Mobile

Android 12 is apparently causing app crashes and touch response issues for some Google Pixel phone users. The Android update that Google released earlier this week after some anticipation was meant to enhance user experience with Google’s new Material You design language and several underlying improvements. However, some users have reported online that soon after updating their Pixel phones to Android 12, they have started facing lag and other annoying problems, including unresponsive touchscreen. The issues are not limited to a particular model but are impacting most of the recent Pixel phones.

Some of the affected users have reported their problems on the Google Support forums. A large number of users have mentioned that after installing Android 12, they started noticing touch unresponsiveness on their Pixel phones. Some others have complained about apps crashing after moving to the latest Android version. There are also a few users who started seeing battery drain problems alongside other issues on their Pixel models following the Android 12 update.

Alongside user complaints on the Google Support forums, some of the users have also taken to Twitter to talk about the problems they are facing after updating their Pixel phones to Android 12.

The problems don’t seem to be limited to a specific Pixel model, though most of the complaints available on the Web suggest that the issues are emerging on recent Pixel phones including the Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G, and Pixel 5.

Google has not yet acknowledged any issues with Android 12 yet. However, product experts on the Google Support forums have recommended some affected users to switch to safe mode to determine if the problems are coming from any third-party apps. It doesn’t seem to have helped users to a large extent.

Gadgets 360 has reached out to Google for a comment on the matter and will update this space when the company responds.

Android 12 was released alongside the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro launch earlier this week after months of beta testing. The new operating system brings interface-level changes through the Material You design language. There are also new privacy-focussed changes including the ability to share approximate location and a new Privacy Dashboard to detail app permission settings.

The Android 12 update is available for all Google Pixel phones starting from the Pixel 3. It also comes preloaded on the Pixel 6 series.


It’s Google I/O time this week on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast, as we discuss Android 12, Wear OS, and more. Later (starting at 27:29), we jump over to Army of the Dead, Zack Snyder’s Netflix zombie heist movie. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.