Android Pie users may have noticed something strange on their smartphones. After charging their phones to full capacity, they were surprised to see the battery saving option switched on.
With the battery saving option enabled, power is directed to the essential parts of the phone. Other features like GPS and phone brightness are disabled. Android 9’s Adaptive Battery feature goes a step further, disabling apps that run in the background that aren’t used often.
The android pie bug confused users who had the full capacity with battery saving enabled. At critical times, there were unable to use features and apps they should have access to. As the comparisons swirled around sites like Reddit, users realized the bug was on phones like the Essential Phone, Google Pixel 2, One Plus 6, and a host of others.
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Google Responds To The Android Pie Bug
The noise online rattled Google who recently issued an apology, citing that they were aware of the issue. The tech giant indicated the change was a controlled experiment by their engineering team. They were testing the battery saving features of Android Pie, to improve its reliability.
The intended test targeted a small group of devices. Unfortunately, it was rolled out to a larger group of phones.
They have since reverted the affected phones to their default settings and removed the bug from affecting other devices. Google maintains that testing was safe. No phones or data was adversely affected and measures will be put in place to prevent a repeat of the issue. “Sorry for the confusion,” Google said in its statement.
Should Android Users Panic?
Android users did not take lightly to the apology. Many were upset that the changes were made without prior consent. For a feature that worked perfectly, it was confusing that Google will implement a bug to disrupt the experience of the user. Don’t they care about them?
Other users felt that Google showed its users that it has dominion over the operating system. Although users made changes to their settings, this self-inflicted android pie bug was able to stop them.
The android pie bug raised another concern. Can Google change settings on each phone? It’s easy to conclude this if they were able to target a select group of phones and toggle one setting. The entire suite of phones on Android Pie was not harmed. Therefore, Google has shown that it can not only collect data on your app and phone usage, it can also see how you customize your device. And change it.
This simple error may raise the conversation on data protection again.
Changes Mean Continuous Testing
At the same time, Google has made several changes to its new Android Operating-System with Adaptive Battery & Adaptive Display. It is part of the company’s intention to integrate Artificial Intelligence in Operating Systems. Adaptive Battery looks at when, and how you use apps.
It determines which apps deserve more battery. This gives a better battery experience. Adaptive Brightness tracks the brightness you prefer in different environments. It then predicts and adjusts accordingly. Both features improve the user’s battery experience.
Changes like these mean that Google will continuously test its technology, to ensure that it is working in all situations. Admittedly, these tests should be managed better. The argument could be raised that users should expect Google to have control over the ecosystem if they wish to benefit from these features.
