Having a constantly connected electronic device is not without consequences. We think of automatic updates, for example. But Google went further.
Yesterday, several owners of Google Pixel smartphones and other Android 9 Pie devices noticed that the battery saving feature had been activated – like magic! -. And strangely, it came on while the phones had almost a full battery. As Android Police reports, some initially thought of a minor bug in the latest version of Android, released just a few weeks ago. Others thought to have activated it without realizing it …
Google mistakenly activates a remote setting on Android smartphones
It turns out ultimately that the fault lies with Google. The Mountain View firm has posted a message on Reddit acknowledging ” an internal experiment to test the battery preservation features that has inadvertently activated for more users than expected. “Google has remotely, and accidentally, changed a setting on the phones of a number of customers. ” We have now reset the parameter to its default value. You can configure it as you wish, “the Pixel team wrote on Reddit before apologizing for this error.
And the concern was not limited to only Pixel smartphones. Devices like the Essential Phone, OnePlus 6, Nokia and others Android Pie (even in beta) have seen the battery saver activate without the slightest action of the user. Once engaged, this mode prevents applications from refreshing their content if you do not open it, blocks use of location services when the screen is off, prevents applications from working in the background, and delays some notifications.
A measure that is not new but that worries
Apple and Google both have emergency procedures to force updates to trigger changes on iOS and Android, respectively. A necessary option for the security of uses. And that’s nothing new. In 2008, Steve Jobs confirmed that Apple had a switch available for malicious applications. But this time, it is the silent and ultimately invasive nature of Google’s operation that is singled out.
We could have said that there were more walls between the tests in-house Android and the Android installed on the machines of the general public, but the border is ultimately quite thin.