16 points

Bring back Google Wave, goddammit!

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5 points

That thing was killer. I used it throughout university with my classmates to build the best notebook covering all our lectures, tutorials, etc. We had a habit of dropping in polls for distant sections so we could decide which notes were best to keep etc or needed more work, etc.

Docs is so weak in comparison.

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176 points

I hate Google and try not use it anymore but there’s still one thing I can’t do without : Google Maps.

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61 points

Have you tried open street maps? I suggest organic street maps for your phone

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19 points

I can never stick with those alternatives, the traffic conditions feature is simply too good to miss

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12 points

I’d be okay with Google dwindling all the way down to just Google Maps.

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3 points

I find Waze quite good for traffic conditions. The only thing it always tries to steer me wrong with is that there’s 2 main routes home from work, around the North East of the city, and on the bypass around the West/South of the city. It always wants to take me on the bypass as when I’m at the exit for the other route, traffic is way lighter. However by the time I’m halfway home on the bypass traffic has brought itself to an essential standstill. And there’s no real ways cutting across the city that avoids the high traffic section of the bypass that doesn’t take longer than sitting in traffic. Also…the NE route is at most 15mins longer due to speed limits, but it’s 20ish km shorter.

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96 points

Organic Maps are great, however if you’re looking for shops and restaurants (or rather their reviews) Google Maps are second to none.

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6 points

Facts, Google maps drive mode is also super handy

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21 points

OSM can technically replace Gmaps for shops and restaurants if enough people were using and updating it.

However, Gmaps in unbeatable for public transportation :( no alternative at all

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5 points

I have tried using it for a while but a few updates ago the search functionality was kinda messed up (and still is) so I had to switch back to gmaps :(

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13 points

OSM is great in some places. But outside of the more techy areas, it’s a barren land. I something do my part with streetcomplete, but anyway, it’s not there yet (in most places)

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5 points

Yeah I contribute to OSM but apps like OsmAnd are a far cry in features from Google Maps. The paths are very much not optimized. If I tell it to go back to my hometown it takes me about 15 minutes out of the way. And I can’t tell it to go to a certain house because the houses aren’t mapped yet.

Should I help map them? Yes. But for your average user that’s not going to work.

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1 point

I tried it but in my area it doesn’t have a lot of places on it. Especially the satellite view being so old it’s hard for me to figure out how to contribute

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21 points

Like everything else, advertising pressure has ruined it. You can still search, but just zoom in and look over an area to see what is there? So many businesses missing, because they don’t pay Google to advertise. Apple Maps shows them all, because they don’t make money from advertising.

Open Street Maps are ok, but my area has a lot of businesses missing. If you know the address you need to go to, then it’s great for routing.

My personal hobby horse with Google killing things is Reader.

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3 points

I feel dumb using Google Maps and seeing all the ads. Should’ve known from day one that was the game plan.

Pray Apple keeps their hardware sales up.

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6 points

Docs is good too

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4 points

That copy & paste block thou, never again for me

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2 points
Deleted by creator
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1 point

OSMAnd beats out Google Maps, if you are a trail climber etc. Google’s entries are so lacking, whereas OSM content has near exact coordinates and paths for sooooo many routes.

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248 points

Pixel phones are a joke? They’ve been the best phones I’ve owned.

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119 points

Yeah I like them the most as well and funnily enough they are the easiest phone to degoogle

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87 points

GrapheneOS FTW

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18 points

Literally the only reason to get a pixel!

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66 points
*

So to name a few issues:

  • pixel 1: headphone jack issue so bad they needed to issue a recall, audio would just FULLY stop working, loud speaker as well.

  • pixels 2, 3 (and theorized 4 and 5): using cheap ram that literally just died within 3 years. They refused to issue a recall claiming that was “fine for the expected life span of the phone”

  • Pixels 1-4: if you let them discharge long enough, they don’t charge anymore, ever!

  • Pixel 4/a and 5/a: lemon units. Bad ram, bad flash storage, things like that. Some would be very slow and others would be fine. My pixel 5a died in 7 months.

  • During this period of time from the 4 though 6 lines they were notorious for trying to deny your warranty replacement any way they could. It took me 5 months to get a new pixel 5a.

