diff --git a/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_Mobile.java b/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_Mobile.java
index 09eee3f1..8a624ca5 100644
--- a/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_Mobile.java
+++ b/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_Mobile.java
@@ -456,12 +456,7 @@ public class IITC_Mobile extends Activity {
                 mIitcWebView.loadUrl("javascript: window.show('map');");
                 return true;
             case R.id.reload_button:
-                mActionBar.setTitle(getString(R.string.app_name));
-                mBackStack.clear();
-                setActionBarHomeEnabledWithUp(false);
-                // iitc starts on map after reload
-                mCurrentPane = android.R.id.home;
-                this.loadUrl(mIntelUrl);
+                reloadIITC();
                 return true;
             case R.id.toggle_fullscreen:
                 toggleFullscreen();
@@ -518,6 +513,15 @@ public class IITC_Mobile extends Activity {
         }
     }
 
+    public void reloadIITC() {
+        mActionBar.setTitle(getString(R.string.app_name));
+        mBackStack.clear();
+        setActionBarHomeEnabledWithUp(false);
+        // iitc starts on map after reload
+        mCurrentPane = android.R.id.home;
+        this.loadUrl(mIntelUrl);
+    }
+
     private void loadIITC() {
         try {
             mIitcWebView.getWebViewClient().loadIITC_JS(this);
diff --git a/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_WebView.java b/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_WebView.java
index 625f5678..a86ceea7 100644
--- a/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_WebView.java
+++ b/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_WebView.java
@@ -25,11 +25,13 @@ public class IITC_WebView extends WebView {
     private WebSettings mSettings;
     private IITC_WebViewClient mIitcWebViewClient;
     private IITC_JSInterface mJsInterface;
+    private Context mContext;
     private boolean mDisableJs = false;
 
     // init web view
     private void iitc_init(Context c) {
         if (this.isInEditMode()) return;
+        mContext = c;
         mSettings = this.getSettings();
         mSettings.setJavaScriptEnabled(true);
         mSettings.setDomStorageEnabled(true);
@@ -40,7 +42,7 @@ public class IITC_WebView extends WebView {
                 + "/databases/");
         mSettings.setAppCachePath(this.getContext().getCacheDir()
                 .getAbsolutePath());
-        this.mJsInterface = new IITC_JSInterface(c);
+        this.mJsInterface = new IITC_JSInterface(mContext);
         this.addJavascriptInterface(mJsInterface, "android");
 
         this.setWebChromeClient(new WebChromeClient() {
@@ -134,7 +136,7 @@ public class IITC_WebView extends WebView {
                 url = url.replace("https://", "http://");
 
             // disable splash screen if a http error code is responded
-            new CheckHttpResponse(mJsInterface).execute(url);
+            new CheckHttpResponse(mJsInterface, mContext).execute(url);
             Log.d("iitcm", "loading url: " + url);
         }
         super.loadUrl(url);
diff --git a/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/async/CheckHttpResponse.java b/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/async/CheckHttpResponse.java
index dd4cd3ff..811864a5 100644
--- a/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/async/CheckHttpResponse.java
+++ b/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/async/CheckHttpResponse.java
@@ -1,9 +1,14 @@
 package com.cradle.iitc_mobile.async;
 
+import android.app.AlertDialog;
+import android.content.Context;
+import android.content.DialogInterface;
 import android.os.AsyncTask;
 import android.util.Log;
 
 import com.cradle.iitc_mobile.IITC_JSInterface;
+import com.cradle.iitc_mobile.IITC_Mobile;
+import com.cradle.iitc_mobile.IITC_WebView;
 
 import org.apache.http.HttpResponse;
 import org.apache.http.HttpStatus;
@@ -18,16 +23,18 @@ import java.io.IOException;
  * since network operations shouldn't be done on main UI thread
  * (NetworkOnMainThread exception is thrown) we use an async task for this.
  */
-public class CheckHttpResponse extends AsyncTask<String, Void, Void> {
+public class CheckHttpResponse extends AsyncTask<String, Void, Boolean> {
 
     private IITC_JSInterface mJsInterface;
+    private Context mContext;
 
-    public CheckHttpResponse(IITC_JSInterface jsInterface) {
+    public CheckHttpResponse(IITC_JSInterface jsInterface, Context c) {
+        mContext = c;
         mJsInterface = jsInterface;
     };
 
     @Override
-    protected Void doInBackground(String... urls) {
+    protected Boolean doInBackground(String... urls) {
         // check http responses and disable splash screen on error
         HttpGet httpRequest = new HttpGet(urls[0]);
         HttpClient httpclient = new DefaultHttpClient();
@@ -38,11 +45,53 @@ public class CheckHttpResponse extends AsyncTask<String, Void, Void> {
             if (code != HttpStatus.SC_OK) {
                 Log.d("iitcm", "received error code: " + code);
                 mJsInterface.removeSplashScreen();
+                // TODO: remove when google login issue is fixed
+                if (urls[0].contains("uberauth=WILL_NOT_SIGN_IN")) {
+                    return true;
+                }
             }
         } catch (IOException e) {
             e.printStackTrace();
         }
-        return null;
+        return false;
     }
 
+    /*
+     * TEMPORARY WORKAROUND
+     * redirect to FAQ on google login fail
+     */
+    @Override
+    protected void onPostExecute(Boolean aBoolean) {
+        if (aBoolean) {
+            Log.d("iitcm", "google auth error, redirecting to work-around page");
+            AlertDialog.Builder alertDialogBuilder = new AlertDialog.Builder(mContext);
+
+            // set title
+            alertDialogBuilder.setTitle("LOGIN FAILED!");
+
+            // set dialog message
+            alertDialogBuilder
+                    .setMessage("This is caused by Google and hopefully fixed soon. " +
+                            "To workaround this issue:\n" +
+                            "• Choose 'Cancel' when asked to choose an account " +
+                            "and manually enter your email address and password into the web page\n" +
+                            "• If you don't see the account chooser, delete apps cache/data " +
+                            "to force a new login session and handle it as described above")
+                    .setCancelable(true)
+                    .setNeutralButton("Reload now", new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
+                        @Override
+                        public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {
+                            dialog.cancel();
+                            IITC_Mobile iitc_mobile = (IITC_Mobile) mContext;
+                            iitc_mobile.reloadIITC();
+                        }
+                    });
+
+            // create alert dialog
+            AlertDialog alertDialog = alertDialogBuilder.create();
+
+            // show it
+            alertDialog.show();
+        }
+    }
 }