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We get pretty excited each time Google drops a new version of Android on our laps, as each iteration delivers all sorts of fancy new features and bug fixes. Sometimes, though, these new releases also introduce new bugs, as appears to be the case with Android Oreo. Some Pixel and Nexus users are reporting that Android 8.0 continues to suck up mobile data even when WiFi is on.

PSA: Using mobile data and wifi at the same time with Oreo might bypass WiFi and only use mobile data from Android

Originally shared on Reddit by a user who goes by “Unusual_Sauce,” the bug basically goes like this. After updating his Pixel XL to Android Oreo, he found that when both mobile data and WiFi were turned on (as is usually the case for most of us), the phone continued to keep using mobile data instead of using the WiFi connection. This is despite his Pixel XL showing that WiFi was enabled and connected.

Most of us know that if the WiFi symbol on our Android smartphones has that exclamation mark next to it that there is currently some sort of issue with the WiFi. Maybe you’re trying to connect to a public access point and you’ve yet accepted the terms and conditions on their splash page. Maybe you’re connected to the router, but the modem is down and your phone can’t get online.

Unusual_Sauce said that he noticed a spike in his data usage and the only way he could get his phone to use WiFi instead of mobile data was to disable mobile data altogether. By default, your phone should use WiFi whenever possible, but it looks like Android Oreo has changed that default setting.

If you go into the Developer Options in the settings menu in Android 8.0, you’ll see that the “mobile data always active” toggle is enabled by default. This isn’t a new feature, but it was disabled by default up until now.

Google says that it knows about the issue and will address it in a future update. Not all users are experiencing the same problem, so it might be device dependent. Unusual_Sauce had trouble with his Pixel XL, but some users with Nexus 5X running Oreo found the setting was still disabled by default.

If you’ve upgraded to Android Oreo, it’s in your best interest to double-check this setting. Go into Settings, scroll down to System, hit the About Phone tab, and then scroll to the build number and keep pressing that until the Developer Options open up. With that enabled, go back to System, look for Developer Options, and disable Mobile Data Always Active.

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