How to fix your Samsung Galaxy J3 whose apps keeps crashing or closing [Troubleshooting Guide]

It seems that we’re receiving a lot of app-related issues from our readers who own the #Samsung Galaxy J3 (#GalaxyJ3) and many of those problems are in connection with crashes or force closes. The most common form of app crashing issues is characterized by an error message that specifically mentions the name of the app that crashed. However, there are also instances wherein the app just closes without leaving notifications or warning messages.

Troubleshooting app-related problems is easier than fixing firmware issues however, it is still imperative that you do through checks to have a greater chance in fixing them. In this post, I will walk you through in troubleshooting app crashes with the Galaxy J3. If you own this phone and are currently bugged by a related issue, continue reading this post as it might help you. But please note that we really can’t guarantee the problem will be fixed because some issues may need intervention from a technician.

But before anything else, if you have other issues with your J3, drop by our troubleshooting page for we have already addressed a lot of problems with this phone especially the most common ones. Try to find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions and/or troubleshooting guides we suggested. If they don’t work for you or if you need further assistance, then fill up our Android issues questionnaire and hit submit. Just give us the information we need and we’ll do the reset.

Troubleshooting your Galaxy J3 with app-related problems

Apps may cause other apps to crash or close but the most challenging part here is knowing which app is causing the problem especially if it just closes without warning. However, if the problem is characterized by an error, it’s easier to determine the app that has a problem as it’s mentioned in the error message explicitly. Nevertheless, an app problem is an app problem so we need not look farther where to begin. With that being said, here’s what I suggest you do when this happens:

Step 1: Boot up your phone immediately in safe mode

This doesn’t fix the problem but gives you an insight as to what causes it. All third-party apps are temporarily disabled when in safe mode so you can immediately isolate if the problem is caused by a third party or pre-installed app. If caused by a third-party, then the problem may not occur when the phone is in its diagnostic state so it’s imperative that you begin your troubleshooting with this:

1. Power off your Galaxy J3. Press and hold the Power key, tap Power off and then touch POWER OFF to confirm.
2. Press and hold the Power key past the screen with the device name.
3. When ‘SAMSUNG’ appears on the screen, release the Power key.
4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
7. Release the Volume down key when you see ‘Safe Mode’.

Assuming the phone works fine in this mode, then all you need to do is find the app that’s causing the problem so when an error is showing up, it’s easier to just go after such app. For instance, if WhatsApp keeps crashing when the phone is in normal mode, then try to clear its cache and data:

1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Applications.
4. Tap Application manager
5. Tap the WhatsApp.
6. Tap Storage.
7. Tap Clear data and then tap OK.
8. Tap Clear cache.

After clearing the cache and data, try to boot your phone up normally and open the app in question. If it still crashes, then it’s better that you just uninstall it since it’s a third-party app and then download a fresh copy from the Play Store and install it.

Step 2: Delete the system caches so new ones will be created to replace them

If app and system caches got corrupted and Android continues to use them, you can expect that some apps and services will crash due to conflicts. Thus, the best thing to do at this point is delete those corrupt caches but since we don’t have access to individual cache, we need to wipe off the entire directory where they’re saved. That’s why it is necessary to boot up the phone into Recovery Mode and wipe the cache partition from there.

Only caches get deleted when you do this procedure and none of your files and data will be touched. It’s safe so you really don’t have to do backup your important files. Once old caches are deleted, new ones will immediately be created. Here’s how it’s done:

1. Power off your Galaxy J3. Press and hold the Power key, tap Power off and then touch POWER OFF to confirm.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
6. Press the Power key to select.
7. Press the Volume down key to highlight ‘yes’ and press the Power key to select.
8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

The phone may take a little longer to boot up this time but just wait for it.

Step 3: You better do the master reset to bring the phone back to a configuration that works

If the wiping of the cache partition failed, then you need to reset your phone. It will refresh the device’s memory and bring it back to the state where it works flawlessly. However, you need to backup your files and data as they will all be deleted during the process. Once the backup is done, follow these steps:

1. Power off your Galaxy J3. Press and hold the Power key, tap Power off and then touch POWER OFF to confirm.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up button and then press and hold the Home key. While holding both, press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Android logo appears on the screen, release all three keys. It may take a minute before the Android recovery screen appears.
4. While on Android recovery screen, use the Volume Down key to highlight options, in this case, highlight the option ‘wipe data/factory reset.’
5. Press the Power key to choose the highlighted option.
6. Press  the Volume Down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ option is highlighted.
7. Press the Power key to confirm the reset.
8. Once the reset is complete, press the Power key to choose ‘Reboot system now.’
9. The phone will restart a little longer than usual and the reset is finished.

You will have to build your phone up from scratch again as if it’s new this time but as far as app-related issues are concerned, this is the ultimate fix.

CONNECT WITH US

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to contact us by filling up this form. This is a free service we offer and we won’t charge you a penny for it. But please note that we receive hundreds of emails every day and it’s impossible for us to respond to every single one of them. But rest assured we read every message we receive. For those whom we’ve helped, please spread the word by sharing our posts to your friends or by simply liking our Facebook and Google+ page or follow us on Twitter.