Now, Pixel 3 has a weird camera-disabling bug: Details here
Ever since Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL entered the market, we've been hearing about different bugs plaguing the devices. A few weeks back, it was the abrupt addition of notch issue, and now, there's a more serious problem, one that completely disables the camera of the device, 9To5Google reported. It affects a number of users and has not been patched, yet. Here's more.
Camera not working due to 'fatal' error
When Google unveiled Pixel phones, it touted its amazing camera capabilities, but now, it seems the device is keeping users from leveraging the same. A number of users have reported (Reddit, Google Forums) that their Pixel 3 unit isn't letting them use camera functions - either via official camera app or third-party apps. It gives an error and then just disables the camera.
This is the error message
On Google Camera, the error message reads "The camera driver encountered a fatal error," while third-party camera apps say "Can't connect to the camera". It is also important to note that factory-reset or using the phone in Safe Mode don't help with the issue, either.
Is this a hardware-related glitch?
The camera of Pixel phones is driven by Google's software and, according to Charged, it is also the culprit in this case. They dug into the camera API and found that the problem appears related to the system not properly releasing a lock on the camera device. This way, when an app is used, it presumes the camera is in use and crashes.
If affected, what can you do?
The bug renders Pixel 3's signature feature useless, but some users have reported that rebooting the camera fixes it, but only temporarily. So, you can try that. If that doesn't work, we recommend contacting Google Support for help. The search giant might issue a fix for the bug, but as of now, there's no word on when that might happen.
