21 ms·

Google Pixel 6 still freezes when calling Emergency Services

504 points by curiousgal 4y ago

bspammer 4y ago
The fact that this has stuck around so long feels like a consequence of triaging your bugs purely by the number of affected users. After all, likely less than 0.1% of users ever run into this bug, it can't be that big of an issue right?
LinuxBender 4y ago
Out of curiosity has anyone tried GrapheneOS [1] on the pixel 6? Does it fix these problems or is this strictly a hardware/firmware issue? [1] - https://grapheneos.org/faq#device-support https://grapheneos.org/faq#device-support
0goel0 4y ago
"...in Australia" How is this not a S1 P0 that requires an emergency hot patch from Google? AU should ban pixel phone sales until this is fixed.
- anticensor 4y ago
  No externally imposed priorities is sacrosanct in Google.
NelsonMinar 4y ago
This problem is apparently years old and happens in many countries. Given the liability associated I'm surprised Google hasn't fixed it. https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/wpirx8/had_an_emergency_pixel_6a_would_not_dial_000/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/wpirx8/had_an_... https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/ti8o8f/dialling_emergency_services_with_no_dial_tone/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/ti8o8f/diallin... https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/rfld6m/pixel_prevented_me_from_calling_emergency/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/rfld6m/pixel_p...
- jl6 4y ago
  It has all the characteristics of a bug that you can just feel in your bones will never get fixed: * Intermittent. * Affects only some users. * Possible link to a hardware problem * Vendor track record of only putting serious effort into development of new products, not maintenance of existing products. That’s some weighty inertia to overcome, but maybe the prospect of legal liability will manage it.
  - dagmx 4y ago
    I don’t know enough about the emergency service requirements but it sounds like the issue is in the data Google are trying to query before connecting the call. They likely have a blocking function somewhere that they should be running concurrently or falling back to a cache after a timeout. Given how widespread this is in the comments on Reddit , I’m sure they must have enough user logs to pinpoint it.
  - 5d8767c68926 4y ago
    This is making me furious. I do not think I have ever called 911, but it is one of those safety features I thought I could fully expect to work when needed. I have only ever used Android, but this is going to be my final such device. I have accepted a lot of rough edges over the years, but this wilful negligence regarding safety features is where I am drawing the line. At least with Apple I will not have to hope that maintaining Emergency Services will get someone promoted.
- Someone 4y ago
  It also is very weird that this bug even made it to production once because the standards explicitly require phone to call emergency services even if no SIM card is present.
washadjeffmad 4y ago
Does anyone have details on the internals of Google's customer support orgs? They seem to have taken to heart compliance with only bare minimum legal requirements over the past four or five years. And given that it's now also impossible to engage support on Facebook to fix account issues (I was locked out of my Oculus Quest 2 after attempting to merge my Oculus dev account with the Facebook account I closed in 2006), I wonder if it's time again to legislate higher standards for "support".
whatever1 4y ago
Interesting, this is why I switched from android to apple ~ 5 years ago. I was expecting a very important phone call for the outcome of the surgery of a person very close to me. The smartphone, the Samsung galaxy S7 edge, finally rang, and I was trying to answer the the call, but no, android was doing something more important in the background, the whole UI was frozen and the phone call banner was not responding to touch. Finally, the phone rebooted by itself, and then it was back to normal. But my call was missed. I did not get to listen to my person, because my android smartphone, was more smart and less phone.
- alyandon 4y ago
  I have similar issues sometimes with the dialer app on my Pixel 2. I can't have a phone that doesn't prioritize being a phone over everything else that might be competing for cpu resources so my next phone is definitely going to be an iPhone.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- eastbound 4y ago
  I switched to iPhone when I learnt Android didn’t have encrypted storage at the time. The whole Android stack is rife for criminal prosecution, between GDPR, permissions, freezing when calling 911…
- system2 4y ago
- zls 4y ago
  After using Android for 10 years, a similar experience made me switch. I'd just bought a Pixel 5, and I received a call from a pizza delivery driver. I say I received a call because the phone rang. Otherwise I'd never have known. The UI didn't show it at all, even though it was responsive, and the missed call log section never populated. Nothing except the ringer sound. The next day I switched to iPhone and have never regretted it. Like, if my phone can't receive calls or even capture that a call was missed, none of its other features matter.
r12343a_19 4y ago
The Pixel 6 is an overhyped disappointment. I replaced my old super-cheap Android One phone with a Pixel 6 and it's full of hardware / software bugs: GPS has problems, I see graphics artefacts (GPU problems?) and Google doesn't care. I'm not surprised at all it has such a problem. I should have bought an iPhone SE.
- shadycuz 4y ago
  Oh, so that's why my Pixel 6 always thinks I'm 50 feet to the right of my current location.
- radiorental 4y ago
  I've been a happy pixel user for years after getting burned with some cheap Android phones, most notably One Plus. The Pixel 6 is an unmitigated clusterfuck. GPS/Maps locking up is the worst. Either wont load or will lock up during a trip and you will miss a turn. Try rebooting a phone while you're alone on a motorway, then having to type in your route again - super dangerous. I've had the camera (video) lock up mid scene. Focus locks up. Fingerprint recognition is a fail 25-50% of the time. These have been known issues since release, I made the now incorrect assumption these were natural bugs that would be fixed over time. Pixel 6 is the last phone from Google I will own. Not sure I want to jump to iOS yet but things are looking increasingly bleak in the Android garden
  - r12343a_19 4y ago
    Oh, so there isn't a problem with my dirty fingers or something. The fingerprint reader indeed works like half the time.
  - Rastonbury 4y ago
