Android System WebView component. This allows apps to display web content. Think of the Gmail app, which in practice is mainly a refined web view of your mailbox.

Google tells The Verge that it is aware of the problem and is working on a solution. A tip that is circulating is to remove the latest update.

Samsung, among others, recommends this approach on Twitter, followed by a restart.

Since this morning, the problem should be solved anyway: if you suffer from crashing apps, it is recommended to install the most recent version of WebView.