Plants vs. Zombies 2 technical help

NOTE: Some of these steps involve significant action that has the potential to affect your game data, App performance, phone performance and usability. Notes like this one continue below to highlight higher-risk scenarios in steps. To know more about your Android device, get started by visiting the Android Help Center.

Make sure your device is up-to-date

It's important to ensure that your device's software is up-to-date. If you aren't sure how to update your phone's software, we recommend visiting your device manufacturer's website, or the Android Help Center.

If you are unsure of the manufacturer of your device, or would like to find information specifically about your device, you can find it visually and select it from this list to be provided the information you're looking for and more.

Make sure your app is up-to-date

Once you have made sure your device is up-to-date, check to make sure that your app is up-to-date. To do this, go to the Google Play Store, and then go to the "My Apps" section. Any items which have new versions available will say "Update Available."

NOTE: You can also set apps to update automatically whenever a new version is made available by selecting "Allow automatic updating" on the app's details page in Google Play to maintain the most current version of your app.

Restart the app

If your issue is affecting only a single app on your device, please try closing down just that app, and then restarting it. To fully-close an app, go to your App Settings, found in most Android versions in your System Settings, and "stop" the afflicted App with the "Force Stop" button. Wait a few seconds to make sure the App has stopped processing, and then attempt to re-start it.

Close background apps

It is possible that your issue is a result of one or more other apps running "in the background" on your device, meaning they are being processed simultaneously with the App at hand. In this case you might have to Force Stop or close these applications rather than--or as well as--the App you're attempting to access.

• Go to your App Settings
• Display the Active Apps on your device
• Select the App you wish to close and Force Stop it.
• Repeat this step with all active Apps.

NOTE: This process can be handled automatically by App Management programs such as "Task-Managers" or "Task-Killers."  A number of these Apps are available on the Google Play Store and could go a long way in helping--and also hurting, if one is reckless--streamline this process and alleviate issues.

Powercycle your phone

Problems may continue on your phone due to unavailable memory, system stress, or any number of problems. Powercycling might resolve it.

Powercycling means a full shut-off of your phone and then a restart. "Powering off" on many Android devices will leave some data and apps in a limbo-state in order to quickly boot your system upon restart, while a full powercycle prohibits this.

• To powercycle, select "Restart" in your phone's "Phone Options," or what you might know as the Power-Off, menu, if "Restart" is followed by the caveat, "Close All Apps and Restart Phone."
• Alternatively, you can power your phone off, remove the battery-housing face-plate and then remove for the battery for 10-15 seconds before reinserting the battery and powering your device back on to powercycle it as well.

Clear your cache to check if you're synced properly

If problems continue following troubleshooting, ensure your problems aren't stemming from an incorrectly synced App. Use the following steps to clear your cache. Only do this if your account is linked to Origin or Facebook.

1. Tap the system Settings tab on the main screen of your device.
2. Tap the General section of settings that is on the far right.
3. Tap Storage in the General tab.
4. Clear the cache data once storage calculates the data.
5. Back out of the storage section.
6. Tap Applications and find the application in question.
7. Tap the application and clear the cache (if available).
8. Clear the data for the application if there is no cache to clear.
9. Exit the settings screen and restart the device.
10. Log in with your Origin credentials once you have restarted start the application.

To make sure you're synced properly, first clear the Play Store's cache on your phone by again going to your App Settings, potentially called "Apps" in your System Settings, select the problem-App, and then select "Clear Cache," to clear the app of its temporary, or saved, files.

NOTE: Selecting "Clear Data" could potentially delete apps, permissions, logins, or more and is not suggested. Accidental use of the "Clear Data" button will result in a warning dictating, "All this app's data will be deleted permanently. This includes all files, settings, accounts, databases, etc." 

If problems persist, attempt to clear the Play Store's cache on your phone by again going to your App Settings, potentially called "Apps" in your System Settings, selecting "Google Play Store," and select "Clear Cache," to clear the app of its temporary, or saved, files. The above NOTE is even more important here; Avoid "Clear Data."

Following either or both of these steps, it is always a good idea to restart, or even powercycle, your phone.

Re-install the app

If all else fails, reinstall your App.

This step may cause loss of game progress. However, you can take steps to help reduce the chances of this occurring:

• Record your Mayhem ID (The Simpsons: Tapped Out only)
• We encourage all of our anonymous users to register/log in with their game to Origin, Facebook, Google Play, or GameCenter (different apps may have different login capabilities).

Performing these steps does not guarantee that data loss will not occur and does not guarantee the recoverability of your account. These steps will only reduce the chance for data loss and, in some cases, the data may be recoverable.

• To reinstall an app, go to the Google Play Store, then "My Apps." Select the App and choose to "Uninstall".
• Following successful uninstallation, navigate to "My Apps," once more, swipe from the default "Installed" screen to "All," which should present you with an aggregated list of your Apps downloaded from the Google Play Store.
• Find the App you're looking for and select "Install" again.
• It is generally a good-practice to restart, or even powercycle, your device following successful installation.

If you continue to have problems with your EA App after following all of the steps listed above, contact us to reach one of our EA Advisors.