Amazon’s Echo Show smart display recently encountered a notable bug that used up substantial bandwidth, which has now been addressed.

The problem was first brought to light by former Microsoft engineer Dave W. Plummer, who stated on X that his two Echo Show devices consumed an incredible 4GB of data in under 24 hours. Online responses quickly turned into conspiracy theories, but Plummer proposed more reasonable explanations: a software flaw, a significant update, or cached video.

At the time, several theories were evaluated. Some users theorized that the always-listening feature was to blame, as the device was continuously uploading audio clips for processing. Others attributed it to Amazon Sidewalk, the company’s mesh network that facilitates smart device connectivity across neighborhoods. However, this theory seemed improbable, as Sidewalk is engineered as a low-bandwidth service with a strict 500MB monthly limitation.

Amazon has since stated to Tom’s Hardware that the issue stemmed from a caching bug. The devices were retrieving disproportionately large images. Typically, Echo Show downloads visuals for backgrounds and screensavers ranging from 1MB to 4MB, which is sufficient for the device’s display. In this case, it was pulling ultra-high-resolution images much larger than what the display’s 1080p panel could handle.

Fortunately, both the mystery and the bug have been resolved.