[Update: March 26] Google Photos "Device is too hot" issue after Android 11 update escalated to Google, says product expert

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on February 12, 2021) follows:

Google recently pushed a new update to the popular Photos app on Android. As part of the update, users can now enjoy a new video editor that packs a bunch of enhanced editing features.

Of course, just like every other airborne update, some users of the Google Photos app will have to wait for their turn to install the new version since the rollout is done in phases.

Once the new app is installed, you’ll be able to “crop, change perspective, add filters, apply granular edits (including brightness, contrast, saturation and warmth) and more”, Google notes.

Some of the newly-added enhanced editing features include Portrait Blur for blurring image backgrounds post-snap and Portrait Light for improved lighting on faces captured in portrait mode.

Unfortunately, these two features are limited to Google One subscribers and not regular users of the Photos app.

Sticking with latest software updates, plenty of Android devices are making the switch to the latest version — Android 11.

The OS has been around since September 2020 but we all know how Android OEMs handle updates. And even after this long wait, it seems some apps are not fully optimized to work on Android 11 devices.

While this can be understood coming from one of the smaller OEMs, Google has no excuse for having poorly optimized Android 11 apps at this point in time.

According to reports doing rounds in the Google Photos support forums, users who recently switched to Android 11 update are unable to backup photos due to some “Device is too hot” issue.

This happened after the new update came out. I’ve tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app, using both my wifi and data, force stopping the app on my phone and it still can’t backup any of my photos!!!! It will literally say “device is too hot” and be stuck in the loading icon to backup my photos. Source

+1 here. Just happened to me today. Still worked fine yesterday. No performance issue on the phone, it’s not even hot/doing nothing. Galaxy Note 10+ SM-N975F on latest OneUI 3.0/Android 11
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Hello Guys, I recently updated to Realme UI 2.0 (Android 11) on Realme X2 Pro and after then none of my new photos are backing up. It always showing “Device Too Hot”, why? I tried clearing data and reinstalling from Past Store but again same issue. Please help me in this issue.
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Below is a screenshot of the said “Device is too hot” issue when backing up photos in the Google Photos app.

Although the issue doesn’t seem to be widespread, at least going by the number of reports, the fact that it only affects Android 11 devices means the bug could be more widespread than thought.

After all, it’s only now that most people are beginning to get to terms with the newly installed Android 11 update on their devices while others are still waiting in the wings for it to arrive.

On the brighter side, it’s possible the issue will have been addressed by the time most people switch to Android 11, at least if a Gold Product Expert in the forums is to be trusted.

Thanks for sharing your experience with the issue, I passed your reports along to Google. If I have any information or updates I’ll let you know here.

As it stands, affected users can rest assured that Google has been made aware of the issue, but we still wait for official acknowledgement and possibly a bug-fixing update. Stay tuned to PiunikaWeb.

A product expert in the Google support forums has come up with some new info on this issue, including how to prevent it and how to help Google investigate.

1) “Device is too hot” is shown in Google Photos when the operating system tells the app that the device is too warm for non-essential operations. Different devices may have this tuned differently, and it’s possible that some devices “think” they are too warm when they aren’t. Some devices warm up when in use, or just because you’re holding it with your warm hand. Some devices are also known to warm up when they are charging.

2) Normally, “Device is too hot” should quickly resolve. So if you see “device is too hot”, but backup still works (possibly with a delay of a few hours) then you shouldn’t be warned if you occasionally see the “Device is too hot” message.

3) Letting the device idle with the screen off, and running on battery is probably the best way to make it cool down. Even when it cools down, Google Photos can take some time before trying to back up again.

4) Google does see that some devices are indeed experiencing more thermal issues than normal. You can check which photos and videos got backed up from your device by going to “Search” > “Recently added”, or opening https://photos.google.com/search/_tra_ in a browser.

Google rolled out an update to the Photos app that comes with some optimizations to keep this issue at bay, so be sure to grab version 5.32 of the app right away.

Google made some improvements in version 5.32 of the Google Photos app that has now been released, so if you have older versions and are experiencing problems with “device is too hot” you should check for updates in the Play Store.
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