Google acknowledges Android SMS bug, promises fix

By on Jan 5, 2011 at 6:10 PM
Software January 5, 2011

Last week, we told you about a pesky SMS bug that has been plaguing some users of  Google’s Android operating system. The issue in question, which Google asserts is quite rare, causes text messages to be sent to unintended or random recipients. In the company’s bug-tracking system, a response has been posted to those users filing complaints in hopes of a solution. Google writes:

Thanks to everyone for your patience while we’ve been investigating these reports. As it turns out, we believe there are two distinct situations being discussed on this issue chain. Fortunately, we have fixes for both of them.

When some users tap to open a message in the Messaging application, they’re seeing a different message appear instead. We don’t believe this issue is affecting many users, but we’ve developed a fix that we’re preparing to deploy. Of course, double-checking the displayed message before hitting “Send” will prevent any messages from being sent to the wrong recipients. We’ve found in testing this issue, it is more likely to occur if you tap on a message before the Messaging app is fully loaded, so we recommend waiting for all the elements to load before clicking on the message you want to display.

Separately, some users have reported that their SMS messages are being delivered to the wrong people. It took us some time to reproduce this issue, as it appears that it’s only occurring very rarely. Even so, we’ve now managed to both reproduce it and develop a fix that we will deploy.

While we don’t anticipate any persistent problems, we’ll continue to investigate in case we come up with additional ways to trigger these bugs. Thanks again for helping us improve Android.

No word on exactly when the fixes will be pushed out to handsets, but if you’re mobile is affected… know that help is on the way.

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17 Comments

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  • Guest

    I’m done with Android after this one. Props to Google for finding the issue and fixing it, but I feel like I will never see this update.

    Google will fix it and send it to the handset manufacturers, which may or may not take the time to develop an update for specific models. Then the handset manufacturers will have to work with the carriers who have no doubt thrown their resources to test unreleased phones instead of phones that have been on the market for over a year or have already been taken off the shelves.

    If I see this fix, which is doubtful, it won’t be for at least 3 months.

    • jmk

      …so what kind of device are you gonna use?

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NID2HKZUPM6UDOJAPX2WWDUAFU Tak

        iPhone 4 or 5.

      • serpentor

        So instead of sending a txt to the wrong person, he won’t have a signal to send anything at all.

      • Tn7871

        @serpentor Yeah, until Verizon has the iPhone. I’m probably going to switch to one when they finally come out.

  • Riley Biers

    I believe it’s harder for bills to get passed through Congress than it is for an Android update to reach our phones.

    • Shadrach

      I think you meant the converse….

  • Anonymous

    So if you’re a Samsung customer you should see this update sometime around the end of this year.

  • Anonymous

    Google is an advertising company. When it comes to anything else so far they have mostly failed: Google Video Player, Google Answers, Web Accelerator, Buzz, Wave, Google TV, Chrome Web Store etc

    Android will fail if they do not clean up the Android Store. Seriously that place is a mess. It’s overrun with fake apps, ripoff apps and malware. And now with Amazon selling Android apps later this year, it will just get more complicated and messy for the average user.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NID2HKZUPM6UDOJAPX2WWDUAFU Tak

      But but but but but but it’s Open Sores™!

      • Anonymous

        I’m all for keeping things open. But without some kind of regulation, somebody keeping check, there will be chaos.

        If I invest a few hundred dollars on the latest smartphone, I expect some kind of consistency and quality when it comes to my phone having the latest OS. It’s not my responsibility to check that the app I bought at the Android Marketplace is a fake app/malware etc. When I buy a can of beans in the market, I know what’s written on the can is what I am getting.

        The average user which is at least 95 percent of smartphone users knows fuck all about technology. They will get confused and then pissed off very quickly by inconsistency and lack of quality. Only a small percent of users are savvy enough to navigate that kind of confusion.

        I’m not saying a total lockdown walled garden approach is the way to go, but someone has to be keeping check.

  • NOT A DROID FAN

    Yeah thats great just over 6 months to fix the issue DRIOD DOESN’T RULE!!!

    • serpentor

      Still waiting for Apple to fix their antennae issue too.

  • Anonymous

    If Google can’t even push out a minor update like this to all affected devices, then we have yet another example of how being “open” impairs the user experience. It’s really rathe sad.

  • Mgl323

    Will this update to fix the bug be available to only 2.2 devices? or all devices?

  • Brosenwald

    What about how slow Droid X runs and how often it asks for a voice command without any prompting since they updated to Froyo?

  • Guest

    I’m annoyed by their description of the issue being “rare”. I updated my phone with a good release from Samsung of Android 2.2 and this has probably been happening to, honestly, 1 in 10 messages. This did NOT happen with 2.1 and I’m actually considering going back to it. In one night (I really don’t even text that much) it happened three times. Interestingly enough, I’ve found that Swype (which was meant to be ‘improved’ in this update) is actually getting more of my words wrong. I think Google’s doing ok, but phone developers are screwing up. Maybe a Nexus phone would allow me to get just what the doctor ordered.

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