Both the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are excellent devices that easily earned spots on our best Android phones list. But a software bug has forced Google to temporarily remove two device-selling features.
Per Android Authority, Google has paused both the Hold for Me and Call Screening features due to a bug in its December 2021 security patch for the Pixel phones. While some users did get the patch, Google has halted a full rollout until it can fix the update. According to a post on the Google Support Forums, a product support manager said, "Our teams are actively working on resolving this issue," and that the post would be updated with new developments.
Hold for Me was a feature first introduced on the Pixel 5 and, as the name suggests, allows the phone to deal with customer service queues automatically. The phone will notify users when a live agent picks up the line. With the Pixel 6, Google added a feature that lets you easily navigate phone menus for 800-numbers, and it's one of the best examples of how the new phone's Tensor chip adds on-board smarts to the device.
Call Screening is another handy feature in which the Google Assistant screens unwanted or spam calls and provides a transcript. Again, the Tensor chip makes those transcripts more accurate on the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, Google says.
As mentioned in the support forum post linked above, there's still no word on when these features will be enabled. But it's not the only thing Google is currently investigating.
An annoying Pixel 6 connection problem is currently being looked at as well. This connectivity problem seems to be limited to European users and our team in the U.K. has experienced similar 5G issues. For example, we noticed fewer connectivity issues when swapping sim cards with an iPhone 13 Pro.
At least game streaming on the Pixel 6 Pro just hit 120fps thanks to Nvidia's GeForce Now service. Not only that, Google is continuing to add more features to its phones, including Now Playing, an ambient music identification feature, and Nearby Share, which lets Pixel 6 Pro users easily transfer files to other devices, much like Apple's AirDrop. Heck, even Face Unlock is on the table for Pixel 6 Pro users.
Either way, here's hoping Google issues a fix soon, as Hold for Me and Call Screening are among our favorite Pixel features.
