The latest Pixel bug is sure to crank your annoyance level up to 11

The latest bug that appears to have surfaced on Pixel devices has to do with Google Circle to Search. This is yet another bug that has popped up as a result of the recent upgrade to Android 17. Though it is worth noting that many of the previous bugs were a result of Android 17 in its beta form. A major difference now is that the newest version of Android has been pushed out to compatible Pixel devices in a stable release.

As far as bugs go, Pixel devices tend to end up with more than a few, but they’re not usually so bad that they completely break the user experience. If anything, Pixel devices getting more bugs, even if they are often times pretty minor, is more about inconvenience than it is anything else. Still, it’s not something you want as a user. And the same goes for this latest bug.

Pixel users say Circle to Search launches on its own now with this new bug

Circle to Search can be a great tool, but it’s certainly a better tool when it’s not just launching whenever it feels like it. According to reporting from Android Authority, that’s exactly what’s happening with more than a few users. A recent post on the r/pixel_phones subreddit shows that users are having this issue across a wide range of Pixel phones. This includes the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 7 and Pixel 7a, the Pixel 9a, and the Pixel 9 Pro.

The bug, as described by users affected by it, happens when the user closes down WhatsApp and then tries to swipe up to go home or open the recent apps screen. The user makes it clear though that this isn’t happening because they’re holding down the swipe gesture for too long. In the video shared on the subreddit post, the user swipes up pretty rapidly and there’s no long press involved at all. And yet, Circle to Search still launches. Other users have also reported this happening after closing down Telegram.

It’s not clear yet what the cause of this bug is. And it doesn’t look like Google has confirmed a fix is underway. However, Google has acknowledged the bug. So it knows of its existence, and has tried to find out more from affected users. That Probably means it’s trying to narrow things down and push a fix when it can.

The Android Headlines Take

We’re not developers here, so we can’t definitively say what the likely cause of this bug is. However, it does seem like it could be caused by the gesture controls, or have something to do with the Circle to Search gesture in particular. I tried closing down both WhatsApp and Telegram on my own Pixel 10 Pro and didn’t encounter this bug, and my device is on Android 17.

So, it’s clearly not happening to all Pixel devices on Android 17. But it’s not limited to a few devices either. It seems to be more widespread than that.