Google News has been undergoing major changes recently, getting new features like custom themes chats or selective copying of text. However, in addition to these new features, a number of annoying bugs began to appear in the application. While the broken RCS or the breaking up of conversations into multiple threads were rather annoying, the latest reported bug poses a major risk to users' privacy.
According to a series of reports on the platform Reddit Google Messages is suddenly pulling old texts from completely different conversations and attaching them to newly sent messages. In some cases, these old messages are sent along with a new photo or group message, and in other cases, they are attached to a regular conversation and reach a recipient they were not intended for.
Serious invasion of privacy
This is not just a minor issue. Users are reporting very unpleasant situations. One of the phone owners Pixel 9a tried to confirm a vet appointment, but the app attached an old message about a sensitive family matter to the text. Another user described an older message with intimate content attached to a text sent to his mother. Other cases include verification codes being accidentally sent or private messages delivered to colleagues at work.
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The issue isn't limited to just one device, with Samsung owners reporting the bug, and the unwanted sending occurs regardless of whether RCS is enabled or disabled.
What is the solution?
Common troubleshooting steps often fail. Users report that clearing the cache, restarting the phone, turning RCS off and on, and reinstalling the app do not reliably fix the problem.
According to the community, a complete factory reset of the phone without restoring old messages from a backup has helped some affected people. However, these are only unofficial tips from users, not a confirmed solution from Google. Furthermore, a factory reset without a thorough backup can result in data loss.
Google has already responded to one of the official reports, requesting screenshots and feedback from the affected user from the app, and confirming that it has passed the issue on to the engineering team for investigation.
