com.android.settings: What is it? | How to fix the error?

com.android.settings: This is the most crucial part of an android system. So the question arises What is com.android.settings? There are several errors seen in com android settings. Let’s learn why Unfortunately com.android.settings has stopped and fix the error perfectly by using a few simple steps. You can report your bug here.

What is Com.android.settings?

We can break down the syntax into smaller parts to understand it more clearly, we will be reading the syntax right to left. The first part is “Settings” and we will be discussing it later, the second part is “android”. Now android indicated that the syntax belongs to the android directory, and is a command on that platform. The last part is “com” and this is a common syntax for android commands.

Now we all are familiar with the settings on our smartphones and are responsible for giving you access to most of your smartphone. This is what allows you to connect your smartphone to a WiFi network. Or lets you clear your storage, give permissions to the app, changing default apps, and more. Now the system settings menu will be different on different smartphones having different UIs (User Interfaces). But no matter the UI, you can always open the settings with the settings icon available on the home screen. Settings must have an icon that looks like a gear or a number of gears, this shows how important settings are. How you must have an idea about settings.

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Why Unfortunately com.android.settings has stopped

Now we understood what the error means, now let’s see how we can resolve the error and understand its cause. There can be a number of different reasons for the error to occur, we will be using some of them. You need to figure it out for yourself as each error will be different with different reasons and different solutions.

Bugs in firmware

If you like to root your smartphone and use custom ROMs, then this must have caused the android setting error. But if you don’t have any idea about ROMs then you should skip this step as this did not cause the error. 

We know that there are a number of different ROMs available on the internet, and you need to choose the ROM carefully. And you should know that these ROMs are not very stable or well developed like mainstream ROMs. So such ROMs tend to have bugs and glitches in them, this could lead to the error. If you have used the custom ROM and not sure that it is stable or compatible with your device, you know what caused the error.

Incompatible Play Store

This can happen when you decide to install the Play Store or download the update from a third-party site or non-genuine source. These things will cause an error as the update will not be built for your smartphone or the OS. We will not go in-depth about the complicities that can occur due to this but it does happen frequently. Understand it like buying shoes for yourself and once you bought it, you realize its not your size. The same happens when you download the version which is not compatible and realize it after downloading or the error. See also: Google play store errors.

Low cache memory

You must be familiar with the types of memory which your smartphone use to store the images and video and other data. There are two kinds of memories in your smartphone volatile and non-volatile, we will not go in-depth with this. But a non-volatile memory will be your internal storage or the SD card and volatile memory will be your RAM. 

Now lets come on cache, we always use the app for let’s say chatting, that app uses a temporary storage foe storing frequently used data. This saves the loading time, instead of waiting for the whole app to load you just want for that temporary data to be called. Now it is possible that you have opened too many apps or any particular app is consuming too just of this memory, RAM memory. This could lead to stopping abruptly. 

Incompatible update for com.android.settings

This is quite possible that a corrupted update or incomplete update causes the android settings to shut down. Most likely the incomplete Play Store update will cause the error, as third-party applications do not cause it. Or the update is not compatible with your smartphone’s OS. This happens when you are running an older version of android and Google decides to pull the support off for that older OS version.

Incomplete file

This is not a very likely cause as nowadays files do not tend to break or download incomplete, but it still does happen. If this is the cause then your android settings are running just fine, and the problem is with the file. You have to keep in mind that there are a number of files on any OS, these files contain all the instructions. If anyone of these files happens to be broken then the app will crash, it is possible for both system app and third-party app.

How to fix com.android.settings error?

We saw why the error occurs with the possible source of error, now we will see how we can resolve the error. You should keep in mind that whenever you make any change to the settings, then the error can occur. Now you must remember what you changed last in settings which may have caused the error. But whenever the error will occur, it will say “Unfortunately, settings have stopped” or “Unfortunately, com.android.system has stopped”. At the time you have no choice but to click on “OK” and move on with your life. But the error can make your life a living hello by continuously popping up in your face and irritating you. So pressing “OK” every time it occurs is not an option, we will see different ways of solving it. 

NOTE: Your most recent firmware update may have caused the error, or by installing a corrupted app on your device.

Most basic solution: simply restart

This is not the best solution but worth giving a try before you try any of the other steps to solve the error. When the error occurs simply restart your device and see if the error is resolved. If an error occurs after opening a certain app, then you got yourself the culprit. 

Cleaning the RAM

As we mentioned in the above possible list of reasons, this is possible that RAM may have caused it. This method is also simple but worth trying once before going further with the guide and other solutions. You can even choose to use any third-party application for clearing the RAM, especially when your smartphone does not have a large RAM.

Clearing the cache

This step is important and you should try this if not any of the mentioned. Your device depends on the cache memory to make your phone faster and save battery by not loading frequent things again and again. And over time it gets filled up leading to such errors and leaving you puzzled. So it needs to be cleaned whenever you fell it is filled up and causing problems. NOTE: You can use this step for solving other errors and problems.

Follow the steps to clear the catch:

1.  Wake up your device and open “Settings”.
2.  Now scroll down and open “Apps and notifications” or “App manager”.
3.  Now tap on “Show all apps” and look for “settings”.
4.  Once you find it, open it and tap on “force stop”.
5.  Now tap on “cache and data” and clear the cache by tapping on “clear cache”.
6. Once you cleaned the cache then restart or reboot your device and the error should be resolved.

Uninstalling the last installed app

Now, this can be the cause of the problem as we don’t know what was your last installed app and from where. But you can identify if the app is causing problems by recalling if the problem started after installing that app. If yes then you need to remove that app from your device, follow these steps to do so.

1.  Wake up your device and open “Settings”.
2.  Now scroll down and open “Apps and notifications” or “App manager”.
3.  Now tap on “Show all apps” and look for “settings”.
4.  Look for that app from the list and open it once you find it.
5.  Now tap on “Uninstall” and the app should be removed from your device. The error should be resolved, look for any signs of error or anything else to make sure.

Check for Virus and Malware

Install a good antivirus for your android phone and check for Virus, Malware. Also get rid of adware. This may also fix com.android.settings error.

Factory resetting your device

This should be your last resort when you have tried everything and the error is making your life harder. We would suggest you wait for any update or patch from the developer’s side, this is not the best thing but better than removing everything. But if the app is stopping you from using your phone normally or is getting too much. You can simply factory reset the phone to the state it was in when you took it out of the box.

NOTE: You will lose all your settings along with data like images, videos, documents, etc and you can not recover it after resetting. So we would suggest you make a backup of all your data or upload all the data on the cloud.

1.  Wake up your device and open “Settings”.
2.  Now scroll down and find “Backup and restore”.
3.  Open it and navigate the backup settings, find and tap on “Factory data reset”.

Your smartphone will restart with the only difference in the time it will take, once it completes your device will be just like new. 

Learn more: How to fix a Hacked android phone?

NOTE: Charge your device at least 80% before attempting to factory reset the device. If your device shuts down in the middle of the resetting process, you can run into bricking your smartphone. Or in other words, we can say you can ruin your smartphone.

Summary

We learned what is com.android.settings and why we need it in our smartphones. Why the error occurs in the first place and how we can identify the cause on our own. Note that we listed general reasons and there can be the other cause also, you need to find it yourself. But the steps will be the same despite the reason and these steps will for sure solve your error. However, we would suggest you think before factory resetting your device.