Pixel owners who hide their Private Space can lose that privacy by changing the phone’s theme: the space pops back into the app drawer. The bug has survived Google’s November update, so for now the “hidden” setting does not hold on affected phones.
Private Space is the locked area at the bottom of the app drawer where Pixel owners keep apps they do not want others to see. It can be set to disappear completely, which is the setting that breaks: after a switch between light and dark themes, the section shows up again at the bottom of the drawer and stays there, even after the phone is locked down and unlocked with the PIN.
Android Authority tested the problem on a Pixel 8 with the November update installed and filmed the result. It says the bug first appeared after Android 17 QPR1 in September and is still there on Android 17 QPR2. A Reddit user describes the same sequence on their own phone: hidden in light mode, visible after flicking to dark, and still visible after flicking back.
Google’s own guide describes Private Space as an isolated area for sensitive apps and files, available on Android 15 and later. While it is locked, its apps are kept out of the launcher, the recent-apps view and Settings, and owners can give it a separate lock from the one on the phone. Apps are installed again inside it rather than moved, so each one needs its own sign-in.
The risk is practical rather than dramatic. Someone who borrows your phone and knows your passcode, such as a child or a relative, would see that a Private Space exists, and that is exactly what hiding it was meant to prevent. Because many people schedule dark mode to switch on at night and off in the morning, the space can reappear without you touching anything.
Google has not confirmed a fix for this exact problem. A separate complaint on its Issue Tracker, describing Private Space reappearing at random after being hidden, has a reply from a Google engineer saying the report went to the development team. An older, possibly related report there is marked fixed, though it never names theme switching, and Android Authority has asked Google about the theme trigger.
Owners who rely on a hidden Private Space can leave the theme on one setting and switch off scheduled dark mode, which removes the trigger.
