The Google Camera app, which is exclusive to the company’s Pixel phones, recently saw a flurry of one-star reviews in the Play Store. Its overall rating has dropped from 3.8 stars to 3.3 over the past year and a half, and details in most of the complaints may indicate that the well-known Pixel camera curse is spreading to affect more devices. However, Google tells us that there are no known app or software issues related to the issue, indicating that the apparent increase in customer service is due to hardware damage.
Over the past year, reports of issues with the Pixel 2 and 3 Series cameras have increased over the past year, and the nature of the issue suggests that it is not a software issue. For some, the rear camera simply stops working, or displays a black screen when the app loads, spits an error message (as below), or crashes completely. The problem may be constant, or the camera may sometimes work for a short while. The problem affects both the first-party Google Party app and third-party apps from Snapchat to Duo when you try to use the rear camera. Troubleshooting steps such as deleting app data, factory settings and even recovery software is apparently unable to resolve the issue.
One symptom of the problem in Google Camera, but it also affects third-party apps.
Some customers believe that a software update caused the problem, as many reports claim that the problem first appeared immediately after an update. Others have testified that even if software changes are not directly responsible for the inconsistent failures, it is possible that something else happens at the same time – phones tend to get hot during the installation of major updates. However, these demands may simply be the result of timing; Pixels get more updates than basically any other Android phone, and people like to generally blame updates when things go wrong as a more visible cause for change.
Finally, we do not yet know what the cause is. Some claim that placing a magnet near the camera can fix it for a short time, which may indicate a hardware failure. Either way, the number of reports is increasing.
The primary thread of customers affected by the Pixel Phone Help forums made 800 comments and about half of the recently submitted reviews in the Play Store mention symptoms related to the problem. This in itself is hardly a scientific measure, but coupled with the overall drop in the app’s rating from 3.8 stars to 3.3 since October 2019 and a piece of research among previous reviews for those who mention similar symptoms, and Complaints about the issue appear to be pending. on.
The Play Store rating has dropped over the past year, and reports increasingly mention this issue.
Most reports with the name of a device mention the Pixel 2, which seems to be most affected by this issue, but there are also some reports for the Pixel 3, 3a and 4 series. Although our reports have followed since it started affecting more devices last year, it does not seem to be affected by newer Pixel devices.
We asked Google for more information regarding the issue and if anything new came to light, and we are told that there are no stability issues for app software or OS software that could be causing the issues on Pixels. Instead, the company offered hardware failures as a possible explanation – either due to wear and tear over time, or abuses such as physical damage or falls. Coupled with Pixel’s regular update plan, a hardware issue may be to blame for the more visible software changes, even though there is no connection. The company invites stakeholders to contact Google Customer Support to explore their options.
Previously, those affected by the issue that is still under warranty received RMA replacements, but you may have a worse luck if your phone is outside the support window, although Google is known to make exceptions.
- Source:
- Play shop; Twitter; Pixel Phone Help Forum: (1),
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- Reddit: (1),
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