Google Play Shutting Down message

[js10]

Hi. Over the past few days, I've been incessantly (I mean, seriously like every few seconds) getting the "unfortunately Google Play has shut down" message. I know there are some Youtube videos on the subject but they all have way more downvotes then upvotes, so it seems to be hard to get reliable information on this topic. I'm hoping I can get it here, though! Quite simply, does anyone know of a reliable fix? Thank you.

 

[B. Diddy]

Which device? What's the exact message? There isn't an app that's simply called "Google Play" -- is it Google Play Services, or one of the media apps like Google Play Music?

 

[js10]

Hi. Okay, the device is a Moto G First Generation, which is, yes, a very old phone. It's actually not my primary phone anymore, but I do use it for one specific purpose. At any rate, sure, here's the EXACT message: Unfortunately, Google Play Store has stopped.

So, as you can tell, it's the Store, not Music, etc.

Hope this helps! Thank you.

 

[B. Diddy]

Have you already tried clearing the Play Store app's cache and data in Settings>Apps​?

 

[js10]

I have now, but had some trouble doing so. Basically, I couldn't clear the data at all as the button is grayed out. Is also says 0.00B, so maybe I did it successfully once and now can't do so again. As for "clear cache," it does say 16.00 KB this time, but when I tap on the button, nothing happens. So, even after trying this, the message persists.

 

[B. Diddy]

What Android version is it on -- 5.1?

Go to Settings>Accounts>Google -- is your Google account information correct, and is everything syncing normally according to the information there?

 

[js10]

Yes, 5.1.

As for the Google account information, yes, the e-mail address listed, at least, is correct. However, the syncing is a bit more problematic. Under Accounts, it actually says that sync is off. Then when I tap on it, it says on the bottom of the screen "Sync is currently experiencing problems. It will be back shortly." I don't know how long that's been going on, though. Is there anything in particular that should be syncing properly in order to prevent this constant error message?

 

[B. Diddy]

First thing to try is to clear the cache partition: https://support.motorola.com/in/en/solution/ms97470. If that doesn't work, then go to Settings>Apps>All, select Google Play Services, then Clear Cache/Clear Data. If that doesn't help, then try removing your Google account, then adding it back again.

 

[js10]

Just to let you know, and for the benefit of anyone else experiencing this problem and reading this, what I ended up doing was just tapping on the option to disable the app, letting it give me the warning message, letting it ask me if I wanted to install the default version of the app, and then accepting that option. With that, no more error message. Hope this helps!