[Update: Mar. 23] Messaging keeps stopping on MIUI? Xiaomi wants you to uninstall app updates

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…

Original story (published on February 20, 2021) follows:

Android Froyo was the OS the first MIUI skin was built around when it first arrived. Over the years, Xiaomi continued to tweak the custom skin by adding a bunch of apps such as Gallery, Music, Backup, and Notes, among others.

As you’d expect from software developed with the aim of filling the gaps in the core Android OS, having a built-in messaging app was a no brainer. But from the look of things, this app is at the center of the latest messaging-related issues some Xiaomi users are experiencing.

I am unable to access my messages. Giving “Messaging has stopped” message. Help?
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messages stopped⛔ Messaging bug problems not solved inspite of several messages
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Just so you know, the fact that various smartphone vendors are able to bundle custom messaging apps in their Android skins contributed negatively to the adoption of RCS messaging.

While the latest MIUI messaging issues have nothing to do with RCS messaging, it’s quite annoying when one of the most basic features of any phone is broken. Apparently, affected users say any attempts to launch the default SMS app returns an error as seen below.

From the look of things, it seems most, if not all experiencing MIUI messaging issues have pretty older devices. Consequently, these devices run on similarly older MIUI 9 and MIUI 10 software.

And according to Xiaomi, the older skin is at fault. The company recently pushed a test update to its stock messaging app and it seems it isn’t sitting well with devices on the older MIUI 9 and MIUI 10 skins, hence the crashing.

Mi fans, a small number of our #MIUI9 & #MIUI10 users may have encountered some issues with the Messaging app recently, as we had a testing update last Friday.
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On the brighter side, there is a way out and it’s quite simple. All you need is to uninstall the recent updates to the MIUI messaging app. To find it, open Settings > Installed apps, search “Messaging” and hit on the result that pops up.

In the new window, you should see the option to Uninstall updates at the bottom of the screen. Tap on that and when prompted, hit OK to uninstall recent updates. Go back and launch the messaging app.

12:01 pm (IST): Xiaomi just acknowledged “MSA and other apps keep stopping” issue that has been troubling users for a while and shared official workaround. More details here.

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