Some apps, notably the Samsung email app , won't run

[Android Central Question]

I've got a samsung J3 running Android version 9.

The Samsung email app, vers 6.1.12.1, has stopped working. It synchs OK and displays a list of received emails, but when I try to open one, it just closes the app.
One other app is also faulty, National Rail enquiries. It opens but immediately closes.

All other apps, Internet access, Phone, Gallery, Messages, Facebok etc all work fine. So what could be affecting just these two apps, and how do I fix it ?

I've updated the system and that made no difference. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the national rail app, but that made no difference.
Anything else I should try before doing a full factory reset ?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[mustang7757]

Try resetting it by long press it and tap info then scroll to storage and clear data , cache and force stop it ...let me know !


I'll leave a Link to register so you can communicate here as a guest account you can only post questions but can't reply.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=409154

 

[Hollean]

Hi Mustang, I'm the original poster, Ive logged in now as myself.
Thanks for that suggestions. I've restarted the phone. Is that what you meant by resetting ? Scrolled to settings/Device care/storage. It says phone is 100% optimised and doesn't offer an option to clear cache. I take that to mean cache is already cleared . Is that right ?
I've then gone to apps/email and forced stop .
Its made no difference.
The fact that two different apps are playing up leads me to think it could be something external which affect both.
An other ideas ?

 

[mustang7757]

Hi Mustang, I'm the original poster, Ive logged in now as myself.
Thanks for that suggestions. I've restarted the phone. Is that what you meant by resetting ? Scrolled to settings/Device care/storage. It says phone is 100% optimised and doesn't offer an option to clear cache. I take that to mean cache is already cleared . Is that right ?
I've then gone to apps/email and forced stop .
Its made no difference.
The fact that two different apps are playing up leads me to think it could be something external which affect both.
An other ideas ?

Hi, welcome!

You did the long press on email app and tap info scroll to storage and clear data ,cache and force stop in that order?

 

[Hollean]

Sorry,Sorry No. I hadn't done that right.
Long press on email app brings up a box offerring to Select items, Remove from home, disable, App info.
Ive now cleared data, cleared cache and forced stop. Of course that has cleared all the settings so now there will be a delay whilst I repopulate the email app with all its settings !

 

[Hollean]

Ok. Ive restored the settings from a backup and everything is exactly as it was. Email App receives email but crashes when I try to open one. Remember its not just the email app which is exhibiting problems. Its also the National rail enquiries app. That's why I think it may be some system function which is common to both, but I've no idea where to start looking.

 

[mustang7757]

Sorry,Sorry No. I hadn't done that right.
Long press on email app brings up a box offerring to Select items, Remove from home, disable, App info.
Ive now cleared data, cleared cache and forced stop. Of course that has cleared all the settings so now there will be a delay whilst I repopulate the email app with all its settings !

App info tap

I want you try this because it can be a glitch with the app

 

[Hollean]

App info tap

I want you try this because it can be a glitch with the app

Yes I have. I've done the long press, cleared the data, cleared the cache and forced the stop. I've then restored the server settings from my back up. And no change.

 

[mustang7757]

Yes I have. I've done the long press, cleared the data, cleared the cache and forced the stop. I've then restored the server settings from my back up. And no change.

Which email you using in the email app?

 

[B. Diddy]

Does the Email app work in Safe Mode? https://www.t-mobile.com/support/devices/android/samsung-j3-prime/safe-mode-samsung-galaxy-j3-prime

 

[Jumbo78]

Did you try not to restore from backup after cleaning data? New setup?

 

[Hollean]

B Diddy, Thanks for that Good suggestion. So I've switched to Safe mode and there's no difference.Email crashes when I try to open a message
Everybody is focussing on the email app, but can I remind you that there are two apps which have suddenly stopped working, which makes me wonder if it is a system function which is common to both.

 

[Hollean]

Which email you using in the email app?

I'm not sure why that's relevant. The email address is accessed by logging on to an IMAP server at my ISP. It's working fine on multiple other devices so I can't see that it would be anything on the host ISP server causing my android app to crash. Remember the app is accessing the server and is downloading the email, so thats fine. It only crashes when I try to read the contents.

 

[mustang7757]

I'm not sure why that's relevant. The email address is accessed by logging on to an IMAP server at my ISP. It's working fine on multiple other devices so I can't see that it would be anything on the host ISP server causing my android app to crash. Remember the app is accessing the server and is downloading the email, so thats fine. It only crashes when I try to read the contents.

No thats good its set as IMAP , trying see if you can try its native app whichever email your using see if still a problem.

 

[B. Diddy]

Everybody is focussing on the email app, but can I remind you that there are two apps which have suddenly stopped working, which makes me wonder if it is a system function which is common to both.

That's true, but if the problem even occurs in Safe Mode, that suggests an issue with the firmware, not some 3rd party app causing interference (since Safe Mode would have disabled that 3rd party app).

Try wiping the cache partition if you haven't already (and this is not the same as clearing an app's cache in the system settings): https://www.t-mobile.com/support/de.../wipe-cache-partition-samsung-galaxy-j3-prime

If that doesn't help, then you may have to resort to a factory reset.

 

[mustang7757]

Don't forget this is a very old android version almost going be 5 version old which is a lot .

But we focusing one app at a time

 

[Hollean]

That's true, but if the problem even occurs in Safe Mode, that suggests an issue with the firmware, not some 3rd party app causing interference (since Safe Mode would have disabled that 3rd party app).

Try wiping the cache partition if you haven't already (and this is not the same as clearing an app's cache in the system settings): https://www.t-mobile.com/support/de.../wipe-cache-partition-samsung-galaxy-j3-prime

If that doesn't help, then you may have to resort to a factory reset.

Thanks B Diddy. I followed the instructions, so thank you for that, and it cleared the cache. However the fault remains the same. Ill leave it for now, but tomorrow I'll perform a full factory reset.

 

[Hollean]

Thanks B Diddy. I followed the instructions, so thank you for that, and it cleared the cache. However the fault remains the same. Ill leave it for now, but tomorrow I'll perform a full factory reset.

Thanks Mustang and B Diddy for all your help. I've now performed a back up, factory reset and restore and everything works as it should. Thank you and keep safe, wherever you are.

 

[mustang7757]

Thanks Mustang and B Diddy for all your help. I've now performed a back up, factory reset and restore and everything works as it should. Thank you and keep safe, wherever you are.

That's great, thanks for letting us know.
Your welcome, and stay safe also.