Games Failing to Launch After Mobile Upgrade

[Rob Meade]

Hello,

I used to have a Galaxy S10+, not entirely sure, but I think it ran version 11 of Android.

Having broken the screen on that phone recently I bought a Galaxy S22+, I think this runs Android version 13.

One thing I've noticed is that a lot of the games I had that previous ran, no longer do. Some launch a loading screen, other just a black screen.

One of them which is particularly annoying, which does "sometimes" work is PacMan256. What I've noticed here is that when the game starts to load (animated pacman on the main screen), the Google Play rounded rectangular bar opens at the top, I think this is some kind of login or something, but when that happens, the game just stops completely, the animated pacman freezes, and you can sit there and wait indefinitely and nothing happens.

I'm not familiar with all of the parts of "Android" etc, I dont really want/need to be, just wany things to work etc. I recall, years ago, issues with the Google Play Services, I think I enrolled in a beta program and ended up getting a version which was a bit newer which resolved other issues I was having on the Galaxy S10+.

I don't suppose anyone would have any insight as to why I may be experiencing the issuse I'm having on the new phone. I kinda expected things to just transition from the old mobile to the new one without all the hassle.

The games I tend to install/play are usually fairly simplistic, e.g. PacMan/Backgammon/Chess/BomberMan/Monopoly, not things like Total War or Call of Duty or anything which really feels like it would be pushing the envelope.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. Very will to try updating/changing settings and so on if anyone can guide me through the process.

Kind regards,

Rob

 

[mustang7757]

These games are from Play store?
You using game launcher ?

Make sure no VPN?

You tried uninstall then reinstall the games?


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

 

[Rob Meade]

Hi, thanks for the reply, and the link - I'm registered!

To answer your questions...

Yes, the games are from the Play Store, all of them.

I wasn't sure what the Game Launcher was until I tried it about a week ago, it promptly removed all of the app icons, and I didn't appreciate that. So I changed the setting so that they would appear again and haven't used it since.

I'm not using a VPN.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the games.

Some games do work fine, for example, Clash of Clans, which also does the Google Play login thing, that sequence/process doesn't appear to get stuck.

Earlier I cleared the cache/data for Google Play Games app and immediately afterwards I was able to launch and play PacMan256. Several hours later, I try to play the same game again, back to the original problem where it just freezes on the loading screen as the Google Play login thing appears. That might be a red herring and not related at all, but it seems coincidental etc.

 

[Annie_M]

Welcome to the forums!

 

[mustang7757]

Hi, thanks for the reply, and the link - I'm registered!

To answer your questions...

Yes, the games are from the Play Store, all of them.

I wasn't sure what the Game Launcher was until I tried it about a week ago, it promptly removed all of the app icons, and I didn't appreciate that. So I changed the setting so that they would appear again and haven't used it since.

I'm not using a VPN.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the games.

Some games do work fine, for example, Clash of Clans, which also does the Google Play login thing, that sequence/process doesn't appear to get stuck.

Earlier I cleared the cache/data for Google Play Games app and immediately afterwards I was able to launch and play PacMan256. Several hours later, I try to play the same game again, back to the original problem where it just freezes on the loading screen as the Google Play login thing appears. That might be a red herring and not related at all, but it seems coincidental etc.

Hi Rob, your welcome!
Welcome to AC!

Hmm and no ad guard or app cleaners , antivirus installed? I've seen members with those installed cause issues like you described

 

[Rob Meade]

Welcome to the forums!

Thank you

 

[Rob Meade]

Hi Rob, your welcome!
Welcome to AC!

Hmm and no ad guard or app cleaners , antivirus installed? I've seen members with those installed cause issues like you described

Thanks, and nope, nothing like that, no ad guard, no app cleaners.

Norton360 is installed, it was re-installed as part of the backup/recovery after my old phone was damaged. But its not "activated" and I've not logged in or anything with it, it doesn't look setup yet, but might be running I guess.

I can uninstall that if you think its worth a try, although this was installed on the Galaxy S10+ I had previously and the games all worked fine then.

The Google login thing I mentioned btw, it Google Play Games app, I checked the icon etc.. shows my name and avatar, so I guess its a sign in for things like score and achievements.

 

[mustang7757]

Thanks, and nope, nothing like that, no ad guard, no app cleaners.

