Warning to millions of Android users over a bug that causes phones to ‘lock’ and become unusable

This year, the annual update to Google’s operating system, Android 15, means that some Pixel 6 users will have a ‘brick’ instead of a smartphone.

Panicked Pixel owners have rushed to online forums, reporting that their device is ‘basically a paperweight now’ – with phones not responding to even standard troubleshooting methods to restart after the update.

Early complaints from people seeking help on social media suggest the risk of ‘bricking’ may be higher when using the update’s new Private Space feature.

This feature allows users to place sensitive apps (everything from banking services to camera rolls) in a discreet location off the main page, which can then be locked with a pattern code, PIN, password or fingerprint identification.

“It’s completely dead,” one Pixel 6 owner warned others on Reddit.

“I can’t turn on or restart the phone using Google’s methods.”

The issues echo complaints filed late last spring and early summer, when users who downloaded both the beta 2 and beta 3 versions of the update reported that they were also plagued by the phone-killing glitch.

“Just give a PSA to everyone who has a Pixel 6. Do not enable the Private Space feature if you upgrade to Android 15,” said a user who goes by the name GegoByte posted on Reddit.

“I unlocked the Private Space area, opened an app I had installed in it and my Pixel 6 got bricked,” GegoByte warned, while others chimed in with related stories.

“I think it made the whole phone private,” one Redditter joked.

Although many public complaints link the problem to Private Space, and a similar bug teased a feature called ‘Multiple Profiles’ on Android 14Others said their devices simply shut down after installing the update.

Under normal circumstances, you connect a Pixel phone to a laptop or PC and then press and hold the power button The volume down buttons start the device.

While Google itself has yet to comment on the issue, tech experts recommend that Pixel users disable automatic updates in their settings to avoid being surprised by early and buggy versions of the latest Android version.

To disable automatic updates on the Pixel 6, users must first ‘enable developer options’ by going to Settings, clicking ‘About phone’ and tapping ‘Build number’ a few times until the setting lists the phone’s owner as a developer.

Once the owner has given themselves developer rights, he or she can go back to Settings, click System, then “Developer Options” and disable the “Automatic system updates” switch by moving it to the left.

The wave of issues echoes complaints made months ago, when Android users who downloaded both Android 15 Beta 2 and Beta 3 reported that early versions of the update were also plagued by the phone-killing glitch

The killer bug appears to have similarities to an issue that affected users of a similar ‘silo’ or ‘sandboxing’ feature of Android 14, a storage bug that affected many who tried to make use of ‘multiple profiles’ on their device.

The rarely used feature was intended to allow customers to divide their phone or tablet into separate user experiences – an ideal scenario for those with a family tablet, or for anyone who wanted to split their phone into ‘home’ and ‘work’ profiles .

The bug was so troublesome that some compared the ordeal to dealing with a ‘ransomware’ attack from cybercriminals.

As with the current issue, these reports mainly came from Pixel 6 owners, but multiple models and devices were affected after larger-scale upgrades to Android 14, including the Pixel 7, 7a, Pixel Fold, and Pixel Tablet.

Nowadays Google’s issue tracker reports as the current device bricking bug with Android 15 continues to occur, but there’s no word yet on what’s causing the problem, or when a patch will be released.

One report from September, under the headline “System hangs when opening a Private Space feature,” is currently no solution posted.

Another, titled ‘pixel 6 bricked’, has become a debate about online etiquette.

“Your comments have been flagged for review,” a Google representative wrote.

“We understand you are frustrated, but if you continue to post offensive statements on the Google Issue Tracker, we will be forced to take action by removing your ability to comment or make changes to the Google Issue Tracker,” she added.

Independent experts have advised all Google Pixel 6 owners (or anyone with any computing device) to routinely back up their data to avoid losing anything of value to future bugs caused by errors major and minor of technology companies.