Chrome on Fairly New Phone Seriously Malfunctioning

[js10]

I'm having a strange problem with my fairly new phone (only a few months old) in which the Chrome browser essentially stops working. It's hard to describe in words and there's no reason to! So please see the attached screenshot. The good news is that restarting the phone DOES temporarily fix it, but it keeps happening again and this is getting annoying. Any idea why and if there's a way to fix it, or is it just something I'm going to have to live with with this phone? Thank you

 

[joeldf]

Try using Firefox. See if the same thing happens on it.

I personally never liked Chrome. It always gave me problems. Not like you're showing there though - that looks like things aren't finished loading, just showing blank placeholders.

 

[B. Diddy]

Go to Settings>Apps, select Chrome, then Storage, and then clear the app cache and app data. Then Force Stop the app, and then open it again. Does the problem persist?

 

[Laura Knotek]

Are you using an ad blocker? Sometimes ad blockers block sites that have "amp" in the URL. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerated_Mobile_Pages?wprov=sfla1

That's my example from AdGuard.

 

[SeeBeeEss]

@B. Diddy may be on to something and certainly try his suggestion. @joeldf may also be on to something as it also appears to me like a possible loading issue, where things have started loading but don't complete because of connectivity issues. I had them with 2 of my Motorola phones.

I don't see a WiFi icon on your screenshot. Does your issue only occur on cellular or does it also occur on WiFi? There are numerous reports of connectivity issues and fixes found online for the Moto G and if you are experiencing one, it could explain the uncompleted load.

 

[js10]

Go to Settings>Apps, select Chrome, then Storage, and then clear the app cache and app data. Then Force Stop the app, and then open it again. Does the problem persist?

Clearing did not, but force stopping DID seem to work. Thank you! However, it will be interesting to see how long this lasts. As I said above, restarting the phone works as well, but is annoying. So if nothing else this will give me a quicker way of getting it displaying properly again. But if it keeps happening, it still indicates to me some kind of defect in Chrome. I've never experienced this on another phone. At any rate, thank you!

 

[js10]

Are you using an ad blocker? Sometimes ad blockers block sites that have "amp" in the URL. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerated_Mobile_Pages?wprov=sfla1

That's my example from AdGuard.

No, no ad blocking software that I'm aware of (as in unless something downloaded without my knowledge or consent). But good suggestion -- thank you!

 

[js10]

Try using Firefox. See if the same thing happens on it.

I personally never liked Chrome. It always gave me problems. Not like you're showing there though - that looks like things aren't finished loading, just showing blank placeholders.

That's certainly an option, although not really a "fix" I would say! It still begs the question, I think, of why something isn't working properly on a fairly new phone. Thanks.

 

[B. Diddy]

Clearing did not, but force stopping DID seem to work. Thank you! However, it will be interesting to see how long this lasts. As I said above, restarting the phone works as well, but is annoying. So if nothing else this will give me a quicker way of getting it displaying properly again. But if it keeps happening, it still indicates to me some kind of defect in Chrome. I've never experienced this on another phone. At any rate, thank you!

It might also be a temporary bug with that version of Chrome. I saw a new Chrome update was available in the Play Store, so keep checking for updates.

 

[js10]

Well, the "force stop" trick has stopped working! So Chrome is basically permanently unusable now (well, permanent until I do something like reinstall it). I just want to ask, though. Motorola is obviously saying that Chrome is third-party software and this is a bug in that software. Do you think that's 100% true, or could it indicate something wrong with the phone's hardware? If it's the latter, the phone is still under warranty so that's important for me to know. Thanks.

 

[B. Diddy]

Did Chrome come preinstalled on the phone? If so, see if the problem persists in Safe Mode: https://en-us.support.motorola.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/153514/~/safe-mode

Since this doesn't happen on any of my phones, I wouldn't say that it's a bug with Chrome. There might be something interfering with Chrome, or there might be something about Moto's firmware that's causing the glitch.

 

[js10]

Yes, it did come preinstalled. And I just tried safe mode and, yes, the problem persists! Actually, it's even stranger than that. On tabs that were already open, when I reloaded them, the display issues persisted. When I tried opening new tabs and navigating to a certain page, I didn't even get that. Instead, mostly white space with what looks like a little black image of a dinosaur (seriously) on the side. I can take another screenshot if necessary. But the bottom line is that, no, it's not like it solved the problem.

 

[B. Diddy]

Can you test this on various networks, like free public wi-fi networks at your library or local coffeehouse?

 

[js10]

I actually originally encountered the problem while not in my house! But I guess while receiving data, not a wi-fi network. Would that make a difference? But the point is that it's not just in my house.

By the way, Motorola's suggestion was to uninstall and reinstall Chrome. But now it looks like it's not even possible to uninstall Chrome. All you can do is "turn it off." At least that's what it says when googling "uninstall chrome android." Is that, in fact, correct? If so, it would show how incompetent their support is, telling me to do something that's not even possible!

 

[B. Diddy]

It probably won't make a difference on wi-fi vs. mobile data, but still worth checking.

Also, are you using a VPN?