Nexus 6P owners have been having serious problems since their devices began to receive Android Operating System Version 7.0 (Nougat) in November. The problem first seemed to be in the battery software, with some of the devices shutting down with as much as 60% battery life left. However, many users believe that it was because of the Android Nougat update due to the timing of the issues. Google finally responded to this issue via a Reddit yesterday by simply telling Nexus 6P users to contact the Google Store Support team.
The Reddit thread where this was first announced has since filled with comments from customers, many of them angry. One such user claims to have spent over an hour on the phone with Google Store Support only to be told it could take up to 5 days for the support team to determine the best course of action for their individual case. Other users are indicating that they are having a great deal of difficulty getting support representatives from either Google or Huawei to acknowledge the problem is with the update software itself. The users claim that they are told by Google to call Huawei support, then are rerouted back to Google only to repeat the same troubleshooting steps already completed with Huawei. The process seems to involve booting into safe mode and disabling or uninstalling several apps. Meanwhile, Google and manufacturer Huawei claim to have narrowed down the source of the problem after an investigation, they have not released a statement as to what exactly the problem is.
It is somewhat unusual that software would cause this type of widespread problem or have such a seemingly unorganized array of fixes. Even more strangely, the problem seems to persist for some users even after downgrading back to Marshmallow on their devices – indicating that perhaps the problem is a bit deeper in the operating system itself. It is also worth pointing out that the Nexus 6P is not the only device to have similar problems. The Google Pixel phone been experiencing shutdown issues of its own. On a positive note, both companies seem willing to work with Nexus 6P users outside of the warranty period for their devices, but many users may feel that the amount of work involved in arriving at a resolution to the problem is simply not worth it. As of this writing, calling Google Store Support is still the only reported solution to the problem.