Sony Xperia Z5: Android 6.0 Marshmallow update causing problems with Google Play Store

All has not gone well for many Sony Xperia Z5 users who downloaded the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update. Many have complained that they are unable to access Google Play Store after updating to Marshmallow.

Xperia Z5 users have raised concerns over various support forums that their smartphones "crashed" after installing the new OS update and were greeted by a pop-up sign that says: "Google Play Store has stopped". Sony acknowledged the problem and suggested a factory reset as a temporary solution, after which many users said that their issue was resolved. However, some users said the problem persisted.

"I keep getting the 'Unfortunately Google Play Store has stopped message' and it keeps coming up every 5 seconds. I tried clearing the cache, deleting data, uninstalling, disabling the app, force closing, signing out of google and back on. Does not work. I keep getting the pop up non-stop and it happened as soon as it updated to Marshmallow [sic]," noted a user on the support forum.

Independent developers have suggested the option of synchronizing the Xperia Z5 to the desktop PC before booting up PC Companion. After that one can reinstall Android 6.0 Marshmallow and the Google Play Store would work fine. This means not updating your phone to Marshmallow through Wi-Fi or the phone's "Software Update" pane, but only via PC.

The Xperia Z5 update was globally rolled out in the first week of March starting from Turkey. The highlighted features in the update are Doze mode, Now on Tap, app permissions and more, in sync with most Marshmallow updates for Android-based devices. In addition to this, a new camera interface, Xperia Messaging with sticker support and Direct Share for relaying activities to friends has been added by Sony.