Google News Bug Is Burning Through Background Data On Android

Google News for Android is burning through huge quantities of mobile data and users aren't happy. Many users have taken to Google's help forum and Reddit to complain about the issue, which in some cases has resulted in dozens of gigabytes being consumed in less than a month. Reports indicate the problem has been ongoing since August.

According to impacted Android users, Google News is using up large quantities of data in the background, which for some users has resulted in overage charges from their wireless providers. Some users on the Google News Help Forum have reported losing tens of gigabytes in only a few weeks. The problem appears to have started this past summer, possibly as early as June.

In a thread post on September 26, Google News' Community Manager Lisa Wang said that Google was investigating the issue and working on a fix. Nearly a month has passed since that update and it appears that a fix still has not been provided. Some unsuspecting users are being hit with data overage charges as a result.

According to some impacted users speaking to The Verge, Google News used the large amounts of background data despite the Download via WiFi feature being enabled. One unfortunate user claims to have been hit with $385 USD in overage charges after the app used 24GB of mobile data.

Google News users worried about potentially being impacted by this bug can download Google Datally, the company's data-saving product. This app includes a feature that allows the user to set maximum limits for the amount of mobile data that can be used, preventing overage charges. Of course, getting rid of Google News until the bug is fixed is also a solution.