Mi A1 Android 8.1 Oreo Update Pulled Due to Bugs: Report

Xiaomi has reportedly stopped the Android 8.1 Oreo update for its Mi A1 smartphone, just a couple of days after it began the rollout, without any warning or explanation. As it turns out, the Android 8.1 update to the Mi A1 had reportedly arrived with a few issues, such as SMS history being wiped and the phone not passing SafetyNet. To recall, the Xiaomi Mi A1 is the Chinese phone maker's one and only Android One-based smartphone, and it had started receiving its Android 8.1 Oreo software update over the weekend. It had arrived with the June Android security patch. During the time of rollout, the SMS bug had already been spotted. However, the update has now been pulled altogether.

The Android 8.1 Oreo update for the Xiaomi Mi A1 wiped SMS messages history for some users, something the company itself acknowledged via a moderator on the announcement post. Users also reported the issue on Twitter and MIUI forums, saying that the bug appears when the Messages app is swiped up from Recents tab for the first time after the update. Meanwhile, another bug causes SafetyNet to fail. SafetyNet essentially provides APIs that enable developers to check whether a smartphone was tampered with, runs a custom ROM, or infected with low-level malware.

As per an XDA Developers report, Xiaomi has pulled the OTA update, possibly because of the SMS wiping bug. Meanwhile, the SafetyNet issue appears to have been fixed. The report said that the build's fingerprint was "likely initially missing from the SafetyNet database."

This is not the first time that Xiaomi is facing such an issue. In January this year, Xiaomi had started rolling out. Android 8.0 Oreo update for the Mi A1 smartphone, only to temporarily pull it out later.

Notably, as mentioned, Xiaomi has now pulled the OTA and users will not be able to get their Mi A1 handset to Android 8.1 Oreo. However, the update rollout is expected to resume in the next couple of days, though there is no official word on the same.

Part of Google's Android One programme, the Xiaomi Mi A1 is guaranteed to get major Android updates till two years after launch. We can expect the smartphone to get the upcoming Android P update soon after its stable release later this year.