In case you own an Android 4.2 device – that means a Nexus handset or tablet for now – you may have experienced one of the currently reported Android 4.2 bugs, random reboots. But the good news is that Google has acknowledged the issue and it’s currently working on a fix that would probably be released in a future update.
Computer World managed to confirm with Google that the Android team is aware of the problem, although the Search giant did not specify why certain Nexus devices running Android 4.2 are seeing the reboots, nor did it mention when an update that would fix the matter would be released.
The same publication came to the conclusion that it’s not apps that are responsible for such crashes – with HD Widgets being one of the apps correlated with the random reboots – but that we’re most likely looking at a problem with the OS.
Moreover, apps would not be able to cause reboots independently, and the fact that HD Widgets was seen as the culprit for such errors is just a coincidence.
It would seem that the location-based services in Android 4.2 are somehow to blame for the crashes. Although it’s just an unconfirmed theory, it appears that turning off location-based services would stop reboots from happening. This may mean that there’s a problem with GPS and/or mobile network location handling in Android 4.2 which needs to be corrected, but again, nothing is confirmed by Google.
Another guess says that the lock screen widget feature could also be responsible for the reboots.
So why is HD Widgets being tied with random reboots by some users? Computer World explains that not only is the app using location-based services, but it also supports Android 4.2’s lock screen widget feature, being “one of the first and most prominent third-party apps to offer support for that functionality.” However, Google has apparently confirmed that the app is not responsible and “the bug resides on the OS level.”
Our own Joshua Vergara has experienced the issue while working on the Nexus 10 review, and we’re certainly going to keep you updated on this particular problem.
Let’s hear it from you, Android 4.2 users, have you experienced these random reboots issues?
Leave A Comment