  • Pixel 6: buzzing coming from loud speakers (not sure if recall issued)

  • Pixel 6 and 7: first 2 tensor chips, known for draining battery too quickly and overheating.

  • Pixel 8: OLED issues, I think random lines showing up on the display. They have issued a recall tho.

So in sum:

  • In the older pixels there were some shitty cost cutting measures they used in order to recoup cost of development of the phones.

  • their warranty service around this time was also piss poor

  • QC issues with just about every pixel phone released.

Where we stand today:

  • their warranty replacements are much better I’ve heard.

  • There are significantly less glaring issue with the pixels, and they’re still reasonably priced

So, back in the day, if you got lucky you got a decent phone for a good price, if you got unlucky you got a shit phone and they probably wouldn’t replace it. Now, you’ll probably get a good phone, with some semi useful AI features and a decent warranty.

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30 points

I’m sorry but you could easily find facts like this about every phone company from the past as of now they are great phones but cannot comment on the AI tools because I remove those

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15 points

audio would just FULLY stop working, loud speaker as well.

Skill issue

You have a visualizer, use your imagination for once come on

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7 points

My 5a just shut off while I was using it and wouldn’t turn back on one month after warranty period. Google was going to deny a replacement until I bitched that each previous pixel I had had died or became unusable and I was going to move to iphone. They gave me a “one time exception” and sent me a replacement. I traded it for a 7 but if this one dies I’m done.

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2 points

Guess I’ve been lucky 3 phones in a row. And any issues I did have they solved very quickly and easily. Ymmv

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1 point
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1 point
*

My wife’s currently rocking a refurb 7 and the battery life is actually exceptionally good, easily lasting a full day of near constant usage. I’m guessing they’ve corrected some of this through software improvements

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4 points

Never heard of a single one of these, got some links to back up any of these? Recalls will be easy to prove.

Two pixels, and never seen these before either.

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1 point

As I haven’t noticed any of those problems with my 4 year old pixel 3a I feel lucky and even happier about it 😊

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1 point

So you’re saying they’re the best phones to remove the products of this software company from? It’s like saying Internet explorer is the best browser to download other browsers.

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32 points

Yeah, Nexus phones were great, but Pixel phones are also good. And Android is definitely not “getting worse”.

Agree with the rest though.

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22 points

Android is getting weird. It’s not bad but some UI choices just don’t make sense. They’re making everything super large, and required so many swipes and clicks for certain settings. They’ve lost the plot a bit. Also, having used both iOS and Android, iOS gestures are leaps and bounds ahead of Android. Genuinely, it’s no contest.

All this being said I prefer Android, I just wish they put more thought about ease of use and feature refinement rather than changing for changes sake. Like we are JUST NOW getting an update to the gesture controls. They’ve been basically unchanged since Android 11/12 they have had ample time to refine them a bit.

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14 points

I hate the super large quick access buttons. Like why would I want to only have 4 accessible with one touch when I’m used to 8+

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2 points

I like Samsung’s flavor with OneUI as it’s kept a lot of the condensed layout and it has good one-handed support. I’ve created a lot of custom shortcuts that just use swipes from the side of the screen.

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4 points

Could you elaborate on the gestures part?
I remember the opposite, having hated navigating my iPhone for work. I specifically remember swipe to go back not working reliably at all (many apps seemed to just ignore it, others I think configured other actions on that gesture - WTF), so I got into the habit of using that stupid little hard to reach, hard to hit, tiny back arrow that at least worked consistently when you managed to hit it.
I’ve been enjoying Android navigation gestures pretty much ever since I found out they existed.

It might have been a user issue in my case with iOS since I didn’t use it as much, and therefore maybe was simply using it wrong/was unaware of better ways. But I don’t see anything wrong/missing with gestures on Android.

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8 points

I enjoyed my pixel up until the day they put a backup button on photos that would pop up right when I’m swiping. So I had to go through my Google backup and delete/disable it (which can only be done from the computer) just so that I could use my Gmail again.

Now I’m considering switching manufacturers on my next upgrade.

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17 points

my 6a has been nothing but shit. You cant charge it and run the GPS at the same time or it overheats. Thats just one of the many issues ive had with it.

