FamilySearch mobile app stopped working on Android phone, wants me to log in through Google Play
Since a couple of updates ago I cannot access the FamilySearch app on my phone because it always redirects me to the login page of Google Play.
I have logged in with my FamilySearch credentials but seemingly it still wants me to be logged in with my Google account and won't let me in otherwise.
Before this issue cropped up a few weeks ago I could access the app on the very same phone for years without any problem.
Answers
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When you sign in to the Family Tree app on Android, version 5.0.0 - 5.0.2 (5.0.2 is the current version), you see a sign-in screen like this:
Only if you choose the first option (Continue with Google) should it ask you for your Google credentials. You said "it always redirects me to the login page of Google Play"; I'm sure you meant simply "Google" (it has nothing to do with Google Play), but it certainly should only ask for Google credentials if you specifically choose "Continue with Google"; none of the other options would ask for your Google credentials.
If you want to use your FamilySearch credentials, you should choose "Continue with Username". You said "I have logged in with my FamilySearch credentials but seemingly it still wants me to be logged in with my Google account and won't let me in otherwise."
What experience do you have that leads you to say it "won't let me in"? What error message are you shown?
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Hi Alan,
The sign-in screen you have inserted does appear on my phone for a split second, and then a Google Play sign-in screen appears over it, covering it completely. (And yes, I mean Google Play.)
Anyway, even the sign-in screen shown above should not appear because I am already logged in at that point. (This I could do before signing out of Google; the issue described is happening after signing out. As if the app would not want to work when I am not logged into my Google account.)
There is no error message, simply a dead end by getting a Google Play login screen and no way to move on from there.
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Is it perhaps wanting you to update the app? There have been several updates lately, at least one of them major.
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@InBudapest , thanks for those helpful details. What you are describing is certainly unusual; I have signed in to the Android Tree app hundreds of times and never seen what you describe.
A couple of suggestions:
- Go to the App info screen. The easiest way to do this is to long press the icon you use to start the app, and then choose App Info in the little menu that pops up. That will show you the version number of the app. If it is 5.0.2, then you have the current version.
- Also from App Info, you should see an option called something like "Storage Usage" (different versions of Android use slightly different terminology). Within Storage Usage there should be an option to Clear Data. Choosing that (make sure it's the Clear Data option, and not the Clear Cache option) will reset all your data for the app and should hopefully fix the behavior you are seeing as you start the app.
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Thank you for your help but it does not seem to work.
It is the latest version. I have cleared all data. Google Play is still intruding over the app and prevents me from using it. I will just delete the app.
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@InBudapest Could you share some details about your phone: manufacturer, model, and Android OS version?
This is certainly unusual, and it would help others if we could figure out what is going wrong.
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Redmi 7. Android 10 QKQ1.191008.001
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@InBudapest You mentioned "the issue described is happening after signing out". Google requires you to be signed in to use the Google Play store and to continue using any of the apps that you have downloaded. It is a fairly recent change, so either go to another source for your app or keep signed in to your google account on your phone in order to use the FamilySearch Tree app.
I have tried to locate a Google article that explains this, but none of them say it in this way. All I can find says that you need to be signed in to Google in order to use your apps. This article from Google explains that you must be signed in to Google in order to use apps that were purchased through that google account. Anything downloaded from the Google Play store is considered purchased and licensed to be used by that google account, even if the app is a free app.
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@AnneLoForteWillson Thank you for your reply but I do not think this is correct:
"Google requires you to be signed in to use the Google Play store and to continue using any of the apps that you have downloaded."
All other apps still work perfectly fine on my phone without being signed in.
Anyway, I have deleted the FamilySearch app a long time ago, and since apparently no one else encountered the same issue it can be considered as solved (or non-existent).
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@InBudapest thank you for your response. I will close this discussion.
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