UPDATE 1: Wallpaper & Style is now crashing on Android 14 Beta 1 as well! Head here for the complete story.
In this guide, we will show you the steps to fix the issue of Wallpaper & Style crashing on Pixel 7/Pro after the March update. The Cupertino giant has recently rolled out the third security patch for this year and alongside that, came a slew of goodies bundled in the form of Feature Drop. However, it seems a few issues have also managed to creep in along with the update. Recently, we talked about the increased padding between app icons and now there has been another entry to this bug list.
Numerous users have voiced their concern that the Wallpaper & Style section is crashing on their Pixel 7/Pro after installing the March update. Initially, a majority of the reports came from the users who were on the stock Pixel Launcher but since then we have also seen this issue being reported across custom launchers [including Nova and Action]. If you are also getting bugged by this issue, then this guide will make you aware of a nifty workaround to rectify it. Follow along
Table of Contents
Fix Wallpaper & Style crashing on Pixel 7/Pro after the March update
The culprit behind this issue is the new update rolled out to the Google Wallpapers app. So to rectify it, you will have to downgrade this app to its earlier stable build and then stay on this version until the next OTA update [assuming Gooogle rolls out the fix with the April update]. Here’s how it could be done:
Via Play Store
- Head over to the Play Store, search Google Wallpapers, and hit Uninstall > Uninstall.
- Once done, tap on the overflow icon at the top right and uncheck Enable Auto Update.
- You should now be able to access Wallpaper & Style on your Pixel 7/Pro without any crashing.
Via Settings Menu
- Head over to Settings > Apps > All Apps > tap on the overflow icon and select Show System.
- Then select the Wallpaper app from the list and tap on Uninstall Updates > OK.
- Now launch Play Store, search Google Wallpapers, tap on the overflow icon, and uncheck Enable Auto Update.
- You should now be able to access Wallpaper & Style on your Pixel 7/Pro without any crashing.
Via ADB Commands
- Enable USB Debugging on your device and connect it to your PC via a USB cable.
- Then download and extract Android SDK Platform Tools on your PC.
- Now launch CMD inside the platform-tools folder and type in the below command:
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.apps.wallpaper
- Once done, download and install the Wallpapers App from here and the issue stands fixed.
That’s it. These were the three different methods to fix the issue of Wallpaper & Style crashing on Pixel 7/Pro after the March update. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest.