    Same got scammed by all the reviews saying best Pixel yet and a good price for flagship. Terrible software issues, I was unable to make calls without 10s of a high pitch beep interrupting within the first 5s, I'm glad I don't rely on my phone for work calls but some people do. I had to enroll in to the Beta early release to resolve it. Bluetooth dropping for seconds in the car. Random extreme battery drain even now. Fingerprint works about 50% of the time which is a pain because I have an 8 digit pin enforced by MS Teams for work. Never again
Steltek 4y ago
Whoa. My spouse was unable to dial 911 in the US once (probably the only time it was tried on that phone). Thankfully it wasn't a life-or-death, get-me-to-the-ER emergency and we just used my phone (Pixel 3). We thought it was an isolated bug on just that phone but this sounds super dangerous now. How can this still exist?
- klabb3 4y ago
  > How can this still exist? Engagement numbers for this feature is very low. No promotion opportunities.
oefrha 4y ago
Remember when Microsoft Teams on Android, a userland application, would block emergency calls? [1] Guess the asinine emergency call system still isn't properly fixed after that incident. [1] https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/11496917?hl=en https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/11496917?hl=en (Pretty sure there was a big thread here, but somehow can't find it now.)
- JadoJodo 4y ago
  > Pretty sure there was a big thread here, but somehow can't find it now. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29492884 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29492884
newhotelowner 4y ago
My pixel 6 misses to dial regular numbers a lot of times. The app just stays on dialing and then quits. There is no error, nothing. It should at least throw an error.
lizardactivist 4y ago
Happy for 3 years now with my €120 Nokia 4.2. I doubt I will ever look at the Pixel given its price and with problems like these.
- system2 4y ago
  Nokia 4.2 is still android.
  - bdcravens 4y ago
    It seems this is a Pixel 6 specific issue.
- everybodyknows 4y ago
  Intensely unhappy with my Nokia 5.4 for about a month now, after a system update conscripted it and me into recurring DDoS attacks upon the public 911 system: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32526819 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32526819
  - lizardactivist 4y ago
    It sounds annoying, but luckily it's a configurable setting.
mrkramer 4y ago
On the side note I thought Android has very few bugs probably because I don't use my Android phone a lot but I encountered one pretty annoying bug last week and I was unpleasantly surprised.
amir734jj 4y ago
I switched to pixel 6 from pixel 4 and it was buggy to the point that I had to give away my pixel 6. Then I bought new still in box pixel 3 and I'm happy again.
- DangitBobby 4y ago
  Is it still getting updates?
  - rozenmd 4y ago
    No - I have a Pixel 3 as well and the last uptime was last October or so
  - dpkirchner 4y ago
    No, the 3 was abandoned a little over four years after its release.
    - MereInterest 4y ago
      And the more relevant date: not even 2.5 years between the Pixel 3 being the actively promoted flagship device and being declared obsolete by virtue of dropping security updates.
      - fomine3 4y ago
        Anyway Pixel 3 has very low RAM (4GB) as a 2018 Android flagship (even not good as a mid-range). It effectively decreases lifetime.
  - rch 4y ago
    Pixel 5 is still solid. I skipped the 6 because of comments on HN, but I'll probably have to update to the 7 when it comes out. In the meantime, I'd also like to try the Librem 5 US. This thread is convincing me to give it a shot anyway.
  - 3434111 4y ago
edmcnulty101 4y ago
I have zero issues with my Pixel 6. It's an awesome phone and I really like it. However, I just bought it a few months ago, so maybe they fixed a lot of stuff.
- davesque 4y ago
  Yeah, me too. Zero problems. I've also successfully dialed 911 with it. Though it was in Seattle so I got put on hold for 5 minutes ^_^. I guess the linked thread says the issue is in Australia.
- ineedtosleep 4y ago
  Same and just wanted to echo it amid the Android hate that's bombarded this thread. Sure it has its warts, but the amount of hyperbole here about it being "the worst phone ever" is unwarranted.
  - curiousgal 4y ago
    It is not the worst phone ever. It is the worst Pixel ever.
nickpinkston 4y ago
I got a Pixel 6 Pro a few months ago, and it's without question the worst phone I've ever had the displeasure to own. - It crashes constantly. - Bluetooth is even buggier than usual. - Fingerprint unlock is very finicky. - The touchscreen isn't designed/calibrated well and leads to constant fat finger presses. - The hotspot is buggy to connect and randomly drops once it does connect. - The phone is so slick (ie low friction) that it will randomly slide and fall off of slightly off-level surfaces. - It feels like this was released without anyone living with the phone for even a couple weeks and trying normal use cases... Anyway - I've been really disappointed there haven't been updates to fix some of this stuff. I've heard this may be because of hardware issues, but I haven't looked that deeply. I've owned Pixel phones before and like the no BS + Google Apps-centric approach, but this phone really soured me on Google phones. :-(
- mikesabat 4y ago
  I got a Pixel 6a a few days back and just pocket dialed someone for the first time in 5 years. My last phone was the 4a and the 6a seems worse in many ways. I haven't traded the 4a in yet because I might just move back. Are there any good alternative phones on Project Fi?
  - wildrhythms 4y ago
    I'm on the 5A and no issues. Great phone. Still has a headphone jack.
- zamalek 4y ago
  I got on the Pixel rollercoaster at 1 (a great device), and got off after 4. 2, 3,and (especially) 4 all either had a common feature missing, or did some annoying shit. Seems like I made the right choice. Unfortunately, it looks like OnePlus was a poor choice. Guess I'm turning to Nothing next.
  - Buttons840 4y ago
    I'm still using a Pixel 1, but it's starting to die at even 30% battery, and hasn't had software updates for to long. Wish devices weren't designed / destined to fail.
keewee7 4y ago
High-end Samsung phones are the only reason I'm still on Android. Google (Pixel), One Plus, Huawei, and most other Android phone designers/manufacturers have not been able to reach Samsung/Apple quality for the past five or more years.
- dilyevsky 4y ago
  It’s hilarious that internally googlers always used to poo poo vendors in private conversations but imo you’re absolutely right - samsung essentially holds the whole brand afloat. Although not by choice - they tried replacing android and failed miserably
  - dagmx 4y ago
    They sort of succeeded though with replacing Android Wear
  - aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
    Which is embarrassing, because they're one of the most insecure vendors...
    - nokya 4y ago
