slopfront
Reddit, read-only. No JavaScript. No cookies. No tracking.
preferences
Saved in links, not cookies.

March update broke the "square" button on my Pixel 5

12 points · submitted Mar 2022 by u/Ark42 · archived

I have the habit of pressing the square the immediately swiping up to clear an app that I only needed for a second. As of this latest update, pressing square seems to randomly scroll off to the left quickly showing all open apps but then jump back to the second from the right. My action now closes that other app, which is always the one I wanted open and wanted to switch back to, because the active app isn't focused in that list anymore by default when pressing square.

11 comments · 100% upvoted · other discussions

comments

Read-only. Use the arrows to collapse threads.

HugeLegalBriefs 2 points · Mar 2022

This has been driving me nuts as well. Tried clearing cache/force stopping the Pixel Launcher but that had no effect. Tried turning off all animations (don’t ask, I’m desperate), didn’t help.

I really don’t want to switch to gesture nav but how google managed to break 3 button nav in 2022 is inexcusable.

jcondef 2 points · Mar 2022

same here with 4A 5G, also I don't know if the touch screen become more sensitive or whatever, but suddenly it seems that my phone is possessed and acts on its own.

Ark42 [OP] 2 points · Mar 2022 · All the odd-numbered ones

I feel like it's half of some animation meant for the horrible gesture UI option. It's like it wants to intentionally pan across all open apps so you can remember everything you opened before you get the option to select the thing you want. It's amazing how many things Android 12 just keeps breaking.

Nomadness 1 points · Apr 2024

2 years later, with Android 14 on Pixel 7 Pro, this is still a problem. I have to reboot a couple of times a day to get the square button back. <sigh>

The_Real_Gataru 1 points · Mar 2022

Hey OP, you ever figure out a fix for this? Or does anyone on the sub know where to report this behavior change to make sure they know to fix it if it's unintended?

Ark42 [OP] 1 points · Mar 2022 · All the odd-numbered ones

No fix. You can complain to Google on their support chat thing.

lynch-o 1 points · Jun 2022

https://support.google.com/pixelphone/thread/167271002?hl=en

I think this might have fixed it for me. The animation still looks a bit screwy but it doesn't scroll through a heap of heap of apps when hitting the square button anymore. Still testing though.

Edit: it did not fix it.

Belead 1 points · May 2022 · Pixel 10a :pixel9airis:

Yes, same here. I think it started with Android 12, with the 11 I don't recall having this issue..

lynch-o 1 points · Jun 2022

Oh man thank god I thought I was the only one! Haven't found a fix either. Has anyone reported to google? We could stack onto that report to lend it more weight.

No-LanA 1 points · Jun 2022

This is driving me mad. Glad I'm not the only one...

Ryan166 1 points · Jul 2022

Please send a request to Google to fix it. You can do that on your phone here:

Settings -> About -> Send Feedback About This Device (Include system log)

Prior to submitting a report myself, Pixel support had me try a few things. The most extreme was to clear the data of the launcher app, but that only helped for about 10 mins. No better than just clearing the launcher cache. The tech said clearing the launcher data was the same as installing a new launcher. So that convinced me this had to be a bug. Also, I wouldn't clear the launcher data if I were you, because you'll have to re-setup all your home screen icons, widgets, preferences, etc. It was a real pain.