What To Do When Samsung Galaxy S4 Can’t Access Google Play Store

While the Google Play Store is one of the apps that come installed with the Samsung Galaxy S4 or any Android phones, it is not free from errors and problems. In fact, there is a huge percentage of Android users that experience having some troubles downloading and/or installing applications from the Play Store. The worst thing that could happen is when you cannot sign in using your account even if you are sure all your credentials are correct. Others also experience “An error has occurred…” kind of problems when trying to use the Android Market app.

There are also some users who cannot seem to find the Play Store from their phone while others were getting an error while trying to download apps from the Play Store from their computer to their phones.

Here are some emails from our readers that best describe the problems they’ve encountered while using the Google Play Store on their Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone:

“I don’t know what happened but the problem just started out today and I haven’t done anything on the phone that could have triggered it. Here’s my problem. When I tried opening the Google Play Store on my Samsung Galaxy S4, it’s asking for my Google username and password and when I enter them, it’s giving me an error that either the username or password is not correct. How do I fix this?” — Mel, NY

“Did you guys encountered and error while using the Play Store that says, “An error has occurred. Please try again later.” I have a Samsung Galaxy S4, which is updated to the latest version, and I have all my apps updated to their latest versions as well. I got a good internet connection but still I am experiencing this problem starting a couple of days ago.” — Bryan, AZ

“I recently did a factory reset on my phone (GS4) so everything has been rolled back to their previous version including the apps. But I cannot find the Play Store anywhere on my phone and when I tried going to application manager, I can’t find it there either. What do I need to do?” — Jay Z, MA

“I tried logging into my computer and accessed Google Play Store from there. I found good apps and I want to download them to my Galaxy S4 but I’m getting an error ‘You haven’t accessed the Google Play Store app on your device with this email account.’ Any suggestions on how to fix this issue?” — Anne, SC

GS4 Unable To Sign In To Play Store

The first thing that would usually come to your mind when you get prompted with an error message saying your username and password are incorrect is whether you entered your credentials correctly. So, you would enter them over and over again. But basically, that’s the most logical thing that needs to be done. However, don’t get stuck in entering your credentials using your phone, instead use your computer and try accessing your Google account from there. If you were able to log in successfully using the same username and password you used on your phone, then try troubleshooting your internet or network connection.

If you are connecting to a WiFi, make sure you’re getting a good signal and that you can browse the internet. Try launching your browser and go to any websites you want to visit just to confirm your connection. If you can’t browse a website, you should focus on troubleshooting your internet connection rather than the Play Store.

‘An Error Has Occurred’ Message

“An error has occurred. Please try again later.”

If you will try again at a later time, you will still encounter the same problem. The thing is, it won’t be fixed unless you address it the moment it happens. But just a backgrounder, this problem most often occurs after the Google Play Store app or the market app has been updated to the latest version. I’m just not sure if it’s a compatibility issue between the most recent app version and the version of Android you have on your device. But I’m sure you already have an idea how to fix this problem as early as now. So, without further ado, you need to uninstall the updates on the Play Store so you won’t see the error message again. Here’s how;

1. From the Home screen, tap the Menu key.
2. Tap Settings then More tab.
3. Choose Application Manager from the options.
4. If necessary, swipe left or right to the appropriate tab; you need to choose the All tab.
5. Scroll down a bit and find Google Play Store.
6. Tap Google Play Store to open its manager.
7. Tap Uninstall Updates button.
8. Reboot the phone to make sure the change will be implemented.
9. Run the Play Store again.

Can’t Find Google Play Store

Well, to be honest, I haven’t encountered this problem before but there seems to be a few hundreds who did. I started using an Android when Gingerbread was on its peak and during that time the other name of the Play Store was simply Market. So, if ever you can’t find Google Play Store app on your phone, try finding “Market” with a little Android logo. But in the case of the Samsung Galaxy S4, the Play Store comes installed as one of the pre-installed Google apps.

In case that you can’t really find the Play Store on your S4, the best remedy is to download its .apk file and install it in your phone. One of the reputable sites that offer the Play Store for download is Android Police. Find the latest version of Google Play Store from this link. [Download Play Store]

On the other hand, I am pretty sure the Play Store comes installed with the S4. So, you might also want to do a factory reset (again) using the hardware keys of your phone. Here’s how:

1. Backup all possible important data from your phone to the internal memory (microSD card).
2. Turn the phone off completely.
3. Press and hold the Volume Up key, Home key and the Power key.
4. When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue holding both the Volume Up and Home buttons.
5. Release the buttons when Android System Recovery screen appears.
6. Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ option and press the Power key to select it.
7. Highlight ‘delete all user data’ option and then press the Power button to choose it.
8. When the reset is complete, choose ‘Reboot system now’ to restart the phone and that should do it.

‘You Haven’t Accessed the Google Play Store’

‘You haven’t accessed the Google Play Store app on your device with this email account.’

I have encountered this problem before so I know exactly what happens and how to fix it…well, it was easy. This error message tells you exactly what happens and what to do. I have several Google accounts or Gmail accounts. When I got my first Android phone, I created an account dedicated for it only while I use separate email accounts online. I often logged into these accounts depending on the number of browsers on my computer.

There was one time when I came across the Google Play Store (using Google Chrome on my laptop) and there was a new game that was offered for free for the first 24 hours of its release so when I saw it, I immediately tried to download it and I was greeted by this same error message. What happened is that I was logged in to one my accounts on the Chrome and I haven’t used that account on my Android phone. What I did was use my phone to download the app and I was able to. Problem fixed.

If you’re on your computer when this problem occurred, try using your phone in downloading the app instead.

Tell us your phone problems

The solutions we provided here are based on reports and testimonies from owners who have encountered these problems. I also ask my XDA developer friends regarding some of the problems. Now if you have other problems or questions with your smartphone that you want answered, don’t hesitate to send us email at [email protected].

We don’t guarantee a reply to all emails because we receive hundreds of them daily, but rest assured your email messages will be read by me. But I urge you to provide as much details as possible so I could easily find references and compare your problems with reports from other owners. If your problem is as common as others, there could already be solutions that exist and I would surely point you to them. Screenshots often help so attach one if you can.