Swipe up to freeze your device
Compared to the Pixel 6 launch two years ago, Google’s latest series of flagship phones have been relatively bug-free. That’s not to say the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are flawless, of course — just this month alone, we’ve seen delayed patches and Bluetooth issues causing drivers to miss out on music, turn-by-turn navigation, and more. Now, it seems like another pressing software bug is rearing its ugly head, this one causing problems with fullscreen playback on YouTube’s various apps.
As spotted by 9to5Google, some Pixel 7 owners are reporting a glitchy experience when exiting out of YouTube or YouTube TV. According to some complaints on Reddit, fullscreen viewers are seeing their devices crash or freeze completely when swiping up on the navigation bar, either to head back to the home screen or to view and swap between recent apps.
These users found their Pixels rendered completely inoperable for several minutes at a time, before an automatic restart finally solved the issue. Perhaps most frustratingly, attempting to hard reset the phone through its power and volume buttons didn’t work — you have to wait for the device to do it itself. The folks at 9to5Google, who have also experienced issues when streaming YouTube or its cable TV-replacing counterpart, have noticed that holding the power button down through its power cycle can help.
Personally, I haven’t experienced YouTube freezing in fullscreen mode on either of my Pixel 7 review units, implying it’s not a widespread issue affecting every user. Still, with YouTube as popular as it is — and with live TV heading into a busy season in the US throughout the ongoing NFL playoff schedule — being able to stream in fullscreen without the risk of glitching is more vital than ever.
