If this were anything more than a non-story (the whole “AirDrop on Android” thing) they’d bring it to all Android phones.
The fact that they’re only bringing it to phones from the last year or two (and some Chinese only phones no one cares about) means they’re using it to sell newer phones. Which is all well and good… but now you don’t get to say that Apple is greedy for restricting it to their phones.
Of course, consider the Pixel 10. Comparable power to an iPhone 11 Pro. Which was like what, six, seven generations ago? On top of that, the thing costs about the same as an iPhone. And Google recently admitted that the average Google user generates something like $1700 a year for them (for the ads and personal information Google sells). (It was part of a court case. They had to disclose it. That, or the other side got it in discovery and leaked it.) And even then, it’s gonna be unsupported in a couple years. That iPhone 11 Pro runs iOS 26 (assuming the user took the update; it’s available).
So, aside from a keyboard that doesn’t hallucinate shit, and a home screen you can customise more, what exactly is the point of Pixel? I feel like Google should pay me to use one. I know this is the Apple comm, but, any Pixel users wanna take a shot at making it make sense?
I don’t own a Pixel, but if I did, it would be solely to get GrapheneOS.
That’s precisely why I went from a 13 mini to a Pixel 9.
How’s it been?
The steepest learning curve of any phone I’ve ever owned, but ultimately worthwhile.
I did install Google Play services, because coming from iOS to a version of Android with basically none of the niceties was quite a shock. But I’ve had it for around 18 months now, and am now at a place where I know how most of it fits together, and can’t think of any major holes. That said, my bank’s app won’t work, and neither does the Wallet app; not for payments, anyway. Store reward cards work, because they’re just QR codes on the screen. So I have to carry my bank card in a Magsafe wallet.
The flipside is that I can do so much more with my phone than I could with an iPhone; in terms of tinkering, and syncing with my other computers. I’ve worked out how to use SSHFS so I can mount its storage, which makes copying stuff from it a breeze. And it works perfectly SyncThing.
It’s not without its caveats, but ultimately I’m glad I made the jump.
Interesting, thanks for sharing. FYI, the devs insist on the spelling “Syncthing,” even if we abbreviate to “ST.”
What is SSHFS? I guess I’ll have to look it up…
do you have a source for this? My duckduckgo-fu is failing me
edit: https://proton.me/blog/what-is-your-data-worth-to-google
A google competitor makes these claims without citing sources, or releasing data🤨
Never bought a flagship pixel but my past 2 phones have been pixels. The reason I bought them was the ease of flashing alternative operating systems. The irony of buying a google phone to have an OS that doesn’t include google services is not lost on me but that’s where the support is so here I am.
