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04 January 2011, 15:47

Android sends texts to wrong recipients

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Android Logo A bug in the Android smartphone operating system results in texts which appear to have been correctly sent, arriving with the wrong recipient. The bug is reportedly present in all versions of Android up to at least version 2.2. Under what conditions and how frequently the problem occurs is still unknown. Concerned Android users can find out whether their texts have gone astray by consulting the messaging app. The actual recipient's telephone number can be found by selecting the text message via the pop-up options menu.

The bug was reported to Google in June of last year, but went unnoticed, having been marked as low priority. Only after being mentioned in a blog over the New Year did enough users vote for a rapid resolution to move its status up to critical. It remains uncertain when Google will fix it – and whether the market will then be able to deliver the fix it to users without too much difficulty, or whether vendors will need to carry out firmware upgrades.

A further bug, this time affecting receipt of texts, has been reported. Once Android has issued a warning that there are only a few MB of internal program memory remaining, there is a risk that incoming texts will go missing. The app issues a warning that it was unable to receive a text, but does not divulge either the content or sender to the user. The mobile phone service provider considers the text to have been delivered and does not resend it. The bug is reported to be present in Android 1.6 and later, with some comments mentioning the Google Nexus One and Motorola Milestone. Why the problem should arise when as much as 5 MB of memory remains free – enough for thousands of texts – is unclear.

(crve)

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