About a week ago Google introduced Android 15 Beta 3 and there is a major bug that is affecting many, but not all, users running the update. With the latest Beta, the lock screen keeps showing authentication prompts. Not that you should be terribly surprised. After all, Beta software is known to be unstable. By tapping anywhere on their lock screens, many Pixel device owners running the Android 15 Beta 3 update find themselves opening the PIN unlock screen and cannot move on until they authenticate their identity by correctly signing in.
There does appear to be one exception. Pressing Play or Pause on the media player will not result in a request for you to verify your identity via the PIN unlock screen. But tapping on a notification, or trying to swipe a notification away will demand that you authenticate your identity. According to 9to5Google, rebooting the phone will fix the issue temporarily, but not permanently, and the bug will return. On an impacted Pixel running Android 15 Beta 3, tapping the camera icon on the bottom right of the lock screen will call up the PIN unlock screen but only after you take one photo.
Some Pixel users who downloaded Android 15 Beta 3 are experiencing a serious bug
Enabling/disabling FaceUnlock does not fix this bug and so far Google has responded to this issue with radio silence. Models from the Pixel 6/Pixel 6 Pro and later are eligible to receive Android 15 Beta 3. The update adds AI wallpaper sharing for Pixel devices, easier access to Circle to Search for Pixel Tablets, and improved access to smart home controls.
Pixel users are beginning to make a big deal about this bug on social media platforms like Reddit. As Reddit subscriber paimonsoror wrote, “Wondering if anyone else has run into this. Noticed it yesterday where now if I do the double tap on the power button to take pictures, it will prompt for a screen unlock after the first picture. Previously I could take as many pics as I wanted. The only thing you couldn’t do was view pics in the gallery beyond those that I had just taken. Minor inconvenience but I used that feature a ton to take quick pics when I wasn’t prepared enough for picture time :). I’m on the 15 beta … Not sure if that slipped in there.”
Hopefully, Google will release Android 15 Beta 3.1 to exterminate what is truly a bug that is a pain in the butt.