Google Pixel devices are infamous for their excellent long-term software support. The devices are targeted towards Android enthusiasts and receive regular software updates.

However, recently many Pixel users have been recommending against updating to the latest Android 13 owing to the intermittent issues. For instance, Google Pixel 6a fingerprint scanner broke after the same update.

And now, some Google Pixel devices are freezing or becoming unresponsive to touch, buttons or fingerprint sensor after the update to Android 13.

Google Pixel devices freezing after Android 13 update

Many Google Pixel owners (especially Pixel 6 and 6 Pro) are noticing an erratic behavior with their devices after the update to Android 13.

According to reports, affected Pixel devices are randomly freezing when locked or even while opening apps.

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Does anyone else’s phone sometimes become absolutely unresponsive (to touch, buttons and fingerprint) when locked, lasting about 5-20 seconds and then resumes like normal?
Pixel 6
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My phone freezes constantly and the keyboard won’t appear when prompted. 2 different apps I use to connect to nvr camera both freeze in place and crash after 5 seconds of viewing. Door dash crashes constantly as well .it seems like everything that updates my screen for any duration has a crash.
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The screen is usually turned on by either tapping on the screen or pressing the power button. It’s only then that the fingerprint reader can be used. But tap to wake or pressing home button isn’t working for many users.

The issue with the fingerprint sensor being unresponsive was in the beta builds too and was even later marked ‘Assigned’. But it still continues to frustrate some Pixel users.

In some cases, the screen is rendering inverted colors and often collapsing every now and then.

Some say that their device becomes unresponsive even while using maps and web browsers like Chrome. We’ve added a few reports below for reference:

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Pixel 5 here only happens with chrome for me. Chrome just locks and then need to wait a certain amount of seconds to force close chrome. Very rarely I had to turn my phone off, but that has also happened.
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I’ve had it happen on the lock screen with AOD and a variety of apps whether it be Chrome, YouTube, Gmail, etc. Very annoying and would be terrible to experience during emergencies.
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Interestingly, a similar problem was reported on Pixel devices on Android 12. Not just that, some Pixels also experienced app crashing and freezing issues following the same update.

While reports are primarily from Google Pixel 6 users, some say it’s happening on other devices too such as the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a.

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Unfortunately, Google has yet to acknowledge the freezing issue on Pixel devices after the update to Android 13. But we’ll keep tabs on further developments and update the article accordingly.

Meanwhile, you can check our Google Pixel Android 13 bug tracker to know more about other issues.

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Riya Madaan
868 Posts

Weaving a little bit of life into the articles I write. No, not really! That's not really possible for a trash writer like me but I still try. Apart from it, I skate, meditate and medicate. Also keep myself away from troubles as I age.

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