      "one of the most insecure vendors" The way you wrote it makes it sound like most vendors sell secure software but not Samsung, which isn't true at all: all vendors sell insecure software except very few exceptions. The fact that Samsung cannot build secure software doesn't mean they're bad at it. It means they're not better than the others, which is very different from calling then the most insecure software company. Application security in information security is what climate change is in politics: an underdog, strongly opposed, and massively misunderstood. The simple fact that you are aware that Samsung produces code, which contains many security vulnerabilities, is an indicator that it is probably doing much better than a lot of other companies ;)
- ratg13 4y ago
  Same, but I'm so done with the uninstallable facebook apps. When I got my galaxy 10 I went in and disabled all the facebook apps since you can't uninstall them. I went an checked the status a year later, and the original ones were still disabled, but they had pushed additional facebook apps to me behind the scenes without me knowing. I don't get why samsung needs facebook money this badly to invade their customer's privacy. Now it's time to upgrade and I'm reluctant to buy Samsung, Pixel seems to be garbage .. not sure where to turn next.
rabbidruster 4y ago
I have the pixel 6 Pro. By far the worse phone I've ever had. It's unable to hold a consistent phone conversation and I'll often cut out so the person on the other end can't hear me. Did a RMA and the new phone has the same problem. Support is also difficult to deal with. Ive been a loyal pixel owner until now, but can no longer recommend anyone buy a pixel phone.
dessant 4y ago
The repeated negligence around the handling of Android bugs related to emergency calls should result in criminal prosecution. It's unlikely that actual people weren't hurt because of these bugs. They have known about these issues for years, and they continue to give them the importance of an unresponsive button in Gmail settings. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29492884 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29492884 https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/rfld6m/pixel_prevented_me_from_calling_emergency/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/rfld6m/pixel_p...
- bjt2n3904 4y ago
  > criminal prosecution Steady now. I don't think you want that.
  - dessant 4y ago
    I think it's important to hold people responsible for negligence that causes harm to others, even in the tech industry.
    - bjt2n3904 4y ago
      > It's unlikely that actual people weren't hurt because of these bugs. Do you want criminal prosecution for actual harm, or for potential harm? America has this habit of reaching for the biggest gun it has to solve problems, or make a statement. It always backfires.
      - dagmx 4y ago
        Criminal reports for negligence that can cause death are a thing around the world. Pray tell, how would it backfire to make sure emergency services are always available ?
        freeone3000 4y ago
        They are scared that such standards would then be applied to their work.
zahllos 4y ago
I own a pixel 6 (not the pro model), and I also regret it. I've never needed to call the emergency services but I do find relatively frequent network drops: one moment it has a 5G or LTE connection, the next it is unable to find access to the network. This is in Switzerland on the 'flagship' carrier Swisscom. Swisscom are generally regarded as having the best overall coverage in Switzerland, helped by the fact they used to be the "PTT" i.e. a national enterprise as part of the Swiss Post. They operate Ericsson hardware, and Switzerland has lower power maximums for mobile operators compared to many European countries, resulting in a higher density of antennae. I'm also not talking about challenging environments like the mountains: I'm saying my Pixel 6 routinely drops 5G in the centre of cities like Geneva, Bern or Zürich. One of which happens to host a reasonably large Google office, so you'd figure they'd notice issues like this. I've tried reflashing the OS from scratch, upgrading to beta versions of 'Carrier Services' etc. The issue appears to have improved over time and happens less frequently, but it still certainly happens. My original plan was to eventually move to GrapheneOS but I'm now unsure, as I can't tell if this is the quality of stock android and the pixel hardware, and I'm rethinking my options.
- Nergg 4y ago
  I also live in Switzerland and using Swisscom network. I have a pixel 4a, so I don't use 5g but the phone is really bad with finding network. I also experiment weird bugs like today it was impossible to watch tv online (rts) on my pixel but it was working on my friend iPhone. I hate to be trapped in Apple ecosystem but Google products are so buggy... I bought a Nest Google assistant last week and it can't understand the most basic queries... I spent hours trying to configure it and reseting, always failed at some point. I think Google doesn't care about other language than English and doesn't care about Swiss market (they don't even sell their phone on the Swiss google shop). I thought about going Samsung but Exynos, privacy issue, and their stupid marketing doesn't help... GrapheneOS and other privacy focus OS seems nice on paper but a lot of time spent to make it work. I guess I'll wait iPhone 14 keynote and Pixel 7 before making a choice.
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system2 4y ago
Buy iPhone my friends. I spent decades defending android but enough was enough.
- bdcravens 4y ago
  "decades"? Android 1.0 was released 14 years ago.
  - system2 4y ago
    Decade and a half then.
remram 4y ago
My wife and I recently upgraded from Pixel 4 and we found that both the 5 and 6 overheat during normal use. After browsing the internet for a half hour, either phone will be too hot to hold in your hand. How do phones like that get shipped?
vhold 4y ago
Reminds me of how my Windows Mobile phone over 20 years ago would sometimes bring up the dialpad without the "9" available, which was the last straw for me and got me to switch.
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jasec57322 4y ago
I'm currently using a 6 year old phone. Now that I don't take many photos and use it lightly - it actually performs far better than the previous 3 new phones I had - 2 of which were flagships. The S22 I sent back had worse battery-life than my current phone - it was doing heavy background-work, despite having all the battery-optimal settings enabled. To the point: New phones are way too big, too power-hungry, the newer they get the more 'features' they have that I didn't ask for and don't want - not least is the data mining by everybody under the sun at the firmware level. I've given up buying new phones. When this one cunks-out I'll buy an old-used one. That is unless there comes a real alternative to increasingly crappy android & the above issues are resolved.
- LegitShady 4y ago
  I prefer phones that are still getting security updates. You talked up your phone a lot but omitted what model it is, for some reason.
