Google is rolling out a fix for Pixel back button issues

Google’s August Pixel update includes a fix for Android’s three-button navigation and gesture navigation systems becoming unresponsive.

The issues appear to have started popping up shortly after the official release of Android 16 in June. Ever since that update, the user said that navigation has been “a complete mess” and that they ran into issues with buttons being “completely unresponsive” or delays of “over 30 seconds” on their Pixel 8 Pro. Another user said they had to occasionally press the back button “a few times” on their Pixel 9 to get the phone to register it. The swipe gesture to navigate back also occasionally stopped working, as noticed by Android Police’s Artem Russakovskii.

Google’s patch notes only vaguely say that the issues would happen under “certain conditions.” In addition to general stability improvements, the update also fixes an issue where a scheduled dark theme wouldn’t work. It also includes a security fix for a high severity remote code execution vulnerability.

The update is rolling out now for Pixel 6 devices and newer.