Pixel Camera (Google Camera) crashing or not working after latest update? You're not alone (potential workaround)

The Pixel Camera app allows you to fully enjoy all the photographic capabilities of your Google Pixel phone. However, a recent update is causing the app to become unusable for several people.

Fresh reports indicate that the Pixel Camera is crashing or not working on some Google Pixel devices after installing the latest app update available. It’s noteworthy that numerous other people were also facing a ‘black camera viewfinder’ bug after the latest Android 14 update (more on that here).

Since the first Google Pixel, the company has put a strong focus on the quality of its phone cameras to try to gain a foothold in the market. However, the Google Camera app was not born with these devices, but is even older. In fact, the app was present even from the Google Nexus series (predecessors of the current Pixel series).

After many years, the company decided to change the name of the app, now being called Pixel Camera (since mid-October, 2023). This seems like a move to identify this app directly with the company’s mobile devices, feeling now more ‘exclusive’ to Pixel phones.

The Google Camera app (now Pixel Camera) has never been the most complete in terms of the number of options, since its focus is on ease of use to obtain great results with little effort. That said, that’s starting to change, as the Google Pixel 8 Pro now includes manual controls in the Pixel Camera app, something that wasn’t available before.

Therefore, the ‘rebranding’ of the app could also mean that Google will change its focus a bit and seek to make its Camera app more complete, bringing it closer to that of other direct rivals.

After a recent update from a few hours ago, reports began to emerge indicating that the Pixel Camera app is crashing or not working on multiple Pixel phones. According to affected users, the app closes immediately after opening it, throwing a ‘Something went wrong’ error.

The bug does not seem to affect only one particular model, as there are similar reports from Pixel 7, Pixel 7a, Pixel 6 and Pixel 5 users. Additionally, most of the things affected people have tried have not helped resolve the bug, including force stopping the app, clear app data or uninstall/reinstall app updates.

So, there are currently several users unable to use one of the most important features of their Pixel phones. Furthermore, since the update is so recent, there is still no official word from the Google team about it.

While traditional troubleshooting has not worked to resolve the bug, there is a potential workaround that could help. Basically, you just have to install the latest Pixel Camera app version that worked correctly. However, you will have to manually install the APK file since it is no longer available in the Play Store.

The process to install the latest functional Pixel Camera (Google Camera) app is as follows:

1. Download the APK file. You can do it safely from this link
2. Search for the Pixel Camera app icon on your device, tap and hold on it
3. In the pop-up menu, tap on ‘App info’, then on ‘Uninstall updates’, you can also tap on ‘Storage & Cache’ and clear both from there
4. Search for the APK file that you downloaded before, and install it manually (just tap on it, it will be installed as an update to the app)

Let’s hope that Google realizes the issue quickly and deploys a corrected update to prevent more users from suffering from it. If the previous workaround was helpful to you, feel free to leave your comment in the box below.

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