For nearly the last year, we've seen reports that Pixels are almost randomly losing their Widevine L1 status — a particularly nerdy way of saying they're unable to stream HD content in apps like Netflix. Plenty of causes have been bandied about, but a concrete solution for the issue wasn't clear. Fortunately for those affected, anecdotal reports indicate the Android 12L Feature Drop fixes the issue, and Google confirms to us that the problem was patched in the latest update.

For a bit of history, reports picked up last year that Pixel owners were having issues streaming Netflix in HD quality. Deeper digging indicated that the phones had switched to the less secure Widevine L3 certification rather than the L1 default they should have supported. Widevine is a DRM solution developed by Google and used by many Android apps to ensure secure playback, with varying degrees of hardware and software-backed security (through the various L1-L3 levels supported). L1 is the highest level, and video-streaming services like Netflix, the various HBOs, and Disney+ rely on it.

If your device doesn't support L1, you might not be able to play content at HD quality in some services, or you might not be able to play content at all in others, depending on how they've implemented it.

There can be varying reasons for why this might happen, from the system believing it's been modified without authorization to a failure on the manufacturer's end when it comes to the secure elements required. Sometimes the problem can be fixed remotely, but sometimes units need to be physically sent somewhere to be securely updated.

Some Pixel owners have suffered from this issue for the last year, with no apparent cause. We were told that Google was working on a solution in 2021. In the last few weeks, reports started to indicate that the Android 12L beta might fix things for some affected. As beta turned to stable earlier this week, the pace of reports increased, and Google has confirmed to us that the Android 12L March Feature Drop update includes patches for this issue, though the changelog makes no mention of it.

While most reports we've seen say the issue will be fixed by the update, some still claim to be having issues. A factory reset after installing the Android 12L update seems to fully resolve things for most of them. A smattering of reports claim to still have issues, so it may not fix things for everyone, but other intentional actions like rooting your device, unlocking the bootloader, or installing a custom ROM can also break Widevine.

The Widevine status you'd see in Netflix and DRM Info if your Pixel was affected.

Most Pixel owners weren't affected by this issue, but if you're curious to see if you were, it's simple to check. The Netflix app actually has a Widevine check built-in; if you tap your profile photo in the top right, tap App Settings, then scroll and tap Playback Specification, it will state in no uncertain terms the Widevine level, as well as the maximum playback resolution that depends on. The DRM Info app on the Play Store can also show this information under the Widevine CDM section.

We were also told last year by Google that the issue may have affected other manufacturer devices as well, and there's no word just yet on whether or when this fix will roll out for other phones.

Thanks: Tim