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You may have noticed something strange on your Android mobile in the last few days. Some users have experienced problems for a week and it could be due to a failure of Google itself.
Some of the reported symptoms are as follows: Users have observed that the applications they had installed have stopped updating in the background. They have also noticed that location services were not working while the screen was locked. Or that notifications were delayed without the user having configured any extraordinary options. Therefore, they did not receive the emails or messaging notifications when they should.
If you have observed any of these symptoms on your device in recent days, don't worry. The responsibility is borne by Google, which has already recognized that it experienced an error that has affected a portion of users yet to be determined.
We stop receiving email alerts
For a few days, we have stopped receiving notifications for email messages in Gmail. After checking why we were not being promptly notified of the receipt of the emails, we verified if there was any type of anomalous configuration. But we can't find it.
If it has happened to you too, don't think twice. Google just explained that it accidentally enabled the power saving feature. It did it remotely on phones equipped with Android Pie, both those that had a low battery, and those that were fully charged. Or almost.
An internal test that got out of hand
Google has given Reddit explanations. In this forum they have reported that they were carrying out an internal test when, by mistake, it was extended to more users than planned. Hence, the energy saving mode was activated for many people, without them having touched any option in the configuration section.
At this time, it is possible that everything works correctly for you. What Google has done, according to its own explanations, is to revert the power saving system settings and restore the default values. This is true for all those affected.
But beware, if you had configured the energy saving system, now you will have to reconfigure it again. When restoring the initial settings, your preferences will be lost. And the energy saving mode will not activate according to your expectations and needs.
Luckily, not all Android users will suffer the consequences of this accidental Google crash. The affected devices are very limited. According to reports, those affected would be the Google Pixel, the OnePlus 6, the Essential Plus and the Nokia 7+, all of them equipped with Android Pie or with the beta version.
How could it happen?
You may be wondering why Google can change your phone's settings at will. Well, you should know that both the owner of Android and Apple have the ability to make changes remotely. This is actually a security measure that protects users against any emergency.
Either way, Google has clearly been lucky. Changing the settings of the energy saving mode is nothing serious, compared to modifying the preferences of any other more primary option. We think, for example, of those kinds of failures that can affect your day to day. Remember that one that occurred years ago, after a time change, that left millions of iPhone users around the world to bed?
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