Google Messages is breaking on Android 14

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. However, the annoyance is avoidable.

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, we urge you to open the Play Store and turn off auto-updates for the app immediately.

The latest 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 latest Messages beta update makes RCS chats and regular SMS completely unusable for all practical purposes. We just hope you weren’t expecting any 2FA codes post-update.

If the app is already crashing for you, you can try opting out of the Messages beta from the Google Play Store page, or sideloading an older stable version of the app from APKMirror after disabling auto-updates on the Play Store. Alternatively, try opening the App info page for the Messages app and heading to the overflow menu in the top-right corner to tap Uninstall updates.

To avoid the hassle altogether, you can proactively disable updates, and ensure you stay on the current version until Android 14 or the Messages app is fixed. Thankfully, this update is only affecting a small crop of Pixel users running the Android 14 public and developer beta builds. So, a fix should be in the offing, and the wait may not be long. Messages seems to work just fine on Android 13.

Thanks: Nick