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It’s been almost two months since Google first rolled out Android 17 to all supported Pixel phones. While the newest version brings productivity upgrades, such as App Bubbles, and a healthy amount of under-the-hood upgrades, Google can’t seem to avoid bugs that come with the new update. Just days after its release, Pixel owners reported being unable to use their phones’ touchscreens properly. The touch bug now appears to have returned, but in a different outfit.
Scores of Pixel users are now complaining of touch-related issues since upgrading to Android 17. Seemingly unrelated to the previously reported bug that led to temporarily unresponsive Pixel touchscreens, the new issue only seems to affect users inside games or certain other apps. According to a few reports on Reddit and Google Community forums, the issue appears especially when an app occupies the screen entirely, such as when playing a video on YouTube. Given the vastness and diversity of the different Pixels it impacts, we can’t rule it out as a hardware issue.
The degree to which it impacts different users varies. For some, it’s limited to only a portion of the screen — a corner, according to the majority in this group, while others have difficulty using their screens entirely. They can, however, perform actions not related to the app, such as pulling down the notification shade or using navigation gestures just fine. One person even says that the unresponsive zone moves if they rotate the phone, strongly suggesting this is indeed a bug.
The curiosity around the issue has driven users to come up with theories to justify it. Some suspect it may have to do with back gesture buffer zones on the screen.
While the Pixel Community support account has responded to these complaints, it has far from acknowledged it as a bug. Instead, it has asked affected users to investigate whether the issue remains even after rebooting their Pixel devices in safe mode. A few other affected users also suggest a similar solution, advising others to use a reboot as a temporary fix.
The root cause hasn’t been identified yet, and we can’t tell whether Google is working to fix it. We have reached out to Google for clarification and will share it with you once we hear from its representatives.
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