Google has fixed an issue with Android WebView System that crashed apps like Gmail, Google Chrome and others. According to a report, users began noticing these blockages on Monday afternoon, at which point Google recommended that users switch to the desktop client for Gmail. The search giant recognized the problem on its Google Workspace status panel and periodically updated it with follow-ups, until it was able to fix the problem around noon today, March 23rd.
Some Google apps, including Gmail and Google Chrome, were blocked for Android users due to an issue with Android System WebView, a Chrome-enabled system component that allows Android apps to display web content . According to The Verge report, these app crashes began on Monday afternoon, March 22, and according to the Google Workspace status panel, the company recognized the problem at 4:35 p.m. this morning, March 23rd.
“We are aware of an issue with Gmail affecting a significant subset of users. Affected users are unable to access Gmail. We will provide an update before 3/23/21 at 5:35 AM detailing when we expect to resolve the issue.” says the Google update.
Users were then advised to temporarily switch to the Gmail web interface on the desktop until the issue was resolved. At 11:48 a.m., Google resolved the issue with Android System WebView and released an updated version: 89.0.4389.105, as well as an update to Google Chrome. Users will need to upgrade to Android System WebView and Google Chrome from the Google Play Store in case they face these issues.
“We’ve fixed the issue with WebView which caused some Android apps to crash for some users. Upgrading the Android WebView system and Google Chrome via Google Play should now resolve the issue,” a Google spokesman told Gadgets 360.
While the services were not working, Samsung’s support he tweeted that removing the latest WebView update will fix the problem, along with the steps to do so, which seemed to fix the problem for some users.
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