  - jasec57322 4y ago
    It's a oneplus 2.
bubblethink 4y ago
How do we know that it's Google's fault ? There are so many variables here. We should ask for automated testing numbers. At least in the US, there isn't one. It requires special manual work to make a test call to 911.
- croes 4y ago
  If something can interfere with making a emergency call on a Google phone it's definitely Google's fault. It's their job to make sure it works in all circumstances
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IAmLiterallyAB 4y ago
This is the first phone running a Google chipset, and Google CPU. And a Google modem I believe. Their previous phones were Qualcomm based. I imagine a lot of the issues people are seeing are related to that, a mix of hardware flaws and driver bugs.
- whatarethembits 4y ago
  Isn’t the “Google CPU” just rebranded Exynos? In which is case it’s almost always worse than same generation Qualcomm in performance. One of the reasons why I couldn’t stomach purchasing a Samsung phone here in Europe was that their Exynos processor was worse across the board than what the North American benchmarks on YouTube would have you believe.
  - IAmLiterallyAB 4y ago
    Oh is it? I'll have to look into that
jacooper 4y ago
I'm basically locked into Pixels because of GrapheneOS/CalyxOS, the best experience you can get for a privacy friendly phone. The software is great, the camera is amazing, and the battery is good too, the only problem is the display on my Pixel 4XL. IOS is a hot garbage prison, to the point its users dream of something like newpipe, and the FOSS scene is basically nonexistent, also Apple doesn't care about your privacy, I will never switch. All other phones are either filled with gimicky things, have crappy designs(one ui isn't great compared to stock android) and nothing is private like CalyxOS/GrapheneOS. And yes payment apps/SafetyNet works on Calyx! Since Pixel 6 doesn't seem to be great, I will probably upgrade to PXL7/8, though there are some enticing deals on the normal Pixel 6.
- fyloraspit 4y ago
  Same here but I have the Pixel 5. It's been a great experience for me.
qwertox 4y ago
There's another thing to keep in mind: Bluetooth. I was biking and noticed a fire so I called the emergency number. I didn't notice that I had my Bluetooth headset connected to the phone, since I was listening to a podcast maybe half an hour earlier during the ride but never use it for talking on the phone. So I didn't even hear the ringing an nothing, I was wondering if something was broken, until I realized that it was using the headset for the call. In the end this was no problem because I noticed fast enough, but what became a problem was notifying my location. I started passing him the Plus Code which was the first thing shown on the emergency screen: the call center person got annoyed asking me what I was reading to him. So I opted to read him the full GPS coordinates, where he then told me that this appears to be a completely different location from what I described him before resorting to the Plus Code. Then there is a map on the screen which you have to tap on in order to get a full map view with street names, which finally helped passing the location. It was a horrible experience in the sense that this technology seemed to make it more complicated while under stress. Why show Plus Codes if they are not an agreed upon standard? Why not show me the nearest street names, which in my case was a bit problematic because I was on a field, but highlight and name some well known POI's, after all, Google has a huge database of ranked POIs. Something like "One third between POI 1 and POI 2".
- wingworks 4y ago
  It's pretty frustrating, Google Maps doesn't even show the GPS code for allot of locations, like your GPS blue bubble or places, you have to select an empty space on the map, then it'll tell you the GPS cords of that spot (as well as plus code). It's pretty frustrating, I've called 911 once, and was way more frustrating then I'd have liked it to be just to get my GPS location. Like you say, no one knows what this plus code is, (personally I do like the plus code, but it's useless if the receiver doesn't know what to do with it)
croes 4y ago
Why are there no recalls for smartphones like there are for cars?
croes 4y ago
Let's face it nowadays smartphones are more like cameras with an internet connection
scottmcdot 4y ago
If I test dial 000 will it immediately go to an operator? Or do I have a few seconds to hang up?
- hx833001 4y ago
  In the US dialing 911 will connect immediately and if you hang up they call you back.
anticensor 4y ago
Did you try using +44 118 999 88199 9119 725 3 instead?
- vondro 4y ago
  Nice, had to sing it :-)
martin_a 4y ago
Calling emergency services is of course a premium feature (Pixel 6 PRO), I don't get the fuss everybody's making around here. Seriously: I'm shocked that such basic functionality does not work due to some "oh, let's make a gimmick here" thing.
cush 4y ago
A phone without basic emergency service access should be recalled. Google has no intention on fixing it, they might as well save themselves further liability
jquast 4y ago
The only reason I carry a cellphone with me in many situations is just in case of an emergency. I wouldn’t take it for walks, to the store, out to eat, and definitely not while driving, but only for the safety of myself and others around me, it could save someone’s life. It’s the only feature of a cellphone that I need, everything else is secondary. That they can’t care enough to address this issue is reason enough to swear off google completely. They must be so very cold-hearted, fish stinks from the head and all that.
hda111 4y ago
Is this because of the 000 number? 112 is standard in GSM and should work always.
MKGoogle 4y ago
deleted 4y ago
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ipaddr 4y ago
Make sense no one wants to qa this section
robertwt7 4y ago
they can be sued for this right? i'm surprised that no one has done this already. this is life and death situation from a trillion dollar company, how are they still getting away with this is just amazing. Like where's the ticket sitting on the jira board right now? what priority is it? does the product team know about this and just ignores it? they should be held accountable
fomine3 4y ago
Pixel6 caused problems twice for emergency call in Japan. https://k-tai.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1427257.html https://k-tai.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1427257.html https://k-tai.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1367996.html https://k-tai.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1367996.html iPhone also caused problem and took 3 months to fix. https://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/2112/17/news083.html https://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/2112/17/news083.html It seems that quality is getting poor in general.

