Pixel 7 Series Users Reporting Google Meet & WhatsApp Poor Video Call Quality Issue
Google has a great reputation for an excellent software experience that isn’t filled with annoying bugs. Pixels also receive software updates on time every month, and the Pixel 7 series is already on the December patch. On most Android phones, applications are a one size fits all solution, but that is not the case for Pixels.
Google works with many app developers to optimise their Pixel devices’ applications. Good integration results in a smoother and more reliable experience. Pixels are one of the few Android phones to offer optimised apps, mainly social media apps. This is similar to what Apple does for their iPhones.
The Pixel 7 and 7 Pro are not perfect with software experience. We have already seen several bugs, like freezing, tap-to-wake problems, increased battery drain, etc. Sometimes, the experience goes wrong due to developers’ unintentional overlooks or poor optimisation.
People across Reddit and Google’s support pages have reported problems with video calling on their Pixel 7 or 7 Pro. The reports include incredibly grainy video quality with lots of noise and terrible resolution. This is not a problem exclusive to the Pixel 7 series. The problem was there with the Pixel 6 series last year.
It’s not just a problem with the front camera. The video tends to look washed out on apps like WhatsApp, Skype, Messenger, Google Meet, and more. This is quite concerning since people don’t expect poor video quality after spending over 500$ on a smartphone.
Videos tend to appear blurry and out of focus. This is not what people expected from Pixel phones. Developers have not yet solved the problem despite further escalation.
Thankfully, the Google Meet team has acknowledged the problem. It’s most likely an issue with app optimisation. Instead of directly using the camera for videos, it’s probably screen-recording the viewfinder. This causes a noticeably worse video quality.
The issue has gotten annoying to the point where many people have considered returning their phones to get better video call quality. Others have claimed that the video from iPhones was way better. We hope app developers resolve this problem before it further damages the reputation of app optimisation on Pixels.
Not just with video calls, many people are facing problems with the native camera app just displaying a bunch of weird line patterns or the viewfinder freezing up. To fix this problem, clear your cache data. You’ll have to long-press the camera icon and go to the storage settings, where an option to clear the cache will appear.
Senior developers are now aware of the problems. There were multiple complaints of this across several threads. You can now try some basic troubleshooting methods if you have these problems. Restarting your phone, uninstalling and reinstalling the app, clearing app data, etc., might work.
Provided you’re on an app or software version where everything works perfectly fine; it’s recommended not to update until there is a proper solution; if you value video call quality.
We hope app developers look into the problem and provide a solution as soon as possible so that people can get back to having good video calls with their phones. We’ll keep you updated when there’s a complete solution to this.
