While there are several benefits to having updates roll out to devices quickly, the one downside can be the occasional presence of bugs that slip through the cracks. The January 2024 Google Play System Update may have gone through a similar ordeal, with severalGoogle Pixelowners who installed the update reporting theinability to access device storage this week. Google did say it was working on a fix, and now we’re getting some understanding of what’s causing the problem.
First things first, Google has seemingly stopped the rollout of the January 2024 Play System Update as it tries to ascertain the cause, according to an unnamed source quoted by Android expert and AP contributorMishaal Rahman. The trouble lies within the DCLA Mainline Module, per the source, with Rahman diving into the technical details in a well-detailed post on X.
Given these discrepancies, Google has reportedly disabled DCLA (Dynamic Common Library Apex) for the time being. This could have some side effects, like bloating up the size of some modules. However, Rahman says it could remedy the original issue that restricted users from accessing their device storage.
This is eerily reminiscent of what happenedback in Octoberwhen Pixel users were locked out of their storage following theAndroid 14update. Back then, it was found that the issue was related to having multiple user profiles on the Pixel, but it’s not yet confirmed if that’s the case this time around.
Google’s halting of the January 2024 Play System Update means that more users won’t be impacted by this bug. But it is now tasked with issuing an update to those unfortunate users who managed to install the update and are unable to access their storage. There’s still no timeline for a bug-fixing update from Google, although the company has confirmed that it’s working on it.
Losing access to your phone’s storage is serious, especially if you have all your precious photos and other personal data stored on the device.At least one Pixel 8 Pro userimpacted by this January 2024 Play System Update bug found that resetting their device can fix the bug. However, this comes with its own risks, such as losing out on data that may not have been backed up online, as the user later learned.
