Google Fixes Gmail, Chrome Crash Issue With Android System WebView Update

Google has fixed an issue with Android System WebView that caused apps like Gmail, Google Chrome, and others to crash. According to a report, users started noticing these crashes on Monday afternoon and at the time, Google recommended users to switch to the desktop client for Gmail. The search giant acknowledged the issue on its Google Workspace Status Dashboard and was regularly updating it with follow ups, till it was able to fix the issue around noon today, March 23.

Some Google apps including Gmail and Google Chrome were crashing for Android users due to an issue with Android System WebView – a system component powered by Chrome that allows Android apps to display web content. As per the report by The Verge, these app crashes started on March 22, Monday afternoon, and according to the Google Workspace Status Dashboard, the company acknowledged the issue at 4:35am today, March 23.

“We're aware of a problem with Gmail affecting a significant subset of users. The affected users are unable to access Gmail. We will provide an update by 3/23/21, 5:35 AM detailing when we expect to resolve the problem,” the update from Google reads.

It then advised users to switch to the Gmail Web interface on desktop temporarily till the issue is fixed. By 11:48am, Google solved the issue with Android System WebView and released an updated version - 89.0.4389.105, as well as an update for Google Chrome. Users will need to update Android System WebView and Google Chrome from Google Play store in case they are facing these issues.

“We have resolved the issue with WebView that caused some apps on Android to crash for some users. Updating Android System WebView and Google Chrome via Google Play should now resolve the issue,” a Google spokesperson told Gadgets 360.

While the services were down, Samsung Support tweeted that removing the latest update to WebView will fix the issue, along with steps for how to do so, which seemed to fix the issue for some users.

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