Google’s Developers Blunder leads to Data Loss – Chrome 79 Rollout Stopped Abruptly (Update: Fix Released)

Recently, Google released Chrome 79 update, but it stopped abruptly due to a bug that was deleting user data and refreshing mobile apps. The developers at Google have accepted their mistake. The developers accidentally changed the directory’s location in Chrome.

Google developers forgot to shift the localStorage and WebSQL’s data into the directory of Chrome 79. Due to this error, the mobile apps lost the data that was stored in them that let the users automatically log in to their accounts or such. Many users were also not able to change their password making everything more difficult.

So, what actually happened at the backend?

Most of the applications uses WebSQL and localStorage to save data on the user’s device. Chrome has a profile directory in itself where all the data is stored. These two storage options are extensively used by mobile app developers even though there are other options as well.

When the new Chrome update was rolled out, the app developers forgot to move the data in the directory to the Chrome 79 directory. Hence, the new Chrome version lost the old Chrome 78 WebSQL and localStorage data.

As a result, the users lost access to their accounts and other important information. The new update affected about 250,000 people and 2 million other users will face the issue very soon.

How to get back the data?

Google abruptly stopped Chrome 79 rollout after coming across is a bug; however, the damage was done until they stopped.

Right now, the Google developers are trying to improve the data migration process, but it can take a lot of time.

As of now, the solution seems impossible but Google is working hard to keep the operations going. There is no possible solution until now, but Google’s developers will come up with one very soon.

Update: Chrome team in a blog post announced that, "WebView bug fix: Resolves an issue in WebView where some users’ app data was not visible within those apps. The app data was not lost and will be made visible in apps with this update. See crbug.com/1033655".



Photo: S3studio/Getty Images

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