Android 14 Still Doesn't Calculate Device Storage Utilization Correctly (androidpolice.com) 22
According to Android specialist Mishaal Rahman, Android miscalculates the storage space taken up by system components, leading to inflated system storage utilization and potentially misleading users. Chandraveer Mathur writes via Android Police. From the report: We usually rely on Android's storage utilization utility to find apps and files eating up storage space, so we can uninstall or delete them if required. However, Android specialist Mishaal Rahman discovered that Google's calculation of the space consumed by Android system components is flawed. He executed shell commands to create a 3GB file in the /data/media/0 storage directory, which isn't a file path used for Android system files. However, the phone's storage breakdown showed a marked 3GB increase under the System heading, suggesting the OS suddenly became bigger.
This happens because Android calculates system storage as the space used up by anything other than what's covered by other categories in the storage breakdown, including audios, videos, images, documents, trash, and games. This means the System heading in the break doesn't just include Android system files. Android 14 also uses this dangerously flawed logic for calculating storage usage. Moreover, the Files app by Google also shows similar storage utilization by Android system components, perhaps because it uses the same incredulous attribution logic. By association, all other Android skins use flawed calculation of used storage space, but Samsung reportedly fixed this issue with the One UI 6 update. After running similar ADB commands as in the previous experiment, Rahman could confirm the increased utilization showed up under the Other files heading in the storage breakdown, instead of the System heading.
This happens because Android calculates system storage as the space used up by anything other than what's covered by other categories in the storage breakdown, including audios, videos, images, documents, trash, and games. This means the System heading in the break doesn't just include Android system files. Android 14 also uses this dangerously flawed logic for calculating storage usage. Moreover, the Files app by Google also shows similar storage utilization by Android system components, perhaps because it uses the same incredulous attribution logic. By association, all other Android skins use flawed calculation of used storage space, but Samsung reportedly fixed this issue with the One UI 6 update. After running similar ADB commands as in the previous experiment, Rahman could confirm the increased utilization showed up under the Other files heading in the storage breakdown, instead of the System heading.
Dangerous! (Score:5, Informative)
(from the summary)
Android 14 also uses this dangerously flawed logic for calculating storage usage.
Why is placing the reported usage under the "System" category dangerous? Annoying, perhaps, but what is the danger there?
Re: (Score:3)
My thought exactly. Dangerous how?
Re: (Score:3)
Yea, I mean what the heck, the reporting is a little off, what's so dangerous? Changing the files presented to apps [reddit.com] without telling you and with behaviour that changes silently from one version to another, THAT is where the OS/storage fails at its basic duty. The most laughable are the drones that drunk Google's coolaid and are "oh, Android got my back and it's so great that it's censoring my files even against my freakin' local program when I explicitly said I want to give it access to these files!"
Re: (Score:2)
There is some confusion as to how the permissions for file access work now.
Apps can store data themselves, and it's private to that app.
Apps can request access to media files, via the standard Android media selector. That's all most of them need. It includes access to the downloads folder.
Apps can also request access to the filesystem, which is a special one that requires more than just a simple pop-up prompt. Google strongly wants to discourage apps from requesting that permission, unless absolutely necess
Re: (Score:2)
This goes beyond any access restriction paradigm one might commonly find, in the sense that the app (after you grant it permissions to the specific directory you want) is getting from the OS files that were partly zeroed out as Google "tries to protect you privacy". People are finding this years after they've saved the files via NextCloud or similar and some don't have the originals anymore.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
(from the summary)
Android 14 also uses this dangerously flawed logic for calculating storage usage.
Why is placing the reported usage under the "System" category dangerous? Annoying, perhaps, but what is the danger there?
I have had one Android phone bricked because a full system upgrade launched automatically while the SSD was nearly full.
So I don't know if 'dangerous' is the word, but having incorrect disk size certainly can be 'disruptive' more than 'annoying'.
Re: (Score:2)
The bug reported in TFA isn't an incorrect total amount used or free, but an incorrect attribution of the space being used. That's why people are posted over calling it "dangerous". It shouldn't cause the kind of failure that you described.
Re: (Score:2)
Plus, for this to happen the author needed to use ADB on a computer to load a file into the filesystem. It's not something 99.999% of Android users are ever likely to do or encounter.
Meh (Score:2)
Let me know when they've decided to let me choose my own colors again (fully saturated even) instead of the nauseating pastel shades of material you.
So human coders are just as bad as AI? (Score:2)
Next time you make fun of AI's math, should you maybe check on the log in your own eye?
Most don't care (Score:3, Informative)
I bet 90% of Android users don't care about this tragic problem.
Re: (Score:1)
iOS (Score:2)
Same with iOS. My iPhone 12 mini's iOS v16 thinks it only uses 15 GB, but I calculated 87 GB!
Autistic Screeching (Score:2)
> Android calculates system storage as the space used up by anything other than what's covered by other categories
You don't like the word choice so you're calling it "dangerously flawed logic"?
Seriously, fuck off, you're the Boy Who Cried "Wolf!".
'Dangerously flawed logic' puts a 737MAX into the ocean, it doesn't +use a word you wouldn't prefer+.
I used a + because Markdown doesn't yet specify a symbol for "dismissive, derisive, high-pitched sniveling voice".
Android developers have enough to do besides fi
Users don't think like this (Score:1)
An Android phone is not a PC or server where you carefully manage a myriad of data types on your storage. It's a device with apps that also plays a bunch of different media. The average joe (as well as many tech minded people with phones) think of their phone storage precisely the way Android has divided it up: various forms of media, and all the rest of the stuff.
There's nothing dangerous about assuming a random file is system. Users don't ever manually generate 3GB files with unknown extensions. They save
Re: (Score:2)
The EU will probably launch an investigation and issue fines. As usual.
Re: (Score:2)
Why would they? End users aren't affected. The free space indicated is still correct, just the categorisation isn't 100% correct. But as far as users are concerned they don't give a shit. People don't go making random files on Android. Virtually 100% of the content on phones are photos, music, video, or documents, and everything else can be rightfully categorised as "system".
It's easy to make an anti-EU rant if you've never looked carefully at what the EU does and doesn't issue fines against. They won't car