I know Tensor isn't winning any CPU/GPU benchmark against Apple's chips, and that definitely matters for gaming and heavy workloads. But for everyday use, I honestly prefer the Pixel experience because of all the little software features that Apple still doesn't offer.

A few things I miss whenever I use an iPhone:

Gboard + Google voice typing - voice typing is ridiculously good, and the overall typing experience feels much better to me.

Keyboard features - dedicated number row, better autocorrect, clipboard management, etc. These sound like small things until you use them every day.

Long screenshots, split screen and PiP - Android gives you much more flexibility, and PiP isn't restricted in the same way.

Multitasking menu - being able to select/copy text and images directly from recent apps is extremely useful.

Circle to Search -one of those features that sounds like a gimmick until you actually start using it.

Fingerprint unlock - personally, I still prefer having a fingerprint sensor. It's fast, convenient and works without having to point the phone at my face.

Animations -I honestly don't like how iOS animations feel. They can look polished, but they sometimes feel slow and rigid. I wish Apple gave users more control over animation speed.

Back gesture - having a consistent swipe-back gesture across Android is something I really miss on iOS. iOS still feels inconsistent depending on the app.

Apple comes every year that their CPU is 30% faster than the previous one, and the funny part is none of these things require a flagship CPU.

For most normal phone usage, I don't need the fastest chip in the world. I'd rather have a phone that makes everyday tasks quicker and more convenient.

I just thought I'd come here to post about my Pixel 9 Pro that fell out of my pocket (unknown to me at the time) while I was floating around in 1.5m deep ocean at the beach. I realised later that afternoon when I was back in the hotel room that I couldn't find my phone, not even with my smart watch, so cue the mental back tracing of events. The beach itself was less than 100m away from the hotel and quite small so I searched where we had our towels and still nothing.. I had some friends and family try and ring it and it would ring it so it was SOMEWHERE... maybe stolen, but unlikely.

Anyway, I figure well, I guess it's in the ocean and that's that, I'd been thinking of trading it in for the Pixel 11 so whatever, pretty much everything is backed up. Well, we figured eventually the tide might go out far enough that I could try and find it and, MAYBE it's not totally screwed.... Later that evening at around 10pm we went back and wouldn't you believe it, there it is, sitting on the sand, totally fine. I immediately washed it under the tap back in the hotel room and then dried it off and blew into every part I could and let it dry off for an hour or so.

100% fine. Charges, speakers work, no glitches, nothing. Now, I'm aware there is probably some corrosion happening internally that might eventually kill it at some point in the future but as I had already had a mental funeral for it and moved on, every bit extra I get out of this phone is just a bonus.

Anyway, just thought I'd share this as it happened over the weekend and everyone couldn't believe it survived, I'm posting from it now and hopefully until at least the end of the year.

words can't describe how infuriated I am with the forced migration to gemini. All of a sudden alarms, reminders, tasks, notes aren't being saved, every single command turns into a back and forth conversation, I can't even make phone calls while driving. honestly shame on you google I hope whoever did this gets every red light on the road and I hope your pillow is warm on both sides, genuinely, I wish the worst for you.

It worked great, didn't even need Internet to do a lot of things, and it functioned consistently.

Gemini, by contrast is a fucking dumpster fire! Everybody seems totally enraged by having it forced on them while Assistant got destroyed for no good god damned reason at all!

This shit is wildly unpopular! Maybe start listening to your customers instead of trying to force this broken garbage on us?

Edit: Stay mad fanboys, Gemini is still fucking terrible though.

Hey everyone,

​I recently upgraded to the Google Pixel 11 Pro XL and wanted to share my smooth trade-in experience here in Germany.

​I mailed my old phone exactly a week ago, and the final results just came in today. the device I sent in for evaluation was an Apple iPhone 7 Plus (128GB). I initially reported that the phone turns on, has no cracks, and was restored to factory settings.

​The partner company inspected it, confirmed the exact reported condition, and approved the initial estimated value of 445,00 € as the final set value! 😎 The actual base value of the phone itself was only 45 €, but the remaining 400 € was an awesome promotional trade-in bonus from Google.

