I have an 8. Also owned a 7 (but I do lots of hiking and broke the glass on the 7, so couldn’t trust the waterproofing anymore, so upgraded).
Why would I give up on their hardware though?
Google is the only one implementing the full spec for bootloader relocking with custom keys, so as far as I’m concerned they’re the only viable manufacturer now (RIP OnePlus, you used to be good).
The default UX on most phones just plain outright sucks. I keep hearing Samsung is better, IMO modern OneUI sucks just as much as TouchWiz sucked. Everyone tries to differentiate themselves by how much bloatware they load up on the phone so customers go wow it’s got so many features! Lately they’re all in on the AI fad as well, and subscriptions, and their own store.
Been a custom ROM user forever, and I have no intention of letting go of that. My phone is almost 5 years old now, and it still runs better than the out of the box experience of any phones on display at the stores. Raw hardware performance is utterly useless if the stock OS immediately wastes it all and some more.
So I’m not excited about the Pixels but they’re also the only viable option.
Do wallet/banking apps still work on a custom rom?
Do you lose out on anything?
Wallet no. For banking apps it depends on the app. For me about 80 percent work
Neither? I am more wary after the launch of 6 and the issues, but I also say ‘neither’ because I’m simply not in the market for a new device.
I have a pixel 6 and my wife has an 8 pro. We’ve had pixels since 3. They’ve been good phones and we plan to keep getting pixels when we need to upgrade.
I’m riding this 6a all the way to bricktown, then I’m switching to a repairable alternative. Also never buying Google hardware or registering for Google services ever again.
Do you have any prospects in mind for a repairable phone? I’m of a similar mindset, but the premium on the existing ‘repairable’ phones out there is so high that I don’t feel like I can justify it.
No not really. I said it a bit vague because I think because of EU mandates more phones will be repairable(Soon TM hopefully). I wholly agree with you about the price of, for example, Fairphones. On the other hand my usage has changed radically from 10y ago, and consequently my phone is holding on much longer, so I’m saving up in the extra years this phone is surviving for a more expensive and arguably worse phone except for the repairability. Every day, it becomes worth more and more to me to be as independent from (large) corpo’s as possible, so effectively it’s becoming a better and better deal 😊. Same story for laptops, except it’s Framework instead of Fairphone
didn’t the 8 just come out. I recently got a 7 to save some bucks.
The 8a came out this spring. The 8/Pro was last fall I believe.
ah yeah. I actually just got a 7a. honestly I find these short upgrade times to make it harder to pay attention to the stuff at all. Its like eating at a place all the time as opposed to eating out rarely and being hungry to experience that favorite place when you can.
Couldn’t agree more!
Yes a year ago. Kind of works that way.
For the “regular” versions it works like that. Release in October. For the “A” versions it has been a different story. That’s been more like every 11 months; since the 5A it has moved from August to May.
I tend to get a new phone every other year. I bought a phone last year so I will probably be excited to see the Pixel 10 next year!
Personally, I gave up on google as a whole
Pixels are the best degoogle phone thanks to GrapheneOS…
ok?
Apparently this has upset the google bois
What a dumbass edit. It’s probably because “ok?” Adds literally nothing and you could’ve just said nothing instead. But noooo must be fanboys down voting you right? 🙄
k
Same. I have come to trust Apple’s commitment and attitude towards user privacy substantially more than Google. I actually know a person that works in a fairly high middle management position in a technical department at the fruit company, and he told me that even their internal handling of user data is incredibly restrictive, even when it makes their jobs harder. I don’t think Apple is perfect, but better than the alternative.
Apple’s commitment to privacy is just marketing:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/sep/23/apple-user-data-law-enforcement-falling-short
https://www.cyberghostvpn.com/privacyhub/apple-privacy-violations/
Not saying Google is any better, but Apple is much worse than they paint in adverts
I’m well aware of the risks inherent to not running calyx or graphene, but my threat model doesn’t justify sacrificing a lot of the functionality that I enjoy on an iPhone. If my threat model required it, I’d have an unactivated burner and a pixel device running calyx in addition to my iPhone. I’m happy settling for “better than google” based on my needs. I also have a couple PCs running Linux, with steps I can take to ensure some level of privacy if needed.
