Here’s Google’s workaround for visual voicemail bug on Android 13 betas
Betas almost always mean dealing with bugs, but sometimes there are workarounds for specific issues. Visual voicemail has been broken in the Phone by Google app for some Pixel owners on the recent Android 13 beta releases, eliminating the ability to see your individual voicemails from the built-in phone app. But, according to an official Google account on Reddit, there’s a very simple fix.
The precise nature of the issue isn’t clear, and none of us at Android Police have mentioned running into any issues, but some customers are having difficulty getting visual voicemail to work correctly on Pixels running the recent Android 13 betas. A small thread regarding the issue was posted to Reddittwo weeks agofollowing Android 13 Beta 2, and there wasn’t any clear pattern behind the problem, with customers on carriers including Visible, Verizon, and T-Mobile reporting difficulty.
A bug was filed for it on theAndroid IssueTracker, and though it was assigned, it hasn’t been reported as fixed yet. More recent reports indicate it is still an issue for some with theAndroid 13 Beta 2.1 bug-fix update.
If you’re among those running into the problem, Google’s u/androidbetaprogram Reddit account claimsyou can work around the issueby downgrading to v81 of the Phone by Google app, implying that v82 might be to blame, which is the current beta release. A more precise version range wasn’t defined (V81 has around 11 sub-versions so far), but affected customers can try their lucksideloading one of the versions on APK Mirror.
Keep in mind thatrolling back to an older version of an appisn’t that simple, though. First, you’ll need to uninstall updates by tapping the three-dot menu in the corner of the app info pane, which should push you back to an older v7X build you canthenupgrade to v81 from. On top of that, you’ll have to avoid installing any updates to the app from the Play Store or risk being on a version of the app with the problem again. While v82 remains in beta, that’s most easily done byopting out of the beta program for the app, but you can also disable updates for thePhone by Google app on the Play Storefrom your Android device (three-dot menu on an app’s listing -> “enable auto update” -> uncheck), just remember to turn updates back on later when the issue has been resolved.
This is a convoluted workaround, but according to Google, it can address the issue in the meantime.
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