All 77 improvements or bug fixes in the December Pixel update

by James · December 5, 2022

As I said earlier, we love December because we get the monthly Android update and a Pixel Feature Drop, but perhaps most importantly, this release marks the moment we get a big quarterly release from Google that usually addresses dozens of bugs and improvements on Pixel phones. For December 2022, this quarterly platform release (QPR) is no different, with Google actually removing or improving over 70 items on the Pixel 4a up through the Pixel 7 Pro.

We’ve captured the entire list that Google shared on the Pixel Phone Help community below, because typing it all out for you sounds like hell and we don’t want to misinterpret anything Google said.

What you’ll find are sections for Apps, Audio, Battery & Charging, Biometrics, Bluetooth, Camera, Display & Graphics, Frameworks, Sensors, System, Telephony, Touch, User Interface, and Wi-Fi. These are also listed alphabetically, to help you get into each one without having to look hard. The list also shows which units are affected through reference footnotes.

As for what sticks out to me, I’d point to improvements in the background performance of Google apps, USB support, audio codecs, charging/battery usage/thermal performance, camera stability, system stability, network connection stability and performance (!), switching from 3G to 4G , connection after switching airplane mode, RCS messages, SIM connection, touch response and WiFi network connections.

In fixes, the list is almost too big for me to forward, but I’m here for all fixes for network connections (and there are some), “tap to wake” and “lift to wake”, screen flickering in always-on-screen , Bluetooth issues related to all kinds of devices (like car head units), fingerprint issues, adaptive and wireless charging errors and more.

Time to dive in and let us know if Google addressed any complaints you had. I bet they did.

December Pixel Quarterly Platform (QPR1) release bug list

Apps

Fix the issue that caused text input into certain fields in the Phone app to appear in a darker color
Fix issues that occasionally cause playback errors when browsing video content in certain apps
Fix issues that occasionally prevent text messages from being restored from cloud backups during device setup
General background performance improvements in some Google apps

Sound

General improvements to USB audio support for various cables or accessories *[1]
General improvements to support different audio codecs with certain devices or accessories *[4]

Battery charging

Battery usage in Settings shows information since the last full charge (up to 7 days)
Fix issues that occasionally cause the device to turn off while battery sharing is active *[4]
Fix issues that occasionally cause higher battery usage during media playback with certain apps *[2]
Fix issues that occasionally prevent adaptive charging from working under certain conditions*[2]
Fix issues that occasionally prevent wireless charging from working with certain accessories *[2]
General improvements to charging, battery usage or thermal performance under certain conditions *[1]

Biometrics

Fix issues that occasionally cause audio to skip when played over certain Bluetooth devices or accessories *[2]
Fix issues that occasionally lag when the fingerprint icon appears on the lock screen *[1]
Fix issues that occasionally prevent the fingerprint sensor from detecting touch while always-on display is active *[3]
Fix the issue where fingerprint registration could occasionally display visual errors under certain conditions *[1]
Improvements to face lock lock screen help text displayed under certain conditions *[2]

blue tooth

Fix issue that causes music playback to continue with no audible sound after a call ends while using certain Bluetooth accessories *[2]
Fix issues that occasionally cause audio to skip when played over certain Bluetooth devices or accessories *[2]
Fix the issue that occasionally prevents audio exchange between connected Bluetooth devices under certain conditions
Fix issues that occasionally prevent Bluetooth Low Energy devices from displaying a device name during pairing
Fix issues that occasionally prevent connection to car head units with older Bluetooth versions
Fix issues that occasionally prevent discovery of certain Bluetooth devices or accessories
Fix the issue that occasionally prevents previously paired Bluetooth devices from reconnecting
General improvements to Bluetooth stability and performance under certain conditions

Camera

Fix issues that occasionally cause the camera app to crash while zooming in or switching modes *[2]
Fix issues that occasionally cause the viewfinder preview to show a blank screen *[2]
Fix issue where video recorded while switching between camera modes occasionally shows gaps in playback *[2]
General improvements to camera stability and performance under certain conditions

