Google's November update has broken the camera on some Pixel 10 and Pixel 11 phones, and the one workaround users report is to switch the phone off and leave it alone for about five minutes.
Android Authority reported the problem after finding complaints on user forums. Affected owners see one of two things. Some get an error in the Pixel Camera app reading "Something went wrong. Close and open the Camera app again." Others get a blank viewfinder, as if the lens were covered. Some users also say third-party camera apps fail the same way.
The reports do not suggest every Pixel is affected. They do suggest more than a handful of owners are, based on the volume of forum complaints Android Authority found. Google has not commented on the bug, and no patch has been announced.
The workaround is odd. Restarting did nothing for some users, and others said a factory reset did not help. Powering down for roughly five minutes did, according to Android Authority, which traced the advice to "Diamond and Gold product experts" on Google's Support forum. Nobody has explained why.
The pattern is worth a closer look. If third-party apps fail too, the fault likely sits below the Pixel Camera app, in the camera system the apps all share. And a fix that survives where a factory reset fails hints at something outside ordinary app data, though that is an inference, not something the reports establish.
The timing stings because Pixels are known mainly for their cameras. A buggy monthly update is routine on any phone platform, but a broken camera on a camera-first phone is harder to shrug off.
What a five-minute power-off clears that a factory reset does not is the question Google will eventually have to answer.