Google now warns users to update apps that crash

Updating software. It’s the technology equivalent of flossing. You know it’s important, sure. And yet, it’s something most people procrastinate on.

With no sense of urgency, it’s all too easy to hit “snooze” on those all-important patches and upgrades.

Now, with the latest improvement to the Google Play Store, users have a new incentive to update their apps.

Whenever an Android app crashes, Google will prompt users to install the latest version to hopefully prevent future crashes.

As noted by Android Police, the November 2022 Play Store system update changelog says it will “help users resolve app crashes with new update prompts.”

A dive into the Play Store’s source code by esper.io’s Mishaal Rahman revealed the following text:

There’s no shortage of reasons why Android apps crash. These range from sloppy coding and network connectivity issues, to a lack of quality control. Some crashes are the product of unforeseen edge cases. 

With thousands (if not tens of thousands) of device types and billions of users, crashes are inevitable. 

Inevitable, but undesirable. Developers want to make software that works. This desire — and the Google Play Store’s rating system — motivates developers to fix their code. But patches only work if people install them. 

With this relatively minor tweak, the Google Play Store will hopefully help users to help themselves.

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