Some Google Home Speakers are downloading hundreds of gigabytes of data in the background
Some owners of Google's new Home Speaker smart speaker report that the device continuously downloads huge amounts of data in the background. Google says it is aware of the problem and that a fix is already rolling out.
Some owners of the Google Home Speaker, a smart speaker, are dealing with a bug that makes the device continuously download hundreds of gigabytes of data in the background. The tech site 9to5Google and several users of the Reddit platform have reported the problem over the past week. The cause may be failed attempts by the speakers to correctly download and install a firmware update.
One Reddit user found that his device was consuming more than 200GB per day. In a different household cited by 9to5Google, another Home Speaker downloaded just 2GB over the past month, while an affected device used 132GB over the same period.
Google's response
In a statement to 9to5Google, Google said a fix is already rolling out that should resolve the issue for users. Most reports concern the new Google Home Speaker model, but it is unclear how widespread the problem is. The Verge has asked Google for more information about the cause and for confirmation of which devices are affected.
The Verge's Tom Warren confirmed that his own speaker is not affected.
Risk for users
People on a limited data plan have particular reason for concern. The bug could quickly use up their allowance, and they might not notice unless they regularly check how much data their devices consume.