Well, that for one, could be causing the issue: an incomplete install of the update.
Can I remind everyone that the Community Moderators are not employees of Fairphone, so we have no control over how the update works or performs.
This whole forum is in fact a community led forum - so if you do not want help from the community please go to Fairphone directly - otherwise please be respectful here.
Can any of you post a screenshot of your issue? When you say the google installer is not working - are you saying that you cannot click on it, or are you getting an error when trying to run it etc?
Trying to run the update again may be necessary if it hasn’t installed correctly in the first place and if you are prompted to allow superuser access you also need to make sure this is granted otherwise the update won’t work correctly.
1 Like
Bingo! Running the updater a second time worked for me. Thanks @Robin and I hope this works for others too.
3 Likes
Same thing has happened to me. Am trying the install again.
I’ve run the updater again, and I’m in the same position. Clearly the update doesn’t seem to have installed properly, as my phone still looks the same before, just that all my google apps don’t work. I don’t understand a word of the “tutorial” and am somewhat lost. I seem not to have an update, nor the old system working…
Hi everyone,
As a preamble I agree that in order to solve problems we should stay calm and use nice language.
My experience is that after having finished the upgrade, I tried to re-install Google apps, as required by the upgrade, but the widget was grey and said “Google apps are already installed, delete the installer”. But by evidence Google apps were not because installed since many Google apps were missing and other apps do not work! I did not manage to find a way to re-install the Google Apps.
I then went to do some exercise… and when I returned (45 minutes later), the fairphone updater tells me that there is a new version of the OS, which means that the previous upgrade did not finish smoothly. So I restarted the upgrade, they were installed, then phone rebooted and the widget “Install the Google apps” is on the screen (not greyed) after reboot. However when trying to launch it, I get the message “Fairphone is updating your operating system in the background. Please try later”. So I am now going to take a shower, and hopefully the update will be finished after when I return.
I will keep you informed, but I someone has an idea, please share it.
Thanks
I’m already running the update successfully and have just attempted to reinstall via the Updater app
When I got to the install system update with the Android character on screen no progress bar appeared after five minutes so I pressed the power button and it said that there was an invalid signature and the update had failed.
I’ve therefore just redownloaded via the app, copied the file to my sd card and then run the update again directly from the sd card and is now going through…
So I think this is down to the install not going through correctly
Chris, Do you know how long it take for the Fairphone updater to finish its background update. I suspect it is stuck…
Yes, have the same problem. For about 40 minutes now starting the google installer results in a notification that Fairphone Updater is updating the OS in the background.
It depends upon the speed of your network, but it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes for the 190mb download and then it should be within a few minutes before it asks you to restart.
Maybe try rebooting and running again
Also just a note, when the phone reboots after the install you should know it is successful when you get the message that Android is optimising or updating x number of apps out of x
I’m on my third installation - but keepin’ the faith 
2 Likes
Chris, it is after the step that Android is optimising or updating x number of apps out of x. This step went ok.
Any further idea. I am a little bit frightened to reboot if the upgrade Fairphone upgrade is still running in the background.
If it’s just the google widget bit that is saying downloading/installing then you should be safe to restart.
Or try disabling wifi and then re-enabling. Looks like the fairphone updater app is maybe blocking the download of the googleapps. That just happened to me as I’m playing around trying to find solutions 
1 Like
I’m having the same issue. I have re-booted but still get the error message that fairphone is updating the operating system in the background. I have a good internet connection and it has been like that for over an hour…
Same problem here. I wonder if it’s the fact that I only granted Superuser access for 10 mins. Am trying again with access forever.
The wifi restart did not work (even after reboot). The problem remains the same. What about stopping the fairphone updater app ?
Not the problem, I provided it forever and does not solve the problem…
Hi @wmarc999 - you can try stopping the updater app and clearing it. It should not give this message after the update in the first place. I wrote down the error to discuss with my development colleagues tomorrow.
I ran the updater, left the phone connected and on the charger, came back 4 hours later, that should have been sufficient to finish the update.
Now, I am not a tech fanatic nor do I use my smartphone for play or have a smartphone because I am an addict, I use my phone for work, to make money for a living. I don’t have the time to play around with incomplete beta versions. What I need and expect for my money is an update that works and when I return to the phone I expect it to work as smoothly as before.
It had taken me quite a while to set it up for my best use. Most of that was centered around google cloud. Not a single google service works anymore. Especially the missing connection to the cloud has made my working day a pain and a waste, having to lug around a laptop to acces the data I usually get via the smartphone from our cloud.
Anyway, the whole OS is heavily google dependent, one can’t then release an update that kills google services…
Would you bet against me if I said that not a single serious smartphone market player would go public with such an update? Why? Because I, the paying customer, need google. What I don’t need is having to waste HOURS to get it to work AS BEFORE. What good is an update if it wastes my day? Why should I even have to mess with this issue?
A smartphone that does not perform is by that very fact unecological.You want to think about the implications. This under par update alone has made me leave a carbon foot print today that drowns every environmental benefit the fairphone may have saved over the last two months.
And ONE more IMPORTANT THING:
When a forum is hosted on a homepage, it is legally the responsibility of the registrant. What is fairphone then doing? Offering digital space out of the kindness of its heart? Not know there is a fairphone forum on their site? The excuse that the forum is run by volunteers and out of fairphone’s responsibility is invalid. IF the forum is really independent, it should be on its own homepage. As is, this is an official fairphone forum for all practical purposes simply because the legal evidence makes it so. Be that as it may,
So there is ONE thing that you can’t do, offer a fairphone forum on the fairphone site and then decline any involvement.
Other than that, I still can’t get google to work. Have tried everything, from reboot to re-install to re-update, nothing.
And the very last thing I accept is hiding behing “we are do-gooders” to sulk about valid criticism.
If this thing doesn’t work by tomorrow worktime it goes in the bin.
Hi again. Keep the faith. I had the same problems as discussed here. On my third installation it worked but the Google apps still said “Update in the background”. Then I manually stopped all running apps. And now the Google apps are downloading 
1 Like