Google's Pixel lineup is typically considered the gold standard when it comes to post-launch support and updates. But even these phones occasionally struggle with bad or buggy software. Case in point: the December update, which arrived days after a full Feature Drop and included security patches, a ton of tweaks and fixes, and other improvements to Google's latest phones. Despite an initial delay, this software shipped to phones with some bugs still intact — some bad enough for the company to disable a couple of features on both the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.

In Google's support forums (via 9to5Google), a representative confirmed that Hold for Me and Call Screen have both been disabled through a server-side update, and will remain as such until a future update hits phones.

In light of a bug in the December Android update, we are disabling Hold For Me and Call Screening on Pixel 6 devices running on Android S December QPR release (e.g. SQ1D.211205.016.A4) until we fix the underlying problems. Thanks to those of you who reported this issue.

Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro users on Global, EMEA, AU, and US carrier builds of the December security patch are affected by this change. If you have any older Pixel running Android 12 with the December update, you shouldn't see any changes on your device. Google says it's actively working on resolving this issue, and if you're affected, an update — either a full firmware revision or a smaller patch to the Phone app — should be pushed to your device in the following days.

January's security patch is only a couple of weeks away, so if a full update is needed, it'll likely land alongside it. In the meantime, if you haven't yet downloaded the December patch and you have a Pixel 6 or 6 Pro, maybe hold off for now — it's not the only issue affecting these devices.