Hotspot not working on your Verizon phone after Android 14 update? Here are some workarounds

Android 14 is the latest stable platform update for Android phones, and many flagships have received the update so far. Generally speaking, most users like the update for the subtle changes it brings to their phone experience. However, for a certain subset of Verizon users, the Android 14 update has frustratingly broken the hotspot functionality on their phones, and their OEMs have not issued correct fixes for the same. Fortunately, there is a solution to Verizon’s Android 14 hotspot problem.

A few OnePlus 11 users on Verizon reported (h/t 1NormalUsername) that they could no longer use mobile hotspot on their phones after the Android 14 update rolled out to their devices. The feature worked before the update and stopped working after it, even if the user was subscribed to hotspot services on their Verizon line.

Consequently, a OnePlus dev team member replied to one of the complaints that the issue is related to Verizon service on Android 14. The issue is apparently present on Samsung and Pixel devices and is not just restricted to OnePlus.

Independently, we could locate several reports of the same for Samsung and Pixel devices. The issue has been reported on a bunch of Pixel devices from updates as early as the first beta and, more recently, on the Pixel 8 Pro with the November update. On the Samsung side, we’ve spotted reports by Galaxy S22 users on One UI 6 betas and even Galaxy S23 users on One UI 6 stable. The common thread among these reports is an Android 14 update and a Verizon line.

A workaround commonly suggested to afflicted Verizon users who cannot turn on hotspot is to first turn on airplane mode on their phone, turn on hotspot, and then toggle airplane mode off. Samsung users are resorting to creating Routines that do nothing but toggle the hotspot.

The OnePlus dev has posted a solution for OnePlus users, and we reckon the same will work on Samsung and Google Pixel phones on Verizon, too. Here’s what you need to do:

• Go to your phone’s Settings app, and go to Apps.
• Locate the Carrier Services app.
  • Your phone will likely have two apps with the same name: one is Google’s Carrier Services app with the Google Play Services icon, and the other is a more generically named Carrier Services app with a SIM card as a logo. Select the generic Carrier Services app with the SIM card logo.

• • You may need to click the three-dot menu on some phones and select Show System apps before the Carrier Services app appears.
• For Android 14, the correct version of the app is said to be 1.3.9.4. If the app on your phone is a higher version, you need to click on Uninstall updates.
• Once you are on 1.3.9.4, your hotspot feature should work again without needing other workarounds.

You can try the above solutions on your Samsung and Google Pixel phone and report back if it fixes the issue for you.

We’ve reached out to Verizon for comments. We’ll update the article when we hear back from them.