Is there anything more infuriating than having an issue on your phone that doesn’t allow you to use it properly? The answer is “yes.” More infuriating is having an issue on your phone that doesn’t allow you to use it properly and the phone’s manufacturer doesn’t acknowledge that there is an issue. That’s what some Pixel users are feeling now. On the Google IssueTracker website (via ArsTechnica) many Pixel users complain that the primary account in a multiple account setup cannot access storage while the secondary account can.
Originally thought to be an issue limited to Pixel 6 series users, this bug has affected the Pixel 6a, Pixel 7 series, Pixel 7a, Pixel Fold, and the Pixel Tablet after these devices were updated to Android 14. And with over 350 posts in the Issue Tracker, you would think that Google would be right on top of this problem. But the issue has been assigned a “medium” P2 priority ranking with P0 assigned to those issues that need to be fixed immediately. The issue has also been “unassigned” which means that no one at Google is working on it.
Complaints from impacted users include problems like boot looping while others complain about their phone getting stuck on the “Pixel is starting” message. Others opened the camera app only to see a message stating that it was “out of storage.” Screenshots can’t be snapped because there is no place to store them, and factory resets cannot be done.
Both the Pixel 7 and Pixel 6 series models are affected by the bug
One message on the Issue Tracker said, “Having the same problem with my wife’s Pixel 6! In the meantime, she’s using her second user profile and hoping for an update from Google to restore access to her data, which is currently locked in the main profile. It feels like we’re victims of ransomware.” Well, at least with ransomware the attackers will get in touch with the victims to set a ransom price. Google won’t even acknowledge that there is a problem.
Another Pixel 6 series owner says, “Same problems here on my P6 pro. After update to officially (sic) 14 from 13 on the main profile no internal storage is not available. The phone is not usable! This is known by Google since offered the 14 but no fix is out unbelievable! Never heard about that from Apple.”
The multiple-user feature allows more than one user to use a single device and have their own storage and apps. Individual users can also create home and work profiles. The bug is affecting only those who use this feature. And this is something that Google cannot ignore because it isn’t going away. But what might go away is a number of Pixel users who could have bought a Galaxy S23 Ultra or an iPhone 15 series model but didn’t. Google needs to fix this problem immediately.
