You probably donât need to say that owners of Android devices have come across a service such as Google Play. Unfortunately, quite often when using it, the system displays a message that an error has occurred in the Google Play Service application, followed by a brief description and a failure code. Let's see what it is connected with and how to deal with it.
What is Google Play?
Let's start a little from afar and figure out what the Google Play service is, also called the Play Market or Android Market.
In fact, this is a remote file storage, which presents the software and multimedia content used in the environment of the Android operating system. This is almost the same as the AppStore service, developed for Apple devices.
If you look at the service itself, here all the content is clearly structured by the type of content, for example, programs, games, music, films, books, etc. But basically you should pay attention to the fact that both paid and free content are presented here . Despite the purchase of a program or game, a server error on Google Play is a common occurrence. Now we will consider the most probable causes of such failures, as well as the recommended method of troubleshooting.
Why are there errors in the Google Play service?
The most common cause of crashes and error messages is the cache overflow on the service itself. Sometimes the error in receiving Google Play data may be associated with the installation of unofficial firmware or even with updating the service itself. In some cases, it is possible that an incorrect user identification occurs (impossibility to enter the service under an existing account). Finally, if the software was initially installed on a removable memory card, it is logical to assume that it is simply faulty, or if there is not enough free space on it. But first things first.
Google Play Types and Error Codes
As for the types of errors, almost all of them are related to downloading content when installing applications, programs, games or updating already installed ones.
The most common errors are with codes 413, 491, 492, 498, 905, 919, 921, 923, 927, etc., you just wonât list them all. It is somewhat incomprehensible, however, why the service produces such a huge number of varieties of failures with different codes, although they all have one root cause.
An error occurred in the Google Play Service application: what does this mean in most cases?
Service failures, as is already understood, are common. Suffice it to say that sometimes, for example, error 921 Google Play may appear, which, as the system itself writes, is unknown, again, it only indicates that some content cannot be downloaded or updated.
However, since all errors are of the same nature, the procedure for correcting them for almost all cases remains the same and comes down to only three things: clearing the cache and application data, deleting updates of the service itself and entering the account correctly. It goes without saying that the error of the Google Play Market may be associated with a malfunction of removable media, but this will be discussed a bit later. In the meantime, dwell on the simplest solutions.
The simplest way to fix all errors by clearing the cache
So, suppose an unknown Google Play error occurs during data loading or when updating the application. For some reason, the system and the service itself do not identify such a failure, indicating an unknown reason for the origin. This is usually a Google Play error 921.
Based on the foregoing, you should do the following: go to the settings of the mobile device and select the application menu there, and then find Google Play. When you enter the main menu of the desired section, you will be able to use two buttons: clear the cache and delete data. Note that if the error does not contain code 905, updates can be left without touching. An unknown Google Play error with code 921 is completely eliminated by the specified method.
Removing Updates
As for such an unpleasant situation as a failure with error code 905, here you will have to delete all installed service updates. In some cases, you may need to remove updates to absolutely all Google services.
In the example above, it was indicated that in the service control menu there is a button to delete updates. There will be nothing wrong if you perform this operation, and then reboot the device. When you reconnect to the Internet, the service will automatically update to the already corrected latest release, which will bypass the installation of the previous âclumsyâ pack. In principle, if you apply cache clearing, data deletion, and uninstalling updates, in most cases any problem will be solved once and for all.
Delete account
However, for all the apparent simplicity of solving problems with downloading content (note, it is with downloading, not installation, since temporary installation files are copied to the device initially), in some cases the problem may be due to the fact that the service simply does not recognize the registered user. Naturally, the easiest way out is to enter the correct data specified during registration (Gmail as a username and password).
However, as practice shows (and this is not an isolated case), this does not always work. Especially often, the message that an error occurred in the Google Play Service application is issued by the system with error codes 905 and 492. These are the most common situations. How to fix this type of Google Play error? There is nothing easier. You just need to delete your "account", and after rebooting the system enter it again.
You can perform this operation from the settings menu, where the account section is selected, in particular, we are interested in Google. After entering the control window, you just need to use the uninstall button or the corresponding line from the menu (it all depends on the modification of the Android system).
Of course, deletion of registration data is a thankless task, especially when you do not remember the exact mail address and password. On the other hand, if all the necessary data is available, after a reboot, when the system prompts you to log in with an existing account or creating a new one, you can enter everything you need, after which an automatic connection will occur.
If you suddenly encounter a login problem, you can either try to reset the password (if the Gmail address is known exactly), or agree to create a new account and try to log in to the service using it. By the way, such registration can always be changed if you suddenly remember personal data. It is done in the same section of accounts with the choice of Google service.
Recovering a removable memory card
The most serious problem when a warning appears that an error has occurred in the Google Play Service application is a malfunction of the removable media (SD card) due to a software malfunction or physical damage. Solving this problem is quite difficult, but there is a way out.
The most important thing is that the card will have to be fully formatted using a special utility that matches only this type of media. First you will have to find out some controller codes, and then download the appropriate program on the equipment manufacturerâs website. Note that not every program is suitable in each case. Often, a card, even when inserted into a computer through an adapter or card reader, may not be recognized as a removable device. This is the worst thing that could be.
Nevertheless, by formatting, you can achieve the desired result, and itâs best not to change the default settings and download applications not to removable media, but to the internal memory of the Android device itself. Believe me, this way you can get rid of many problems.
Conclusion
In general, if a user sees a message on the screen stating that an error has occurred in the Google Play Service application, there should be no particular reason for concern. Any of the above problems can be fixed quite simply.
However, the topic of the effects of viruses has not yet been considered. As practice shows, these are mainly spyware and codes or regular spam, which, incidentally, works as follows: first it tries to open some page on the Internet through a browser (most often indicating that the device is infected with a virus or may work faster), followed by a redirect to Google Play. Itâs certainly involuntary to think about it, but haven't the developers themselves installed malicious codes in some of their applications downloaded from the service that redirect the user to the Play Market to increase popularity and increase the number of downloads of some of their partner applications or software products? So think after this, and whether the errors of the âMarketâ are connected precisely with those failures that the service so diligently reports.
However, if problems arise, in most cases the standard solution is to simply delete the cache content. No, of course, you can apply a more cardinal approach, for example, by performing a factory reset or even performing a so-called hard reset, but it seems that in most cases such procedures will not be required. In addition, after these steps, you can easily lose all the software that is already installed on your smartphone or tablet, so itâs worth a hundred times to think before taking such steps, since, sadly as it sounds, you can lose all that you are there.