Android 16 update breaks button and gesture navigation for some Pixel users

Google recently rolled out Android 16 on the stable channel, bringing several new features to its Pixel devices. However, the update also seems to have introduced a frustrating bug for some users that makes their phones temporarily unusable.

Recent reports on Reddit and X (via Android Headlines) highlight an annoying navigation issue that seems to have cropped up for some Pixel users after installing Android 16. The issue results in both button and gesture-based navigation becoming intermittently unresponsive, and it seems to affect all Pixel models.

Some users say that the issue appears randomly and makes buttons and gestures completely unresponsive, while others have reported experiencing a delayed response while trying to navigate back or to the home screen. Although we don’t have a foolproof workaround, a few affected users say switching to a different launcher app or clearing the Pixel Launcher’s data and cache seems to fix the unresponsiveness and lag. Rebooting the device also appears to work in some cases, but the problem resurfaces shortly after the reboot for most users.

While the issue doesn’t seem widespread, we’ve seen a growing number of reports over the last few days. Google has yet to acknowledge the issue or reveal the underlying cause, but we expect the company to shed light on the matter in the coming days. We’ll update this post as soon as we have more details.