The other day, we reported that an image had been making its rounds. By all accounts, looks like regular wallpaper, but what makes it different is the fact that it is “cursed” in which when an Android phone sets it as their wallpaper, it would cause their devices to crash. In some instances, it can go further by bricking devices.
At the moment the only advice is to avoid using the wallpaper in question, but the good news is that to prevent something like that from happening again in the future, it seems that Google could be working on a fix for it. This was discovered in the AOSP forums in which Google rep Wu Ahan seemed to confirm that a fix for the bug is being worked on.
According to the post, it seems that Google is reviewing a solution to the problem internally. It is unclear if this fix will work, or if Google still has to test it out. More importantly, it is also unclear when the fix will be released.
WARNING!!!
Never set this photo as your wallpaper, especially for Samsung users!
It will cause your mobile device to crash!
Don’t try it!
If someone forwards you this picture, just ignore it.
For those who are unfamiliar with this issue, it seems that this is because the color profile coded into the photo in question is different from some of the profiles used in certain displays. Not all handsets are affected like the Pixel 4 XL isn’t, but the Pixel 3 XL is. It has also been reported that it also seems to particularly affect Samsung handsets.
Either way, until then if you see the image above circulating and you’re tempted to use it as your phone’s wallpaper, it might be a good idea to stay away.