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Android Email Bug: Known Problem?

Technology

Earlier this week, I wrote about the a crazy bug in the Android email app that I discovered on my Nexus One, which posed a significant privacy risk when users send emails from their device. I submitted the bug report to Google and earlier today I received a reply. The email (below) includes instructions to resolve the issue, including clearing the email app data and cache.

While I’m delighted to get such a quick reply, I can’t help but to think that the Android development team must have known about the bug for some time. The reply below gives no indication that this is a known issue. But it also does not request any further detail, which I assume they would have requested if they were unfamiliar with the bug. I did search the Android Code site, but I could not find a known issue.

If you’ve seen this occur on your device, please add comments/details to Android Code site here.

“Hello Michael,

Thank you for your email. We understand you are facing issues with your
email app.

To resolve this issue, please try the following:

– Perform a hard reset
1. Remove the battery from your phone.
2. Wait 15 seconds.
3. Replace your battery and try turning on your phone again.

– Clear cache of the Email application
1. Go to Settings > Applications > Manage applications
2. Press the Menu button and select ‘Filter’
3. Select ‘All’
4. Select the problematic application
5. Click ‘Clear data’ and ‘Clear cache’

– Uninstall any third-party applications that might be impacting the Email
application

1. Go to Settings > Applications > Manage applications
2. Press the Menu button and select ‘Filter’
3. Select ‘All’
4. Select the problematic application
5. Click ‘Uninstall’

If are still seeing inclusion of a separate email, you may need to do a
factory data reset

1. Go to Settings > Privacy > Factory data reset
2. Click ‘Reset phone’
3. Your phone will restart
4. After resetting your phone, you will need to re-sign in to your Google
account and re-download all of your apps

Please reply to this email if your issue remains unresolved after these
steps.

Sincerely,

XXXXX
The Google Team”