It is recommended that you manually update Google Photos to instantly fix the persistent crash on launch on an iPhone running iOS 16.3.1.
- What’s happening? Google has released an emergency update to address an issue that caused Google Photos to crash when launched on iOS 16.3.1.
- Why care? You’ll be wondering if you’re using Google Photos and running iOS 16.3.1.
- What to do? Perform a manual update of the installed Google Photos app.
Google Fixes Google Photos Persistent Crash on iPhone
iOS 16.3.1 is a maintenance update with bug fixes, security updates, and some feature fixes. It crashed on February 13, 2023, and immediately Google Photos users started complaining that the app kept crashing on startup after updating their iPhones and iPads to iOS 16.3.1 and iPadOS 16.3.1.
The update appears to have introduced a bug causing the Google Photos app to immediately crash and close on startup. Force quitting the app or restarting the device doesn’t help stop the crash, and there are no workarounds for this issue.
If you’re updating to iOS 16.3.1 and using Google Photos, be sure to check for an update to the Photos app as it fixes the issue that the app wouldn’t open. pic.twitter.com/5yWoQaqqTM
— Aaron Zollo (@zollotech) February 14, 2023
Aware of the complaints on social media, Google has released an emergency update to Google Photos that fixes the persistent glitch. The update is already available on the App Store, so any iOS 16.3.1 user who downloads the new app will never see a crash.
If you already have Google Photos installed on your iPhone, it’s a good idea to update manually instead of waiting for automatic updates.
How to manually update Google Photos for iOS
If you’re using Google Photos instead of Apple Photos and have already updated to iOS 16.3.1, download the updated Google Photos app to stop the constant crash. And those who have been putting off updating their iPhones due to a Google Photos issue can now safely install iOS 16.3.1.
Automatic updates can take days or even weeks to complete. Luckily, you don’t have to wait for your copy of Google Photos to be updated. You can apply the update manually by opening the Google Photos page in the App Store and manually clicking the Update button.