Ok everyone it's a long shot I know but recently I have downloaded 2 new apps on my phone.
Both require a log in which won't work.
I have tried everything. I have: -️confirmed details are correct -registered properly
-updated my software
-cleared caches and data -uninstalled and reinstalled the app
-checked the correct version is running and settings are to AU/NZ -restarted phone
-contacted Samsung AND -️spoken to the developers of both apps who have no idea what's happening
Neither app will recognise my username so I can enter my password and get in.
There must be something stopping the apps recognising my username and I suspect it's an Android/Samsung issue as BOTH apps work on an Apple device and the login works fine.
Do any tech wxperts have any idea what may be causing this and how to fix it please? I'm paying for both but unable to use them.
I don't know how those specific apps handle logins, but very few apps will confirm/deny that a username exists without a password being entered. So, it's a bit confusing that you say "Neither app will recognise my username so I can enter my password". Typically, either you enter your username and password on the same screen, or you enter your username, then proceed to a second screen where you can enter your password.
What's happening for you when you try to sign in to those apps, instead of one of those two possibilities?
Also, you say both apps work on an Apple device — did you have that device create a strong password for each app's login, when using it to sign up? (I assume you signed up via the Apple device.) I'm not very familiar with iOS, so it's even possible it did that for you automatically, without you really asking it to.
If so, you need to be sure you've retrieved the stored password for each app from the password manager on your Apple device, as that's the one you'd need to use to log in — it won't be stored on your Android device (until you use it successfully for the first time, then it can store it for you).
So both apps have 2 separate screens for your username and password. I got to put in my username (typed too and not copied and pasted) and it comes up with an error message before I can even type the password in. I don't get that far.
I tested both on my daughter's phone (she has an Apple phone) and can get in typing my usernames and passwords.
The issue is therefore not my username or my password, it is something to do with my Samsung phone.
I have been to both app's websites and downloaded the app from those links as well as the Play Store.
I don't even get to the retrieve password page as they won't allow me to go further.
I have been trying to sort this with Life 360 since August with over 38 emails back and forth and they cannot work it out. It used to work but now doesn't.
First off: I agree, that's very strange. Honestly, if the problem persists it wouldn't be completely crazy to do a full factory-reset of the phone, followed by setting it up again from scratch. But there are a couple of things you can try first, if you're willing to experiment a bit. The process is also complicated a bit by the fact that you're on an S21, which means (I'm guessing) that it's not running Android 14 — so your Settings options and etc. might be slightly different from my A53 running Android 14.
The point in the login process you report getting an error message is exactly when the "Auto sign-in" feature of Google's password manager would normally kick in. Which makes me think that your phone is attempting to automatically sign in, but that process is somehow crashing. (You don't happen to know the exact error message it shows, do you? That'd help a lot in figuring out where this is coming from.)
Assuming I'm right about the auto sign-in being an issue, that points to some configuration problem with the phone's security features. What I'd suggest is this (again, hopefully you have these same options available in the same places, on your phone):
Go into Settings > Security and privacy. As soon as you open that page of the Settings, it'll run a security scan on the phone. If it flags any issues (anything other than green check), do whatever it recommends to clear that up until you have green checks all the way down.
Back out of there and go into Settings > Google. You should see an entry for the Password manager there; tap Continue inside that card.
When you're on the password manager screen, tap Settings at the bottom.
If Offer to save passwords and Auto sign-in are both enabled, then Google will try to sign in to websites and apps for you. That's the part that I think might not be working.
If you scroll down a bit, there should be a green checkmark next to "Your screen lock is being used to unlock your encrypted data..." — if you don't see that (if it's not set up to use the screen lock to unlock), then set that up so it'll ask for your fingerprint or face ID to confirm auto-login.
Or, if none of this helps, you can try switching off the Auto sign-in option at the top of that page. Switching that off might prevent it from crashing during the app login, so that you can manually enter your username and password to sign in.
If you DO need to switch off Auto sign-in in order to be able to log in to these apps, and turning it back on again prevents you from being able to sign in to them anymore, then we're back to a factory reset probably being the best option. You could just run with auto sign-in disabled permanently, but it's a useful feature so having to do without it isn't ideal.
