Android 16 for Pixels brings too many bugs for a ‘stable’ update

Android 16 is the flavor of the season, and Pixel owners are already enjoying the latest Baklava update. Granted, plenty of headline features are missing from this release, but there are still enough changes in here to call Android 16 a big update to the platform. Unfortunately for some Pixel owners, this update is also bringing in new bugs, like this annoying one where the phone takes too long to wake up. Google is aware of this and is working on a fix for it, but there seem to be plenty more that need highlighting.

Pixel phones are slow to wake up after Android 16

Reddit user jdawg0024 highlighted that waking up their Pixel 9 Pro XL has become unreliable after updating to Android 16. Their phone stays unresponsive for about five seconds every time they try to wake the display, either by double-tapping the display or by pressing the power button. The phone functions normally once it has woken up, but if the screen turns off again, the issue repeats itself.

As you can imagine, this does sound very annoying. It’s the kind of bug that negatively impacts the user experience in a very noticeable way, but not enough to become a dealbreaker, so most people carry on using their device but stay frustrated. Plenty of other users chimed in to affirm that they are facing the same issue, and we can see many others complaining across multiple Reddit threads. For what it’s worth, we couldn’t reproduce the issue across a couple of Pixel devices on Android 16, including a Pixel 9 Pro XL.

The official PixelCommunity account responded to the complaint, advising the user to reboot their device to fix the issue temporarily:

We are aware of this issue and a fix will be released in the coming weeks. For the time being, you can reboot your device to temporarily fix the issue.

Some users suggest disabling Tap to check phone and Lift to check phone in Settings > Display & touch > Lock screen, then restarting your device and re-enabling both features. This seemingly fixes the issue, though some users also say it only does so temporarily. Still, you can try it and see if it works for you.

The Android 16 update appears to bring a lot of new bugs

This isn’t the only bug that users are facing with Android 16, though, but it’s the one that is the most widespread. Based on scores of user reports across Reddit and X, we could also gather that users are facing the following issues with the Android 16 update:

1. Lock screen frequently freezes
2. Slow/unresponsive fingerprint unlock
3. Unresponsive screen gestures
4. Erratic auto-brightness
5. Erratic/unresponsive proximity sensor
6. Auto-rotate stops working
7. Apps freezing and not responding to touch input
8. Camera freezes, often requiring multiple shutter button taps to take a photo
9. Android Auto drops connection
10.  Circle to Search stops working

For most of these issues, restarting the device temporarily fixes the problem. As part of the troubleshooting steps, you could attempt a factory reset to see if the issues are resolved, though remember to back up your data, as it will all get wiped. If problems persist, you can consider rolling back to Android 15 and wait for the next stable release that hopefully fixes the issues.

You can and should also file a bug report with Google to add your voice to the complaints. These expensive phones are getting a “stable” update after an extensive beta program, so such a long list of bugs is unacceptable.