How to Banish the Ghost of Google Play Music From Your Phone
Google Play Music is dead, but the app is still present on many Android devices. Its icon remains on the launcher, and its data takes up space in the internal memory, but when you open the application, you are taken to a screen with the message “Google Play Music is no longer available.”
Thankfully, Google is rolling out a posthumous app update that adds a way to permanently drop the presence of Google Play Music on your phone.
First, you need to download the new Google Play Music app update, version 8.29.9112-1.W. Check the version number of your app and download the update from the Google Play Store page; Like all Google updates, the rollout is uneven and some users may have to wait a while before it becomes available. Check periodically – at some point it will appear.
After you have installed version 8.29.9112-1.W, open Google Play Music one last time. You will be greeted with the same message “Google Play Music is no longer available” and the offer to “Explore YouTube Music”, but there is also a new “Free up space” menu with the following options:
- Hide application: Removes the application “Google Play Music” with the application screen.
- Delete Local Data: Deletes all downloaded music, podcasts, album art or Google Play Music playlists saved on your phone and clears the app cache.
- Open App Info: Go to the app info page in Android settings. Most of the settings don’t work at the moment, but you can check how much data the app is accepting on your phone in the Storage & Cache section if you’re interested.
Make sure you have selected “Delete local data” before hiding the application. If you don’t, it will be more difficult to delete any leftover Google Play Music files from your phone. This is especially important if you downloaded your entire Google Play Music library to your phone before shutting down, but forgot to delete files after backing them up to another service or device.
After deleting your local app data, tap Hide App and Google Play Music can finally join all other discontinued Google services.