Google has since withdrawn the December update and promises a fix in January. Some workarounds exist, but do not help everyone affected.
Google’s Android update dated December has significantly worsened the mobile phone reception on some smartphones from the in-house Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro series, as those affected report in various forums, for example in the Google Bugtracker. According to the current state of knowledge, older Pixel models or smartphones from other manufacturers are not affected.
Google has confirmed the error on reddit and is no longer delivering the update for automatic OTA installation (over the air); our test device is not offered it either. The December updates are still available on the firmware page for manual flashing.
Those affected report that their smartphone has significantly poorer mobile phone reception after the update than before: the cell phone shows fewer reception bars and transmits data more slowly and sometimes even breaks off phone calls and data connections, if they ever come about. Accordingly, users in Europe and Canada are particularly affected, regardless of the provider.
Remedy attempts
Some users suspect that Google accidentally delivered firmware that does not match the national carriers; international unlocked version A1 (SQ1D.211205.016.A1) and EMEA carrier version A4 (SQ1D.211205.016.A4) may have been swapped. However, users with A4 also report problems in Europe.
A workaround for some users is said to be to turn off 5G. Others report they simply had the pre-installed “Carrier Service” app. stopped and cleared their cache. Still others would have helped to install the beta version of this app. To do this, you have to access the app information from “Carrier Service” in the Google Play Store. call and at the point “Sign up for the beta program” further down on “Participate” tap; the beta version is then usually downloaded and installed after a few minutes of waiting. However, some users also report that none of these tricks raise cell phone reception to the old level.
Remedy under data loss
If you want to spend more time sending Christmas and New Year’s wishes, you have two other options: Google’s firmware page also says the dated Error unaffected firmware update from November to download. However, the installation will delete all installed apps and configurations and requires an unlocked bootloader. The second option also requires that the bootloader is unlocked: you download the November update, tinker with the “radio.img” file. out and only installs these via the bootloader; this is recommended on android-hilfe.de, for example. We have not tried whether this is accompanied by data loss; Anyone who has not already unlocked their bootloader will certainly lose apps and configurations, because unlocking it performs a wipe, i.e. a reset to factory settings.
The solution attempts indicate that the bug in the provider settings or the modem -Firmware lies. It is unclear whether only individual Pixel 6/Pro are affected or whether all devices are affected, but perhaps a questionable constellation of provider hardware and firmware only rarely occurs. In any case, our Pixel 6 in the editorial office showed the same reception strength as before after the manual update to the A4. Google should play out a solution in the next pixel update in January.
