[Update: Jan. 15] Google Pixel 6 Hold For Me & Call Screen features disabled due to a bug in December update, fix in the works

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

Original story (published on December 22, 2021) follows:

Ever since its release, Google Pixel 6 has managed to stay in the spotlight for all sorts of reasons. In the last few days, Pixel owners have reported a number of bugs, which you can check out in our dedicated Pixel 6 bug tracker.

That being said, users recently reported that they were facing an issue where the live transcript of caller responses was not showing up when using the Call Screen feature.

Now, some Pixel 6 owners say that the Call Screen and Hold For Me features have disappeared altogether. This is really inconvenient if you are someone who uses these features every day.

As it turns out, users say that the options were nowhere to be seen after the December update. Many are frustrated and wondering why Google is messing up their devices with recent updates.

Unfortunately, generic resolutions such as updating the Phone app, installing the beta, rebooting, and clearing storage do not seem to make any difference.

I used to have call screening available on my pixel 6 pro but as of today I have not been able to screen calls as I have been getting a massive influx in spam calls every hour and Google call screening usually saves it. Is anyone else having this problem or is there any solutions on how to bring back call screening since it’s not showing in my options?
(Source)

You made me look and sure enough, it’s not there anymore. I’m not using the beta, I’m just using the regular phone app version 72.
(Source)

Pixel 6 owners say they tried opting out of the beta and installing the stable version, but it looks like both versions are affected.

Fortunately, a Google employee has shed some light on the disappearance of Hold For Me and Call Screen features and said that they have disabled them due to a bug in the December update.

Hi everyone,
This is a notice for Pixel 6 users in relation to the Hold For Me and Call Screen features.
In light of a bug in the December Android update, we are disabling Hold For Me and Call Screening on Pixel 6 devices running on Android S December QPR release (e.g. SQ1D.211205.016.A4) (follow below instructions to identify Android build for your phone) until we fix the underlying problems. Thanks to those of you who reported this issue.

They added,

Our teams are actively working on resolving this issue. We will provide any updates on this post as they become available. We recommend Subscribing to this community post to be directly notified with an email update on the status of this issue. Thank you for your patience!
(Source)

As it turns out, Android S builds starting with SQ1D are affected. However, they did not share a timeline on when it will be fixed.

Nonetheless, we will be keeping an eye out on the matter and update this space once the Call Screen and Hold For Me features are back on the Pixel 6.

IST 10:58 am: Google has since come out to officially pause the rollout of this December patch to the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro owing to the numerous issues it brought to devices.

Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated Google Section so be sure to follow them as well.

IST 01:50 pm: While there is still some time for January 2022 patch for Pixel 6 and 6 Pro to arrive, some users have reported that the GrapheneOS January patch has been sorted out the issues brought by the December patch.

So, it can also possibly bring back Hold For Me & Call Screen features disabled due to a bug in the December update. Users can download the update and see if it helps, however, we recommend you wait for some time and install the official build.

IST 10:27 am: Pixel 6 January 2022 update is now available and it comes with a fix for the issue preventing Call Screen feature on certain networks. So, users can download it and see if the issue gets resolved.

Fix for issue preventing use of Call Screen feature on certain networks. (Source)

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