A fix for Google Messages breaking on Android 14 is rolling out

Android 14 recently moved from the developer beta stage to a public beta, but the first build every Pixel user could install was chock-full of bugs. Google issued a fix two weeks later, but the new Android 14 Beta 1.1 is now causing issues for the Google Messages app beta, which is repeatedly crashing. Thankfully, Google has already rolled out a fix.

The bugs in Android 14 crippled the OS to near-unusable state, because several critical system elements like cellular connectivity and fingerprint unlock were malfunctioning. The point release that followed only fixed a handful of the issues Google acknowledged from the current crop. However, if you use Google Messages regularly, especially the beta version, you’re in for more trouble.

A recent Messages beta (version 20230428_01_RC00) simply refuses to work on Android 14, 9to5Google reports. The app crashes repeatedly and won’t even launch if you’re using a light theme. You may have some luck viewing a list of conversations with the dark theme enabled, but the message contents are barely legible in black text over a dark gray background.

Moreover, tapping any chat also crashes the app immediately. Effectively, the Messages beta makes RCS chats and regular SMS completely unusable for all practical purposes. We just hope you weren’t expecting any 2FA codes post-update.

A fix is rolling out

Taking cognizance fo the app crashing issue, Google has speedily pushed out an update for the Messages app beta (v20230502_01_rc01-release). Affected users can visit the Google Play Store and install this update to resolve the problem. A few of our readers report the fix is already rolling out to their devices. If you left auto updates switched on, this fix should’ve installed in the background, so perhaps check the app to see if it still crashes. Alternatively, you could side-load the app from APKMirror in case the patch update isn’t available in your region yet.

Thanks: Nick