What’s up with Extra Dim on Pixel phones running Android 16?
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Some Pixel users say Extra Dim is less effective after updating to Android 16.
- Reports vary, with other Pixel owners saying their devices are unaffected.
- A Google account suggested that a third-party app may be causing the issue.
If your Pixel screen feels a little brighter than it used to with Extra Dim enabled, you might not be imagining things. A handful of Reddit users are reporting that the feature seems less effective after installing the Android 16 update, though not everyone is seeing the same behavior.
A third thread echoed the sentiment, but while some commenters agreed that the feature feels less efficient, others reported no problems. Owners of the Pixel 7, Pixel 9 Pro, and Pixel 9a said Extra Dim still works as expected for them, suggesting the issue might be device-specific.
An official Google account recommended that one user try safe mode to rule out third-party apps.
Some users found their Extra Dim intensity slider had shifted to the middle post-update, which might explain the brightness spike in some cases. However, even after manually returning the slider to its lowest setting, some say the dimming is still weaker than before. An official Google account recommended that one user try safe mode to rule out third-party apps causing the issue, but it’s not clear whether that was tried or made a difference.
We previously saw in Android 16 Beta 2 that Extra Dim was integrated directly into the brightness slider on the Pixel 9 series, removing the standalone toggle. While this made dimming more automatic, it may explain some of the confusion, though not all of the users reporting the issue are using a Pixel 9 device.
Are you seeing the same behavior on your Pixel with Android 16? If Extra Dim is acting differently for you, or still works just fine, let us know in the comments.
