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Google Halts Rollout Of Chrome 79 For Android After Apps Suffer Data Loss

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The rollout of Chrome 79 for Android has been stopped by Google after data loss by some third-party apps was reported. The major bug was deleting the data of users and resetting mobile apps. The bug occurred after Google started rolling out Chrome 79 version last week for desktop and mobile operating systems. Soon after that users started posting about it on the official Chrome Help forum. They claimed that the data of Chrome 78 was not migrated totally to Chrome 79. According to the search engine giant, the new version of Chrome has been rolled out to 50 percent of the entire userbase already. Google developers too admitted to making a mistake with this operation. Developers said that it forgot to move the contents of WebSQL or localStorage into the new Chrome 79 directory. This made the data inaccessible for all users.

Users said that websites are functioning properly in the browser and only those applications are affected that rely on WebView functionality. Some apps depend on localStorage or WebSQL to save settings and user data locally. When Google started rolling out Chrome 79, these apps lost access to data that were saved locally inside old Chrome 78. It seems that Google forgot to include several key locations while migrating the data. Further analysis showed that data is still available but not being loaded by the applications. A developer of a mobile cash management app said that over 250,000 users of its apps have been affected already.

Google has, therefore, stopped the rollout of much-hyped Chrome 79 for Android. The biggest addition to Chrome 79 is that it could warn users in real-time when they are on potential phishing links. Phishing is a technique of stealing usernames and passwords by tricking users into clicking on malicious links. The search engine giant has been warning users about reused passwords in its password checkup tool. It sent more than 12,000 warning about state-sponsored phishing in the US between July and September. In August this year, Google blocked about 100 million such emails every day. Verizon’s annual report on cybersecurity states that phishing is the leading cause of data breaches.