504 points by curiousgal 4y ago

The fact that this has stuck around so long feels like a consequence of triaging your bugs purely by the number of affected users. After all, likely less than 0.1% of users ever run into this bug, it can't be that big of an issue right?

LinuxBender 4y ago

Out of curiosity has anyone tried GrapheneOS [1] on the pixel 6? Does it fix these problems or is this strictly a hardware/firmware issue? [1] - https://grapheneos.org/faq#device-support https://grapheneos.org/faq#device-support

0goel0 4y ago

"...in Australia" How is this not a S1 P0 that requires an emergency hot patch from Google? AU should ban pixel phone sales until this is fixed.

anticensor 4y ago
No externally imposed priorities is sacrosanct in Google.

NelsonMinar 4y ago

This problem is apparently years old and happens in many countries. Given the liability associated I'm surprised Google hasn't fixed it. https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/wpirx8/had_an_emergency_pixel_6a_would_not_dial_000/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/wpirx8/had_an_... https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/ti8o8f/dialling_emergency_services_with_no_dial_tone/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/ti8o8f/diallin... https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/rfld6m/pixel_prevented_me_from_calling_emergency/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/rfld6m/pixel_p...

jl6 4y ago
It has all the characteristics of a bug that you can just feel in your bones will never get fixed: * Intermittent. * Affects only some users. * Possible link to a hardware problem * Vendor track record of only putting serious effort into development of new products, not maintenance of existing products. That’s some weighty inertia to overcome, but maybe the prospect of legal liability will manage it.
- dagmx 4y ago
  I don’t know enough about the emergency service requirements but it sounds like the issue is in the data Google are trying to query before connecting the call. They likely have a blocking function somewhere that they should be running concurrently or falling back to a cache after a timeout. Given how widespread this is in the comments on Reddit , I’m sure they must have enough user logs to pinpoint it.
- 5d8767c68926 4y ago
  This is making me furious. I do not think I have ever called 911, but it is one of those safety features I thought I could fully expect to work when needed. I have only ever used Android, but this is going to be my final such device. I have accepted a lot of rough edges over the years, but this wilful negligence regarding safety features is where I am drawing the line. At least with Apple I will not have to hope that maintaining Emergency Services will get someone promoted.
Someone 4y ago
It also is very weird that this bug even made it to production once because the standards explicitly require phone to call emergency services even if no SIM card is present.

washadjeffmad 4y ago

Does anyone have details on the internals of Google's customer support orgs? They seem to have taken to heart compliance with only bare minimum legal requirements over the past four or five years. And given that it's now also impossible to engage support on Facebook to fix account issues (I was locked out of my Oculus Quest 2 after attempting to merge my Oculus dev account with the Facebook account I closed in 2006), I wonder if it's time again to legislate higher standards for "support".

whatever1 4y ago

Interesting, this is why I switched from android to apple ~ 5 years ago. I was expecting a very important phone call for the outcome of the surgery of a person very close to me. The smartphone, the Samsung galaxy S7 edge, finally rang, and I was trying to answer the the call, but no, android was doing something more important in the background, the whole UI was frozen and the phone call banner was not responding to touch. Finally, the phone rebooted by itself, and then it was back to normal. But my call was missed. I did not get to listen to my person, because my android smartphone, was more smart and less phone.

alyandon 4y ago
I have similar issues sometimes with the dialer app on my Pixel 2. I can't have a phone that doesn't prioritize being a phone over everything else that might be competing for cpu resources so my next phone is definitely going to be an iPhone.
deleted 4y ago
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eastbound 4y ago
I switched to iPhone when I learnt Android didn’t have encrypted storage at the time. The whole Android stack is rife for criminal prosecution, between GDPR, permissions, freezing when calling 911…
system2 4y ago
zls 4y ago
After using Android for 10 years, a similar experience made me switch. I'd just bought a Pixel 5, and I received a call from a pizza delivery driver. I say I received a call because the phone rang. Otherwise I'd never have known. The UI didn't show it at all, even though it was responsive, and the missed call log section never populated. Nothing except the ringer sound. The next day I switched to iPhone and have never regretted it. Like, if my phone can't receive calls or even capture that a call was missed, none of its other features matter.

r12343a_19 4y ago

The Pixel 6 is an overhyped disappointment. I replaced my old super-cheap Android One phone with a Pixel 6 and it's full of hardware / software bugs: GPS has problems, I see graphics artefacts (GPU problems?) and Google doesn't care. I'm not surprised at all it has such a problem. I should have bought an iPhone SE.

shadycuz 4y ago
Oh, so that's why my Pixel 6 always thinks I'm 50 feet to the right of my current location.
radiorental 4y ago
I've been a happy pixel user for years after getting burned with some cheap Android phones, most notably One Plus. The Pixel 6 is an unmitigated clusterfuck. GPS/Maps locking up is the worst. Either wont load or will lock up during a trip and you will miss a turn. Try rebooting a phone while you're alone on a motorway, then having to type in your route again - super dangerous. I've had the camera (video) lock up mid scene. Focus locks up. Fingerprint recognition is a fail 25-50% of the time. These have been known issues since release, I made the now incorrect assumption these were natural bugs that would be fixed over time. Pixel 6 is the last phone from Google I will own. Not sure I want to jump to iOS yet but things are looking increasingly bleak in the Android garden
- r12343a_19 4y ago
  Oh, so there isn't a problem with my dirty fingers or something. The fingerprint reader indeed works like half the time.
- Rastonbury 4y ago
  Same got scammed by all the reviews saying best Pixel yet and a good price for flagship. Terrible software issues, I was unable to make calls without 10s of a high pitch beep interrupting within the first 5s, I'm glad I don't rely on my phone for work calls but some people do. I had to enroll in to the Beta early release to resolve it. Bluetooth dropping for seconds in the car. Random extreme battery drain even now. Fingerprint works about 50% of the time which is a pain because I have an 8 digit pin enforced by MS Teams for work. Never again

