While most Android 14 users are enjoying the new features and additional security it brings in, not everyone is happy, as a subsection of Google Pixel 6 owners are reporting that the software upgrade has brought with it a number of problems.
As per The Verge, the issues seem to be centered around using multiple profiles on the same Android phone. It would appear that Pixel 6a and Pixel 6 Pro owners are affected by this, as well as those using the standard Pixel 6.
According to posts on Reddit and on the official Pixel support forums, users are experiencing crashes, finding their locally stored files have disappeared, and getting messages that the local storage is full (when it isn't).
Even if this is only affecting a limited number of users, these are clearly significant problems, and users are finding they are losing data and having to reset their phones. At the time of writing, there's been no fix or official response issued by Google, though some users are reporting that switching to a secondary profile helps with storage access.
How multiple profiles work
Multiple profiles on Android work in a similar way to user accounts on Windows or macOS: they keep separate spaces on the device, each with their own apps, settings and customizations, so different people can use a single phone or tablet.
These profiles don't have to be used by multiple people though. One common way in which they're used is to separate work stuff and personal stuff on a phone, using different Google accounts – and switching between accounts only takes a few taps.
Without any official input from Google it's difficult to assess what exactly is going on here, but it seems that Android 14 is somewhat confused by these multiple profiles. It's strange though that only Pixel 6 models appear to be affected so far.
If you own a Pixel 6 handset of some description, it might be wise to hold off on the Android 14 update until this gets cleared up and a fix is pushed out by Google – especially if you're using more than one profile.
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