Google launched Android 16 Beta 2 earlier in February with a few new features, including a new shortcut for your Google Wallet. The new firmware made it easier for users to access their wallet by double-pressing the power button. It comes in handy to access the wallet when you store a lot of different credit cards, transit passes, or other items that you need to frequently use.
For Pixel users, Google limited this functionality to the Pixel 8 series and newer models. Many users have requested Google to offer this feature on older Pixels for a while, but the firm hasn’t yet provided any specific reason for the limitation. However, it looks like the search titan has intentionally disabled the new Wallet shortcut on older Pixels like the Pixel 7 Pro, as per a report.
The Pixel 7 Pro unofficially supports Android 16’s new Wallet shortcut
Folks over at Android Authority have managed to enable Android 16’s new Wallet shortcut on a Pixel 7 Pro unit. On a Pixel 8 device running Android 16 QPR2 Beta 1, you can use a “Double press power button” page under Settings > System > Gestures. This page lets you choose between the Pixel Camera app and Google Wallet. However, an older Pixel phone like the Pixel 7 Pro running the same OS version doesn’t have this page.
After digging through the code for the open-source version of Android (AOSP), the publication has found that Google has intentionally disabled the new Wallet shortcut on older Pixel devices. The company has done it by restricting a configuration value in the code around the double-gesture feature.
However, the publication managed to activate the new Wallet shortcut option by manually overriding the code on a Pixel 7 Pro unit. The feature worked without any issues while testing on the older Pixel. It appears that there isn’t any good technical reason for Google disabling this feature on Pixel devices that arrived before the Pixel 8 series.
We hope Google addresses the requests from long-time Pixel users by including the new Wallet shortcut in a future Android QPR update. We will be watching for any new developments and will keep you updated.
The post Older Pixels Can’t Use Android 16’s New Wallet Shortcut & No One Knows Why appeared first on Android Headlines.
