Forum Discussion
This is much more than just an extra byte...many conjectures are possible and require too much explanation
My experience is as follows:
When resources are not MAXed out (2.147B for me) the resources increment or decrement "properly"
When resources are MAXed out there are two different scenarios for when resources should have been incremented !!
1) increments to ZERO (rollover the counter to a negative number) - this can be reversed by exiting PvZ2 and then re-entering PvZ2
a) happens with the first coin collected from the lawn or from a lawnmower when completing an Adventure day
b) happens when 'earning' 5 GEMs from an Event (i.e. - Pinata Party, two FREE plays)
2) decrements the resource instead of incrementing during BattleZ (mints and Gauntlets)
Yep, that's not "just an extra byte". That misalignment does not only affect in-game resources or plant levels.
When this misaligned save file is loaded to memory, that misalignment can cause app crashes and buffer overflows which can be used for exploiting device security.
Devices with older OS (iOS and Android) are especially vulnerable to this kind of security exploit.