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3 points

Was considering the 6a until I saw the charge speed and screen to body ratio.

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8 points

Sometimes even when I’m just browsing lemmy it decides the screen needs to be dimmed for the next 20 minutes because im just being so very strenuous on it by looking at memes.

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2 points

My friends 6a and his wife’s both have a display issue where the screen just randomly turns green. Restarting fixes it, but what the hell!

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1 point

I have the same problem, but only when I run the GPS under sunlight in a car. I wonder if other phones have the same problem under those conditions? Can anyone else chip in?

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1 point

Oh holy shit. I’ve done that a few times. Completely using GPS by audio and without thinking I put the phone down in the Sun. I’ve never done it more than 10 or 15 minutes before I remembered and every time it would be so fucking hot. Even with the screen off and everything which really should have helped keep it cool you know?

The big problem here I was an instacart driver at the time so I had all these fucking weird things I had to do with my phone to make sure it didn’t explode while I was trying to keep it charged so I could work all day.

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3 points

Pixel 5, refusing to die.

I just cleaned out all storage and man it’s still zippy

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1 point

No disassemble!

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5 points

How else would I get the files out?

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2 points

Pixel 5 is my new phone, lol. I had the original Pixel, now the 5. One of my kids used the original one for a few months after I upgraded too.

I do miss headphone jack :(

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3 points

I missed it for a while, then got some shokz open run.

They are so easy I forget I’m wearing them, and they cover the music needs from my phone. For better audio, I go to other things.

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1 point

The newer ones are nice, but as an owner of the first 4 because I need unbloated OSes, they were a complete joke in hardware support and failures. Can’t count the number of times I’ve lost data to my pixel 1 randomly resetting, had bluetooth issues with 1-4, and had a smattering of other nonsense issues with everything up to the 6. Eventually I gave up and hopped over to iOS.

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1 point

My pixel 1 was and is fine. Pixel 3 was an excellent phone. The only bad phone I recall from Google was the Nexus 5x which was made by LG

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1 point

Glad you had a decent experience. That was not the case for me and many documented others. The bluetooth issues are particularly well known and plagued the whole series from 1-4, if you didn’t use Bluetooth much it probably didn’t phase you but holy shit it sucked. As far as nexsus devices go they were a crapshoot. My nexus 6p crashed week 3 and bricked into a boot loop. Google replaced it only for the replacement to do the same damn thing a month later. They had massive QC issues which meant you either got a fine phone or a shit one and a lot of people fell towards the latter.

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-7 points

Disagree. I owned flagship Androids from the G1 until last fall.

Android is a privacy nightmare, and serves no technical advantage over an iPhone. So I got an iPhone. It’s 100% as adequate of a black rectangle that runs apps as any Pixel.

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6 points
*

Until an iPhone can fold and send pictures/videos to people who aren’t using the same phone that don’t look like diarrhea I honestly don’t care about anything Apple does.

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-1 points

iPhone still can’t report the RSSI of a wireless network. Until they make that work, anyone who works in it/tech has to carry a different device to test wireless networks.

The wireless hardware is in the phone. Just let me use it.

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5 points
*
Deleted by creator
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2 points
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1 point

I got a Pixel 6 last year after owning a Samsung Galaxy 7 for 6 years. I have a notes page with 49 complaints.

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2 points

Yeah, I’m on a non pixel phone right now and I want to get back to pixel they’re great

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1 point

This is going to be unpopular, but even the default google firmware is nice, it’s clean and bloat free. Obviously people should flash a custom ROM to do google.

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5 points

They lost me right there, lol

Tbf a lot of Google is shite but i will never deny the pixel

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4 points

Same here. Have had Nokia and Iphones before and have my Pixel 3a right now for about 4 years and still happy with it.

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33 points

I’m an iPhone person because of reasons, but I honestly think Pixel phones are the best Android devices I’ve ever seen.

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7 points

Have you not seen the corpse that is Google hangouts still attached to Gmail? Google died with inbox and I hope they go under after just barely giving back to open source projects they profited off of.

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4 points

RIP Inbox. Shortwave just isn’t the same.

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