Google's pants are on fire -- it's lying to Android users

Something strange happened last week. My ultra-fast Nexus 7 started to freeze and run slow. The problem persisted for about a week and I feared that the tablet had become a paperweight. I turned to Google Search to research the issue and as it turns out, I was not alone. Other Nexus 7 users (and other Android device users) were reporting the same issue -- if the device uses most of or all of the available storage, then the operating system is slow. When I say "slow", I mean painfully slow. Users were reporting that they needed to keep at least 3GB free to keep the tablet running properly.

As a test, I wiped all data from my device and rebooted. Amazingly, the device ran as well as the day I bought it. Unfortunately, the solution raised a much bigger problem -- I could not use all of the storage space that I had paid for. Was this a case of false advertising? Did Google lie to me about the available storage? I decided to contact Google for confirmation.

I called the tech support line and was connected to a CSR. I explained the situation to her. She confirmed that it was a known issue. I appreciated her honesty but was disappointed that Google was aware of the issue and was doing nothing. I explained that the device only had 13GB usable out of the box, since Android OS took up about 3GB. By keeping an additional 3GB free, I really only had 10GB available. I explained it seemed to be false advertising and that Google was essentially lying about the storage space.

What happened next was shocking. She told me that, if I knew I was going to be using that much storage, I should have bought the 32GB Nexus 7. Unfortunately, there was no Nexus 7 32GB available at the time, but even if there was, that is a pretty poor answer. You shouldn't have to buy more storage than you need in anticipation of you using the full amount of storage that you paid for. I asked for a supervisor and was hung up on. I called back and got a supervisor who seemed sympathetic. He also confirmed that Android devices will run slow with most or all of the storage being used.

So, is Google lying to consumers about the advertised storage space? I sure think so. In my opinion, this is false advertising. Consumers are not getting what they paid for. If Google's Android OS needs a percentage of free space dedicated to it, then it should be inaccessible to the user, and deducted from the advertised storage space. This way, the user knows the true available storage.

Have you encountered this issue? Which device do you own? Do you think it is false advertising?

Tell me in the comments below.

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