Everything I know about the “Test for Ricardo” notification and why you probably don’t need to worry.
Earlier today (Aug. 25,2023) I got a notification at around 11:20 A.M. PST from my Device Help app that said, “Test for Ricardo.”
For the record I have a Motorola G Pure 2021 still on Android 11 (I refuse to upgrade.)
I clicked on it and it opened my Device Help app, nothing more.
Concerned this was some kind of malware, I Googled and searched on Twitter what was up and found out that the “Test for Ricardo” notification started showing up on users of Motorola smartphones worldwide over the past several hours.
First, here’s what my notification history looked like.
This twitter thread is just a couple of hours old but already has dozens of replies from other affected Motorola users who had the same notification pop up.
It’s been confirmed by Motorola that this message was meant for internal testing only and you can disregard the notification.
We can confirm that this message was meant for internal testing only. Please disregard the notification. We apologize for the inconvenience. -Mitch
— motorola (@Moto) August 25, 2023
Another official reply from Motorola suggests clearing the Device Help’s cache and restarting your phone if you’re still concerned.
1. Go to Apps under Settings.
— motorola (@Moto) August 25, 2023
2. Click App Info and See All Apps.
3. Look for "Device Help" and click Storage.
4. Select Clear Cache/Storage and Uninstall Updates.
5. Restart the Phone.
Let us know if there are any changes. -Frank
And here’s a Reddit thread with over 300 replies, many from other Motorola users who got the same notification, just to show that you’re not alone.
“Test for Ricardo”?
by u/IcyLocksmith9866 in techsupport
In light of Motorola’s official response, the top answer from /u/spacemanaut seems to be the most plausible explanation.
“(This is) probably a programmer doing testing who accidentally sent a notification into production instead of a test environment – nothing to worry about.”
I agree with his assessment.
“Whoever Ricardo is, I hope he got what he needed from that global notification blast,” /y/pizzapied69 quipped.
Personally, I think someone’s definitely going to get fired.
How do you accidently send out a global notification and not live to keep your job?
Did you get this notification?
Do you know what’s going on?
Let me know what you think in the comments below.