Some Pixel users are experiencing disorientation with Google's Phone app.
Google has made a change to its Phone app that not every Pixel user likes.
The Phone by Google application provides several functions for all Pixel devices, and some Motorola and OnePlus models. It can also be downloaded from the Google Play Store for compatible Android devices. In addition to a dial pad, the app contains call history and a contacts list. The application also has the ability to screen incoming calls, filter out unwanted calls, and remain on hold until the user is alerted that someone has returned to the line.
Pixel users used to have the ability to rotate their home screens to landscape mode. A toggle, which first appeared in Android 7.1.2 in 2017, was located under Home Settings and labeled "Allow Home screen rotation". When enabled, the home screen, app drawer, and overview screen could be rotated. In Android 10, Google began removing the option, and it was gone from the standard Pixel Launcher by Android 12.
While the Pixel home screen no longer supports landscape mode, the Phone by Google app still does. Rotating the phone sideways before or during a call will cause the screen to rotate. The issue is that not everyone wants their phone to change orientation when they are making or are on a call.
A Reddit user with the handle whappenow posted, "How do I turn this off? I don't think there was ever a landscape mode for Google Phone (or dialer), but now it's doing it for me. I don't want to turn it off system-wide in quick settings, but recently the application has been turning itself to landscape mode, and it's annoying when on the phone. Because when I hold the phone up and talk, it forces itself to landscape mode, and as I pull down the phone to hang up, the end call button is on the side, not in its usual place by the bottom of the phone. Is this just me, or some sort of update that's causing this?"
In landscape mode, the dialer keypad appears on the right side of the screen, with the green call button at the bottom. Suggestions for people to call are displayed to the keypad's left. On the left side, a navigation rail contains three icons: a Home icon, which directs users to a page where they can view all, missed, non-spam, and spam calls; a Keypad icon to bring up the dialer; and an icon resembling a reel-to-reel recorder, which displays voicemail messages.
When the Phone by Google app is in landscape mode during a call, the Wi-Fi icon at the top indicates a Wi-Fi call. The contact's name is listed underneath, with their phone number below. The contact's avatar or profile icon is below, and to the right are four pill-shaped buttons for the Keypad, Mute, Speaker, and More options.
Another report stated that the screen is forced into portrait mode when initiating a phone call, but that was not the experience of the author. The question is whether Google should maintain the current setting. The author agrees, but believes that there should be an option to disable landscape mode for the Phone by Google app to prevent accidental shifts to landscape when making or receiving a call.
The author would also prefer that their Pixel 6 Pro and future Pixel devices shift to landscape mode on every page when the phone is held in that orientation.
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