Gmail is still alive and well for most users
I woke up this morning to find out that the internet was going viral with a news article about Gmail being broken, and that a complete factory reset of my phone was the drastic solution. As is often the case with such early reports, the truth of the matter turned out to be much simpler. If you install beta software, don’t expect it to be smooth sailing.
The story of how Gmail broke — what actually happened
Reddit users are reportedly complaining that the “Google Play services are not supported” error means Gmail is down, at least for those using the app on Android smartphones. Imagine my surprise when I was told the truth. The biggest surprise was that I was informed of this fact by people sending emails to my Gmail address. I initially received emails via Proton Mail on my iPhone, as all Gmail is forwarded to a central address for easier management. However, I immediately tried the iOS Gmail app and found that it was not broken. So I went to my Android phone and launched the Gmail app. No, it wasn’t broken either.
Beta update of Google Play services is said to be the cause of app error
It turns out that this is not an error in the Gmail app itself, but rather an issue with Google Play services that caused some users to see an “unsupported” error. If Google Play Services is not running, apps that rely on Google Play Services to provide background services (which includes most “first-party” apps on Android, such as Gmail) will not be able to start. From what I saw, most of the reports coming in were from users running the Android 15 beta, so at first I thought this was probably an issue with the beta software. But then the conspiracy deepened as some people said they were using a stable release version of Android. But that turned out to be no big deal, as the common thread quickly became clear that the beta software in question, and the likely culprit this time, was Google Play Services itself. did.
How to continue using Gmail without interruption
We won’t know the full story behind the bizarre incident of why Gmail went down for some people along with other Google apps until Google itself reveals what went wrong. I have asked Google for a statement and will update this article in due course. But until then, there is one step users who are concerned about losing access to Gmail can take as a precaution. That is, don’t use beta software. Seriously, that’s it. I often use beta software and am always aware that this comes with the risk of problems. Therefore, it is not released software. If you want your application to run with minimal disruption to your workflow, don’t sign up for the beta program. As far as I can see, the same steps apply in reverse if a relatively small number of people are affected by a Google Play Services issue. Exit the beta program and return to using the stable release version of Google Play. service.
An Android Police report recommends using your Play Store listing or exiting the Google Play Services program directly here. Also, if you’re affected by a Google Play Services beta issue that prevents your Gmail app from loading, remember that you can still access your email through the web interface. Gmail isn’t broken. period.
