For Android fans, Google’s new Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL have been somewhat disappointing. These two new phones had been hyped for months ahead of their release, and they actually managed to deliver on most of the hype. They’re fast and powerful with cool new features enabled by the latest version of Android, Android 9.0 Pie. They also sport sleek new designs, with the Pixel 3 XL in particular having gotten a much-needed modern overhaul that includes a better screen-to-body ratio than we’ve ever seen on any other Pixel phone. In our in-depth Google Pixel 3 review, we dove into all the reasons these new Pixel phones are the best Pixels yet. So, why have they been disappointing? As it turns out, the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL have been riddled with bugs.
The problems Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL users have been experiencing range in severity. Some issues are quite serious while others are quite minor. Of course, even the minor bugs are amplified when there are so many issues that people have been dealing with. Examples include a second notch randomly appearing on the screen and remaining until the phone is rebooted, problems with audio and video quality in recordings, buzzing and speaker distortion, and plenty more. Google has responded to a few of the issues out there, but now we have good news: The company has finally confirmed that it’s working to fix one of the most serious problems users have encountered.
Remember how bad the RAM management problems were on Apple’s iPhones in iOS 11? They were so bad that iPhone models powered by the A11 Bionic chip from 2017, which is still more powerful than anything in Android phones even now in 2018, were losing speed tests to lesser handsets. In other words, the issue was actually hindering performance… and yet you’d have to multiply that by an order of magnitude before it would even approach what many Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL users are experiencing.
Imagine having RAM management problems that are so bad, taking a picture in the camera app causes other apps to crash. That’s where some users are at with the Pixel 3 right now. It’s obviously infuriating, but now we at least have some good news to share.
In an email sent to Google news blog 9to5Google, a Google spokesperson confirmed that the company is aware of the issue and is working to fix it. Specifically, the spokesperson said that Google is working on a fix that will “keep background apps from being prematurely closed.” Of all the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL problems out there, this definitely seems to be the one that has been causing the biggest headache for users. We know we would definitely be annoying if performing simple tasks was enough to crash a music stream in the background on our phone.
As for when Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL owners can expect the update to arrive on their phones, we unfortunately don’t have an exact date just yet. According to Google, we should expect it “in the coming weeks.”
