Some Pixel 6 owners say haptic vibrations are weaker following the Android 12L update

Ben Schoon | Mar 24 2022 - 10:47 am PT

The March 2022 update for Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro was delayed for weeks, after just rolling out a few days ago. However, it seems that some bugs have stuck around despite the delay, as some Pixel 6 owners are reporting that haptic vibrations feel weaker following the Android 12L update.

A few threads have popped up over the past couple of days with Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro owners claiming that haptic feedback has lessened in strength since installing the March update. That’s certainly a shame, especially for the Pixel 6 Pro, which has excellent haptic motors.

Users affected claim that haptic vibrations have lessened to a noticeable degree, in some cases resulting in missed calls or notifications. Apparently, tweaking the various vibration settings in Android 12L doesn’t make a difference, either. The issue seems to be hit or miss, with some users affected, but not others. Some also claim vibrations just feel different in terms of patterns, with a softer start but the same high-end. Notably, we’ve observed no change on the June Feature Drop beta, but some users did mention seeing the problem in the 12L beta on Pixel 6.

The exact cause here, like many other Pixel 6 bugs we’ve seen to date, isn’t entirely clear, but it does seem that Google did intentionally mess around with haptic feedback. As the folks over at Droid-Life point out, the March 2022/Android 12L update changelog posted earlier this month directly mentions a “fix for issue causing weaker haptic feedback in certain conditions” on the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro specifically — that line was also apparently added after the changelog was initially posted. Whatever tweak was made is likely what caused this issue.

In any case, it’s likely that this can be patched up through further updates and, pending any more delays, the April update shouldn’t be too far off.