A crashing rebooting Nexus 7 and the glowing X of suckitude

Well, that was fast. Middle of last week, my Nexus 7 showed a notification that a new system update was available. I heard that some minor update was available, including a new Google Keep app for notes and lists. Thinking nothing of it, I downloaded and installed it. Soon enough, my Nexus began intermittently crashing. Regardless of what I was doing at the time, I was brought to a glowing X, had to wait a minute or so, then back to the main lock screen. This would happen a few times in a session. Very frustrating.

I did some research and it was possible that an incompatible app may be causing the problem. Until Google resolved it, it was suggested that I disable and thereby prevent the app from running. I tried numerous apps, but ultimately nothing was running in the background, and yet my tablet was still crashing. Argh. I couldn’t go on vacation and have my single device crash all the time. With nothing new reported in the news, forums, or via Twitter,  I was stuck without much of a resolution.

Last night, I decided to perform a factory data reset of the tablet:

1. Go to Settings > Backup & reset.
2. Touch Factory data reset.
3. Touch Reset tablet.
If your tablet is password protected, you’ll be prompted to enter your Pattern, PIN, or Password.
4. Touch Erase everything to confirm.

Since I opted to backup my apps and settings to Google (another option under Settings), I reset the tablet, reran the initial setup, and then let my Nexus 7 take care of restoring the apps. It doesn’t restore your exact screen layouts unfortunately, but this is a small price to pay for a working tablet. What’s the verdict? So far, no more crashes and reboots, and the Google Keep app is still there. I still have to reorder my home screens, but not a tragedy.

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