What if apps won’t download or update? What do you do? This is a common problem with devices and happens to both Android and iOS phones and tablets. The problem is that there is no one universal way to fix it. There could be many different things causing this to happen but you don’t know which one is the culprit. It could be problems with the app, app store, or OS on the device. All you can do is work your way through all the many fixes for each problem until one finally works.
It is time consuming and sometimes frustrating, but you will eventually get your device working again. Before long you will be able to download and update apps again. Here are a bunch of fixes to try. Hopefully one will do the trick to fix things up.
Completely Close Out of App: You might not realize that when you exit an app you aren’t actually closing it. It is still running in the background. You have to completely close out the app by opening up running tasks. This is usually just tapping a button (like the small square on Android at the bottom of the screen). You will see a picture of all the running apps. You have to swipe them to the right to close them completely. Then try reloading the app and then update it if the update box pops up.
Clear Cache: Just like on a computer, your device will hold on to some information about an app for easy loading or playing. You need to delete the cache regularly. This helps free up space and might help an app work better. If you are having problems with your app store then remove cache for that app. If you are having issues with a specific app then clear cache for that game. Then try to download updates again.
To clear cache open up your apps in settings. Tap on the app you want to clear. You will see a button to clear cache.
Force Close an App: As mentioned before some apps keep running in the background even after you exit them. Even closing them by swiping might not be enough to fully stop an errant app. If you having issues with the app store you can try to force stop it. Under Apps in your settings, tap on the app store. You will see a button that says “Force Stop.” Tap it and you will get an error saying that force stopping an app might cause others to act weird. Hit it anyway. Now try reloading the store and downloading/updating an app.
Remove and Re-add Account: Another fix to try is to remove your Google or Apple account from your device and the re-add it. This might fix bugs with your account by treating it like you are using a new account. You remove your account from within the phone settings. Locate your account within the settings and choose the option to remove (Android) or reset (iOS) the account. You will then need to restart the phone and then add your account details again. Everything should be safe and nothing will be deleted.
Force Restart of the Device: One way to fix issues is to restart the phone. You’ve probably tried that a few times. You can next try to force restart the phone. This is a hard restart that shuts down all apps. The process of doing a hard restart is different for different phones. It always involves pressing and holding certain buttons until the phone shuts down. You can turn the phone back on and check to see if the app will download or update now. Do an online search for your phone and the words “force restart” to find out what button to press and hold on your device. This works with phones and tablets.
Turn Off Automatic Updates and Perform Manual Updates: If your issues is only with updating apps and not downloading them this trick might work for you. This only works if you have your device set to perform automatic updates. Sometimes the device just won’t update or it starts to try to update an app but halts at the beginning. To try this trick you have to go to your app store settings. Find the updates section and turn off automatic updates. Restart the phone. Go into the app store and do a search for the app you want to update. Tap on the “update” button (where it usually says download) and see if it updates manually.
Manually Download New App Store: If you can’t download or update apps in the app store then you can try to delete the app store and reinstall a new version. You remove the app store the same way you remove a regular app but re-downloading it is different. You have to go online and find the APK file for the app store. Make sure it is a safe app download site and that you download the newest version of the app store. You always have to have your phone set to allow outside apps. This is found under “Security” in settings.
- Locate the APK file for the app store online
- Download the file on your PC
- Connect your device and your PC
- Move the APK file from your PC to your device
- Remove device from PC
- Open APK file on device
- Allow installation
- Once installed, load up the app store and see if you can download or update apps now.
Do a Full Restore: This should be your last resort and only if you can’t download apps no matter what you do. A full restore wipes the device back to factory settings. It will look and act the same as it did the moment you first turn it on. Always back up contacts, photos, and anything else on the device that you want to save because it will be deleted. Restoring devices is different for Android and iOS so do a search on how to perform it properly or go to the store you purchased the device from and ask them to do it.
What if apps won’t download or update? If you have this question you now know the many ways you can try to fix this problem.
What if apps won’t download or update? This is common problem with many different fixes. Learn the many fixes and find which ones works for your device.