Steltek 4y ago

Whoa. My spouse was unable to dial 911 in the US once (probably the only time it was tried on that phone). Thankfully it wasn't a life-or-death, get-me-to-the-ER emergency and we just used my phone (Pixel 3). We thought it was an isolated bug on just that phone but this sounds super dangerous now. How can this still exist?

klabb3 4y ago
> How can this still exist? Engagement numbers for this feature is very low. No promotion opportunities.

oefrha 4y ago

Remember when Microsoft Teams on Android, a userland application, would block emergency calls? [1] Guess the asinine emergency call system still isn't properly fixed after that incident. [1] https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/11496917?hl=en https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/11496917?hl=en (Pretty sure there was a big thread here, but somehow can't find it now.)

JadoJodo 4y ago
> Pretty sure there was a big thread here, but somehow can't find it now. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29492884 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29492884

newhotelowner 4y ago

My pixel 6 misses to dial regular numbers a lot of times. The app just stays on dialing and then quits. There is no error, nothing. It should at least throw an error.

lizardactivist 4y ago

Happy for 3 years now with my €120 Nokia 4.2. I doubt I will ever look at the Pixel given its price and with problems like these.

system2 4y ago
Nokia 4.2 is still android.
- bdcravens 4y ago
  It seems this is a Pixel 6 specific issue.
everybodyknows 4y ago
Intensely unhappy with my Nokia 5.4 for about a month now, after a system update conscripted it and me into recurring DDoS attacks upon the public 911 system: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32526819 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32526819
- lizardactivist 4y ago
  It sounds annoying, but luckily it's a configurable setting.

mrkramer 4y ago

On the side note I thought Android has very few bugs probably because I don't use my Android phone a lot but I encountered one pretty annoying bug last week and I was unpleasantly surprised.

amir734jj 4y ago

I switched to pixel 6 from pixel 4 and it was buggy to the point that I had to give away my pixel 6. Then I bought new still in box pixel 3 and I'm happy again.

DangitBobby 4y ago
Is it still getting updates?
- rozenmd 4y ago
  No - I have a Pixel 3 as well and the last uptime was last October or so
- dpkirchner 4y ago
  No, the 3 was abandoned a little over four years after its release.
  - MereInterest 4y ago
    And the more relevant date: not even 2.5 years between the Pixel 3 being the actively promoted flagship device and being declared obsolete by virtue of dropping security updates.
    - fomine3 4y ago
      Anyway Pixel 3 has very low RAM (4GB) as a 2018 Android flagship (even not good as a mid-range). It effectively decreases lifetime.
- rch 4y ago
  Pixel 5 is still solid. I skipped the 6 because of comments on HN, but I'll probably have to update to the 7 when it comes out. In the meantime, I'd also like to try the Librem 5 US. This thread is convincing me to give it a shot anyway.
- 3434111 4y ago

edmcnulty101 4y ago

I have zero issues with my Pixel 6. It's an awesome phone and I really like it. However, I just bought it a few months ago, so maybe they fixed a lot of stuff.

davesque 4y ago
Yeah, me too. Zero problems. I've also successfully dialed 911 with it. Though it was in Seattle so I got put on hold for 5 minutes ^_^. I guess the linked thread says the issue is in Australia.
ineedtosleep 4y ago
Same and just wanted to echo it amid the Android hate that's bombarded this thread. Sure it has its warts, but the amount of hyperbole here about it being "the worst phone ever" is unwarranted.
- curiousgal 4y ago
  It is not the worst phone ever. It is the worst Pixel ever.

nickpinkston 4y ago

I got a Pixel 6 Pro a few months ago, and it's without question the worst phone I've ever had the displeasure to own. - It crashes constantly. - Bluetooth is even buggier than usual. - Fingerprint unlock is very finicky. - The touchscreen isn't designed/calibrated well and leads to constant fat finger presses. - The hotspot is buggy to connect and randomly drops once it does connect. - The phone is so slick (ie low friction) that it will randomly slide and fall off of slightly off-level surfaces. - It feels like this was released without anyone living with the phone for even a couple weeks and trying normal use cases... Anyway - I've been really disappointed there haven't been updates to fix some of this stuff. I've heard this may be because of hardware issues, but I haven't looked that deeply. I've owned Pixel phones before and like the no BS + Google Apps-centric approach, but this phone really soured me on Google phones. :-(

mikesabat 4y ago
I got a Pixel 6a a few days back and just pocket dialed someone for the first time in 5 years. My last phone was the 4a and the 6a seems worse in many ways. I haven't traded the 4a in yet because I might just move back. Are there any good alternative phones on Project Fi?
- wildrhythms 4y ago
  I'm on the 5A and no issues. Great phone. Still has a headphone jack.
zamalek 4y ago
I got on the Pixel rollercoaster at 1 (a great device), and got off after 4. 2, 3,and (especially) 4 all either had a common feature missing, or did some annoying shit. Seems like I made the right choice. Unfortunately, it looks like OnePlus was a poor choice. Guess I'm turning to Nothing next.
- Buttons840 4y ago
  I'm still using a Pixel 1, but it's starting to die at even 30% battery, and hasn't had software updates for to long. Wish devices weren't designed / destined to fail.

keewee7 4y ago

High-end Samsung phones are the only reason I'm still on Android. Google (Pixel), One Plus, Huawei, and most other Android phone designers/manufacturers have not been able to reach Samsung/Apple quality for the past five or more years.