Thanks for posting some good reading though, it’s all shit I’m generally aware of.
Apple is a locked in ecosystem what is based entirely on proprietary software. I’m not sure how that is good for privacy. They can and are collecting your data. You also can’t get apps outside of the App store which limits your options.
AOSP based Android Like Lineage OS is the only way.
Okay
yes I’m surprised at the lack of FOSS apps on IOS.
Yeah we should start our own FOSS app store for iOS.
Oh wait, you can’t…
I’m not
The App store is very restrictive and the OS is locked down
They run GrapheneOS Wonderfully…
I have a pixel 8, and a pixel 6 before that. The same bugs have followed me the whole time. I guess PiP, keyboard, bubbles, and graphical issues just aren’t being worked on. I’m waiting on Apple sideloading updates before I’m upgrading, but this is a piece of shit. I would try another OS, but I am afraid of getting banking apps and Google Fi working.
I’d like to get a Pixel for GrapheneOS but I’m sorta waiting to see if the upcoming fold has pen support. If not, I’ll probably just get an earlier model since it’s cheaper.
Bought a pixel 3 as soon as the 4 was released.
It was a fantastic phone… except for the two times it got stuck in a boot loop until the battery died.
Bonus points for the second time, when, thanks to a google update for emergency services, it decided it should dial emergency services every time it restarted…meaning I had to stay up until 330am that night, hanging up on emergency services, until the battery finally died.
A year or two ago, I bought a P7 Pro to replace it, hoping it’d have all the good of the P3, but with better camera, bigger screen, and no boot loop.
It is indeed bigger, the camera can zoom more, but isn’t necessarily better, there’s no boot loop issues which is great…but I find i have more cases of the phone locking up and needing a restart…and the in-screen fingerprint sensor (and gesture controls) are absolute hot garbage compared to the P3.
The fingerprint and gesture annoyances have been enough that my plan now, unless there’s something significant that changes things, is to go back to an iPhone for my next phone.
You can turn off the weird gesture shit and go back to the three buttons in settings.
“Navigation mode” -> “3-button navigation”
TBH the lack of a back button is one of the things I dislike about iPhones
Rear fingerprint scanner though…I miss it so much
except for the two times it got stuck in a boot loop until the battery died.
Did the emergency shut-off (holding down the volume down and power buttons at the same time) not work?
Nope.
And even if it did, it was restarting itself anyway.
It’s a glitch where the buttons break down mechanically, so it just thinks the user is holding the power button constantly, so as soon as it is off, it’ll turn back on.
Ah, ok, so it was a mechanical failure, not a software glitch.
My Pixel 6 still works
Pixel phones have been too big for me for a while. They won’t fit in my pockets comfortably and I don’t want to have to stretch to reach the top of the screen. Come out with something 5.75" tall or less and I’ll re-engage.
Yes, I am still on my pixel 5 for that reason but I really need a new one
I held on to mine for so long, but after they stopped getting updates, I bailed since the S22 wasn’t massively larger.
Yes, nur then there is so much Samsung stuff on it. Maybe I’ll have to do it like you and modify it then
It’s pretty easy to strip most of it off. It’s definitely an adjustment, but I got used to it (the remaining things I couldn’t change) pretty quickly
What are you using now?
Galaxy S22 with Nova launcher getting rid of the Samsung UI and making it note pixel-like.
You might be interested in finding an alternative to Nova, they got aquired a couple years ago
You can still lock down privacy stuff to a fair degree. I’m keeping an eye on it
That’s not too big?
It’s 5.75" tall, so no. It’s as big as I want to go. I’d love something a bit smaller to be sure
It’s the smallest option, so doesn’t really matter.
Yes. My Zenfone 8 is “small” but I want it even more compact. My old Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact is the perfect size!
I’ve been wanting to buy a Pixel for a while now (for GrapheneOS), but there’s always something that bothers me too much.
This time around, the Pixel 9 pro sounds like it will be great, but I’ll be waiting to see Google’s custom SoC using TSMC for the Pixel 10.
I could always just get the 9 later at a lower price or used.
