[Update: New workaround inside] Google Pixel 7 Quick Tap gesture to toggle flashlight not working for some, fix in the works

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…

Original story (published on October 19, 2022) follows:

Google Pixel 7 series smartphones are the cream of the crop for anyone looking to experience the best of Android.

Its Quick Tap feature is an incredibly useful tool that lets users trigger actions by tapping on the back of their phones.

But this feature is currently not functioning properly for many users.

Google Pixel 7 Quick Tap flashlight toggle not working

Many Pixel 7 users have been experiencing an issue where the flashlight is not turning on or off via the Quick Tap gesture.

The other Quick Tap settings, such as Show Notifications, seem to work fine. However, it’s never turning on the flashlight for me when I try to set it to that one. Flashlight works fine otherwise and can be toggled with the Quick Tile, but the tapping motion is so much easier.Source

Hey @GooglePixel_US @madebygoogle I’m liking my Pixel 7 Pro but I have a bug to report since installing the first update – the Quick Tap flashlight toggle isn’t working.
Source

Even though the feature registers the gesture perfectly, it fails to perform the designated function when prompted.

It seems that all the other functions like taking a screenshot, showing notifications, and viewing recent apps work fine with the Quick Tap gesture. However, that is not the case when it comes to turning on the flashlight.

Surprisingly, other Pixel users (Pixel 6, and 6a) are also reporting that they are unable to toggle the flashlight using the gesture.

In fact, a Pixel 5 user experienced a similar issue after updating to Android 13 which could mean that it’s an OS-related bug and not device-specific.

On Android 13, I have Quick Tap set to ‘Toggle Flashlight’, which is great when it works, but seems to stop working out of the blue. I can change ‘Quick Tap’ to something else and it works, but going back to the flashlight doesn’t until I restart the phone. Anyone else experiencing this?
Source

Official acknowledgment

According to a Google Product Expert, the developers are aware of the issue where the Pixel 7 Quick Tap toggle for flashlight is not working.

A user has shared a solution that helped them resolve the issue. You can give it a try for a potential fix.

Update: Thanks to all that tried this. I played around with changing the different options, then going back to torch again.. Eventually I restarted the phone and it now seems to be working consistently. Tap location seems to be key too, although as other non torch options were working for me yesterday I don’t think that this was the main issue.
Source

That said, we’ll keep an eye on the latest developments and update this space whenever new information emerges.

IST 11:59 am: We have come across a potential workaround for this issue. It involves disabling quick tap in settings, rebooting your phone and then re-enabling it again:

I had the same issue. Try disabling quick tap in settings and then reboot. When I re-enabled quick tap after a restart, the flashlight worked again.
Source

IST 13:02 pm: It seems that the November update hasn’t fixed the issue where Pixel 7 Quick Tap toggle for flashlight is not working, as reported by a user.

05:33 pm (IST): The Quick Tap gesture can also be used to trigger other things such as play/pause music.

And as a workaround, those having issues with this gesture can try to execute whatever command they’ve set it to.

Note: You can also check out our Google Pixel 7 updates & bugs/issues tracker.

Featured image source: Google

PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.