dilyevsky 4y ago
It’s hilarious that internally googlers always used to poo poo vendors in private conversations but imo you’re absolutely right - samsung essentially holds the whole brand afloat. Although not by choice - they tried replacing android and failed miserably
- dagmx 4y ago
  They sort of succeeded though with replacing Android Wear
- aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
  Which is embarrassing, because they're one of the most insecure vendors...
  - nokya 4y ago
    "one of the most insecure vendors" The way you wrote it makes it sound like most vendors sell secure software but not Samsung, which isn't true at all: all vendors sell insecure software except very few exceptions. The fact that Samsung cannot build secure software doesn't mean they're bad at it. It means they're not better than the others, which is very different from calling then the most insecure software company. Application security in information security is what climate change is in politics: an underdog, strongly opposed, and massively misunderstood. The simple fact that you are aware that Samsung produces code, which contains many security vulnerabilities, is an indicator that it is probably doing much better than a lot of other companies ;)
ratg13 4y ago
Same, but I'm so done with the uninstallable facebook apps. When I got my galaxy 10 I went in and disabled all the facebook apps since you can't uninstall them. I went an checked the status a year later, and the original ones were still disabled, but they had pushed additional facebook apps to me behind the scenes without me knowing. I don't get why samsung needs facebook money this badly to invade their customer's privacy. Now it's time to upgrade and I'm reluctant to buy Samsung, Pixel seems to be garbage .. not sure where to turn next.

rabbidruster 4y ago

I have the pixel 6 Pro. By far the worse phone I've ever had. It's unable to hold a consistent phone conversation and I'll often cut out so the person on the other end can't hear me. Did a RMA and the new phone has the same problem. Support is also difficult to deal with. Ive been a loyal pixel owner until now, but can no longer recommend anyone buy a pixel phone.

dessant 4y ago

The repeated negligence around the handling of Android bugs related to emergency calls should result in criminal prosecution. It's unlikely that actual people weren't hurt because of these bugs. They have known about these issues for years, and they continue to give them the importance of an unresponsive button in Gmail settings. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29492884 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29492884 https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/rfld6m/pixel_prevented_me_from_calling_emergency/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/rfld6m/pixel_p...

bjt2n3904 4y ago
> criminal prosecution Steady now. I don't think you want that.
- dessant 4y ago
  I think it's important to hold people responsible for negligence that causes harm to others, even in the tech industry.
  - bjt2n3904 4y ago
    > It's unlikely that actual people weren't hurt because of these bugs. Do you want criminal prosecution for actual harm, or for potential harm? America has this habit of reaching for the biggest gun it has to solve problems, or make a statement. It always backfires.
    - dagmx 4y ago
      Criminal reports for negligence that can cause death are a thing around the world. Pray tell, how would it backfire to make sure emergency services are always available ?
      - freeone3000 4y ago
        They are scared that such standards would then be applied to their work.

zahllos 4y ago

I own a pixel 6 (not the pro model), and I also regret it. I've never needed to call the emergency services but I do find relatively frequent network drops: one moment it has a 5G or LTE connection, the next it is unable to find access to the network. This is in Switzerland on the 'flagship' carrier Swisscom. Swisscom are generally regarded as having the best overall coverage in Switzerland, helped by the fact they used to be the "PTT" i.e. a national enterprise as part of the Swiss Post. They operate Ericsson hardware, and Switzerland has lower power maximums for mobile operators compared to many European countries, resulting in a higher density of antennae. I'm also not talking about challenging environments like the mountains: I'm saying my Pixel 6 routinely drops 5G in the centre of cities like Geneva, Bern or Zürich. One of which happens to host a reasonably large Google office, so you'd figure they'd notice issues like this. I've tried reflashing the OS from scratch, upgrading to beta versions of 'Carrier Services' etc. The issue appears to have improved over time and happens less frequently, but it still certainly happens. My original plan was to eventually move to GrapheneOS but I'm now unsure, as I can't tell if this is the quality of stock android and the pixel hardware, and I'm rethinking my options.

Nergg 4y ago
I also live in Switzerland and using Swisscom network. I have a pixel 4a, so I don't use 5g but the phone is really bad with finding network. I also experiment weird bugs like today it was impossible to watch tv online (rts) on my pixel but it was working on my friend iPhone. I hate to be trapped in Apple ecosystem but Google products are so buggy... I bought a Nest Google assistant last week and it can't understand the most basic queries... I spent hours trying to configure it and reseting, always failed at some point. I think Google doesn't care about other language than English and doesn't care about Swiss market (they don't even sell their phone on the Swiss google shop). I thought about going Samsung but Exynos, privacy issue, and their stupid marketing doesn't help... GrapheneOS and other privacy focus OS seems nice on paper but a lot of time spent to make it work. I guess I'll wait iPhone 14 keynote and Pixel 7 before making a choice.

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system2 4y ago

Buy iPhone my friends. I spent decades defending android but enough was enough.

bdcravens 4y ago
"decades"? Android 1.0 was released 14 years ago.
- system2 4y ago
  Decade and a half then.

remram 4y ago

My wife and I recently upgraded from Pixel 4 and we found that both the 5 and 6 overheat during normal use. After browsing the internet for a half hour, either phone will be too hot to hold in your hand. How do phones like that get shipped?

vhold 4y ago

Reminds me of how my Windows Mobile phone over 20 years ago would sometimes bring up the dialpad without the "9" available, which was the last straw for me and got me to switch.

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jasec57322 4y ago

I'm currently using a 6 year old phone. Now that I don't take many photos and use it lightly - it actually performs far better than the previous 3 new phones I had - 2 of which were flagships. The S22 I sent back had worse battery-life than my current phone - it was doing heavy background-work, despite having all the battery-optimal settings enabled. To the point: New phones are way too big, too power-hungry, the newer they get the more 'features' they have that I didn't ask for and don't want - not least is the data mining by everybody under the sun at the firmware level. I've given up buying new phones. When this one cunks-out I'll buy an old-used one. That is unless there comes a real alternative to increasingly crappy android & the above issues are resolved.

