Will Google ever put out a fix for the Pixel 2 XL camera app or is my phone worthless now?

[PAC757]

I need my camera for work and it appears Google is not going to do anything to fix this. It is not a hardware problem, we have 9 Pixel 2 XL phones at work and non of them have a working camera now, 9 phones is not a coincidence it's a flaw in one of the past updates, all 9 do the same thing, hit the camera app, get a black screen, and it just goes back to the home screen. Calling Google is a waste of time, neither front nor back cameras work on any of them. Can not afford to buy 9 new phones and can not sell them like this for even close to what a used Pixel 2 XL was worth before this camera crap started. If I need to replace them it sure as hell will not be with anything Google sells.

 

[hallux]

Have you submitted feedback to Google? My Pixel 2 XL camera app is working.

 

[Mike Dee]

I need my camera for work and it appears Google is not going to do anything to fix this. It is not a hardware problem, we have 9 Pixel 2 XL phones at work and non of them have a working camera now, 9 phones is not a coincidence it's a flaw in one of the past updates, all 9 do the same thing, hit the camera app, get a black screen, and it just goes back to the home screen. Calling Google is a waste of time, neither front nor back cameras work on any of them. Can not afford to buy 9 new phones and can not sell them like this for even close to what a used Pixel 2 XL was worth before this camera crap started. If I need to replace them it sure as hell will not be with anything Google sells.

Try one of the phones in safe mode. If it doesn't do it safe mode its possible that you all have a common app that is causing a conflict with the camera app.

 

[B. Diddy]

Agreed -- here's how to boot into Safe Mode: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/2852139?hl=en

 

[straygator]

FWIW, my Pixel 2XL camera is still working flawlessly, and has done so continuously through all updates -- including the latest one that downloaded this afternoon. As Mike Dee has observed, the fact that all nine of your work phones are experiencing this same issue, while other P2XL users don't seem to be reporting such a failure, suggests that the most likely source of the problem is an app (perhaps work-related) that has been installed on each of those phones.

 

[PAC757]

Thanks for all the replies. I found a Samsung galaxy s8 laying around, I am going to transfer all my stuff to it and use my Pixel 2xl as a test. Guess I'll start by dumping everything, then do a factory reset and not add any apps and see what happens. Safe mode made no difference in the camera app not working, either front nor back. Thanks for the advice.

 

[B. Diddy]

Are you using device management software? If so, I wonder if it could be something to do with that. I would've expected Safe Mode to disable that as well, but since device management software is usually a Device Administrator, maybe Safe Mode doesn't affect Device Administrator apps?

 

[PAC757]

Thank you all for your advice, I have tried everything that was suggested, did all updated wiped cache and data, then did a full factory reset, totally stock not a single app loaded, and still no camera what so ever. No front camera no rear camera, just opens with a black screen then dissappears and goes back to the home screen. I called Google, very disappointed in their support, 1st thing they say is they never heard of this problem, I told them there are dozens of posts on their own community website with people describing this exact problem. Next after giving him a few IMEI numbers he said that there's nothing they can do because they are a few months out of warranty. So I told him it looks like I'll be replacing 9 phones and not a single one will be a Pixel nor Google product. With the way the market is going I guess it will be Samsungs considering Apple is useless for what we use our phones for and all of us being "geek's" no one wants an apple phone anyway. We use Verizon for all our business needs, I'll see if we can cut some kind of deal buying 10 phones at once. Guess we're done with Google purchases.

 

[B. Diddy]

I told them there are dozens of posts on their own community website with people describing this exact problem

This looks like the same issue, reported in January on Android Police: https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/...acing-camera-failure-after-android-10-update/. No resolution, unfortunately.

 

[MoreDef]

Sooooo...it's safe to buy one used, right? This isn't a widespread problem affecting every and all Pixel 2's?

 

[B. Diddy]

I can see how frustrating it can be for the camera to fail on a Pixel -- especially if it's on 9 of them at the same time -- but with the warranty up, there's really nothing that can be done. I still suspect it's the same issue that was described in my previously linked article, but my guess is that with the Pixel 2 being so old, Google isn't going to try fix it. As for why 9 of them failed at once, perhaps they were all part of the same bad batch as the ones mentioned in that article?

 

[mustang7757]

[Did a little clean up, I agreee with B. DIDDY]

 

[B. Diddy]

Sooooo...it's safe to buy one used, right? This isn't a widespread problem affecting every and all Pixel 2's?

Not widespread, but it does seem to be a real issue for at least a few of them.

 

[mwb1957]

This looks like the same issue, reported in January on Android Police: https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/...acing-camera-failure-after-android-10-update/. No resolution, unfortunately.

Question.
After reading the Android Police article along with other articles at the time, I never did the camera update.

Am I safe to update the camera now?

 

[hallux]

Am I safe to update the camera now?

I have the April security patch and no pending camera app updates (camera app version 7.3.021.300172532) and mine works fine.

 

[davidnc]

I have the April security patch and no pending camera app updates (camera app version 7.3.021.300172532) and mine works fine.

Yup ,same here. No camera issues either

 

[davidnc]

I told them there are dozens of posts on their own community website with people describing this exact problem. Next after giving him a few IMEI numbers he said that there's nothing they can do because they are a few months out of warranty.

I see you did your research . I will have to agree with what B. Diddy posted in post #9 as well. Sorry to hear about your issues with the camera on your phones. I know that's frustrating , and odd that some phones are affected and others aren't.

 

[Mike Dee]

Thank you all for your advice, I have tried everything that was suggested, did all updated wiped cache and data, then did a full factory reset, totally stock not a single app loaded, and still no camera what so ever.........

There one more thing you could try if you are willing. Reflashing the phones software might fix it assuming the software got corrupted during update and it isn't a camera defect that got bricked by the update. It would be a pain to do it to 9 devices but you could try it one to see if it works.

Also, are these Verizon models purchased through Verizon or did you buy direct from Google?

Edit: after posting, I read in one of the comments section of that link Bdiddy posted a poster tried flashing and it didn't work him

 

[B. Diddy]

There one more thing you could try if you are willing. Reflashing the phones software might fix it assuming the software got corrupted during update and it isn't a camera defect that got bricked by the update. It would be a pain to do it to 9 devices but you could try it one to see if it works.

That's a great idea!

 

[Mike Dee]

That's a great idea!

Except, that I just read from the comments section where one user tried that and it didn't work.