Google finally releases its own fix for Teams and Android bug

We don’t need to stress how important reaching emergency services in time really is, and how a few seconds can actually make the difference between life and death.

However, a new Microsoft Teams bug that affects Android devices can prevent phones from being able to dial 911.

This major issue was first reported via Reddit, by a concerned user who found himself in a situation where he needed to reach emergency dispatch but failed.

Google has confirmed this problem and found what seems to be the cause for this abnormal behavior.

Google also releases fix patch for the issue

Google has released its very own fix for a weird bug that prevented some Android phones from making emergency 911 calls if they had the Microsoft Teams app installed.

Even though the company scheduled this release for the 4th of January, the patch has become available starting yesterday.

The Redmond tech giant actually stated that the problem was caused by an unintended interaction between Teams and Android.

Now, that everything went back to normal, all users can breathe a sigh of relief and carry on with their lives, knowing that they will have unhindered access to emergency services.

Microsoft has fixed the Teams bug

Microsoft has rolled out a fix for Teams, targeting the dangerous bug that could prevent Android users from calling 911. It goes without saying that you’ll want to install this software as soon as possible.

Version 1416/1.0.0.2021194504 fixes the issue, which was actually building duplicate instances of the PhoneAccount class in the Android operating system, a function that lets apps place and receive phone calls.

Many Android apps that have a calling feature will create a PhoneAccount instance, but in the case of Teams, it was creating too many when the user accessed the app while not signed in.

Apparently. the updated version doesn’t create duplicate PhoneAccount instances, and will also clear any previously-built PhoneAccount instances when launched.

You can install the updated version of Microsoft Teams from the Google Play Store.

Consider uninstalling Teams until fix update goes live

Google’s statement was actually a comment reply to the actual Reddit post we mentioned above, in which the company said that this issue was heavily prioritized.

As you could imagine, such a problem not being resolved in time could have dire consequences, and it’s not something to be taken lightly, especially when people’s lives are at stake.

We are about to show you Google’s entire response, so you can judge for yourself and draw the necessary conclusions:

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Based on our investigation we have been able to reproduce the issue under a limited set of circumstances. We believe the issue is only present on a small number of devices with the Microsoft Teams app installed when the user is not logged in, and we are currently only aware of one user report related to the occurrence of this bug. We determined that the issue was being caused by unintended interaction between the Microsoft Teams app and the underlying Android operating system. Because this issue impacts emergency calls, both Google and Microsoft are heavily prioritizing the issue, and we expect a Microsoft Teams app update to be rolled out soon – as always we suggest users keep an eye out for app updates to ensure they are running the latest version. We will also be providing an Android platform update to the Android ecosystem on January 4.

Out of an abundance of caution, in the meantime, we suggest users with Microsoft Teams installed on any Android device running Android 10 and above take the following steps:

• If you are unsure what Android version you are on, confirm you are running Android 10 or above by following the steps here. If you are not running Android 10 or above, you are not impacted by this issue.
• If you have the Microsoft Teams app downloaded, check to see if you are signed in. If you have been signed in, you are not impacted by this issue, and we suggest you remain signed in until you’ve received the Microsoft Teams app update.
• If you have the Microsoft Teams app downloaded, but are not signed in, uninstall and reinstall the app. While this will address the problem in the interim, a Microsoft Teams app update is still required to fully resolve the issue.
• We advise users to keep an eye out for an update to the Microsoft Teams app, and ensure it is applied as soon as available. We will update this post once the new version of Microsoft Teams is available to 100% of users.

We take issues like this extremely seriously and want to thank u/KitchenPicture5849 for bringing it to our attention.

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It goes without saying that you should uninstall Teams until the update is available if you’re not planning on logging into the app.

However, if you have logged into it at one point but don’t use it frequently, you should also go ahead and double-check that you’re still logged in as well.

Also, keep in mind that, even though the bug was reported on the Pixel subreddit, Google recommends that you should keep an eye out for the Teams update if you have any Android device running Android 10 or up.

The truth is that it’s a bit concerning that any app can actually prevent you from contacting emergency services.

Google stated that it will let everyone know when the fix update is out via Reddit.

Have you also encountered this problem when trying to dial 911? Let us know in the comments section below.