There have been some concerns from a number of Samsung Galaxy S4 owners, complaining about an error downloading applications from Play Store, in which they’re prompted with the following error messages:
- “Download was unsuccessful.”
- “Download was unsuccessful. Please try again.”
- “Cannot download apps from the Play Store.”
If you are one of those who have encountered the same error message when attempting to download or update an app from the Play Store, here are the recommended workarounds for you to try on.
A. Clear Cache of the Play Store app and Download Manager. It is likely that the error message is cached on the Play Store or download manager, that’s why you keep getting the same error prompt while trying to download. Follow these steps to clear cache:
1. Touch the Menu key from the Home screen.
2. Touch Settings to continue.
3. Touch Applications.
4. Select Manage Applications.
5. Touch the ALL tab at the upper part of the screen.
6. Sometimes, you will be prompted with a warning message. If so, then just touch OK on the warning about all saved information will be erased and proceed to the next step.
7. Press the Back key.
8. Scroll to and select Market.
9. Touch the Clear data button to initiate the process of clearing cache.
10. Touch OK on the warning about all saved information will be deleted, if you are prompted.
11. Press the Home key.
Now try to download an app from the Play Store and see if it goes through this time. If problem persists, proceed to the next workaround.
B. Check Wireless Network Settings and ensure Wi-Fi is enabled.
1. Touch the Menu key.
2. Touch Settings.
3. Tap Wi-Fi (Toggle to the left of the On/Off switch to enable Wi-Fi on your phone).
If the Wi-Fi switch is already enabled when you get there, try to disable it for a moment and then enable it back afterwards.
If this did solve the problem, proceed to the next workaround.
C. Remount and re-insert your phone’s memory card. Follow these steps:
1. Press the Menu key from the Home screen.
2. Touch Settings.
3. Touch SD card & phone storage or SD & phone storage option to continue.
4. Touch Unmount SD card.
5. Wait until the phone prompts you that the card is unmounted.
6. Remove the memory card.
7. After a few moments, re-insert the memory card.
Now try to download an app from the Play Store and see how it works. If an error message still prompts, continue to the next resolution steps:
1. Perform a soft reset on your phone. This is done by simply rebooting your phone or taking off the battery for about 30 seconds, re-insert the battery after the elapsed time, and finally turn the phone back on.
2. Open the Play Store and try to download an application again.
3. If the problem persists, then it is possible that it could be an intermittent error on the Google servers. Wait for a few hours and try to download again at a later time and see if it will go through. If still you cannot download an app, you can check out Play Store help from Google or better contact Google support and let them know of your download problem.
