Google Pixel

When I got my Pixel 8 Pro, which I generally love, and Lock Screen Shortcuts were a new thing, I configured on for flashlight and one for DND. At first, I felt like the buttons weren't sensitive enough and they were difficult to activate unless I got my finger JUST right, didn't move, and held it the perfect amount of time.

Then, the last update, I am constantly seeing my flashlight turn on or my phone is randomly in DND. I think now the buttons are too sensitive. I guess someone noticed the issue I had above and way overcompensated.

Anyone else?

Before this latest update (android 14 March update; pixel 7a), I used to get alarms both on my Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids, and the phone speakers. That's also true for the timer function.

But now it seems they're going only to the hearing aids, not the phone, which is problematic because at night the hearing aids sit in a charger, not my ears, but are (quite annoyingly) still connected to the phone. Which means the last few days I missed my morning alarm.

The other morning, while trying to figure out what was going on, I selected the alarm tone, and it only kind of played on the phone (my hearing aids were still in the charging case). It played for less than a second then off. A little later, it played and then off.

When I first upgraded to the march update, I noticed Bluetooth cycling on and off a few times (but I don't recall seeing it afterwards).

Anyone have similar experiences? Known bug? Some settings I'm not aware of that I should try?

From the release notes, it provides the following fixes:

• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused a device to crash or restart unexpectedly.
• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused a device to crash or restart unexpectedly while updating apps after the device was flashed.
• Fixed issues that caused a device to display a blank, black screen after booting from flash.
• Fixed an issue that caused a device to crash and display a blank, black screen after switching to a secondary user.
• Fixed issues when always-on display mode was enabled that interfered with the "Double tap to wake" gesture and prevented the device from unlocking if the user tried to use their fingerprint to unlock the device.
• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused battery information to not display correctly in the system settings, status bar, and on the lock screen.
• Fixed issues that prevented device-to-device transfers and backup and restore from working.
• Fixed various issues that were impacting system stability, performance, and camera.

The new beta targets the following devices:

• Pixel 5a;
• Pixel 6 and 6 Pro;
• Pixel 6a;
• Pixel 7 and 7 Pro;
• Pixel 7a;
• Pixel Fold;
• Pixel Tablet;
• Pixel 8 and 8 Pro.

Hot damn that's a large update! Anyone know what's in it?

E: It's QPR2.

I simply didn't like the device. At first I loved it, but after the honeymoon period I found myself slowly regretting my purchase.

The phone is simply too heavy. The thing weighs an absolute ton. I'd have to rest it on a pillow when browsing because using the phone for more than a couple minutes would start to hurt my wrists.

The inner screen felt largely useless. Apps were rarely formatted for the aspect ratio of the interior screen, and even some apps that had foldable support on Samsung's offering were bizarrely absent on the Fold namely Facebook.

Apps aside even consuming media using the tablet display felt bad, again, because of the square aspect ratio severely limiting the viewable space. Movies and shows had black bars that made the viewing area only marginally larger, if at all, than a slab device.

The Tensor 2 just isn't a great chip. It makes no sense that Google launched a 2023 flagship device that's twice the cost of a Pixel 8 Pro only months before said Pixel Pro with LAST YEAR'S processor. What the hell? We didn't even get the extended phone updates that the Pixel 8 Pro received guaranteeing 7 years of support vs 3. $1800 for a phone with half the support and an outdated processor missing all the AI capabilities Google is currently leaning into heavily going forward.

Not even the camera was as good as the Pixel 7 Pro's. $1800 for a phone that's technically worse than last year's $800 model with the same chipset all for the folding gimmick that hardly adds anything to the experience but weight.

I had never been happier to get rid of a phone and go back to a slab with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Honestly I don't think I could be convinced to go back to a foldable as for my use case I couldn't find a purpose for a "kind of" tablet.

How is everyone enjoying their Pixel 8 experience?

Around the black Friday sales time, I tentatively switched from a Pixel 6 pro to an 8 pro. I was pretty nervous about the switch as my experience with the 6 pro was good but not great (specifically the battery life) and I didn't want the same to happen with the 8 pro. However, a few months on and I can say that my experience has been outstanding.

