Around 2pm I unlocked my phone to check upon the news stories of the day, while having my lunch, the app that I clicked on stopped as the home page was trying to load and the error message flashed on screen. I killed the app and tried again.....same result.
Oh oh...something wrong, but I know some quick fixes. Went to the app info section and did a cache and data clearance....that should do the trick.
Lo behold...the app still didn't start....
Now what....ah forgot the 1st rule of IT....switch off and on....in this case.... uninstall and reinstall....simple
Ok don't panic...there are other apps to check the news on....but wait....they are not working as well.
Ok...let's ask Google about it...
Aaahhhhhhh....GOOGLE IS NOT WORKING
Thoughts flash through my brain in about a second...in no particular sequence
1. Is my phone infected....Did I download some malware from my oft visited site,
2. Is it some underhand trick by the phone company in trying to scare me into updating my phone to the soon-to-be launched new model
4. Has the government released a new set of apps to be banned,
After the 1st second, i was pretty sure that the 1st option was the most valid explanation.
I tried a few other apps and the worked fine...so some relief....phew...
Got hold of my laptop and typed in Google.....and I reached the site.....yaaawww
So the Google seach said that something called as the WebView service was affected due to which the apps had stopped running....there were some blogs with some quick fixes, but an official update from Google was expected in 3-4 hrs.
I decided to wait from the update and it came around 8 pm where in they asked to update WevView and Chrome applications in Play store and the issue should be resolved.
Happy to write, the apps r working just fine.