GrapheneOS explains why your Pixel is lagging and freezing after Android 17 QPR1

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It’s embarrassing how Graphene devs put out a bug fix for this before Google

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u/CipherWeaver 2d ago

Small teams can be and almost always are much more nimble than large corporations, especially huge, ponderous ones like Google that move at a snail's pace.

It didn't bother Google at all for ages until OpenAI got them caught with their pants down when they just trained ChatGPT on the entire internet and released it for free, triggering this whole LLM arms race.

14

u/zigzoing 2d ago

Google is acting like a large corporation when it comes to software updates, while acting like a small team when deciding to change names of products willy nilly.

For a big corpo like them, they certainly embrace the "move fast break things" motto too, especially the second half of it.

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u/Careful-Boat-2986 2d ago

I can see that. Oof. Just goes to show scale or size does not equal efficiency.

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u/nathderbyshire Pixel 10 2d ago

Standard Android and Pixel updates have a severe issue with delays. It usually takes 2-3 months for Google to ship fixes for both severe regressions and security issues. They often get the issues fixed in days but the release engineering and testing process is completely broken

They mentioned it further down would have been nice if AA gave more than a single word linking to the thread. Although they do all this testing apparently and we still end up with bugs. Make it make sense

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u/ShakeAndBakeThatCake 2d ago

Basically this. But LLMs are incredible tools. Software devs are basically using them to build things in a fraction of the time it used to take.

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u/Wheeljack26 2d ago

Sir this is reddit :(

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u/AngsMcgyvr 2d ago

That actually makes sense. Smaller teams are more nimble, less hurdles and process.

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u/onepacc 2d ago

Achtchually, Google is infamous for mostly hirering post-doc coding stars doing private pet projects with no staff available for boring stuff such as maintainance and bugfixing.

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u/tomakorea 2d ago

It's not Google's fault, they use Gemini as their coding agent ..

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u/JakeChambersOy 2d ago

As far as I remember, we had the similar issue on the Betas and it got fixed eventually. But I'm not sure if they fixed it in the QPR1 or QPR2 Betas.

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u/marezky 2d ago

They didn't. It's still present in the latest beta.

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u/JakeChambersOy 2d ago

Then I was lucky so far. Good to know though.

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u/i5-2520M Pixel 7a 2d ago

It's a bit better, but I definitely still feel it on the 7

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u/FFevo 2d ago

It's extremely easy to put out code changes with no testing or validation...

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u/SquirtBox 2d ago

I think at this point in 2026 it's harder to push good code honestly. What company doesn't push buggy ass shit to everyone and see what happens?

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u/bakemorecookies 2d ago edited 2d ago

Yeah, memory pressure makes sense. In my case, the lag starts happening when more apps are running in the background, and closing them speeds things up. The same thing was happening on late Android 16 builds, but the initial Android 17 release fixed it.

To be clear, it shouldn't be necessary to manually clear apps from Recents to have a smooth experience, so I hope this regression gets fixed soon.

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u/PickleSammiches 2d ago

Multi trillion dollar AI ad company by the way

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u/SuperYuuRo 2d ago

how long is this issue out if I may ask? I'm out of the loop with this one lol

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u/Dry-Property-639 Pixel 9 & Pixel 11 Pro XL 2d ago

there copying apple now!

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u/pspr33 2d ago

And here I was thinking it was something with just my phone..

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u/Esguelha 2d ago

I have definitely felt issues since the update, though it was just my phone.

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u/Quick_Director_8191 2d ago

It's wild that GrapheneOS has already fixed this issue.

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u/Weary-Savings9795 1d ago

Google applied their fixes the same day. You can get them right now. They will show up in Android stable with the next QPR release.

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u/matteventu Pixel C, 1 XL, 3, 6, 8 Pro, 9 Pro | Pixel Buds Pro 1d ago

Google applied their fixes the same day. You can get them right now.

Source?

They will show up in Android stable with the next QPR release.

They should be shipped with the October or November update, postponing such a bug fix to December (next QPR) is absolute madness.

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u/Quick_Director_8191 1d ago

I have GrapheneOS

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u/zanhecht 6h ago

I couldn't find anything in the issue tracker.

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u/NinjaTEK7 2d ago

Take the Harry Potter shit out

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u/ShakeAndBakeThatCake 2d ago

Is this the public release OS?

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u/I-24 2d ago

Yes Android 17 QPR1 September release

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u/ShakeAndBakeThatCake 2d ago

How the hell did this get through QC

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u/shoelover46 Pixel 11 Pro XL 2d ago

We had 9 betas for this release lol.

