In the past we have seen how a message with certain characters could block an iPhone or how thousands of emojis in a WhatsApp message could leave an Android mobile in a coma, but today the culprit of blocking phones is not a text, but a photo.
In appearance it is a harmless wallpaper with a nice natural scene, although it is blocking the Android phones of several of the users who try to set it as the wallpaper. Apparently, this is a bug related to the color profiles of that image.
Curiosity blocked the mobile of several users
The news jumped on Twitter. The well-known Ice Universe filter shared a photo with the texter “Attention! Never put this photo as wallpaper, especially on a Samsung mobile. It will make your phone freeze! Do not try! If someone sends you this photo, ignore it ” Curiosity did not kill any cats, but it did cause several users to rush to do the exact opposite of what was suggested: to try using the photo as wallpaper .
The result varies. Some users can set the wallpaper without major problem, while in other cases System UI does not stop closing , making it very difficult, if not impossible, to use the mobile. Restarting in safe mode is not a guarantee of being able to get rid of the error, since in some cases the same wallpaper remains.
@UniverseIce This is an android issue sadly is affecting also google pixels as well pic.twitter.com/HZTtogLfwB
— Sebastian (@seb_mc2) May 31, 2020
Apparently the problem is in the Google Skia library and the premultiplied alpha channels, which Android misinterprets causing an error. That is to say, the image does not have anything special in its content, but it is its color profile that makes the Android System UI, in some cases, close every time you try to process it .
As System UI is responsible for displaying much of the Android interface, its loop closure makes using the mobile an impossible mission until the wallpaper is changed. Restarting in safe mode will not always help, as safe mode keeps the same wallpaper. What is effective is a factory reset , since all user settings are deleted, wallpaper included.
The good news is that, according to Ice Universe, Samsung has already reported this bug since mid-May, and it should be fixed in a future update , possibly in a security patch. However, some users report that the error is not exclusive to Samsung, but that they have been able to replicate it, for example, on a Google Pixel 3.
Update: Samsung has received feedback on this type of bug in mid-May, and has resolved this issue. Just wait for the subsequent firmware update and do not take the risk. pic.twitter.com/oa7rxnkSkb
— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) June 1, 2020
While the matter is cleared up, it is best that you postpone your plans for downloading wallpapers, especially those who do not know very well where they came from. This error is not exclusive to the previous image, but should be repeated with other images that include the same color profile . Taking into account that in some cases it is quite difficult to regain control of the mobile and may require that you erase all your data, prevention is better than cure.