I am unable to download and update

Help Fairphone 3
1

Any others who having troubles with updating apps or downloading apps to fairphone 3 from googleplay store? It happens in same time i having troubles to buy ingame stuff and i used vpn app service PIA. Since i cant update apps :frowning: I already contacted Fairphone but i want hear if it is possible it happens with Fairphone and using VPN service app?

2

Hi,

have you deleted or deactivated any Google services? Does this only happen when using the VPN connection or all the time?

Best wishes,
Thomas

3

Google checks fairly regularly, somehow, if youā€™re using a VPN or not. Iā€™ve turned the VPN off and watched Play Store download some ā€œsecurityā€ data.

So, to update, turn the VPN off and try and update again, sometimes it can take a minute to register. You can clear cache/data from the Play Store app and that often allows updates a little quicker.

Itā€™s a pain and is entirely Googleā€™s fault, not Fairphoneā€™s.

1 Like
4

Generally one should think about whether it is a good idea to have a VPN on all the time. See for example

1 Like
5

I think itā€™s connected to how Google Playstore deals with VPN connections. I use a pretty reputable VPN that doesnā€™t get blocked very often. Iā€™ve seen the same as @athair_birb happen. Itā€™s not all of the time though, which makes me think Google Playstore works with some combination of VPN & combination of settings. Lately Iā€™ve not noticed the problem as much, so Playstore might be tweaking the algorithm / their blacklists.

6

I have had this same issue for a while now. Back when it first popped up, there were two proposed solutions to try: disabling a VPN if used and clearing the storage for the Google Play app. (didnā€™t find that thread again)

My symptoms are updates always listed as ā€œdownload pendingā€, even if the phone is charging. There was a point when the apps would auto-update but only when charging. Now I have to clear the storage, but then it will download them over the VPN.

Side note: Iā€™m testing a bunch of open-source alternative apps to the standard Google ones. Is there any way to get F-droid to auto-update? I understand the principle in always asking the user in case an update has issues, but did I overlook a setting or does F-droid intentionally force people to look at every app update?

Thanks in advance for any advice!