Google Moves To Squash Android 11 Multitasking Bug

Google is scrambling to fix a bug in its newly-released Android 11 operating system that has effectively broken multitasking on Android phones.

Users are reporting that, when using gesture navigation on Pixel phones that have updated to Android 11, including the Pixel 2, 3, 4, and 4a, swiping up and holding from the bottom of the screen is not bringing up the Recent Apps carousel.

The gesture will instead do nothing (from the launcher) or bring up a black wallpaper with no other recent apps visible (from within an app), or launch the Recent Apps view and then freeze. While some users are able to temporarily fix the issue by locking and unlocking their phones, others are having to restart their devices entirely.

The problem has been present in Android 11 builds going back to the beta phase, and has not been fixed in the final version.

According to Google’s IssueTracker team, however, the issue has been taken care of in an upcoming release; details on the patch’s rollout have yet to be announced.