One of the new features that Google introduced to their Pixel handsets in Android 7.1.1 Nougat is the double-tap to wake function. This isn’t necessarily a new function, but it is new for Pixel phones. Basically in addition to lifting the handset to wake the phone, users can now just double tap on its screen to wake it up.
This is easier than pressing the sleep/wake button which might not be so convenient to reach all the time. However it seems that some users have been having some issues with it, in which double tapping the screen doesn’t seem to work, or at least it seems to work sporadically. The good news is that it looks like Google is looking into it.
In a post on the Google product forums, a Google rep said, “Thank you for your reporting your issues with the new gestures that were introduced in 7.1.1. We want to let you all know that the team is investigating, and working towards a future fix.” Unfortunately no dates were provided as to when this “future fix” will be released, but we guess at least Google is aware of it.
While not fully confirmed, it has been speculated that there could be a link between the issue and Android’s Doze mode, in which when in Doze mode the phone’s touch panel sensors have been turned off, thus the double-tap to wake feature is not recognized.
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