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March feature drop reduces haptics on the Pixel 6 series

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By Alan Friedman

Updated: Mar 26, 2022, 2:45 PM

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March feature drop reduces haptics on the Pixel 6 series

Last Monday's Pixel Feature Drop for the Pixel 6 series was mostly lauded by owners of the two phones. Some say that the fingerprint scanner works better, the Battery widget has arrived, and other new features have been added to the phones. But there might be one place where the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have taken a step backward and that is with the handsets' haptics.

Latest Pixel 6 series bug: softer haptics

The haptics have become so soft now that Pixel 6 users are changing the words to the Beach Boys' classic tune and are now singing "Bad, bad, bad, bad vibrations." On Reddit, the comments range from users pointing out the weakness in the haptics following the update, others agreeing with those comments, and other posts from Pixel 6 users who prefer the weaker vibrations.

Pixel 6 users notice that haptics are weaker following the March update

Here are some examples: "Anyone else notice the vibration intensity change across the board for everything notification related. Seems very weak now." Another redditor dropped a post with a longer, but similar thought. "It's been weak from the day I got it out of the box!," wrote Bigga85. "I wish they would have more vibration options. I always keep my phone on vibrate and most of the time I don't feel the vibration and the phone be on my lap."

And those who prefer the weaker haptics shared their comments as well. A Reddit member named Formber with the Pixel 6 Pro said, "Much nicer. I like the change." Obviously a man of few words. A Reddit member with the handle of phuey stated, "It does feel weaker, but also... nicer to me?" Another member commented, "It's not as strong, but it's definitely more natural. One of the first things I noticed."

Now here is something that is interesting. Reddit user itsjustevanm pointed out that weaker vibrations was a known issue for Beta testers. He went on to add, "I've reported it in the Android Beta Feedback app; however it's still present in the latest version of the beta. Sad to see it's also present in the stable release." While it seems like Google is taking its time fixing this issue, back when an update to the Photo app broke the Magic Eraser, Google had it fixed the very next day.

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It was not only Reddit users who noticed the change to the strength of the haptics on the Pixel 6 line. On Google's Pixel support page, there were quite a few complaints including this one written by a man named Johnathan Callum who, along with his wife, owns a Pixel 6 Pro. The last line of his letter asks a question about Google that many are wondering about.

He writes, " The haptics on both my wife's and my pixel 6 pro is dramatically different since the update. Weaker and not as tight. I even tried adjusting via system settings and Gboard settings. Why does Google always seems to experiment? They have the "best" minds working for them, do they not test before launching new features?"

The next monthly update for the Pixels is due April 4th

Interestingly, the changelist released by Google for the delayed March update lists for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, "Fix for issue causing weaker haptic feedback in certain conditions." This reportedly was not on the list when the original changelist for the March 7th update was disseminated. But you know the whole story now as once again owners of the latest Pixel models were forced to wait as Google delayed the update by two weeks.

For those keeping track, the next monthly update is due April 4th with the next quarterly feature drop coming on June 6th. You can circle those dates on your calendar.

And while we have the Beach Boys in mind, having an update for the Pixel 6 series with no problems and no delays calls to mind another song by the group: "Wouldn't it be nice."

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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.

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