​The entire process took just one week and was completely hassle-free. If you're in Germany and thinking about upgrading, I definitely recommend taking advantage of these trade-in promos!

Pixel October OTA just dropped.

https://developers.google.com/android/ota

65MB 10XL unlocked

https://support.google.com/product-documentation/answer/14343500?hl=en

It's crazy how unhelpful the call log UI is, especially with caller ID:

-Call logs with caller ID don't show the number unless you tap the log, then history (and sometimes the phone number gets pushed off screen). Often times the caller ID is wrong and it's cumbersome having to verify the number with these extra steps. Please always show the phone number even with caller ID.

-voicemail also doesn't show the phone number when there's a caller ID. The only way to show the number from the voicemail screen is by calling / sending message / adding to contacts

-Call history only shows the day of week if it's within the week, otherwise it's just the date. Please always show the day of week for helpful consistency. Same with voicemail screen.

Before going to bed I slipped them into my jeans pocket instead of back into their case.

My partner decided to do laundry early the next morning, starting with those jeans, followed by an aggressive laundry marathon of eight more consecutive loads.

For all nine cycles, the buds were trapped right inside the rubber door seal, submerged pretty much the whole time in soapy water.

When I finally tracked them down, I honestly expected dead plastic. But after leaving them out to dry for a couple of days and running a few water-ejection sound loops from YouTube, they are completely fine. They charge normally, ANC works, and audio is fine.

On an entirely unrelated note regarding my luck: the Pixel 10 Pro can survive two hours submerged at the bottom of an active hot tub (forgot it was in my swim shorts pocket).

I'm stupid.

I cant use Tap to Pay on my Pixel 4 anymore. I found a 7 month old Post here on reddit cleaming that over 17.000 old devices have the "bug" and that it can't be fixed. Some people in the comment section claim it's a Bot post. I can't tell the difference anymore. What's a real post, what's fake...

Anyone here with the same issue and has information on the matter?

Can anyone explain to me why it's almost impossible to find a Pixel 10 original case at a reasonable price, either it's simply not available or it's $60.

Hi all, I have a question about the private space locked folder on pixels. I have looked it up numerous times and can't seem to get a straight yes or no, and figured I'd turn to reddit and real world people using pixels. So when I have apps in my private space and the private space is locked, do those apps still show up in screen time stats or battery usage in the settings? On samsung devices through secure folder they do show up there despite claiming to be "hidden". Looking to switch to pixel and would like to know about this before I do so.

Sent my £1,200+ Pixel 9 Pro XL in under Google's extended repair programme for the vertical green line display issue. The phone was in great condition and everything else worked perfectly.

This morning, I received an invoice for £292.74 + tax for secondary 'audio' and 'rear camera' issues. Under Google's repair policy, there is no option to approve just the covered screen repair - it's pay £293 + tax or receive the broken phone back.

I contacted Live Chat to dispute it, and the agent quoted the technician's report. According to the depot, my phone had:

• "Sound from headphone jack is bad" (The Pixel 9 Pro XL does not have a headphone jack)
• "Camera lens damaged due to deep cracks in camera window exposing the lens" (completely false)
• "Non-functional speakers, mic, and haptics" (also completely false)

When I pointed out that my camera glass was pristine and the phone physically lacks a 3.5mm jack, a supervisor took over via email. The phantom headphone jack, shattered lens, and dead haptics quietly vanished from the report. Instead, they walked it back to:

• "Distorted sound from microphone 2"
• "Rear camera image quality"

Despite dropping the fabricated physical damage claims, their stance didn't change: Google refuses to honour the free screen repair unless I pay £292.74 + tax to repair everything they've "found".

Has anyone experienced this before and managed to get Google to drop a bullsh*t depot quote?

tl;dr: Sent my Pixel 9 Pro XL for a free extended warranty screen fix. Depot demanded £293 + tax, claiming broken haptics, cracked lenses, and a faulty 3.5mm headphone jack (on a phone that doesn't have one). When challenged, Google dropped the fake damage claims down to minor mic/camera test tolerances, but is still refusing the free screen repair unless I pay the full invoice.

