As reported by Android Police, Google has acknowledged the bug and committed to resolving it in an upcoming Android release. The November security patch for Pixels is expected to be released next week and may include the fix. However, if the build was finalized before the bug patch, Pixel 8 users might have to wait until the December Pixel Feature Drop for a resolution.

The tinting problem appears to occur at super-low brightness levels and when the 1Hz refresh rate is in play. If you want to replicate the issue on your phone, enable Always On Display, step into a dark room, and wait 5 seconds for the screen to drop the refresh rate to 1Hz. You may observe uneven color banding, with the text taking on a pink or yellowish tint.

Some Pixel 8 Pro users claim that forcing Always On Display to work at a 120Hz refresh rate resolves the issue, but it results in extra battery drain. There are theories suggesting that the tinting issue arises because the Pixel 8 Pro’s AMOLED panel lacks 100% grayscale uniformity. This leads to individual red, green, and blue pixels overpowering other colors, particularly noticeable at lower brightness and refresh rates.

The company’s potential workaround for the problem might involve increasing the brightness of Always On Display or setting a minimum refresh rate of 10Hz. This could also explain why the issue doesn’t affect the smaller Pixel 8, as its OLED panel cannot drop the refresh rate as low as 1Hz.

It is not uncommon for new Android phones, or iPhones for that matter, to launch with quirky issues or bugs. However, manufacturers typically address these concerns through a software update shortly after the phone’s release, and this situation seems to be following that pattern.