Oh, snap! Did that app just crash again? Apps that crash unexpectedly are one of the most annoying things that you can experience when using your smartphone. App crashes can be caused by many factors – bugs, too many apps open at the same time, too little memory on the phone itself, and so on.

 

Here is what you need to know about why your apps crash – and what to do about it.

 

Is it a bug?

Sometimes it’s not your phone’s fault that your apps crash. Like all app developers, we do as much as we can every time a change is made to an app. However, no developer can test for everything, especially with so many different operating systems (OS), OS  versions (especially on Android), and types of phones. We’re bound to miss a scenario or two.

So, crashes due to bugs will happen from time to time. The best thing to do in such a case is to get in touch with the developers. If you are an Opera user, feel free to shoot us a tweet @Opera and let us know. You can also typically report a bug from the Settings menu of any app. The more details you can provide, the easier it will be for us to figure out what exactly what’s causing the app to crash. In an ideal situation, we’d like to know which phone you are using, which platform you are on, which version, if you are browsing on Wi-Fi or mobile network, whether you are using Opera Mini’s extreme- or high-savings mode on the browser, and on which website the crash or error occurs.

If it is a start-up crash, clearing the app data from ‘App info’ may fix the problem and prevent further crashes of this type.

Too many apps open?

We all love our smartphones for their multitasking functionality. But, having too many apps open at one time is a common reason your apps may crash. Some phones can only manage a certain number of apps open at any one time, due to the demands on the device’s CPU (central processing unit). If your app takes more than 5 seconds to open, this could be a sign that it is being killed by the operating system.

One solution to try before going for the task killer is to clear your apps cache, the data stored for reference so that you do not have to download the same data over and over. For example, if you have searched for a few hashtags on Instagram, when you go back to the app, you will have a list of all hashtags searched.

To clear your cache, you simply need to go to your settings and look for app management. rom there, you will have the option to clear your apps cache. To do this on your Android phone, check out Android Central and Macworld for IOS.    

Bad network conditions?

In some cases, you’ll find that some of your apps crash because the app that worked perfectly when on the office Wi-Fi  chokes when you’re on a 3G network  or you’ve just gone to an underground parking garage: These blips are caused by an interruption in the network conditions, causing your apps to crash due to a lack of network support in retrieving data. In this case, the crash is due to a temporary fault beyond the control of the app, so the the solution is to stay calm until you get your network groove back. 🙂

 

Go to our Twitter and Facebook page to share with us any of your other fixes for apps that crash unexpectedly. 😉

 

Extra thanks goes to Supraja Kaipu, one of the Opera Mini engineers, for the tips!

 

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