LegitShady 4y ago
I prefer phones that are still getting security updates. You talked up your phone a lot but omitted what model it is, for some reason.
- jasec57322 4y ago
  It's a oneplus 2.

bubblethink 4y ago

How do we know that it's Google's fault ? There are so many variables here. We should ask for automated testing numbers. At least in the US, there isn't one. It requires special manual work to make a test call to 911.

croes 4y ago
If something can interfere with making a emergency call on a Google phone it's definitely Google's fault. It's their job to make sure it works in all circumstances

deleted 4y ago

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IAmLiterallyAB 4y ago

This is the first phone running a Google chipset, and Google CPU. And a Google modem I believe. Their previous phones were Qualcomm based. I imagine a lot of the issues people are seeing are related to that, a mix of hardware flaws and driver bugs.

whatarethembits 4y ago
Isn’t the “Google CPU” just rebranded Exynos? In which is case it’s almost always worse than same generation Qualcomm in performance. One of the reasons why I couldn’t stomach purchasing a Samsung phone here in Europe was that their Exynos processor was worse across the board than what the North American benchmarks on YouTube would have you believe.
- IAmLiterallyAB 4y ago
  Oh is it? I'll have to look into that

jacooper 4y ago

I'm basically locked into Pixels because of GrapheneOS/CalyxOS, the best experience you can get for a privacy friendly phone. The software is great, the camera is amazing, and the battery is good too, the only problem is the display on my Pixel 4XL. IOS is a hot garbage prison, to the point its users dream of something like newpipe, and the FOSS scene is basically nonexistent, also Apple doesn't care about your privacy, I will never switch. All other phones are either filled with gimicky things, have crappy designs(one ui isn't great compared to stock android) and nothing is private like CalyxOS/GrapheneOS. And yes payment apps/SafetyNet works on Calyx! Since Pixel 6 doesn't seem to be great, I will probably upgrade to PXL7/8, though there are some enticing deals on the normal Pixel 6.

fyloraspit 4y ago
Same here but I have the Pixel 5. It's been a great experience for me.

qwertox 4y ago

There's another thing to keep in mind: Bluetooth. I was biking and noticed a fire so I called the emergency number. I didn't notice that I had my Bluetooth headset connected to the phone, since I was listening to a podcast maybe half an hour earlier during the ride but never use it for talking on the phone. So I didn't even hear the ringing an nothing, I was wondering if something was broken, until I realized that it was using the headset for the call. In the end this was no problem because I noticed fast enough, but what became a problem was notifying my location. I started passing him the Plus Code which was the first thing shown on the emergency screen: the call center person got annoyed asking me what I was reading to him. So I opted to read him the full GPS coordinates, where he then told me that this appears to be a completely different location from what I described him before resorting to the Plus Code. Then there is a map on the screen which you have to tap on in order to get a full map view with street names, which finally helped passing the location. It was a horrible experience in the sense that this technology seemed to make it more complicated while under stress. Why show Plus Codes if they are not an agreed upon standard? Why not show me the nearest street names, which in my case was a bit problematic because I was on a field, but highlight and name some well known POI's, after all, Google has a huge database of ranked POIs. Something like "One third between POI 1 and POI 2".

wingworks 4y ago
It's pretty frustrating, Google Maps doesn't even show the GPS code for allot of locations, like your GPS blue bubble or places, you have to select an empty space on the map, then it'll tell you the GPS cords of that spot (as well as plus code). It's pretty frustrating, I've called 911 once, and was way more frustrating then I'd have liked it to be just to get my GPS location. Like you say, no one knows what this plus code is, (personally I do like the plus code, but it's useless if the receiver doesn't know what to do with it)

croes 4y ago

Why are there no recalls for smartphones like there are for cars?

croes 4y ago

Let's face it nowadays smartphones are more like cameras with an internet connection

scottmcdot 4y ago

If I test dial 000 will it immediately go to an operator? Or do I have a few seconds to hang up?

hx833001 4y ago
In the US dialing 911 will connect immediately and if you hang up they call you back.

anticensor 4y ago

Did you try using +44 118 999 88199 9119 725 3 instead?

vondro 4y ago
Nice, had to sing it :-)

martin_a 4y ago

Calling emergency services is of course a premium feature (Pixel 6 PRO), I don't get the fuss everybody's making around here. Seriously: I'm shocked that such basic functionality does not work due to some "oh, let's make a gimmick here" thing.

cush 4y ago

A phone without basic emergency service access should be recalled. Google has no intention on fixing it, they might as well save themselves further liability

jquast 4y ago

The only reason I carry a cellphone with me in many situations is just in case of an emergency. I wouldn’t take it for walks, to the store, out to eat, and definitely not while driving, but only for the safety of myself and others around me, it could save someone’s life. It’s the only feature of a cellphone that I need, everything else is secondary. That they can’t care enough to address this issue is reason enough to swear off google completely. They must be so very cold-hearted, fish stinks from the head and all that.

hda111 4y ago

Is this because of the 000 number? 112 is standard in GSM and should work always.

MKGoogle 4y ago

deleted 4y ago

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ipaddr 4y ago

Make sense no one wants to qa this section

robertwt7 4y ago

they can be sued for this right? i'm surprised that no one has done this already. this is life and death situation from a trillion dollar company, how are they still getting away with this is just amazing. Like where's the ticket sitting on the jira board right now? what priority is it? does the product team know about this and just ignores it? they should be held accountable

fomine3 4y ago

Pixel6 caused problems twice for emergency call in Japan. https://k-tai.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1427257.html https://k-tai.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1427257.html https://k-tai.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1367996.html https://k-tai.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1367996.html iPhone also caused problem and took 3 months to fix. https://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/2112/17/news083.html https://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/2112/17/news083.html It seems that quality is getting poor in general.