If an application won’t close on an Android smartphone and forcing it to stop fails, what should you do next?

A soft reset on an Android smartphone can effectively resolve issues where applications are unresponsive or fail to close properly. This action involves restarting the device, which clears the memory and stops all running processes, including the problematic application. This can be a straightforward first step in troubleshooting, as it often resolves temporary glitches or software issues without causing data loss.

Performing a hard reset, on the other hand, generally refers to a factory reset, which erases all data and settings on the device, making it a more drastic and unnecessary solution in this situation. Stopping the underlying service in Running Services requires more technical knowledge and may not always address the root problem effectively. Taking the device to an authorized service center is a course of action that's typically reserved for hardware-related issues or persistent software problems that cannot be resolved via simple resets, which may not be needed here if the application can be fixed with a soft reset.