Google Pixel and Pixel XL
- Thread starter opethdisciple
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I miss the news app (none of the android ones are anything like as good) and the overall smoothness of iOS. Otherwise, Android works better for me.
I know people who have moved back to iPhone purely for missing facetime.
I moved from an iPhone 7 plus to a Pixel XL via an S7 Edge (what a mistake that was). I owned three different 7 plus phones and all were affected by "hissgate" so I bought an S7 edge in anger. The bloatmare, stupid edge screen and lack of updates got to me in the end so I moved to a Pixel. I haven't looked back since really, while the build quality isn't as good (nothing beats the vibrations from 3D Touch or the home button) I believe the OS is excellent. Android has come a long way, it has great notifications and context menus and managing the phone's configuration is far easier on this than on iOS.
Ignore any comments about smoothness - they're just BS, at least when comparing Pixel phones to iPhones. Android on a Pixel is just as smooth as iOS is on an iPhone.
Soldato
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Unfortunately, my phone appears broke after less than a year. The mic isn't working. I get crystal clear audio if headphones are plugged in, but no one at the other end can hear via the normal way.
Let's see how good CPW are with warranty...
Update on this, CPW have said they would be sending it to Google and it could take 14 days to turnaround. I contacted Google and they're happy to deal with me direct. RMA details have been emailed to me, so it's on its way to Germany today via UPS.
So far, so good.
Which is kind of odd considering Duo works on both Android and iOS?
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One has been marketed for the past 7 years. The other hasn't.
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Installed Android O on my Pixel and the option to stop an icon being added to the homescreen in the Play Store, has gone???
I'm not sure why that's relevant? Are you saying rather than looking themselves for an alternative, they sold their phone and bought a new one? As I said... rather odd.
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What is so hard to understand? People buy an iPhone because it has features that appeal to them and those features are marketed well. Because people use those features they tell their friends and they buy iPhones too.
Google's marketing for their apps is an absolute joke. There isn't any.
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Pixel is really smooth. It's just a shame the apps on Android are often to inferior to iOS. Even from Google!
Huh? Google just announced last week that their total sales for the past three months was in excess of $ 26 billion (£ 20 billion) including "Other Bets" sales in excess of $ 3 billion (£ 2.4 billion) which includes Google Play, Google Cloud and Hardware sales (Pixel, Home, Chromecast, etc), of which Google Play is considered the largest contributor. In other words, it is safe to assume that Google Play is contributing in excess of £ 1 billion in sales to Google every 3 months, or £ 4 billion annually. You say their "marketing for their apps (in the Play Store) is an absolute joke."
Perhaps your business is generating sales well in excess of £ 1 billion every quarter and therefore you consider "only" £ 1 billion in sales very poor?
In which case I tip my hat to your business success!
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The point is, you have to use Google Play because it's where the apps come from. I said the marketing for Google's apps is a joke because it is. Have you ever seen an advert for Allo or Duo?
But of course you'd think their advertising is good because you work for them! You've just given yet another PR response.
Completely agree with you, Quite often I see an iPhone advert with facetime in it, Word of mouth etc
I have never seen an advert for Duo or Allo. If Google integrated Allo/Duo in Android like Apple do with Face time on the iPhone I imagine it would get more users. But they are too busy making 3000000 different messaging apps. Hangouts was slowly heading in the right direction & then boom typical Google dropping it.
I really like Google honestly but they drop the ball so many times, Or drop apps/sites like nobodies business.
Associate
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I've heard of duo/allo think i may even have installed it once but unless the other user has it or is even aware of it what's the point.
Facetime is baked into IOS, every device has it.For video calling i'm more likely to use whatapp as most people have that app.
Facetime is baked into IOS, every device has it.For video calling i'm more likely to use whatapp as most people have that app.
Err, no. I do not work for them. I think the contribution to Google's sales from app downloads in the Play Store are a fact, not a "PR response." I deal in facts to back up my assertions. I simply read publicly available information.
Perhaps you misunderstand me? I said their Google Play SALES "results" are outstanding which means that they are successfully getting the word out about how good their apps are. The fact is that they are generating sales of apps in the Google Play Store of more than £ 1 billion every three months. This is a solid result which means they are doing a lot of things right in the Play Store.
And their own "Google apps" (your term) are top downloads on the iOS Play Store---eg, Google Maps, Search, YouTube.
Moreover, I have said it before and will say it again. I believe we are moving to a post-app world. There is simply too much clutter and layers now with the huge variety of apps that do the same thing. Why spend money trying to differentiate yourself in a cluttered, commoditised world?
For example, if you want to send someone a message, a typical screen might look like this:
Or a screen showing apps to travel around NYC might look like this:
These app sites are built for providers rather than for people like you and me to use.
This is one of the reasons I think voice has become and will increasingly become such an important input mechanism for me on my Pixel. I would rather Google simply provide me the info I need in one go rather than having to open a bunch of different apps. I would rather Google do the work for me rather than the app. 20% of all search now is by voice and this trend can only continue with increasing penetration of mobile. That is why Google Home is a must have product for me when I am at home.
How is Google able to do this aggregation reasonably well? Because they have so much of my data and because of their machine learning algorithms and their increasing reliance on Artificial Intelligence. This is why I see the future differently to you: I do not see app marketing as essential for my Google experience and would prefer to see them direct their spending on getting me results faster and in a more relevant way and interesting way such as using artificial reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR)---eg Daydream or Google Assistant/Google Home's voice response.
Spending on machine learning, voice, voice translation, artificial intelligence and AR/VR seems a more sensible way for Google to spend money than on Google Play app store marketing. Did you know that Google Assistant is now available on more than 100 million devices?
You may recall Google introducing Google Lens a few months ago, to be available later this year. The concept is based on use of your Pixel's camera. Again, as a means of asking questions and getting things done in the real world which likely will be superior to any app on my phone. Lens will know what you are looking at and respond accordingly. For example, you see a poster for your favourite band. You could take a picture, get relevant information and buy a ticket.
This is the future. Or as some might say, skating to where the puck is going to next rather than where it is now.
I do not need more apps cluttering my Pixel. Do you?
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Soldato
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I don't have any apps on my home screen, just like I don't use the Desktop on PC. I hate all that clutter. It's one thing about Apple devices that I hated, and one of the reasons my wife just got an iPad Pro 10.2 for free... I couldn't stand it and went back to my S2.
I think Android is leagues in front of Apple, the latter is so restrictive and dated.
I think Android is leagues in front of Apple, the latter is so restrictive and dated.
I didn't say I didn't understand, I said it was odd. Essentially they changed phones over installing an app that would serve the same purpose. To me that's odd.
Yes, every iOS device has it. No Android option, as that's not Apples way and a big reason why I've never owned an iPhone. Every iOS and Android device could have Duo.
What? Do you have a link for this, as this is news to me? I know they dropped a certain business element of it, but it's still going strong for me.
Here is a person who recently switched from an iPhone (iOS) to a Pixel XL and is quite pleased with his experience. He also highlights some pluses and minuses with his decision.
Here is one section of the article that also touches upon iPhone features which were a problem to this user. He says: "Most days, I need my phone to help me work: Email, calendar, camera, social media, notes and news take up 99% of my smartphone's life. And iPhone 7 Plus was not great at many of these tasks." So despite all of Apple's great "marketing", the apps on iOS did not really help lock this user in.
Hope this helps your decision:
http://www.businessinsider.com/review-iphone-7-v-google-pixel-xl-2017-8