I think you're right about removing that black sticker. Don't feel bad, I doubt I'd have thought to remove it myself since it doesn't at first glance look like just a protective sheet. Here's my reasoning for agreeing with you.
First of all, I had to do some digging to figure out just exactly where the proximity sensor is on your phone. I found a teardown video that shows the guy pointing to exactly where it peeks through the display. Here's a screenshot from the video here.
[link|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmTDk2R1GMw|Google Pixel 8 Teardown Disassembly Repair Video Review - YouTube|new_window=true]
[image|3273084]
The pry tool is pointing to the viewport for the proximity sensor. Here's what the replacement screen looks like out of the box.
[image|3273117]
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So yeah, it looks to me that the large black sticker is covering the proximity sensor viewport, rendering it unusable. Unfortunately it looks like you're going to have to open it back up again to take that stupid sticker off. Even the official Google repair manual says nothing about that sticker, although the picture they use does make it clearer that it should be removed, simply by the fact that it's that transparent blue stuff rather than a black sheet like you got. Here's the part of their guide showing when you assemble the display to the phone.
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So yeah, it looks to me that the large black sticker is covering the proximity sensor viewport, rendering it unusable. Unfortunately it looks like you're going to have to open it back up again to take that stupid sticker off. Here's the part of their guide showing when you assemble the display to the phone.
[image|3273119]
[image|3273118]
Sorry you had to learn that the hard way, dang it. I'd suggest preordering some more display adhesive before you open it back up.
Hopefully that's all it'll take to get you going again! Let us know how it turns out.
Hi Jayson,
I think you're right about removing that black sticker. Don't feel bad, I doubt I'd have thought to remove it myself since it doesn't at first glance look like just a protective sheet. Here's my reasoning for agreeing with you.
First of all, I had to do some digging to figure out just exactly where the proximity sensor is on your phone. I found a teardown video that shows the guy pointing to exactly where it peeks through the display. Here's a screenshot from the video here.
[link|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmTDk2R1GMw|Google Pixel 8 Teardown Disassembly Repair Video Review - YouTube|new_window=true]
[image|3273084]
The pry tool is pointing to the viewport for the proximity sensor. Here's what the replacement screen looks like out of the box.
[image|3273117]
So yeah, it looks to me that the large black sticker is covering the proximity sensor viewport, rendering it unusable. Unfortunately it looks like you're going to have to open it back up again to take that stupid sticker off. Even the official Google repair manual says nothing about that sticker, although the picture they use does make it clearer that it should be removed, simply by the fact that it's that transparent blue stuff rather than a black sheet like you got. Here's the part of their guide showing when you assemble the display to the phone.
[image|3273119]
[image|3273118]
Sorry you had to learn that the hard way, dang it. I'd suggest preordering some more display adhesive before you open it back up.
Hopefully that's all it'll take to get you going again! Let us know how it turns out.