Good Morning “Choicers”,
I’m hoping someone can help me please. I received an email telling me that there was something in my in box in My Gov. I went to look and there are two documents from Centrelink (one marked as important). Each time I tap on the “download” thing at the bottom (that has a small downward pointing arrow, in a kind of box), the screen on my android tablet just does a flash. I’ve checked in my google drive and adobe app I have (for opening documents) but there is nothing there. I’m stumped.
Any information anyone gives me, can you please make it simple as I’m not very “techy” ?
Thankyou in advance.
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Ring the mygov helpline for technical difficulties. On a rare occasion they are helpful but do not count on it.
Have you rebooted your tablet? Have you tried it on another device, preferably a PC but even a phone? Do you have the MyGov app and are you using it?
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Did you check the Downloads folder? Unless you’ve told it otherwise, the app might put downloads there. A small document might download very quickly, and the download notification might only look like a brief flash.
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Hi Phil,
Yes ha, ha, I phoned the help line on Friday and was on hold for nearly THREE hours before I gave up.
The only contact I could find was the stupid robot who is extremely frustrating and not helpful. I don’t know how to reboot my tablet and yes I have and am using the my Gov app. Finally if you could tell me where to find the download folder, I’ll go and check it out. Thanks again.
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It can be brand dependent on what utilities you have. This is for Samsung but every Android device will be similar if not identical.
If your download was successful, as you expected your tablet should have offered to open it with a suitable app.
If all else fails visit mygov with a browser login and try downloading your email from there.
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It is an Android issue and the MyGov helpline may not be able to help.
Some apps and the Chrome browser for many websites won’t download linked documents for some reason. If it did download, a notification would appear in the notification drop-down.
Two solutions we have found that work are to use a browser:
- on the document link in MyGov inbox, hold your finger on the link until the popup window displays. Select Open in new Tab. A new tab should open and then automatically close. On closing, the document downloads. On completion, a notification in the drop-down should appear which can be selected, thus opening the document.
- if the above doesn’t work, try a different browser such as Firefox.
Usually the first dot point works for us. When it doesn’t, a browser alternative to Chrome seems to work.
The other solution is to hop on a desktop computer and login to MyGov through the installed browser (such as Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Opera etc).
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Hi Everyone,
So I did get into my folder and found everything but the kitchen sink (being the my Gov download). I went around in circles, found a section that you could ask questions as well. Turned out all it did was give me a headache, technology can be SO frustrating when you don’t know what you’re doing.
I don’t know how to do the browser thing suggested and for now I’m giving up. When it gets too annoying no resolution will be found. Will tackle again later.
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The other bug which happens from time to time is the download file name is somehow corrupted when saving from some apps/websites.
A PDF viewer will give an error message saying the file can’t be opened. Downloading again doesn’t fix the issue. What does is renaming the downloaded file, giving it a new name. An example being file.pdf. This usually fixes this issue.
The other thing to do is to clean out/delete unwanted files from the download folder. Over time many GBs of downloaded files can be stored taking up space on the device’s memory/drives.
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There is a breed of humans who design and write these applications. They seem to be able to effortlessly understand how to use these ‘smart device’ apps.
They are the gen Y, or Millenials. Perhaps you have access to one. I have been in IT since the 1980’s but need to call on one from time to time. It is spooky sometimes.
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Hi Phil,
So when I got into the file there was one that said it couldn’t be opened. There were a million others of which I got rid of probably 60% of (that have obviously been getting sent there since I got the tablet three years ago)!! My carer is coming over tomorrow so I’m hoping she’ll be able to rename it and hopefully then it can be opened. As stated, I’m over tech stuff today…but thanks again.
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Hey Greg,
I am no genius by any state but have never thought I’m am an idiot either, being brought up with common sense helped I think. That of course was until I got “technology” that, for many reasons I HAD to get. I can be left thinking I’m a blithering idiot when like today I seem to go around in endless circles. Yes you can google questions but quite often you need to understand “tech language” to understand the info you’re getting. So when it gets that frustrating, I walk away as my next move is to throw the tablet at the wall !! They cost too much for that. Thankyou to all who take the time to help me, I appreciate all your effort. 
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Another option is to brave more frustration when you are up to it and head to your nearest CentreLink Office. At worst they will point you to one of their self service kiosks where you can log in and find out what is in your Inbox that is so important. If you hit a similar block wall raising your hand eventually elicits assistance. With luck they might even have an answer on how to do so from home with your tablet.
I had a similar issue when my partner logged in. It’s hard to know if you have a similar issue. She kept on trying to get a doc to download. It seems the obvious step to take. It’s not always. It failed every time. Tapping on the MyGov email message header, and not the attachment/download was all that was necessary. It subsequently auto opened the attached doc.
Unfortunately there appears to be no screen by screen step by step guide to doing basic tasks with the App. An assumption that the average Centrelink customer is in the top quartile of digital literacy and part time Mensa member. 
I wish.
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I think you may have it!
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A family member has also recently received two mygov messages from Centrelink. The may be similar to the messages waiting for you.
The one marked “Important” was received today and it was a letter providing details about the increase in pension that will apply from 20 September. The other message, not marked urgent, came last week and asked them to review the details relating to their rent payments.
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Markm,
You are a genius!! I took your advice and tapped on the my Gov message header and “Hey presto” the documents opened. I was telling a friend the other week what a bunch of smart, keen to share knowledge people you wonderful “Choicers” are.
Again I bow down with thanks to you all. You remind me there are a lot of nice people still left in the world. Thankyou, thankyou.
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I am a pensioner ang o through My Aged Care. I used to received wmails telling me that there was a message for me. However I haven’t been receiving those notification emails for a long time now, therefore I nforge to enter in and read them
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Next time you are logged in, you may want to check the notification settings in your profile. There are various options on how notifications are sent, and to whom. Notifications can be sent to multiple people. Maybe you are not in the settings for email notification. Or the email address has changed. Or mobile phone for SMS.
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Happy to know you had a success.
I can thank my partner for showing me the problem earlier this year. It was only one of several possible causes, considering some of the other suggestions are also solutions to similar symptoms. I’ve only learnt a little by being a part-time help desk for some of the family who have decades of life experiences.
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Whilst some of the time I think technology is good, a LOT of the time it drives me crazy or freaks me out, like when I learned what “phising” meant first hand.
Sounding very old I often say “life was simpler” without technology, lol. I then do appreciate being able to get advice, information and some laughs from all the “Choicers” on this site. My enthusiasm obviously ebbs and flows regarding tech.
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Then there is a breed of government that has decided that forcing everyone onto this kind of technology, for the purposes of saving the government (the taxpayer) money, is appropriate when clearly in this case the very concept is not fit for purpose.
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