Google Addresses Severe Memory Leak In Android 5.1 Lollipop
There's a lot to like in Lollipop, the latest major version of Google's open source mobile operating system, though if you installed the Android 5.1 update on your Nexus device last week, you may have cursed the OS's loosey-goosey ways with system RAM. Following the update, several Nexus owners complained of a major memory leak that, in severe cases, would deplete RAM after only a few days of use.
Starting with the good news, Google is not only aware of the issue, but has come up with a fix. Unfortunately, there's no timeline for public release, which is the latest update an Android team member provided to frustrated Nexus owners five days ago.
Google also neglected to provided any details about the underlying cause and whether or not it poses a security risk. Either way, it's been a major annoyance, particularly for Nexus 5 owners who have reported seeing system RAM usage go above 1GB. Users have discovered that a quick way to check for and confirm the existence of the memory leak is to load a game and quickly close it out.
"Same here. Was easily reproduced using Farm Heroes Saga. Just open the app and swipe it away as soon as it's done loading. System RAM went up to 1.4 gig," a user noted.
Given that Google only released Android 5.1 images to select Nexus devices last week, the problem shouldn't be too widespread at the moment. That doesn't come as any consolation to the Nexus 5 owners who are affected by this, but hopefully Google releases a fix sooner than later.
Starting with the good news, Google is not only aware of the issue, but has come up with a fix. Unfortunately, there's no timeline for public release, which is the latest update an Android team member provided to frustrated Nexus owners five days ago.
Google also neglected to provided any details about the underlying cause and whether or not it poses a security risk. Either way, it's been a major annoyance, particularly for Nexus 5 owners who have reported seeing system RAM usage go above 1GB. Users have discovered that a quick way to check for and confirm the existence of the memory leak is to load a game and quickly close it out.
"Same here. Was easily reproduced using Farm Heroes Saga. Just open the app and swipe it away as soon as it's done loading. System RAM went up to 1.4 gig," a user noted.
Given that Google only released Android 5.1 images to select Nexus devices last week, the problem shouldn't be too widespread at the moment. That doesn't come as any consolation to the Nexus 5 owners who are affected by this, but hopefully Google releases a fix sooner than later.
