A dangerous and long-running bug is still preventing Google Pixel phones from calling 911. The issue, which dates back to the Pixel 6, is reportedly still happening on the new Pixel 10, and that’s a massive, unacceptable problem.
This is not the kind of bug you want on your phone
It seems that this is a problem that just won’t seem to go away. A serious, and frankly dangerous, bug is still plaguing Google’s Pixel phones, including the brand-new Pixel 10. People are reporting that their phones are flat-out failing to connect to 911.You’d think this would be an all-hands-on-deck, fix-it-yesterday kind of problem, but reports are still flooding in. We’re seeing threads on Reddit and even acknowledgments from major carriers outside of the U.S. about this.
According to one post from a Pixel 8 user, it took them 10 minutes to get a 911 call to go through. The phone simply wouldn’t connect, even with strong cell coverage, until they enabled Wi-Fi calling. This isn’t a new issue, either. It’s been cropping up since the Pixel 6, and while it’s apparently been resolved in Canada, it’s still a very real problem in the U.S.
Why this is more than just a glitch
Pixel Dialer. | Image credit — PhoneArena
Look, all phones have bugs. But this is not some quirky animation glitch or a battery drain issue. A smartphone has one core job that absolutely must work every single time: making a phone call, especially to emergency services.This recurring problem, I’m sad to say, completely undermines the Pixel’s reliability. It all seems to have started back in 2021 with the Pixel 6 and the first-gen Tensor chip, a phone that was notoriously buggy. The fact that we’re now on the Pixel 10 and still talking about this is… well, it’s a big deal.
Now, to be fair, this isn’t exclusively a Google problem. There have been reports of some iPhone and Samsung Galaxy users experiencing similar 911 call failures. The difference? This seems to be a persistent, recurring nightmare for the Pixel line specifically. When you buy a phone, you are buying a lifeline. This bug breaks that core trust.
This is completely unacceptable
I’m just going to say it: this is unacceptable. I consider myself a Pixel girl through and through because I love a lot of what Google does with the Pixel—the cameras are amazing, the AI features are unmatched. But none of that matters if I can’t trust the phone to save my life, or my family’s.This isn’t a niche feature failing. This is the most basic, fundamental function of a telephone. For Google to have let this problem fester for four generations of phones (from the 6 to the 10) is a serious matter. Let’s hope that Google finally addresses this once and for all, and soon.
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