Google promises to fix Android 14 storage bug impacting 'multiple users' on Pixel devices

Google has confirmed a storage bug affecting users of the “multiple profiles” feature on several Pixel devices, including the Pixel 6. Users first reported the issue, which has caused disappearing apps, frequent crashes, and blocked access to internal storage on secondary user accounts, after updating to Android 14.

On October 28th, a Google representative acknowledged the issue, stating, “Our team is looking into this storage issue affecting some Pixel devices running Android 14 and we're working hard on a fix.”

A subsequent comment on the Google Issue Tracker stated that “We are aware of an issue occurring on some Pixel devices (Pixel 6 and later models) that have both received the Android 14 update and have multiple users (other than the primary user) set up. […] We’re continuing to work on fixes for impacted devices, and have already pushed out a Google Play system update that will help prevent this issue from being triggered on additional devices. […] For users who are not experiencing this issue, or have already factory reset their device, we recommend avoiding creating or logging into a secondary user on the device until the OTA update is available.”

According to Google, the vulnerability impacts devices with numerous Android users, rather than multiple Google accounts or users with work profiles. Google is currently developing a solution for users already locked out of their devices due to the bug. Although a factory reset can resolve the issue, it also erases all data on the device, which some users may be reluctant to do.