If you’re having difficulty with getting an application to run, the first thing I would suggest is clearing both the application cache as well as its data.
In order for applications and games to launch quicker on Android (and most operating systems), the platform stores certain pieces of data in its cache. For example, keeping an application’s assets in the cache will make it launch quicker since it doesn’t have to use as much computing power.
There are a number of ways in which storing data for an application, and building a cache for it will make things run quicker.
There is a downside to this though. If an application is coded poorly and has a bug, if the data becomes corrupt, or even if the Android OS messes it up, then it could cause a number of issues. This can cause the application or game to not even open (and only force closing) when you try to launch it. It could prevent a feature of the application to not function properly, or it can cause performance and even battery life issues.
So, let me show you how to clear both the application cache, as well as the application data on the Pixel and Pixel XL.
Pixel Clear App Cache Data
- Launch the Settings application
- Scroll down to the Device section
- Tap on the ‘Apps’ option
- Locate and tap on the application or game you’re having trouble with
- Tap on the ‘Storage’ option
- Tap the ‘Clear Cache’ button
- Tap the ‘Clear Data’ button
- Tap the ‘OK’ button to confirm the deletion of the application’s data
- Press the Home button and try to launch the application again
Explanation
With Android building up the application’s cache as well as the data, so it doesn’t need to compute this stuff every time you want to use it, you can see how this would save some of the battery of your device. If this data has something stored in it that doesn’t play nice with the application, then it can cause random issues with the application itself. You can choose to uninstall and reinstall an application, but there’s something else you can do first.
To start, you’ll want to launch the Settings application and then scroll down to the Device section of the phone. From here, you need to tap on the Apps option in this list, and then find the application or game that you’re currently having issues with. Once you tap on the app/game, you’ll then see a Storage option toward the top of a number of other options here. This works on Android 6.0 Marshmallow as well, and you can do it on older versions of Android too (there just isn’t a Storage option to tap on first).
After tapping on the Storage option, you’ll see some information here about how much storage this app or game is taking up on your device. The first thing you’ll want to do here is tap on the Clear Cache button. This will clear the cache data Android has built for this specific application or game. From here, you can press the Home button and try to launch the app/game again if you’d like. If the issue was with the application’s cache, then this will solve the problem and you’ll be done.
However, sometimes the issue is from the application’s data, so you’ll need to take this a step further. It’s recommended to always try clearing the application’s cache first though. So go back into the Storage section of the Settings for a particular application and then tap on the Clear Data button. Once pressed, you’ll see a dialog box pop up that gives you a little warning. It’s basically just telling you that the app will function as if you first installed it (so you’ll have to add your account or whatever back to it).
Once both the app cache and the app data has been cleared, try opening up the application or game again. If it’s still having trouble then the issue is likely caused by other application or possibly the Android OS itself.
