Here’s another post of #GalaxyS5 app-related problems for you today. For those who are new to our site, don’t forget to visit other similar posts we published in the past.

In the meantime, these are the 7 particular topics we’re dealing in this article:

Galaxy S5 unable to install Snapchat
Multiple Galaxy S5 apps missing after installation
Galaxy S5 apps keep freezing
Galaxy S5 contacts deleted after an update
How to get OTA update for AT&T Galaxy S5
How to update AT&T Galaxy S5 to Lollipop
Galaxy S5 date and time keeps changing

If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

Problem #1: Galaxy S5 unable to install Snapchat

When I click on the SnapChat app it takes me to an Internet page and says this message: “Supported Android Devices. Snapchat supports Android 4.1 and up. For the best experience, please update your Android device to the latest firmware and download the latest version of Snapchat?.

Please note: Some Snapchatters on Samsung Galaxy devices running 5.0 Lollipop are experiencing issues on the latest version of Snapchat ?. If you are experiencing a similar issue please try updating your device and then logging into Snapchat.”

I have no updates showing on my phone and I have uninstalled it and downloaded it again and I still can’t get in the app. — Cerys

Solution: Hi Cerys. We’ve encountered this same exact issues in other Android forums so we know that this is not isolated to your device. The problem is actually coming from the app itself. We’ve been raising questions to Snapchat developer team about this but we never heard from them. Basically, the app is not compatible with some Android operating system versions like the one running on your device. This is a Samsung or Google issue but rather a problem that must be fixed by Snapchat team. We don’t recommend that you contact them as they don’t seem to care enough about this error at this time. We do hope that they can release a patch to eventually take care of the problem soon.

Problem #2: Multiple Galaxy S5 apps missing after installation

I have been using a third party app called Allvoi (VOIP app). For sometime it hangs while registering. So I decided to uninstall and then install it again. I tried doing the same. Now in Google Play Store, the app is shown as installed. But it does not appear anywhere (not in application manager also). I noticed same thing is happening with Talking Tom Cat, Yahoo Weather, CNN and WordWeb also. These apps are show as installed, but do not appear anywhere. It will be great help if you can let me know how to resolve the issue. — ParthaBorah

Solution: Hi ParthaBorah. If there are more than 2 apps showing the same problematic behavior in your phone, the issue might be coming from a corrupted system cache or firmware. To fix that, you must first wipe the cache partition and do a follow up with factory reset if nothing changes. For reference, here are the steps on how to do them:

How to wipe the cache partition of a Galaxy S5

Turn the phone off.
Press and hold the following buttons together: Power, Volume Up and Home.
Release the buttons once the Android system recovery menu appears.
Use the Volume buttons to navigate to Wipe Cache Partition option.
Press the Power button to confirm selection.
Select Reboot System Now option after deleting the cache. Wait for the phone to reboot.

How to perform a factory reset on a Galaxy S5

Power down the Galaxy S5.
Press and hold the Volume up button, the Home button, and the Power button together until you see the Android on screen.
Use Volume down to highlight the wipe data/factory reset option and press the Power button to select it.
Use Volume down again to highlight Yes – delete all user data and press Power to select it.
Use the Power button to select Reboot system now.
When the S5 restarts it should be completely wiped and ready to set up again.

Problem #3: Galaxy S5 apps keep freezing

For several months now, my lock screen has been freezing when I try to unlock my phone. The screen comes on, but the phone doesn’t recognize that I’m trying to unlock it. I originally had the fingerprint scanner but it kept freezing, so I switched to the pattern unlock (seems worse, honestly). It tends to happen at least a couple times a day and is really frustrating. I wiped the phone cache as well as the cache partition but it didn’t help. I tried switching to the Google Now Launcher (especially because I kept getting those stupid “touch wiz home has stopped working”) error messages. I was also having issues with the keyboard freezing, but that seems to have mostly resolved since I switched to SwiftKey, but is sometimes still laggy when I first start typing. I have disabled almost all of the bloatware and don’t have any sketchy apps downloaded on my phone….I have more than enough extra memory and a high quality SD card. I switched to a larger capacity SD card to see if it would help, but it didn’t . — Sarah

Solution: Hi Sarah. Slow performance issues can caused by corrupted cache or operating system. Since you have tried to delete the cache partition, we suggest you try to do a factory reset to see a difference.

Keep in mind that poorly coded third party apps can also affect how other apps work. Once you have factory reset the phone, leave it at that state for at least 24 hours (without installing third party apps) so you can further narrow down the potential causes. You also want to remove the SD card to see if that’s causing the lag as well.

