Now that phones and tablets are becoming more and more central to your digital life, it’s important to know a few tricks regarding troubleshooting. Believe me, as phones and tablets are electronic gizmos, you will have trouble worthy of shooting. It’s good to know a few simple tricks.
For discussion purposes, I’m assuming that the problem is with a specific app. Say that the app won’t load or that you get a connection error. That seems typical.
First: Check your Internet connection.
Look at the notifications and ensure that you see the bars, the mobile network icon, or the Wi-Fi icon. If not, open the Settings app and ensure that the data connection is on and working. For example, choose the Wi-Fi item and check for the word Connected beneath the first network listed.
If you’re not connected and believe that you should be, turn Wi-Fi off and then turn it on again. You can also touch the desired network name and choose the Connect command. If that doesn’t work, then the network has a problem — and that’s an entire basket of troubleshooting in itself, but it’s not an issue with your device.
Second: Restart the app.
Apps in Android shut down automatically when the operating system deems it prudent to do so. Otherwise, apps run all the time. To force a shutdown, heed these steps:
1. Open the Settings app.
2. Choose Apps, Applications, Application Manager, or a similar command.
3. Choose the All category. You might think to choose the Running category, but the app may not appear there, especially if it’s a core app.
4. Choose the stubborn app from the list.
5. Touch the Force Stop button.
The app ceases, closing up and whatever else an app does when it dies. You can now try to open the app again: Choose it from the Apps screen or touch its icon on the Home screen. Often times cycling a program in this manner fixes the booboo. If not, on to the Second procedure!
Second: Restart the device.
Just as with a PC, frustrating issues are resolved best by restarting the gizmo. Obey these steps:
1. Press and hold the Power/Lock button.
2. When you see the Device Options menu, choose the Restart command. Not every Android device features a Restart command, so choose Power Off if you don’t see it.
3. Confirm that you want to restart or shut down the device.
4. When the Restart option isn’t available, turn on the device back once it’s off.
If restarting doesn’t fix the problem, then it may be something deeper. The only consistent issue I’ve had that isn’t fixed by restarting are system updates. Sometimes the device gets stubborn when an update has been downloaded but not installed. Again, restarting the gizmo should fix that. If not, wait a bit and the update should take.