Screen and graphics

Fix issues that occasionally cause the screen to flicker when waking from the always-on display
Fix issues that occasionally cause visual artifacts or errors while using certain apps or games *[3]

Framework

Fix issues that occasionally cause notifications to appear in a different color theme than the system
Fix issues that occasionally cause incorrect characters to appear after a newline in certain apps or UI elements
Fix issues that occasionally cause Work Profile app notifications to appear even if Work Profile is paused
Fix issues that occasionally prevent some apps from rotating to landscape orientation
Fix issues that occasionally prevent the keyboard from being rejected while using certain apps

Sensors

Fix issues that occasionally prevent “tap to wake” or “lift to wake” from working under certain conditions *[1]
Fix occasional issues that prevent adaptive brightness from activating under certain conditions
Fix issues that occasionally prevent Quick Tap from triggering app or system shortcuts under certain conditions
Fix to improve adaptive brightness transitions during phone calls under certain conditions *[1]
General improvements to proximity sensor performance under certain lighting conditions *[1]

System

General improvements to system stability and performance under certain conditions
General improvements to optimize device thermal performance under certain conditions or use cases *[1]

Telephony

Fix issue causing reduced network or call stability under certain conditions *[2]
Fix issues that occasionally prevent network SIM cards from activating under certain conditions *[3]
General stability and performance improvements for network connectivity under certain conditions
General improvements to network connectivity after turning off airplane mode
General improvements to switching between 3G to 4G on certain carrier networks
General improvements to VPN connection stability and performance on mobile networks under certain conditions
General improvements to Wi-Fi call stability and performance for certain carriers or networks
Improve dual SIM network connectivity under certain conditions *[3]
Improve RCS message stability under certain conditions *[2]

Touch

General improvements to touch response and performance under certain conditions *[1]

User interface

Change the behavior of the home screen search bar to open the Google app when you tap the G logo
Fix issues that occasionally cause the “Pause job apps” button to appear above the app drawer or in the wrong position
Fix issues that occasionally cause certain settings toggles to appear disabled or set to the wrong state
Fix issues that occasionally cause your device’s color theme to change unexpectedly
Fix issues that occasionally cause app icons on the home screen to appear duplicated after adjusting the grid size
Fix issues that occasionally cause home screen widgets or icons to appear small or scaled down under certain conditions
Fix issues that occasionally cause media player controls to appear invisible or hidden in the notification shade
Fix issues that occasionally cause the notification overflow points to place app icons on the lock screen
Fix issues that occasionally cause notifications to disappear or appear invisible in the notification shade
Fix issues that occasionally cause screenshots to fail under certain conditions
Fix issues that occasionally cause suggested apps in Search to overlap or display results
Fix issues that occasionally cause text to appear incorrectly truncated or truncated in different font sizes
Fix issues that occasionally cause the UI to reset after adjusting the screen resolution
Fix issues that occasionally cause the wallpaper to appear black or blank under certain conditions
Fix the issue that occasionally enables touch interaction during the transition to the lock screen after the screen is turned off
Fix issue that occasionally prevents album art in the media player from updating when content changes
Fix the issue that occasionally prevents media player controls from appearing on the lock screen
Fix issues that occasionally prevent the screen from appearing blank or frozen after launching certain apps
Fix issue where incoming notifications were occasionally displayed above others listed in the notification panel
Fix to improve the responsiveness of the At A Glance home and lock screen widget for certain conditions or use cases
Fix to improve spacing for certain UI modals in device layout and settings
General performance improvements in certain UI transitions and animations

WiFi

Fix issues that occasionally prevent the hotspot from turning on under certain conditions *[1]
General improvements to Wi-Fi network connection stability and performance under certain conditions *[1]

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Application of the deviceFixes are available for all supported Pixel devices unless otherwise noted below.