Some Pixel 4 users complain that facial recognition has stopped working

Some Pixel 4 users say they can no longer unlock their phones with their face. It looks like it’s because of an update, but some users say they haven’t installed it. The problem doesn’t seem to happen to many users.

The problems have existed since November, Android Police writes. However, lately more and more users are reporting the problem. It concerns users of both the Pixel 4 and the Pixel 4 XL. The problem usually persists when users restart their phone. The problems arise when users reset their face scan on the phone after getting a warning about it. There are two types of warnings that users will see, both of which amount to the same thing. In one case it only says that the user should retry the face scan, in another warning it says ‘hardware not available’.

It is unknown how many users are affected by the problem. There don’t seem to be many, but users on Reddit and the Pixel forum, among others, write that they suffer from it. In some cases, restarting the phone seems to help but in many others it doesn’t. Also, restoring the phone wouldn’t always work. Google tells Android Police that it is studying the problems.