Some things really kill your confidence in Google's ability to fix bugs and make sure you can actually use the devices you have bought with your hard-earned cash. Case in point: there's a bug in the pin and pattern security locks on the Pixel C that the Google team has deemed "high priority" but that hasn't been fixed since January 2016. That's almost a year and a half, if you're counting.

The bug can be described like this: users who have set up a pin or pattern keep getting the message that their pin/pattern is wrong when trying to unlock their device. The pin/pattern is correct, they really know it is, and it works to unlock their device at boot, but once the device boots and reaches the lockscreen, that all goes by the wayside. No matter how many times they try, they keep getting the same Wrong Pin/Pattern message. And they can try as much as they want because the time-out doesn't get triggered at all. The end result: a completely useless Pixel C.

The issue seems to specifically affect the Pixel C and there are some reports of users managing to get in once, others who could never get it to unlock, and mixed advice about remote locking, wiping data, and other workarounds. After a year and a half of comments and outcry, Orin, the Nexus Community Manager on the support forums, just replied saying:

Hey All, It's been a while since I've come in here and given an update. I apologize for that. Wanted to let you all know that this is still a high priority issue, and the team is devoting a lot of time and resources to the investigation. They have been able to replicate internally, and I'll keep you posted with any other information.

Well, jeez, that's great. I hope it gets fixed in 2019, by the time the Pixel C is outdated and forgotten, and everyone who owns one and suffered from the bug has thrown it away — hopefully in a recycling dump. I mean, I'm sorry about the sarcastic tone and I know the team would have fixed this already if they could, but the fact that this bug is proving this difficult to solve for Googlers is very worrisome.

Note: Screenshot above simulated on a Nexus 5X.