Owners Google Pixel 3a is complaining in several places about a software problem that has changed the appearance of the device’s screen in the corners. Google, like other phone makers, used software to make the Pixel 3a’s square corners look round. This gave the phone a more sophisticated look. However, the illusion came to an end in December, when a software update disabled the software masking used to create the rounded corners. The result was an unflattering look that at least one Pixel 3a user called “cheap”.
Pixel 3a users left messages on the Pixel smartphone help forum and on Reddit. For example, in the latter, a subscriber named ch4oswe4ver explained the problem from his point of view. He wrote: “Recently, I noticed a problem with my Pixel 3a in which the normally perfectly round corners of the screen are not so round, and if I lean the phone where any corner is facing down and away from me, I can see under the frame and I almost see the square corner of the real panel, breaking the illusion. From what I understand, there is usually a software overlay applied that virtually cuts a curve in the corner and helps the curved frame in creating the effect. I believe that on my phone this overlap is missing or in trouble and is no longer working. Does anyone know how to fix this other than a full factory reset? Several hardware resets did not resolve. I realized this after the latest feature drop update, maybe the security update of 5 December, but I’m not sure if any of them are to blame or not. I’m using Android 11 build # RQ1A.201205.003. “
The image shows how the loss of software masking with the December Android update changed the appearance of the Pixel 3a screen
Googlehas not yet released a solution to the problem. We hope that the March security update will include a fix for the software masking bug, allowing the corners of the Pixel 3a to return to their rounded glory. Just three days ago, Pixel Forum subscriber Nikko Mercado confirmed that the problem still persists by posting this message: “Google doesn’t care. Does it matter? Maybe. But they are not showing it. I doubt they will ever fix it. This has been talked about several times on different Google forums and support pages. Google engineers / moderators respond only with “try to send this report this way, try to send your report buh here” acting as if there is no known bug at all. They treat it as if only 3 people on Earth experience it.
Looking at the pictures from before and after can make you wonder what the big problem is. But the different appearance in the corners of the screen apparently pisses off Pixel 3a owners around the world. One owner of the device called the current appearance “super weird”. We must emphasize that, as far as we can see in the reported complaints, there is no evidence that this problem has also affected the Pixel 3a XL.
The Pixel 3a was launched in May 2019 equipped with a 5.6-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1080 x 2220. The aspect ratio is 18.5: 9. Under the hood is a Snapdragon 670 chipset paired with 4 GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 64 GB of storage. Google’s renowned image processing works with a single 12.2MP camera at the rear and an 8MP selfie snapper at the front. A 3000mAh battery keeps the lights on, and when the device first shipped, it came with Android 9 installed. Although currently running on Android 11, the model will receive the Android 12 update later this year. But that will be the end of the line for Pixel 3a. So if you’re interested in a low-priced Pixel, the combination of the model’s screen bug, Google’s apparent indifference to it and the end of Android support this year leads us to suggest that you spend the extra money necessary to purchase the Pixel 4a or Pixel 4a 5G.
