Google's Pixel phones got a big update this week with the release of Android 16 and a batch of Pixel Drop features. Pixels now have enhanced security, new contact features, and improved button navigation. However, some of the most interesting features, like desktop windowing and Material 3 Expressive, are coming later. Another thing that's coming later, it seems, is a fix for an annoying bug Google introduced a few months back.
Google broke the system dark mode schedule in its March Pixel update and did not address it in time for Android 16. The company confirms a fix is coming, though.
The system-level dark theme arrives in Android 10 to offer a less eye-searing option, which is particularly handy in dark environments. It took a while for even Google's apps to fully adopt this feature, but support is solid five years later. Google even offers a scheduling feature to switch between light and dark mode at custom times or based on sunrise/sunset. However, the scheduling feature was busted in the March update.
Currently, if you manually toggle dark mode on or off, schedules stop working. The only way to get them back is to set up your schedule again and then never toggle dark mode. Google initially marked this as "intended behavior," but a more recent bug report was accepted as a valid issue.
It's an annoying bug and not the kind of thing Google would have previously left unfixed in a major version update. Yet the bug is still present in the latest stable build on Pixels. Google has confirmed the issue is part of its ongoing development for Android 16, but it didn't make it into the first release. A fix for this issue is being tested currently in Android 16 QPR1—the "quarterly platform release" that will eventually become a Pixel Feature Drop.
Android 16 QRP1, currently in its second beta release, is expected to be rolled out as a stable version in September. We also expect it to include the promised desktop windowing (currently in developer preview in QPR1 Beta 2) and the new Material theme. Google will do several more monthly patches in the interim, but the dark mode fix is not slated for inclusion.
In the past, it would be rare for a relatively simple UI bug like this to persist across Android versions, but the number doesn't matter as much as it used to. Android 16 lays the groundwork for several notable updates to the platform, but it's arriving months earlier than past versions did. Google used to release new Android updates in the fall, around the time that new Pixel phones launch. However, 2025 marks the beginning of a new dual-update system, with a major update in Q2 and a smaller one in Q4. Apparently, the race to get Android 16 out the door left this bug, as well as some big features, still in development.
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