What do I do if Google Play Services keeps stopping?

Why does the Play Store app keep stopping?

I just started using a Nexus 4 and it is doing this all the time.

The application has stopped, with no error, it has restarted without any errors, or messages. I am running android version of 4.2.

I noticed when I updated to Play store, some apps such as Google Maps (I think) stopped updating for the new version as well and there were issues with some apps such as Facebook or Twitter that wouldn't let me log into the old app. So I switched to Opera instead.

And I think I will give this the extra upvote for being so helpful.

What permissions do Google Play Services really need?

A few weeks ago, I posted a question asking what the Google Play Services permissions might be.

It generated a lot of interest and discussion on Stack Overflow, but there are some things in that question that I was unsure about. To understand the difference between Google's "normal" and Play Store-specific permissions, we need to know what each actually means.

Google provides a list of each permission it requests in its own Play Store documentation. Each permission has three fields: it's purpose (what the service is supposed to do), its category, and its type. The former is usually something like com.google.android.c2dm (it's almost always something with .com or .org). If the permission is for an app, the category is App; otherwise, it's Other. I think they all mean the same thing, which is a bit unclear when we get into them. I'll call the three "types" "contact", "account", and "non-data". The latter two (the types) mean the same thing for the app and non-app variants. For an app, the type is "Read Contacts".

You can also specify whether the request is "auto-launch only", "foreground only", or "both auto-launch and foreground". The first two are more interesting. First, even though we have apps whose only purpose is to read contacts (a great example being the Contacts application itself), we generally don't ask users for permission for this because they will often feel that having that access is too much of a violation of their privacy. The reason apps generally should be asking for that permission is so they can have the option to automatically connect to the user's device when it starts and offer them a choice whether or not to allow it.

I'm assuming the category is what really separates the play store-specific permission. Some permissions are meant to control a service of Google's (the ones for Contacts, etc.), while others are more general (as in "to read account data"). It's interesting that the categories aren't mentioned in any Google documentation that I could find. Why not?

In addition, I thought I was going to be given more information about the permissions in my questions. However, I wasn't given any.

When Google Play Services stop?

If you don't have the Google Play Store on your device, it's possible that your phone has stopped getting updates from Google Play Services.

To figure out what's happening and what to do, check out this helpful article from Android Central.

When this happens, you should start by updating your phone to the latest version of Android. On a recent Android release like Android 7.0 Nougat, it's as easy as installing the Android Update Service on your phone.

How to download and update Android to the latest version. If you want to get the latest version of Android, then you should also download the Android 7.0 Nougat Developer Preview. There are some bugs in this version, but they're not really important.

The Developer Preview builds are available for Nexus devices (Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, and Nexus 9) and Pixel C. It's only available from the Google Play Store, so if you want it, you'll need a Google Play account.

To install the Android 7.0 Nougat Developer Preview on your Nexus device, open the Play Store and tap on the Updates tab. Scroll down to Android Developer Preview and tap Install.

You should see the Android 7.0 Nougat Developer Preview on your phone.

Tap on it to update it to the latest version. After it's updated, your phone should restart, and the Android 7.0 Nougat Developer Preview will boot up. If you haven't yet installed the Android 7.0 Nougat Developer Preview, then you'll be prompted to do so at this point.

How to use the Google Play Store. If you have an Android phone, there's a good chance that you also have a Google Play Store account. It's super easy to sign up for one, and it's a great way to get new apps, games, and other Android apps.

You can find the Play Store on most Android devices. If you have a tablet, you may need to scroll down to find it. On older Android devices, you may have to click the More tab and scroll down to find the Play Store.