Google rolled out a system update for the Samsung Galaxy XR on May 6 that fixes a bug introduced in the April Android XR software update. The bug caused the headset to slow down badly after about 20 to 30 minutes of use. Frame rates dropped, the menus crawled, head and hand tracking stopped working right, and the device started running hot as it struggled to keep up. A reboot brought everything back to normal, but the same thing happened again within another half hour.
Users started reporting the problem on Reddit shortly after the April update. By April 22, Google's Community Engagement Manager publicly acknowledged the issue and called the patch the engineering team's "absolute top priority." Users in the community pointed to a memory leak as the likely cause — a kind of bug where software keeps requesting more memory but never lets it go, so the device gradually runs out of room to work. Things ran fine at first, then got worse and worse the longer you used the headset. One Galaxy XR user on Reddit called the headset "functionally useless." Google did not officially confirm a memory leak, but the May 6 patch covers what the company described as "system stability and performance optimizations."
Early reports from Galaxy XR users say the patch is working. The slowdowns are gone, tracking is back to normal, and the memory issue seems fixed. The patch is not perfect as some users running Virtual Desktop are reporting a new glitch where moving the cursor causes garbled or corrupted frames. Google has not commented on the new issue or posted a detailed list of what the patch changed.
The Galaxy XR is the first headset built on Google's Android XR platform, which Google is positioning as the open Android-style alternative to Apple's visionOS. Samsung released the headset late last year. Other Android XR devices, including Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Glasses and Xreal's Project Aura, are expected to launch on the same platform later in 2026 and into 2027.