What To Do If Your Samsung Messages App Keeps Crashing

If you own an Android phone, you're likely familiar with Google Messages, the SMS, and RCS messaging app used by over 5 billion users globally. Samsung users have a choice between two apps: Google Messages and Samsung Messages. Unfortunately, for those using Samsung Messages, there have been some large-scale problems with the app recently, causing it to repeatedly crash.

Though it offers much of the same capabilities as Google Messages, including RCS messages on Android, Samsung Messages does offer some unique features. For instance, you'll find plenty of chat customization options and a recycle bin for restoring accidentally deleted conversations. However, if you're a long-term Samsung Messages user, it's understandable if you don't fancy the switch to a new messaging app, even if you're facing issues.

Encountering issues with such an important app like your messaging app can be frustrating. Whether you belong to the herd of users dealing with recent issues or you've been struggling with Samsung Messages for a long while, we'll be tackling some workarounds to help fix the issues, so you get back in touch with your close friends and family.

Recent Samsung users have reported issues with the Samsung Messages app continuously crashing. The news spread rapidly on Samsung's community forums, with many users reporting the same type of issue. Many have tried fixes such as clearing the app's cache and rebooting the phone but have had little success.

It turns out the issue stemmed from Google Meet—Google's video conferencing app, which you may be familiar with from the pandemic. Though it's uncertain why the video calling app was interfering with Samsung's Messages app, Samsung soon realized the growing concerns from its users and worked on a solution. According to a Samsung employee, the company has now released an update for the Google Meet app, which you can find on the Google Play Store. The update aims to fix the interference between the Samsung Messages app and Google Meet.

If the update isn't available for you yet, there is a temporary fix that many users have found successful, so you can get your messages app up and running again. Here's what to do:

1. Navigate to the Settings on your Samsung device and go to the Apps section.

2. Select the Google Meet app, then tap "Force Stop."

3. Once this is done, hit the three dots in the upper-right corner (⁝), then select "Uninstall Updates."

This does mean you won't be able to use both apps simultaneously. So, if Google Meet is a necessity, you'll have to resort to the web version for now.

If you're encountering issues that aren't related to the Google Meet hiccup, don't worry—there are plenty of other fixes to try if you're having trouble with the Samsung Messages app. The first is to ensure the Samsung Messages app is updated. Ensuring automatic updates are enabled on your Android device is one of the most helpful ways to minimize bugs and optimize your Android phone's performance.

Another potential fix is to run your Samsung Messages app in Safe Mode. This disables all third-party apps currently installed on your device, so you can easily detect if a recently-installed app is causing the issue. While the method to run your Samsung device in Safe Mode varies between models, the most common way is to power off and power on the device, then hold the volume down key after the Samsung logo appears.

The final thing you can try is updating your Android OS. Regularly checking for system updates is an important practice to avoid many negative side effects of not updating your Android device, namely security loopholes and bugs. Your Android device should automatically remind you whenever there's a system update available, and Samsung recently added seamless updates to its phones, which allows you to use your phone during a system update.