Apart from the usual monthly updates, the Silicon Valley giant tends to roll out Quarterly Platform Release [QPR] updates as well as Feature Drops. The latter two tend to bring in a few goodies with themselves, apart from ironing out underlying bugs and enhancing the overall functionality of the system. This time around with the December monthly update, Google is bundling in both the aforementioned updates as well.
And with that, we are about to welcome a slew of noteworthy features. These include the ability to get hold of the manufacturer data and cycle count from the Battery Information section, new animations in the Wallpaper & style, changes to Pixel Luancher’s search settings, the Clock app displaying the weather for your cities, and the Repair Mode. So what exactly is Repair Mode, which Pixel devices support it, and what are the steps to enable it? Let’s find out.
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What is Pixel Repair Mode?
If you are visiting a service center to get your device repaired, and have been informed that it would take a few hours to even days to get the issue rectified, then your first course of action would be to perform a factory reset and only then hand over your device to them [well, just to be on the safer side]. Once you get your device back, you’ll then have to set it up from scratch, which calls for a lot of time and effort.
Well, you could now drastically cut short this monotonous task, thanks to the feature Google has just released. Pixel Repair sets up an additional layer of security blanket over your app and personal data and prevents it from being accessed by others while it’s in this mode. Do note that any changes that you make in this mode such as downloading an app or changing the system settings will “not” be saved once you exit this mode and go to the normal mode.
The service center employees could then carry out the required diagnostic tests without being able to interact with your data. This is similar to Maintenance Mode in Samsung which creates a separate user profile and implements a set of restrictions to prevent third-party access to the data. With that said, let’s now make you aware of the steps to access this feature.
Which Pixel Devices are Supported?
Before starting off with the steps to enable Repair Mode, first check if your Pixel device is part of the supported device list or not [Source: Official Google Documentation].
- Pixel 8 Pro
- Pixel 8
- Pixel Fold
- Pixel 7a
- Pixel 7 Pro
- Pixel 7
- Pixel 6a
- Pixel 6 Pro
- Pixel 6
- Pixel 6a
- Pixel 5a
At the time of writing, a lot is going on when it comes to this supported device list. Firstly, Google forgot to include Pixel 6A as part of its supported device list, even though the feature has already been rolled out for that device. And now, there is an area of uncertainty regarding the exclusion of the Pixel Tab. We’ll have to wait and see whether it gets blessed with this feature or not, and then we will update this section accordingly.
How to Enable Repair Mode on Pixel
Before enabling the Repair Mode on your Pixel, make sure you have at least 2GB of free storage space and you have either of the lock screen code. PIN, password, or pattern. If that’s well and good, then let’s get started.
- To begin with, head over to Settings > System > Repair Mode
- Then tap on the Enter Repair Mode button situated at the bottom right.
- Your Pixel device will now restart and boot to the Repair Mode.
So on that note, we round off this guide. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest. Likewise, we will update this post as and when there is any further development surrounding this feature. So stay tuned.
