Sony Xperia Z5
Sony Xperia Z5IBTimes India/Raymond Ronamai

Sony released the Android Marshmallow to Xperia Z5 series March 23, but soon device owners complained that the Google Play store app crashes when an attempt is made to open it.

The phone displays a message that reads: "Unfortunately Google Play Store has stopped..." and the same message randomly pops up every few minutes.

Apparently this issue is plaguing Xperia Z5 and Z5 Premium series devices in Canada region only.

The company has acknowledged the bug on the official Sony Xperia CA Twitter account and paused the roll-out process temporarily to investigate the issue and release the software patch.

Here's one complaint from Sony Xperia Z5 Premium user, who goes by the moniker AzimB-

"As soon as I updated to Marshmallow, I keep getting the "Unfortunately Google Play Store has stopped..." and the message 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."

Many more complaints have been filed on Sony consumer support page. Check them HERE.

In the mean time, affected Sony Xperia Z5 series users can perform a couple of procedures to resolve the issue temporarily (courtesy Xperia Blog)

Step 1: Clear the data of the Play Store

Go to Settings >> Apps > > Show system >> Google Play Store >> Storage >> Clear Data.

Step 2: Disable location services
Go to Settings >> Location >> Move the slider to the Off position.

If things don't improve Factory reset the device.

Go to Settings >>Backup & reset >> Factory data reset

[Note: Backup all the phone's data before you go ahead with the factory reset procedure]

Stay tuned fore more updates.