14 DAY TRIAL // Recently, Japanese mobile phone maker Sony Mobile has started to deliver the Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system to the owners of devices in last year’s Xperia Z series, but it seems that the software has caused a series of battery drain issues on these phones and tablets.
The update, made available for download as build version 10.5.A.0.230, has been pushed to al Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia ZR, and Xperia Tablet Z devices, and all of them have experienced said issues.
Users have started complaining on the matter after receiving the update, and Sony has officially confirmed that there is a problem with the software.
However, it seems that the main issue here is not the platform upgrade on its own, but the latest flavor of Google Play Services that has been loaded on these devices, namely version 4.4.52.
The company has acknowledged the problem in a post on the Sony Mobile Talk Forums, also unveiling that there is a workaround available for users.
“We have investigated the issue with Google Play Services using a lot of battery and we have identified that the root cause of this is related to the latest version of Google Play Services (4.4.52),” the company says.
For the time being, users can resolve the problem either by uninstalling the latest update for Google Play Services from their devices, or by opting out of interest-based ads and disabling the automatic back up of their data.
However, this is only a temporary fix for the issue, and it will also affect the experience that users receive from their devices. A new flavor of Google Play Services should fully patch the problem, though there’s no info on when that might happen.
“Until a new version of Google Play Services is provided by Google we urge users to either uninstall the latest update of Google Play Services (might limit use of Google Services like YouTube) or go to Settings > Google (accounts) > Ads > Tick the box for Opt out of interest-based ads and also disable back up of your data by going to Settings > Backup & reset (Personal) > uncheck the box for ‘Back up my data,’” Sony says.
According to Sony, users who cannot uninstall the update for Google Play Services should disable Android Device Manager in Settings > Security > Device administrators.
Moreover, they are advised to check the settings in the Play store so as to ensure that Google Play Services won’t be automatically re-updated to the latest version (provided that they did manage to uninstall the update).
As XperiaBlog notes, there’s no telling when the problem will be completely resolved. However, we might expect to hear more on this sooner rather than later, so stay tuned to learn the news.