Crashing Android Apps? Let’s try to find out a solution
If you constantly struggle with the super-annoying issue of Android apps crashing all the time, the good news is you’re not alone! Not that it helps, but it’s comforting to know that thousands of other people are right now experiencing the same hair-tearing frustration you are.
Since the earliest days of smartphone technology, software has been moderately reliable at best. Even today, with the most incredibly advanced and capable mobile technology ever seen, crashing, freezing and generally-failing software is far from unusual.
Which begs the obvious question – why is it that apps crash in the first place? And more importantly, is there anything you can do to prevent it from happening?
Why Do Apps Freeze or Crash?
Addressing the initial question first of all, there are actually countless reasons why certain applications seem to continually freeze or crash.
For one thing, it’s important to bear in mind that while there are thousands of different devices out there running entirely different builds of Android, developers have the task of creating apps that work consistently across all of them. Which is, for obvious reasons, a pretty difficult job to say the least. Hence why some apps run like a treat on certain devices and cause nothing but headaches on others.
Then of course there’s the possibility of the app having been poorly coded and developed in the first place. If the app has any glaring issues behind the scenes, it’s largely inevitable that it is going to freeze and crash on a regular basis. Or at least, not run nearly as efficiently or reliably as it should.
On top of this, there are all manner of hardware, software and connectivity issues that can cause apps to freeze or crash. Some of which you have direct control over, others not so much.
How to Stop Apps Freezing and Crashing
On the plus side, the manual measures you can implement to reduce the likelihood of Android apps freezing and crashing are (for the most part) extremely simple. You aren’t going to need a free software for Android rooting to hack into the code of the OS and nor are you going to need any technical skills of any kind.
Instead, simply try your hand with the following fixes – some of which can be surprisingly effective:
Restart Your Device
At the risk of pointing out the most obvious and cliché guideline of all, you’d be surprised just how effective a simple restart can be. Particularly if you can’t remember the last time your mobile device was switched off. The simple fact of the matter is that the longer you keep your device operational, the more apps and processes will inevitably be running in the background. Which in turn means that its memory and processing power alike could have become dangerously clogged. Should this be the case, it could be having an impact on the apps you run. Power off and restart your device to clear things up and improve performance in general.
Update Your Apps
There never has been and never will be an app that’s released in its initial form and proves to be perfect. There is always, ALWAYS a wide variety of bugs and issues that need to be addressed over time. And this is precisely why developers offer a near-constant stream of updates for the most popular applications. If you aren’t regularly updating your apps as and when required, this could explain why they are not performing properly. You can update your apps manually through the Google Play Store, or switch on automatic updates to make things even easier.
Update Android
And it’s exactly the same story with Android, too. Packed to bursting point with an astonishing array of errors, omissions and general bugs behind the scenes, Google’s development team is constantly throwing out patches, fixes and important updates. Once again, you need to keep on top of these updates to keep your device and apps running as they should.
Internet Connection Issues
Quite a lot of apps can freeze or crash on a regular basis, simply because your Internet connection isn’t strong or consistent enough. Far from a problem with your device, this is usually caused by problems deep within the coding of the application itself. Still, it’s worth testing things out for yourself – see if the strength and consistency of the Internet connection you have at the time makes any difference to crash-rates.
Clear Cache and Data
The more data that piles up in your device’s cache, the more likely it is to encounter problems with freezing, crashing and sluggish performance in general. As such, it’s a good idea to occasionally manually clear your cache and give things something of a boost. This can be done with Android by simply going into the settings menu, entering the apps section and clearing the cache of any apps that keep crashing.
Reinstall the App
In a surprising majority of cases, uninstalling and reinstalling can work wonders. Over time, apps sometimes cease operating normally due to corrupted coding and other software issues. If you have an application that previously ran fine, though for some reason suddenly started crashing at a random moment, this could be the case. Simply reinstall the latest version of the app from scratch and chances are it will do the job.
Clear Some Space
Particularly while in use, apps need a decent amount of free storage space to run smoothly and reliably. The more congested your device’s memory is, the more difficult it becomes for apps to run appropriately. Which means that if you have next to no space left on your device whatsoever, you might want to think about clearing things out a bit. Or at least, transferring some of the files from your phone’s internal memory to a memory card.
Factory Reset
If you seem to be having problems with a variety of apps, rather than a select one or two, chances are the problem is with your device. While it may not be guaranteed to work, you can always try a factory reset to take things back to the bare basics of when you first bought your phone. Just be sure to back up everything you don’t want to lose beforehand – a factory reset will wipe pretty much everything from your phone, apart from the operating system it shipped with.
Upgrade Your Device
Last but not least, if you really don’t seem to be getting anywhere with any of the above tips, it could be time to upgrade your device. Whether there’s a hardware problem that cannot be corrected or your device’s specifications just aren’t built to deal with modern apps, you may find upgrading to a better device solves all your crashing and freezing problems in an instant!