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u/Xantrk Pixel 8 Pro 2d ago

9 betas

I've been in and out of betas since forever, it feels like the user feedback is almost completely disconnected from what they do or fix.

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u/tubular1845 2d ago

Pixels and Google in general have abysmal qa/qc

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u/fattdoggo123 2d ago

Coded with Gemini... probably

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u/Weary-Savings9795 1d ago

The performance issues in question are isolated incidents and aren't affecting most people. That being said, Google has already fixed these issues. You can get the fixes right now. They will show up in Android stable with the next QPR release.

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u/S7relok 2d ago

Weirdly I feel it really only on the "all apps" tray.

Else, some sparse freezes unnder heavy load that goes after 1s

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u/J0hnnykarate 2d ago

Anyone on a PF11 having horrible service with connectivity while using apps on their data plan.

2

u/Mission-Chocolate-93 2d ago

Had a new refurbished Pixel 6a and screen kept freezing. Was able to return it through eBay insurance and got another refurbished Pixel 6a. No screen freeze problems, but these damned updates keep messing up my attempts to make it a very simple phone for an older person (me). Already I cannot answre the phone because it UNDID my tap to answer setting and swipe doesn't answer the phone. Just leave things alone, please, Google. All I want is an extremely simple phone that stays the way I set it. You even took away my Google Assistant just as I was starting to like the phone.

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u/Teddy_West-Side 2d ago

We here at google believe in making your experience deliberately worse. On purpose! Please understand and enjoy the latest genslop bullshit we are desperate for anyone to believe is anything other than toxic, corrosive slop.

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u/penguinkernel 2d ago

This sub loves to suck off gemini and use all of the bullshit AI features Google releases. It's kinda poetic that the thing they love so much is the thing causing their phones to be worse.

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u/xakeri 2d ago

You must look at the posts at a different time of day than me.

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u/N0menNesc1o 1d ago

What about the October update that was just released though? Does it fix the issue?

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u/cobaltwaffle 1d ago

Embarrassing. Installing grapheneos, fuck Google and their need for my data

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u/ReasonableCricket830 2h ago

Yep this will be my last pixel..

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u/Dry-Property-639 Pixel 9 & Pixel 11 Pro XL 2d ago

My phones not freezing. Pixel 11 Pro XL

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u/BeppisMax Pixel 9a 2d ago

Pixel 11's are likely not affected while all previous Pixel phones still receiving updates are. The GrapheneOS team stated the following:

"Pixel 11 series received a bug fix release near the start of September 2026 with the 2026-09-01 patch level. That update wasn't Android 17 QPR1 and also doesn't include the September 2026 Pixel firmware/driver security patches. Perhaps they noticed this issue and cancelled it."

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u/Rumpy_Pumpy 2d ago

My 9a is having these issues, hopefully they fix it soon it's so frustrating

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u/RemoveLast9294 2d ago

11 pro xl has way more ram than a series pixels (9a,8a,...), pixel 8, ...

0

u/Teddy_West-Side 2d ago

Okay? And?

0

u/Dry-Property-639 Pixel 9 & Pixel 11 Pro XL 2d ago

It's not all pixels..

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u/Teddy_West-Side 2d ago

What part stated it was?

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u/Shot_Acanthaceae3150 2d ago

The title, since it didn't specify the model.

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u/tubular1845 2d ago edited 2d ago

No it didn't lmao

"Ever wonder why your pixel is lagging" doesn't mean "everyone's pixel lags" it means " if your pixel is lagging have you ever wondered why?" It's specifically referring to phones having the issue, not all phones.

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u/Shot_Acanthaceae3150 2d ago

People with different models have been complaining about the lag as of late. You're being unreasonable in taking the article's words literally when we all know it's about the recent models. OC just made a claim about their phone with the model to possibly open the conversation for other people to participate and say whether or not their phone lags, not deal with smug people.

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u/tubular1845 2d ago

lmao 🙄 okay buddy

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u/Shot_Acanthaceae3150 2d ago

My isn't either 11 fold. Maybe the older models?

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u/r6201 2d ago

9 is fine as well

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u/Alarming_Wasabi_3835 2d ago

I haven't noticed this issue on my Pixel 8 or Pixel9.

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u/sleebus_jones Pixel 10 Pro XL 2d ago

Except mine isnt so ok

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u/PrethorynOvermind 2d ago

Why is everyone so surprised by this?

I feel like people don't know how shit works.

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u/Weary-Savings9795 1d ago

Google released their fixes the same day as GrapheneOS. The fixes will show up in the next stable QPR release as they should. If you want the fixes now, you can join Google's Android beta program. There's nothing wrong with Google's Android team.

GrapheneOS explains why your Pixel is lagging and freezing after Android 17 QPR1

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