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Airbnb accidentally sent tons of Android users a ‘test’ notification

Airbnb accidentally sent tons of Android users a ‘test’ notification

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The notification was sent around the world

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Airbnb sent out the “test” notification early Wednesday morning.
Photo Illustration by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images

Airbnb lit up Android phones around the globe with a notification that reads: “Test dev.” The apparent blunder occurred early Wednesday morning, and judging by how many users are posting about it on Twitter, it seems like a lot of people received the accidental alert (via 9to5Google).

While I personally don’t have the Airbnb app installed on my phone, my colleague Cameron Faulkner does, and he got the notification at 3:41AM ET this morning. Tapping into the notification leads to the Airbnb app but doesn’t do anything else.

You might’ve received this notification if you have Airbnb installed on Android.
You might’ve received this notification if you have Airbnb installed on Android.
Screenshot: Cameron Faulkner / The Verge

“A push notification was sent in error to Android users of the Airbnb app, and we are investigating how this happened,” Airbnb spokesperson Elle Wyve said in a statement to The Verge. “Users who received the notification can safely disregard it, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

Burger King made a similar mistake last week when it emailed thousands of customers a blank order receipt and said it was caused by an internal processing issue. The “Test dev” notification might’ve been accidentally sent by a developer working on the app, but at least we can say whatever they’re testing over at Airbnb probably works.

Update August 17th, 2:00PM ET: Updated to add a statement from an Airbnb spokesperson.