A specific YouTube video is causing the latest Pixel devices, specifically Google’s Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, to become unresponsive, crash, and reboot instantaneously.
The video in question is a 4K HDR clip from the famous 1979 sci-fi horror film “Alien” directed by Ridley Scott.
The unusual phenomenon, which was first noticed and pointed out by Reddit users on the r/GooglePixel subreddit, happens when loading this one specific video (h/t Mishaal Rahman) via the official YouTube app for Android
While some said that their device worked normally upon reboot, in most cases, the devices ran into temporary cellular connectivity issues after the phone was rebooted. However, the issue was resolved once the phone was restarted again.
“Another Pixel 7 user. Phone crashed as soon as the YouTube app was loading up. Did a rather quick reboot tho. – snickers58.
“It legit screwed my phone up for about 5 minutes. Cellular network wouldn’t connect. Had to reboot again.” – cour000.
“Yup. Super fast reboot, but no cell service. Another manual reboot and everything’s back to normal.” – benisnotapalindrome.
Besides the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, the Reddit thread shows that owners of the Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, and Pixel 6A devices are also experiencing similar problems.
However, many Pixel 3, 4, and 5 owners reported that the video had no effect on their phones. This means that the issue doesn’t seem to be affecting everyone.
While some Reddit users believe that the issue might be related to the infamous wallpaper crash that caused crashing issues for Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones in 2020, some think there may be an HDR processing issue on the Pixel 7 series.
Some even speculated that there could be a problem with the Pixel 7/6 series Tensor chip, as older Pixels don’t appear to be affected.
Although the cause of the issue remains unclear, it appears that other than Google Pixel no other Android smartphone brand is affected by the issue. For instance, the recently released Xiaomi 13 Pro seems to be unaffected by the problem.
Google has not yet issued a statement or any workaround on the matter. In such a scenario, it is best recommended to avoid opening the video on any of the potentially affected Pixel devices.
However, if you still feel tempted to open the video, please do so at your own risk!
