A bug affecting the Pixel 10 series is drawing attention for the wrong reason: replying to email in Gmail can become nearly impossible. Instead of opening the usual on-screen keyboard, the app appears to hand control to Gemini’s AI writing box and blocks normal typing.
The issue centers on Gmail’s “Help me write” feature, which is designed to assist users when they want AI help composing a message. On affected devices, that optional tool is reportedly overriding the standard reply flow and getting in the way of something as basic as typing a response by hand.
Reports point to Pixel 10 Pro XL and Pixel 10 Pro Fold
The complaints have spread after Android Authority and users on Reddit highlighted similar behavior. The devices most often mentioned are the Pixel 10 Pro XL and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.
The problem does not appear to affect both models in the same way. On the Pixel 10 Pro XL, users can still force the keyboard to appear through an awkward workaround, while the Pixel 10 Pro Fold seems to suffer a more severe failure.
On the Pixel 10 Pro XL, the temporary fix involves tapping the hide-keyboard button in the lower-left corner, then repeatedly tapping the reply field until the keyboard finally appears. It is not a clean solution, but it can restore manual typing in some cases.
On the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, the situation is worse. The cursor in the reply field reportedly disappears, and taps on the screen do not respond, leaving users with little choice but to rely on the AI writing prompt.
Why the bug feels especially disruptive
In normal use, Gmail’s “Help me write” is supposed to remain optional. Users should be able to choose whether to use AI assistance or simply type the reply themselves.
That balance appears to break on the affected Pixel 10 devices, where a feature meant to assist writing seems to override the basic input method. For a premium phone, that creates a frustrating mismatch between a smart add-on and a core function that should never fail.
The impact is easy to understand because email remains central to both work and personal communication. When reply fields stop behaving properly, even a small software issue can interrupt daily tasks immediately.
Possible link to the latest Pixel update
Several reports suggest the bug may be connected to a recent software update. Its timing overlaps with the June 2026 Pixel Drop, which brought Android 17 and deeper AI features to the Pixel 10 family.
That timeline does not confirm the cause, but it has led many users to suspect a change in the Gmail and Gemini integration. The coincidence has made the update the most obvious place to look first.
Android Authority also noted that the issue could not be reproduced on other Android phones. Tests reportedly showed no similar problem on devices such as the vivo X300 FE and OnePlus 15.
The iOS version of Gmail was also said to work normally. That points away from a general Gmail outage and toward a problem tied to specific Pixel 10 behavior or the way the latest AI integration is handled there.
Workarounds exist, but no permanent fix yet
Users continue to trade temporary fixes in forums as the complaints grow. Some have reported partial relief by disabling certain Gemini options inside Gmail settings.
Even so, that does not amount to a permanent solution. Anyone who depends on quick email replies can still be slowed down if the bug returns the next time the reply box opens.
Google has not issued a public comment on the issue so far. It is still unclear whether the root cause lies in Gmail itself, in Gemini’s integration, or in a Pixel 10-specific optimization problem.
For now, Pixel 10 Pro XL and especially Pixel 10 Pro Fold owners are left waiting for a software patch. The bug has become notable because it affects one of the most basic actions a phone is expected to handle without friction: typing and sending a reply.
