App autoupgrade not working

[lovecraftesque]

I have an Android 5.1 device, and apps are not upgrading automatically. All my settings, both in the Google Play and the device are set correctly, to upgrade both on WiFi and mobile data. Most of the apps that are not automatically upgraded require no special permissions. Both my WiFi and data feeds are solid and fast.

I have looked in a number of forums, and the bottom line is always the following. First, nobody has a clue why this is happening. I don't mean my problem specifically, but similar issues reported by (many) other Android users. Second, the "solutions" proposed are always voodoo ones - do this, and see if that fixes the problem. If not, do that. The ultimately solution always consists of do a factory reset in the device. I have not yet seen any suggestions along the lines of buying a new device, but I wouldn't be surprised.

What I find surprising is that nobody, but nobody, not even Google engineers, seems to have a clue what is going on here. I am appealing to this forum, but I bet it is going to be more of the same - no clue, wave-the-chicken suggestions, no science. Prove wrong - please.

 

[Thom]

Welcome to Android Forums.

I turned automatic updates off over five years ago. I simply go to my apps, review what is pending update, and generally but not always) click Update All.

If you really want to use it and it isn;t working ...

Standard approach ...

Do a Wipe Cache Partition deleting all temporary data and not touching permanent data or settings. (If you are a user of Old Games you may loose progress information.)

If you still have the problem try running in Safe Mode disabling all apps you added without uninstalling them. If the problem stops it is caused by an app that you added.

If you have any apps from Cheetah Mobile ... uninstall them.

... Thom

 

[lovecraftesque]

Well, good for you, that you can take that approach. I can't - I do not want to update one of my apps (BBC News) on the grounds that the recent version is a pile of ad-infested crap with a ridiculous interface. I am therefore forced to update apps one by one, by hand.

How does one do a Wipe Cache Partition, anyway? You mean doing Settings --> Storage --> Cache, long pressing on Cached data, and selecting OK in the Clear cached data popup? I have done that, several times, and it has made no difference whatsoever. I don't even know what Cheetah Mobile is, and I do not care. Running in Safe Mode disabling all the apps I have added? Really? Several dozens of them? And if (more likely, when) it doesn't work, I could try again, this time in reverse alphabetic order. Or when there is a full moon and Jupiter is in Gemini; maybe that will do it. Well, at least I have another voodoo suggestion to add to my list.

Seriously, why not just admit it that you guys have no clue? Just acknowledge it - "dear customer, when this problem arises, you are pretty much screwed, and we do not know why." At least people wouldn't have to waste their time with voodoo suggestions that might, or might not, work, and that even if they do work, they will probably do so temporarily and not be effective the next time. Google engineers, you guys are supposed to be the best of the best. Prove it; fix these long standing problems scientifically, once and for all, while leaving the voodoo out of the picture.

 

[codesplice]

Hi @lovecraftesque

I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble - and that @Thom's logical suggestions don't seem to help you with it.

That said...

Seriously, why not just admit it that you guys have no clue? Just acknowledge it - "dear customer, when this problem arises, you are pretty much screwed, and we do not know why." At least people wouldn't have to waste their time with voodoo suggestions that might, or might not, work, and that even if they do work, they will probably do so temporarily and not be effective the next time. Google engineers, you guys are supposed to be the best of the best. Prove it; fix these long standing problems scientifically, once and for all, while leaving the voodoo out of the picture.

Please keep in mind that no one on this forum is (to my knowledge, at least) a Google engineer. We don't have any official affiliation with Google or their Android operating system. We are all (staff included) volunteers, who are only here because we enjoy trying to help people get the most out of their devices.

You are not our customer. You aren't owed anything from us.

I can definitely understand your frustration at not being able to find a simple solution to your issue - believe me, I've been there - but verbally berating those trying to lend assistance isn't a great way to get others to step forward with suggestions.

Also, as I'm sure you have discovered from searching other forums, problems like yours can have many different causes. There's unfortunately no one-size-fits-all solution, and that is why you'll often see posts recommending different "voodoo" steps to try. These suggestions aren't made because it's fun to have you run in circles, or because we're all incompetent; instead, these are solutions that have been known to work in other similar cases.

We are here to help, but you've got to let us.


Okay, back to the problem at hand...

We're going to need a bit more information to be able to help figure out what's going on. Not being able to see your phone makes remote diagnosis and troubleshooting rather tricky, so we need you to be our eyes.

• You mention your device runs Android 5.1. What specific phone do you have? Some manufacturers try to get clever and end up breaking things in the process, so knowing these details can help narrow down potential problems.
• How long has this problem been going on? Have apps never been able to automatically update, or is that a recent development? Did anything change lately?
• How, exactly, is the automatic update mechanism broken? Do the apps attempt to download or update, but never complete the process? Or do the updates just never get triggered?
• Are ALL apps failing to update automatically, or just some of them?
• Can you manually update an app or two just to make sure that does work?
• Have you rebooted the device lately?