Google is making an effort to solve the slow charging speed of its Pixel smartphones. The issue started following the Android 9 Pie upgrade.
Although the new mobile OS has been tested for five months, the bug managed to pass through its beta period. Reports say that third-party charging plugs do not rapidly charge the smartphones the same way it did before the upgrade.
To deliver faster charging, Pixels and many Android phones use the USB power delivery. According to Google, chargers that are certified for USB-PD such as its bundled charger should not have any problems.
Fast Charging Problems
Although there is no definite differentiation between the usual and upgraded charging speed, Android devices show a message on the home screen notifying its users that it is charging rapidly.
Many users started noticing the issue because the same message does not pop up anymore. Some people also reported that many phones have gotten picky about what chargers qualify for rapid charging. However, this is not just an issue on the pop-up message, as people have noticed that devices are charging slower compared to before.
Last June, a thread on the XDA forum already showed the existence of the bug. This was reaffirmed by reports in July, which stated that the problem was already present during the Android Pie betas. However, Google has still not found a solution for it. In fact, during the beta, it closed its original report as infeasible and said that it would not fix it.
When the Android Pie was released officially, the unwanted side effect caused many people to react. Currently, it has been labeled by Google as "Assigned."
Possible Solution
"We're aware of an issue where non-Power Delivery (PD) USB-C chargers no longer rapidly charge the 2016 Pixel and Pixel XL after the upgrade to Android 9 Pie," said a Google spokesperson to The Verge via an email.
"The 18W rapid charger included in-box is a PD charger and does not exhibit this behavior. We are verifying a fix for non-PD USB-C chargers and will roll it out in the coming weeks."
Although many reports concern the Pixel XL, other regular Pixel models are also affected by the same bug. If no problems will come up during the testing of the new update, it will be available for consumers to use in the next weeks. Google has also released an issue tracker page. Fortunately, the Pixel 2 is charging normally.
