"Contacts is stopping" - impossible to call anyone

[Piotrne]

For several days, I have a problem with the Contacts application
(phone: Samsung J3 2017). The app simple does not start - nothing
happens, nothing is displayed. This is a serious problem, because
the Phone application uses Contacts. When I try to call anyone,
a message "Contacts is stopping" appears and finally the Phone
application closes. The same happens after starting the phone,
turning on the numeric keypad and entering one digit. Probably
at this timepoints Contacts are trying to find and list matching
numbers. But they fail to start and everything closes with the same
message ("Contacts is stopping"). No way to call anyone.

To fix this, I followed some advices that I found. First I cleaned
the application data. Then I went to the service menu and called
"wipe cacha partition". And of course did a lot of phone reboots.
Unfortunately, nothing helped. Finally, I installed another "Contacts"
application from the Play store and now at least it is possible
to select someone and make a call using such a workaround. But still
the original Phone application does not work.

What to do with this? Is the only solution restoring Android
to the factory state?


Regards
Piotr

[Arlen G. Holder]

On Sat, 03 Aug 2019 11:19:57 +0200, Piotrne wrote:

> What to do with this? Is the only solution restoring Android
> to the factory state?

While I don't know what the problem is, I would suggest you attempt a
simple test well BEFORE resorting to a factory wipe.

Just load any other contacts app - the simpler - the better.

For example, I use the simplemobiletools contacts app for privacy reasons:
o PSA: Get your "simplemobiletools" apps now - while they're still free
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.mobile.android/oU5-WRaOoFE/AZGcZ774BgAJ>

Which I obtained from elsewhere since I don't have Google Play enabled.

But a quick look for you shows that it appears to be also on Google Play:
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplemobiletools.contacts>

But almost any simple contacts app on Google Play should suffice as a test.
<https://duckduckgo.com/&q=google+play+contacts>

See also
o What free 0-advertisement phone/sms-mms/contact integrated app do you use?
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.mobile.android/lNSdkpyAxEQ/eivyFEpFAwAJ>

[Piotrne]

On 2019-08-03 19:20, Arlen G. Holder wrote:

> Just load any other contacts app - the simpler - the better.

As I told before, I did it and it works. I can start this
alternative app, select a contact and make a call. But
I did not manage to set it as a default contacts app.
And still opening the Phone application ends with its crash
after almost any attempt to use it (even when trying
to open the numerical keypad and typing the number
manually - after typing one digit, the app crashes).

P.

[Arlen G. Holder]

On Sun, 04 Aug 2019 17:11:43 +0200, Piotrne wrote:

> As I told before, I did it and it works. I can start this
> alternative app, select a contact and make a call.

Hi Piotrne,
Ah, I apologize for not remembering that detail. Sorry. I fell for the same
thing I blame others for doing, which is responding to the request with a
pre-prepared response based on the keywords! Mea culpa.

You _did_ mention that in the op, as shown below.

> Finally, I installed another "Contacts"
> application from the Play store and now at least it is possible
> to select someone and make a call using such a workaround. But still
> the original Phone application does not work.

There's another trick, which I've used many times, but which is a PITA, but
it doesn't have any risk of losing much, which is to uninstall your
recently installed apps, in reverse order. You can generally get the order
that you installed apps from your backup programs, AFAIK, which you may not
have yet installed though.

Then, what you do is back up the APK for each program (which you can do en
masse and save on your desktop since you may need to factory wipe in the
end if nothing else works) - and then you uninstall - one by one - your
recently installed apps in reverse order. You boot frequently, and see if
the phone still crashes when you type a digit.

> But I did not manage to set it as a default contacts app.

Well, you _need_ to export your contacts anyway, although I realize most
people have their contacts stored on the web - if I were you the FIRST
thing I would do if I was contemplating a factory wipe is export my
contacts to a text vcf and or csv file onto my desktop for safekeeping.
(It's also useful to use them on the desktop in Microsoft Excel but you
need a backup anyway since you're contemplating a factory wipe).

As for setting it as the default contacts manager, hhhmmm...... I don't
recall what I did when I put the simple mobile tools contacts on my phone,
but I exported the contacts out of the original contacts app and then
imported them into the new contacts app. I don't even remember if I changed
the default, since both work for me ok. Let me check.

Nougat: General > Apps > Contacts (hmmmm..... in addition to the original
system contacts app, I have two simple mobile tools contacts installed)

SimpleMobileTools Contacts, Version 5.1.1
Permissions: Contacts & Phone
Open by Default: No default set

SimpleMobileTools Contacts, Version 6.2.0
Permissions: Contacts & Phone & Storage
Open by Default: Some defaults set
Other defaults: You've chosen to launch this app by default for some actions.

Since the version 5.1.1 wasn't set as the default, I hit the "Clear
Defaults" button on the version 6.2.0. Then I tried to use the default
"Phone" app that came with the LG Stylo 3 Plus, hoping it would ASK what to
use for contacts, but it just opened up its set of contacts.

Hhmmmm...everything seems to be still working fine anyway, but it won't ASK
me to set the default for the contacts app. Sigh.

My advice?
o My main advice is to temporarily uninstall recently installed apps
o In reverse order (rebooting after each uninstall & testing).

Yes, it's a PITA. But likely less of a PITA than a factory wipe is for most
people (for me, a factory wipe is no big deal but I prepare for it every
day simply by having all APKs and their versions backed up to the SD Card
and all the data set to store on the SD card and even my highly organized
home screen is backed up to the SD card - and then I remove the SD card and
factory wipe with abandon).

Sorry I can't help more - but maybe others can help on the problem with
setting up the defaults for the third-party Contact manager.

[Rachel Phillips]

first backup your contacts to vcf or cvs(as last resort).
Import the contacts to another service like gmail or outlook, or local addressbook app(at exports to vcf/cvs)

delete the contacts you have on the phone and reimport them(however you may want to take time to cleanup duplicates, obsolete locally/gmail/outlook etc. then export again with 'clean/scrubbed' file.

no need to reset phone