Problem #4: Galaxy S5 contacts deleted after an update

I upgraded to the new update as prompted to do so and my contact list has gone. I have taken out the battery and restarted the phone, held the home screen and volume and power button ‘wiping the cache’ whilst rebooting and nothing and have also tried ‘clearing cache’ and ‘clear data’ in my contacts storage but still nothing. Please help as I have NO contacts. I don’t want to restart factory settings as I will loose everything on my phone, is there no other way? Or can I not reinstall the old update? — Cheryl

Solution: Hi Cheryl. If that update was provided by your wireless carrier, there’s no way you can downgrade the firmware unless you’re willing to root the phone prior to installing a custom ROM. Also, recovery of your contacts is out of the question unless you have them duplicated somewhere. Doing a factory reset will not bring the contacts back and will not accomplish anything other than probably clear out some minor bugs in the system.

What you can do from now on is to ensure that all your important files like photos, videos, contacts, etc are backed up in another device to prevent losing them again. Flash drives like the one in your phone or SD card are still not 100% reliable and they can become corrupted anytime. Don’t take the risk of losing your files by not duplicating them. We seldom hear an issue like yours but they do happen so moving forward, make sure that all your digital valuables are kept safe.

Problem #5: How to get OTA update for AT&T Galaxy S5

I’m writing to share with you an additional, little-known solution I found today to the Galaxy S5 not upgrading to Lollipop. I’ve seen a lot of droid users asking about this issue & wanted to share the solution that worked for me.

I had been trying to upgrade since the release came out in October 2015, and every time I would receive an error message that either I did not have enough space or just simply ‘unable to install’‘. I went through numerous troubleshooting tips like clearing the cache, moving things to the SD card. None of it worked. I went to the AT&T Support Center just before Christmas and walked out after waiting in line over an hour. Every time I called support, no one was any help and some of them weren’t even aware of the issue!

Well today I decided to try again. Called AT&T and by a great stroke of luck the support guy knew exactly what I was talking about. In fact, he had the same issue with his S5 and immediately told me what to do:

It’s the sim card. If your sim card’s last digit is an 8, then it won’t let your phone update to lollipop. I didn’t ask him for specific details as to why, but he highly suggested I replace the sim card and try again. I immediately went to AT&T, got the sim card replaced, and viola! Perfect.

Just wanted to share this tid bit. Thanks! — Angela

Solution: Hi Angela. Thank you for sharing this tip. Carriers use limited server bandwidth or capacity when rolling out updates for their customers so they usually do them in batches. Scheduling schemes when updates are released vary by carriers as well and it’s good to know that a simple tip from your carrier’s technical group helped you. This scheme may change though at a later date so that other users (another batch) can avail of the updates. So we don’t see this as a permanent way to update an AT&T device because obviously not everyone can simply replace their SIM cards to something that ends with a digit “8”. We welcome this tip though. Thank you very much. We’re glad to have found an effective workaround to share to Android community. For AT&T users who can’t wait for their turn to update their device, do this.

Problem #6: How to update AT&T Galaxy S5 to Lollipop

I’m having a problem with my AT&T Samsung Galaxy S5. My operating system is quite old, and I wish to update it to 5.0 Lollipop. However, I live in Canada and use Speakout as my carrier. My phone on the other hand, is an AT&T Galaxy S5. From what I gathered on the Internet, AT&T won’t let you update unless you are on their network or at least in the US. Every time I go to the check for software update setting, it says “no update found” and “wait for 24 hours”. How can I bypass this issue? I would prefer not flashing the device, but I will if I have to. — Daniel

Solution: Hi Daniel. Your Galaxy S5 runs an Android version that can only update itself when it detects an AT&T SIM card. Of course, you also need to be connected to their network to do that so getting an over-the-air update in Canada is impossible. Your only way to get Lollipop on that device is by manually flashing it.

Problem #7: Galaxy S5 date and time keeps changing

Every time I boot this phone (which I got new under two months ago), the settings change from the date and time and time zone being provided by network to not being so. Shortly after every restart, a message pops up that brings this to my attention (though I don’t recall the exact wording of that message). I know how to change those settings back easily enough, but it also doesn’t seem like I should have to. I guess I have to admit this isn’t the biggest deal in the world…but it is annoying. Ideas? — Sonny

Solution: Hi Sonny. We’ve encountered an issue like this in other phone models before and there seems to be no pattern that we recognized as to what might be its true cause. As a workaround, try to avoid enabling “Automatic date and time” and “Automatic time zone” and manually setting date and time instead. You can also try to wipe the cache partition and do a factory reset to see if there’s a cache or firmware bug behind this annoying issue.

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem.

Galaxy S5 unable to install Snapchat, other app issues