I never have to worry about battery life; the screen is bright and amazing; the face unlock is reliable and fast; and, it just feels like a more premium build compared to my 6 pro.

If you made the switch, what's your experience been like?

(Edit: P.S. I know I asked this question at launch in this sub but I love hearing long-term reviews 😅)

Results look disappointing for the Pixel 8 Pro in this test as it lands last for battery life and does a bit better than the iPhone 15 Pro Max in terms of charging speed.

About how they perform their battery life test:

This is done by using a light meter to calibrate their displays to 150 nits, then running a script that simulates web surfing over 5G cellular connectivity. This is done until their batteries are depleted.

Looks like the previous render leak was (unfortunately) spot on about the camera changes.

Been really liking the OEM Stretch bands from the Google Store. Great for daily use and sleep tracking. Pretty expensive so I waited for a sale.

I just had this notification come up, not sure if it's exclusive to ~~Pixel Watches~~ (appears to be Pixel Watch exclusive currently) and Pixel phones - but seems to be a more "intelligent" version of Trusted Devices since supposedly the range is shorter, and it requires your watch to be unlocked.

Seems nice. If your phone is unlocked by the watch, a screen on the watch will appear for a few seconds that lets you relock the phone (and I suspect prevents it from unlocking again until the PIN is entered).

Obligatory "trust your surroundings" disclaimer if you enable this. I haven't had the opportunity to test the range yet, but I'll certainly enjoy it at home at the very least.

Google has a support document on this feature here - provided by @[email protected]

tl;dr: a testing certificate for a Google phone going by the model name "GH2MB" (similar to those of the Pixel 7a) is suggesting that the Pixel 8a might be getting a 4,942mAh battery. For a comparison, the Pixel 7a has 4,385mAh, the 8 has 4,575mAh and the 8 Pro has 5,050mAh.

tl;dr about the expected privacy feature: Pixel owners would be able to quickly see which apps have access to the camera or the microphone.

Screenshots from Android Central:

Just Android Police giving a shout-out to GrapheneOS :-)

(see also our previous thread about GrapheneOS)

Leaked photo from Android Authority:

In case you erroneously run into Circle to Search and you want to disable it like me.

CLAIMED

~~Send a PM and I'll send you the code. Mods feel free to take down if this isn't allowed.~~

Quoting their changelog:

Camera

• General improvements for system stability and performance in certain conditions (Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel 8)

Display & Graphics

• Fix for display getting corrupted in certain conditions (Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel 8)
• Fix for issue with outer display in certain conditions (Pixel Fold)

Framework

• Fix for stability or performance with certain third party apps (Pixel 5a (5G), Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6a, Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 7a, Pixel Fold, Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro)

Wi-Fi

• General improvements for Wi-Fi stability and performance in certain conditions (Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel 8)

They also fixed a few CVEs (including one critical): https://source.android.com/docs/security/bulletin/2024-02-01

They're still working on a proper fix. The workaround they just shared on their official forum involves using Developer Tools and adb, so nothing really user friendly yet.

We mentioned it here two weeks ago but today it's apparently finally rolling out to Pixel 8 phones.

Google's promo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdbeqSQjZI8

It's also available on the Samsung Galaxy S24, but I guess folks with a Pixel 7 and below will have to wait.

I have a Pixel Watch 2 and Pixel 8. They're generally great, and my typical usage is for the phone to be on DND most of the time, and my watch to not be DND--so text messages, emails, etc, will vibrate my watch. This works like I want, except incoming phone calls don't cause my watch to vibrate. (Calls from a starred contact, which cause my phone to ring even during DND, also cause my watch to vibrate, for what it's worth.) This worked fine on my old WearOS 2(.2?) watch, and it seems like a pretty obvious use case, so I assume something's broken, or I'm fundamentally misunderstanding how this should work.

This is pretty frustrating, so any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Here are my Watch notification settings:

Just trying to figure out how to get this update going since it says it's been "downloading" for 3 days without an active status bar showing anything. Just a rollie circle piece of s***.

I've been using the internet all three days with a stable connection, what's going on?