HaRd to download apps

Just encountered this android app update/install issue today. I'm guessing this has been a problem for some time and I just happened to notice it today when I attempted to update an installed app on my phone. I ultimately ended up completely resetting my phone thinking that it was a phone glitch of some sort. Turns out, it's our xfinity router.

I tested Android app installs and updates through Google Play on two completely different phones, one a Motorola (running Android 15) and the other a Google Pixel (running Android 17). Both phones demonstrated the app update/install failure issue (in most cases, they would appear to get to around 96% completion and then fail). After several hours trying to figure out what was happening (even after a full reset of my phone), a Google search suggested turning off the wifi and just attempting to run an app update and/or installation via cellular data. That worked and confirmed that it is in fact our shiny new xfinity router that is the cause of this app problem. Turning off wifi solves the problem for my phone (since I can disconnect the phone from the wifi network and use just the carrier cellular network) but doesn't solve the problem for wifi-only devices like our tablet and old phones that are now being used as wifi-only devices. I temporarily turned off xfinity CyberSecure to test if perhaps that was interfering with the proper functioning of the Google Play Store but that is not the source of the problem. The xfinity router is running IPv6 by default so that isn't the problem either (third-party routers plugged into an xfinity modem may have a firmware bug that interferes with the Play Store but enabling IPv6 will typically fix this issue). In my case, I'm using the all-in-one xfinity modem/router and IPv6 is enabled by default on that device.

So, ultimately, this is a problem introduced by xfinity and, as far as I can tell there is no hardware/software setting solution for it. On phones, the solution is simple: Disconnect the phone from the xfinity wifi network and then run your app updates and installations in Google Play. For wifi-only Android devices, the only immediate solution I can think of would be to set up a hotspot on your phone and temporarily connect your wifi-only device(s) to that hotspot instead of your xfinity wifi network. The hotspot is a wireless network but is running through the carrier cellular network. That should allow app updates and installs to run on those wifi-only Android devices.

Unfortunately, xfinity appears completely unaware that their routers are interfering with Android phones in this manner. My guess is that this has been a problem for many months but most people won't even realize it because it only becomes apparent when you're actively trying to install an app or update an already installed app. Given that xfinity doesn't appear to know that this is a problem and that it likely has existed for some months, I don't anticipate a fix from them anytime soon so, for those of you who encounter this problem, I hope this helps.