Google withdraws Chrome 79 due to huge bug

Online since December 10, Chrome 79 empties two files where personal data is stored on smartphones equipped with Android. A bug that forced Google to remove it while waiting to find a fix.

This is the kind of bug that gets stuck While Chrome 79 is installed on 50% of Android users, the developers have discovered a very worrying problem. Downloaded since December 10, less than a week, this version of Google’s browser erases user data! More precisely, it erases data linked to applications and Chrome 78, as evidenced by messages left on discussion forums.

Given the damage caused, Google removed this version from the Play Store and stopped its deployment on smartphones by the update, and we know a little more about the bug in question. Concretely, it is linked to the display engine, WebView, installed by default on smartphones running Android. It is the heart of Chrome, but also of certain applications that need to display web content.

However, in this version 79, the developers modified the access path of two folders used to store the data of the applications. These are the localStorage and IndexDB folders used to save user data linked to a website opened in Chrome or an application.

A fix in 5 to 7 days

What developers of Chrome, but also of penalized applications have noticed, is that the installation of the Chrome  79 update modifies the place where the files are saved, and at the same time, it automatically erases the folders related to Chrome 78 and applications using these folders.

On the developer side, it is stated that a fix will soon be proposed, in five to seven days, and ”  that this solution minimizes data loss and can be deployed in complete security “. If we trust the messages posted on the Android forums, no ultra-popular application is affected by this bug.