What you need to know
- Google has acknowledged the touchscreen issues affecting many Pixel 4a 5G phones.
- The company says it will roll out a fix for the problems in a future software update.
- In the meantime, Google has suggested a few navigational workarounds to Pixel 4a 5G owners.
Google's December 2020 security update introduced a touchscreen bug that affected several Pixel 4a 5G units. While the latest January security update did bring a fix for the Pixel 5's volume issues, it didn't include a fix for the Pixel 4a 5G's touchscreen issues. Google has now said that it is aware of the bug and that a fix is going to be rolled out soon.
In a post on the Pixel Phone Help forum, Google has also suggested a few tips that users can try to improve the responsiveness of their Pixel 4a 5G:
- When tapping icons on the edge of the screen, tap the center of the button or the side of the button/icon furthest away from the edge of the display.
- When tapping icons, including the navigation buttons on the bottom of your screen, use the tip of your finger or thumb instead. This will help improve touch recognition.
Google isn't expected to release a new software update for its Pixel phones until early next month, so it looks like Pixel 4a 5G users will have to wait at least three more weeks for a fix. Until then, you'll have to try out these workarounds.
The vanilla Pixel 4a, which is one of the best cheap Android phones right now, was also affected by touchscreen issues after receiving the Android 11 update. Unlike the Pixel 4a 5G, however, the Pixel 4a's issues only surfaced when using certain screen protectors.
