Reports of another “cursed” piece of content have been making the internet rounds as a video on YouTube has been causing Pixel devices to crash. The video, a clip from the 1979 movie Alien, seems to cause Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, and some Pixel 6 and Pixel 6a smartphones to instantly reboot without warning.
As first reported on Reddit and spotted by Mishaal Rahman, the video will begin to play for only a second or two and then instantly reboot the Pixel 7 it’s being played on. Digital Trends can confirm the bug to be active and working, too, with the video instantly rebooting a Pixel 7 Pro we tested it on.
Joe Maring/Digital Trends
For all those curious, however, be warned: reports on Reddit indicate that the reboot caused by the video can disconnect some Pixel 7 devices from their service provider. Luckily, it seems like fixing that issue is as simple as another quick reboot or turning on and off airplane mode. But, as with all unexpected reboots, there’s always the possibility that the crash could do permanent damage to your phone.
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Take note that the video bug only seems to only work when viewed through the official YouTube app. As mentioned above, it affects Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, and some Pixel 6 and Pixel 6a handsets.
The video itself isn’t anything particularly special (other than being from a sci-fi classic), so many are wondering what is actually causing the issue in so many Pixel devices. Many are theorizing that there might be an issue with YouTube’s HDR compression, which is creating a color beyond the spectrum of what’s able to be displayed on the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. Similar to the wallpaper image of a national park that caused crashing issues for Pixel and Galaxy phones in 2020, there may be some sort of error thanks to the way that Pixel devices interpret colors.
Hopefully, Google is able to address the issue since this is the second time it’s popped up in just a few years. Luckily, the video doesn’t seem to do any major, long-lasting damage to Pixel devices as the wallpaper bug did, but it’s potentially indicative of a larger pattern of errors with the Pixel’s ability to display a wide range of colors properly.
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