Norton360 is installed, it was re-installed as part of the backup/recovery after my old phone was damaged. But its not "activated" and I've not logged in or anything with it, it doesn't look setup yet, but might be running I guess.

I can uninstall that if you think its worth a try, although this was installed on the Galaxy S10+ I had previously and the games all worked fine then.

The Google login thing I mentioned btw, it Google Play Games app, I checked the icon etc.. shows my name and avatar, so I guess its a sign in for things like score and achievements.

Ok yes uninstall then reboot the phone

 

[rvbfan]

It's sad, Norton and Macafee were such good antivirus back in the day.
Never saw the use for them on Android but I guess manufacturers get their cut from preinstalling them. Seems to be a lot of issues are fixed by deleting those apps right away.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Rob Meade]

Hey, @Mustand7757
I've uninstalled Norton360, rebooted and then tried launching the game again.

First time, same behaviour as before.
Second time, game launched, played one game, played a second game, game crashed (froze etc).
Third time, same original behaviour, wouldn't launch (froze on main screen during Google Play Games appearance)

Think that probably rules out Norton.

I don't know really anything about the Android operating system, but, is there any chance here that the game(s) may just not be fully compatible (for whatever reason) with the newer version of Android? e.g. may need the developer to release a newer build that references the latest AOS?

I think the Google Play Games thing might be a red herring too, as Clash of Clans works fine and has the same Google Play Games thing at start up.

Hi @rvbfan, yeah, I've used Norton for a very long time on my PC, always felt it was a good product. In recent years I've been a bit disappointed with what they've started doing, the first thing was a banner on the app that was suggesting I could mine crypto when my PC wasn't being used. I didn't appreciate that at all. The second thing was all of the popup notifications it fires up "Did you know..." many of which are for features that are not turned on, but some are for other products (Norton Utilities etc). The third issue is their ridiculous renewal price. As a loyal customer for approximately 10+ years, I don't expect to see a renewal for £50 when I can buy an entirely new (alledgedly) product, with a year's subscription for £25 in either PC World, or Amazon etc. When I webchat them, they'll always meet the price, but if they are going to do that, why not just do it in the first place and not try and fleece me! Sorry, OT rant!

 

[mustang7757]

Yeah it's not Norton , most likely like you said not working properly due to Android version can contact the Dev of those games see what they say but I would leave Norton off .

 

[Rob Meade]

What a pain eh... you'd imagine a new phone would make things better.

Not that anyone will be interested I'm sure, but the Galaxy S10+, I'd dropped it loads of times in the past, but it seemed to always land on a corner, and the case took the impact, it survived well for a very long time. On Christmas Day I took myself off to the coast for a coastal walk. I visited a landmark in the UK, and whilst juggling an umbrella, a drink, and then my phone I managed to drop it. This time, it landed screen down, on a rocky path, bounced a couple of times, landing face down on more rocks. Literally couldn't make it up.

Initially, just a small crach on the left edge of the screen and a green line going all the way across. It was still responsive and I could still take some photos. For some reason "stupid brain" engaged and I decided to apply a little "pressure" with my finger on the edge of the crack (perhaps part of my neanderthal brain thought that squeezing it would fix it). At this point, everything below the green line went bright white. Above the green line was now completely unresponsive, and the bottom half, although bright white, would still respond to touch, except you couldn't actually see what you were touching.

I searched online to try to find ways to power it down (to conserve the battery), but all that did was restart the phone, which made things worse, as then I couldn't put my passcode in to unlock it. Good old two step verification added the final gut punch, by constantly sending notifications to the old phone, now unuseable, which meant I couldn't set up the new one correctly. It also meant I couldn't easily copy all of the content across either, as it needed to be unlocked.

Official prices for a new screen - £300. Local market-stall-trading-guy suggested £200 for the part, if he could get it, and maybe around £50 for the fix... annoying to think I'll have to pay this to one day get the last bits of my content from it.

Backups were setup, but they had run about 4 days before hand, so photos of myself and my lad on Christmas Day effectively gone.

Anyhoo - thanks for all of the replies and the welcoming to the group - I'm sure I'll be back with more questions in the future.

 

[mustang7757]

Yeah those screens are expensive on Samsung it comes with the whole digitalizer , I use the white stone dome glass screen protector on these Samsung devices with curved screens and have drop it few times like you mentioned screen down and was ok .

Look forward to having you around the forums we have great community and members here .

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