Monday, April 27, 2015
A few days ago, my HTC One (M8) purchased through Verizon started experiencing difficulties opening an app or two. Select apps crash immediately after launching and other force close when hitting the back button. I had initially thought it was an issue for those apps and didn’t think much of it. Then, as we progressed into this weekend, it became more prevalent.
Another member of the Talk Android team with Verizon’s One (M8) as well as multiple cases spotted on the web prove that I am not alone. Here are some links:
- htc one m8 crashing (Verizon Wireless Community)
- Malfunction (Verizon Wireless Community)
- Apps all closing. Help! (/r/htcone)
- M8 from Verizon, applications are all closing and other errors (/r/htcone)
The device’s own HTC Service Pack app was updated earlier in the week and had no effect; however, the issue started late on Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. The app that was updated around then, and is believed to be the culprit of this bug, is apparently Google’s Android System WebView. This is the app that allows other apps to display web content.
Device owners, including myself, have performed factory resets and the usual ‘start over’ processes. That has returned nothing and the issue remains. We have no idea what the exact issue here is, but some are saying that uninstalling the Android System WebView app provides a fix. Understand that uninstalling the Android System WebView app may have security implications and put your device at risk for other bugs.
