latest
Heads up: Slack is repeatedly signing people out of the mobile app
Probably not an excuse to slack off at work, though
Read update
It's just about the end of the workday for some of us, but if you're having trouble with staying signed in on your company's Slack workspace from a phone, you aren't alone. In fact, some of us here at Android Police are running into the same issue. Thankfully, Slack is aware of the issue and currently investigating the cause. (You still probably have to finish your work today, though.)
You should probably disable your adblocker if you use Google Docs until this issue is fixed
Recent changes in a filter list are causing Google Docs and Sheets to bug out, but a fix is on the way
Read update
If you've been having issues with weird text formatting or just generally been unable to edit Google Docs or Slides for the last day or two, turns out that's A Thing. While we initially didn't know the precise cause or why it's only happening right now, Google Drive Product Manager Remy Burger is pointing at recent changes some adblockers have implemented — so disabling content blockers on Drive, Docs, Slides, and Co. might fix the problem for you.
Read update
- We're able to confirm on one of our Pixel 5s that the January 2021 patch does indeed fix the loud system sounds issue, as they're controlled by the slider once again.
Pixel phones offer the best of Google — bugs and all. The flagship Pixel 5 is packed with a lot of good stuff, but it also occasionally seems to include a more frustrating feature: a bug that makes all system sounds play at maximum volume no matter how soft you try to set them.
Read update
If you were trying to fire up a YouTube video just earlier and ran into issues: Don't worry, it's not just you. YouTube playback was down for many at the time, with widespread anecdotal reports as well as a spike over at DownDetector. However, the issue has since resolved and YouTube is officially back up.
Face unlock for Google's Pixel 4 series of phones just keeps breaking. Some claim the Android 11 upgrade is to blame while others point fingers at more recent monthly updates. A reboot can temporarily fix the issue for some, while others are experiencing the problem in tandem with symptoms associated with the seemingly still-unfixed device sensor issue.
Reports of issues with the aggressively-priced Galaxy S20 FE's touchscreen have been circulating in recent weeks. This includes so-called "ghost touch" problems and issues with swipes being processed as a series of taps. Since a screen is your primary way of interacting with a phone, this sort of problem is pretty frustrating. However, Samsung tells us it's aware of these reports and working to resolve the issue.
Google Pay is mysteriously not working on some Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra handsets
A bummer if you're in a market without Samsung Pay
Samsung Pay is a big perk of ownership for Samsung's phones. The MST-based system on most of the company's phones works with plenty of card readers that don't actually support contactless payments, and that's especially handy these days. There's not a whole lot of reason to give it up, but if you do want or need to switch to Google Pay and you're using a Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, you might run into some trouble.
Netflix broke split-screen playback in a recent update
But you can roll back to an earlier version to fix it (for now)
Netflix giveth, and Netflix taketh away. For ages, you couldn't even play Netflix on Assistant-powered smart displays, though that has since been fixed. This small step forward is accompanied by an equally confusing step back, as sometime recently, Netflix lost the ability to do split-window multitasking — even if you forcibly enable it, playback will stop if you interact with a second window.
Google finally fixes widespread connection error plaguing Assistant on Android Auto
Many users subjected to frustrating 'This internet connection isn't strong enough' error message
After a large number of complaints about a bug affecting Assistant on Android Auto, Google has finally released a fix along with the latest version of the Google app that should put the issue to bed. A post outlining the problem on the Android Auto support site received more than 1,200 upvotes and a similar number of replies from other afflicted users.
Fix rolling out for errant Android TV casting notifications (Updated)
Watching non-casted content in Android TV apps can trigger the notifications
Read update
If you noticed a superfluous casting notification last night while watching content via Android TV, it turns out, that's a thing right now. Some folks are getting cast/Chromecast media control notifications on their phones when watching content in apps on their Android TV devices (including the Nvidia Shield), even when they aren't actually casting anything. Just turning on a show via Plex or Netflix via the Android TV app is triggering casting controls for some. But Google is already working on a fix.
Some Google Nest cameras are still having issues following last night's outage
The company is aware of the problems and working on a fix
Starting last evening, Google's Nest cameras started suffering widespread issues with both live feeds and recorded video history. Although the issue resolved for many overnight, some are experiencing problems accessing video recordings and, in some cases, live feeds as well. Google currently claims a "small portion of cameras" are still having trouble, and it's working on a fix.
Google rolled out its augmented reality "Live View" navigation for Google Maps last year, but it looks like not everyone has been able to enjoy it. For some Pixel 4 owners, the feature doesn't appear, leaving many with Google's own flagship unable to use one of Google Maps' coolest features.
Read update
Over the last three days, there have been widespread reports of Google Home smart speakers becoming entirely unresponsive. Most of those affected appear to be in the Google Home preview program, which allows the adventurous to test early firmware releases. While a factory reset has fixed the issue for some, for others, it reportedly makes things worse, rendering the device no longer discoverable.
For some, the snazzy new face unlock system on Google's latest Pixel 4 is a whole lot less convenient than it should be. Reports over the last couple of months indicate that the face unlock process is simply failing for a handful of Pixel 4 and 4 XLs, even after re-enrolling their faces or resetting the phone. Thankfully, the issue doesn't sound too widespread.
Following a recent update to the Zenfone 6, some owners have been reporting system stability problems including frequent crashes/restarts, network connectivity problems, and bootloops. According to a recent statement issued by an ASUS representative on the company's ZenTalk forums (spotted by PiunikaWeb), the issue is a hardware fault in affected devices which is triggered by the update.
Being able to run Linux applications on Chromebooks isn't just useful for developers, it can help plug what little remaining app or feature gap prevents you from using the platform. Unfortunately for those that do use it, some folks have been experiencing a problem where their devices spontaneously reboot during sleep if Linux containers are running, and it isn't clear if it will be fixed in time for the next Chrome OS release.
We were recently tipped off that some OnePlus 7 Pro owners are running into a significant but thankfully not widespread issue: Their phones appear to randomly turn off or shut down, potentially while they're even being used. The only means of resuscitation in such cases is manually rebooting into fastboot by holding down a combination of hardware buttons. Thankfully, OnePlus is both aware of the issue and planning a fix.
Read update
This seems to be the week of Bluetooth bugs. In what could be a related issue, we've received reports that notifications and notification sounds are being doubled (or even tripled) on Android devices which are paired with other Bluetooth devices. Some are also reporting that media and ringer volume are being inexplicably paired together, resulting in do not disturb, silent, and vibrate mode settings being effectively ignored when media channel volume is above silent.
Read update
If you are on Google Fi and you're unable to place a call right now, you aren't alone. Widespread reports indicate that Fi subscribers are unable to place or receive calls via their cellular connection, though SMS, data, and Wi-Fi calling services appear to be unaffected. We can independently confirm that calls placed over Fi are failing.
Read update
Back when OnePlus debuted with its disruptive new OnePlus One phone in 2014, touchscreen issues were chief among complaints, and for some, the latest 7 Pro may be a bit of a throwback. As of now, there are a good number of reports together with example videos that demonstrate the OnePlus 7 Pro's touchscreen is randomly processing non-existent taps, an effect which has been alternately called "ghost" or "phantom" touches.