back to article Android Oreo mic drop fury: Google ups tempo for Pixel mobe audio fix

Google has escalated the priority and severity rating of a bug that has been silencing microphones on its Pixel smartphones running Android 8.1, aka Oreo. The Chocolate Factory on Wednesday raised the priority level and the severity level from 3 to 1, the highest possible level, signaling that it intends to expedite its …

  1. bazza Silver badge

    Not Good

    For such a company that is selling a mobile at an expensive price, running their very own software, this is the complete opposite of acceptable. It's a complete absence of customer service.

    1. Graham Dawson Silver badge

      Re: Not Good

      At least they acknowledged the problem. Could have just told people they were talking to it wrong.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Not Good

      It's a complete absence of customer service.

      But when did anybody, ever associate the terms "Google" and "customer service", unless there was an expletive between them?

      What would you expect in a word cloud for Google? I'd not expect to see "great customer service", but I would expect to see terms like monopolistic, self-absorbed, shonky, impersonal, intrusive, creepy, greed, tax dodging, lobbying.

      1. Lee D Silver badge

        Re: Not Good

        Well... I've contacted them for everything from Google Earth to Google Apps for Education. On their standard support lines (no fancy queue-jumping, just the same one you'd contact for your GMail going skew-whiff, etc.).

        They were fabulous. Despite the fact that I have 600+ users on their services and don't pay a penny for them (educational users).

        Unlike... Apple, Microsoft,... just about all the big companies with whom I spend an awful lot of money.

        And, more amazing, not only were they "good" at handling the calls, they immediately resolved all my problems. You can't say fairer than that.

        Pretty much, Google and Amazon - great customer service. Apple and Microsoft, zero customer service unless you pay through the nose, have a very simple problem and remembered to bring all your receipts.

        And I'm a volume/business user of all four.

    3. leexgx

      Re: Not Good

      if this happened to me my mobile operator would of replaced the phone due to it been faulty (i dont have mobile insurance)

  2. JeffyPoooh
    Pint

    "Hello? Hello? Hello?"

    El Reg, "The Register asked Google to weigh in on the matter. A spokesperson was not available to comment."

    Actually the spokesperson *did* answer your call. It's just that they were using a company-issued Pixel phone.

    El Reg, "Hello? Hello? Hello?"

    Google, " "

    El Reg, "Hello? Hello? Hello?"

    Google, " "

    El Reg, "Hello? Hello? Hello?"

    Google, " "

    El Reg, "Hello? Hello? Hello?"

    Google, " "

    ~CLICK~

    1. bazza Silver badge

      Re: "Hello? Hello? Hello?"

      Maybe they should have tried 'Allo 'Allo, with the accent of course. And then send round Herr Flick of the Gestapo...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Uh... he said "anus". Huh huh huh.

      El Reg, "Hello? Hello? Hello?"

      Google, " "

      El Reg, "Hello? Hello? Here we are now, entertain us."

  3. Sgt_Oddball
    Flame

    having once been a paying Google customer...

    Their lack of support does not surprise me at all. Issues have and probably always will get ignored or liked projects dropped because they can't be bothered. Even their own tools that keep them in milk and honey (api' s for adwords) did a serious disservice by forcing everyone to use a library (whether your coding language was supported or not) and remove all documentation that might have helped figure out how to work directly with the api.

    If Google can do that with one of their main revenue sources then why would they care about getting something that's more of a window dressing right?

    It's an old Microsoft/Apple level move of just ignore the problem until the next versions out.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: having once been a paying Google customer...

      I have a pixel 2 and found Google support superb. Even direct 24x7 support chat built into the phone. Next working day advance replacement etc etc..

      Have you even used Google hardware support,???

      1. Sgt_Oddball

        Re: having once been a paying Google customer...

        Then you've managed better than I spending thousands over the course of a few years got.

  4. Lee D Silver badge

    Truly, we're in the age where phones that cannot be used to make calls are considered to be... well... a minor inconvenience.

    Maybe it's time we just started called them Personal Digital Assistants again...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Bring your own ballgag

      They have fulfilled their role of getting the populace indoctrinated, isolatedm occupied with trifles and hooked on the poison of popular "culture" 24/7.

      What more can you ask for?

  5. This post has been deleted by its author

  6. Tigra 07

    Quality of Google's Pixel and Nexus devices really does seem shit. Won't be buying another.

    For the record i've had a Nexus 5, 6P, and 9. All are nice devices but terrible build quality.

    1. leexgx

      pixle 2 seems to have been fine (as long as its not made by LG then i buy it)

  7. Flakk
    Joke

    What?!

    Google escalates the priority of an issue that hinders Google's ability to eavesdrop on all conversations around the phone a user's ability to use Google Assistant?!

    Well done!

  8. mikesunboxing

    No sound in calls fix for android

    I disabled voice in the assistant voice and everything works as is it should. It seems the assistant listen function gets stuck in a listen loop and doesn't return the mic to the system when the ui requires it. I even made a youtube video for the fix (mikesunboxing no sound in calls)

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