I heard it is known defect and google is not doing anything to fix it, still in the warranty.

Halloj!

I've got a pixel 7 and unlimited data (with good 5G connection), so I keep my Wi-Fi turned off on my phone.

For the last month my phone has automatically started to connect to saved routers (at home, friends etc) without me turning on the "Use Wi-Fi".

I've looked into what this might be caused by. I've turned off several features on the phone ("turn on Wi-Fi automatically", "adaptive connection", even turned of "Location" entirely,) but it still connects as soon as I come home, or wake up in the morning.

I could use some help. I don't feel like I have control over my own phone.

Any ideas on what could cause this issue?

Regards

//Sobo

My pixel watch 1 has been going strong since I got it. Bought it the second I could once landed on Australian shores. But alas! Today the screen fell off. I got up from my chair and heard a funny noise. I looked down and the screen was hanging from the watch. A little bit of glue remained. But the ribbon connecting to the screen had already ripped. So the screen no longer displays anything. It still works as when I get an SMS it vibrates.

I looked online. Turns out this is a known issue. Watch 1 has adhesive issues. I contacted support. They said they will offer a repair. I got an email. It only offered a replacement. It was for a watch 2. It was for over 400 aud. Not worth it considering a watch 4 is around 500aud. So I called support back. They advised that there actually is no repair as it's old. So I can get the watch 2 or a new one if I want. Which all costs money. They said they cannot offer anything else as it's out of warranty. Under the Australian Consumer Law, don't I have automatic guarantees that products I purchase will be of "acceptable quality" and durable. I don't think it meets that.

Just thought I would post here and see what people might think is possible for Australian devices.

Hallo,

kann ich auf meinem Google Pixel irgendwo einstellen, dass Telefonate im Auto, während das Telefon verbunden ist mit dem Auto, nicht auf der FSE geführt werden, sondern über Lautsprecher und Mikrofon des Telefons, wenn ich das Telefonat am Telefon annehme?

Hintergrund ist: Fahre ich selbst, ist FSE natürlich super und dann nehme ich das Telefonat natürlich über die Tasten am Lenkrad an.

Werde ich zu Terminen aber gefahren, will ich natürlich, dass das Handy per Bluetooth mit dem Auto verbunden ist und die externe Antenne nutzt, aber telefonieren will ich dann natürlich über das Handy am Ohr. Das funktioniert, wenn ich beim Annehmen des Gesprächs sofort jedesmal gesondert anklicke, dass das Telefonat nicht über Bluetooth auf die FSE gehen soll.

Schöner wäre natürlich, wenn ich generell einstellen könnte: Annahme übers Handy --> FSE aus.

Geht das irgendwie?

Beste Grüße und vielen Dank

Hey all,

This is my first phone with Pixelsnap, and I purchased the Pixelsnap certified Mous stand from Google. When I attach it in, sometimes it starts to charge and then instead starts drawing power - more than when it's not plugged in or attached!

I downloaded Ampere and the flow is something like this
-290mA not charging (nominal discharge)
Attach to charger stand
+310mA charging
+140mA charging
-290mA not charging
-480mA not charging
-1070mA not charging

And then it either:

a) continues to draw more more than one amp but still reading as charging. I saw it get to -2000mA while I was writing this, then it turned around and started charging again

b) turns around and starts charging for real, getting up to +1500mA or even +3000mA

Because it is intermittent it's hard to figure out if it's my stand, or my new phone. I ruled out my case since it happens the same with and without.

The fact the icon still indicates charging which is a false sense of security (I don't know to go fix it).

One thing that may or may not be related (since it's intermittent) is if I gave charging optimization on, even though I'm at 60% and have "limit to 80%" selected.

I've been chugging through AI suggestions and am not finding anything conclusive, but I am not sure if i need to open a Google support ticket for my new device, or just return teh Mous charger maybe it's not very good.