Yesterday I was using the Google Maps app and every time I tried to change the mode of transportation away from driving it would crash giving the message "unfortunately google maps has stopped working". I tried rebooting and clearing the app cache to no avail. I then noticed in the Play store an update was available for it which I clicked on and installed. The auto update setting was checked so why didn't this happen automatically? Not even a notification was given saying there was an update available (unless I missed it). I could see this being a huge problem if apps randomly stop working and you don't know why and have to go through the Play store manually to apply updates.
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It could be that the new update needed an extra permission. If that is the case, your app won't update automatically. It needs yo to accept the new permissions first.