Android 8.0 Oreo has been distributed to a handful of smartphones including Google’s latest Pixel series, though it appears that the public release is not without its minor flaws; according to recent reports, there is currently a bug in the OS that prevents some Pixel and Nexus 6P owners from using mobile data once they reach their initial data caps. The good news is that Google is already looking into fixing this issue which has been labeled as a high-priority one by the development team.
Google’s latest version of Android OS introduces a new data management system which automatically blocks mobile data on a device once the user has reached the data cap established by the carrier agreement. In theory, this is a good addition that should prevent Android smartphone users from accidentally utilizing additional data on top of their allowance, which would usually result in a bloated monthly bill with extra charges. Unfortunately, it appears that the new feature doesn’t work quite as intended, as some users report that once the data cap is reached and all mobile data is blocked, they are no longer allowed to spend data prorated by their carriers for use in certain applications. For example, some carrier agreements allow users to access applications like Whatsapp over mobile networks free of charge, regardless of their current data allowance. However, the recent bug in Android 8.0 Oreo prevents users from accessing such services once their monthly data allowance has been spent, as the system doesn’t seem to account for prorated data. In response to numerous user reports bringing this issue into the spotlight, a Pixel Community Manager revealed that a fix is on the way, but no specific time frame for its release has yet been given.
This isn’t the first time Android 8.0 Oreo has caused issues to mobile data usage, as earlier this month it was discovered that the OS sometimes favors mobile data even when the device is connected to an active Wi-Fi network. Once again, Google is aware of that particular issue and is working on a fix, and a temporary solution is to disable mobile data manually when connected to Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, as of this writing, there doesn’t seem to be a temporary fix for the newly found bug blocking all mobile data other than downgrading to an older version of the Android OS, which is arguably a rather extreme solution.