Google has shared a temporary fix for owners of Google Pixel devices that were rendered unusable after installing the January 2024 Google Play system update.
As previously reported by BleepingComputer, after the January 2024 Google Play system updates came out, some owners of various Google Pixel models experienced internal storage access problems, the inability to open apps or the camera, or even take screenshots.
Google acknowledged the problem and told BleepingComputer that they were looking into the issues, and owners who hadn't applied the January 2024 Play system update were advised to hold off.
Today, Google shared a temporary and somewhat complicated fix on the Google Pixel support forums that could help impacted users restore their phones to normal working status.
Although Google hasn't shared any details regarding the root cause of the issue, it stated it's more prevalent on Pixel devices with multiple user accounts.
The company says they are working on fixing the root cause of the system update issue and will provide further updates when they learn more.
While Google is working on a fix that will be pushed out to all Pixel phones via an update, it has released a fairly complicated temporary solution that requires installation of the Android Platform Tools developer toolkit.
Enable 'Developer options' within Settings on your Pixel phone by: Connect your Pixel phone to your computer via USB-C cable.
After unzipping the downloaded folder, open your terminal / command prompt.
The above fix requires having a Windows, Linux, or macOS computer available and a certain level of comfort or familiarity working with developer tools, so it's certainly not ideal for everyone.
Some users complained that the fix was far too complicated.
Others underlined that Google was too late to share a fix, noting that many impacted users have performed a factory reset by now.
Those still on the November 2023 Play Services update would be better off postponing the installation of the latest update, especially if they use multiple user profiles.
If you're already impacted and need extra help resolving the issue, it is recommended that you ask your questions in Google's support forums.
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This Cyber News was published on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Publication date: Thu, 01 Feb 2024 17:10:23 +0000