Difference between revisions of "Google Pixel 2XL"

Latest revision as of 14:55, 6 October 2023

Random rants about my previous smartphone. See Google Pixel 6a for the current one.

It is running Android 9.0, it is pretty much a mainstream-device, not hacked (no intention of doing so as long as the warranty lasts and/or Google provides decent software updates) so there will be no hard-to-find secrets on this page.

Things I like

Large
Fast
Very good software updates support.

Things I don't like

It has no card-slot
Quite overpriced
Some of the unneccessary apps can't be uninstalled (Google *cough* Photos *cough*)
Somewhat slippery surface
Android (and Android apps in general) feel like an excuse to spam people with advertisements and nag-screens. WTF? Even paid apps sometimes still show adverts or start being anoying by asking for Play-store ratings etc.
The camera apps internal picture-preview seems to depend on some Google-crap and does not work, if most of that has been replaced by alternatives.
Charger has an USB-C plug. So not useable with standard cables, which come with an large USB jack on one end.
Support for transferring apps, settings and data between an old and the new phone is a bad joke. At least you only have to do it once.
Google stopped all support for the device in October of 2020.

Things which might have prevented me from buying the phone had I known them before

None so far.

Verdict

Nice so far.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Random rants about my current  smartphone.
+Random rants about my previous smartphone. See [[Google Pixel 6a]] for the current one.
 It is running Android 9.0, it is pretty much a mainstream-device, not hacked (no intention of doing so as long as the warranty lasts and/or Google provides decent software updates) so there will be no hard-to-find secrets on this page.
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 * Quite overpriced
 * Some of the unneccessary apps can't be uninstalled (Google *cough* Photos *cough*)
-* Quite slippery surface
+* Somewhat slippery surface
 * Android (and Android apps in general) feel like an excuse to spam people with advertisements and nag-screens. WTF? Even paid apps sometimes still show adverts or start being anoying by asking for Play-store ratings etc.
-* The camera apps internal picture-preview seems to depend on some Google-crap and does not work, if most of that has been replaced by alternatives (the preview, not the app itself).
+* The camera apps internal picture-preview seems to depend on some Google-crap and does not work, if most of that has been replaced by alternatives.
-* Support for transferring apps, settings and data between an old and the new phone is a bad joke.
+* Charger has an USB-C plug. So not useable with standard cables, which come with an large USB jack on one end.
+* Support for transferring apps, settings and data between an old and the new phone is a bad joke. At least you only have to do it once.
+* Google stopped [https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4457705?hl=en#zippy=%2Cpixel-earlier all support for the device in October of 2020].
 == Things which might have prevented me from buying the phone had I known them before ==
 None so far.
-== Useful apps ==
-Beware, I support most of what Tristan Harris has to say about Smartphones -in short, I think most apps are shit and a means to occupy your attention. On top of that, Android (and iOS) are some sort of scam to make you give away your private data. Find the more elaborate and more differentiated arguments on his website: http://timewellspent.io/
-* First thing: Install some self hosted calendaring and cloud software (I use [https://www.zimbra.com/ Zimbra], as I don't have much need for file storage). Otherwise ownCloud or Nextcloud may be your thing.
-* Second: Encrypt your device and it's SD-Card
-* Follow one of the various How Tos for securing your device and disabling/uninstalling unwanted apps.
-* Pay for the non-advertisement version of the apps you like (none of them cost serious money). Also -or especially- the Open Source ones. Even if they are only donationware.
-{|
-|
-=== [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.withouthat.acalendarplus aCalendar] ===
-|-
-|
-[[Image:aCalendar.png|thumb|none|150px]]
-| valign="top" | Replace the Google calendar spyware.
-|-
-|
-=== [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.bitfire.davdroid DAVDroid] ===
-|-
-|
-[[Image:DAVDroid.png|thumb|none|150px]]
-| valign="top" | Link aCalendar with a CalDAV/CardDav source, (e.g. Zimbra).
-|-
-|
-=== [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.bitfire.cadroid CADroid] ===
-|-
-|
-[[Image:CADroid.png|thumb|none|150px]]
-| valign="top" | Allows you to easily import self signed certificates (in case you happen to have one for your home server in the basement).
-|-
-|
-=== [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fsck.k9 K9 Mail] ===
-|-
-|
-[[Image:K9Mail.png|thumb|none|150px]]
-| valign="top" | Replace the Google mail spyware. This will also sync your GMail account and provides GPG support
-|-
-|
-=== [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.sufficientlysecure.keychain OpenKeyChain] ===
-|-
-|
-[[Image:OpenKeyChain.png|thumb|none|150px]]
-| valign="top" | The GPG extension for K9-Mail.
-|-
-|
-=== [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mozilla.firefox Firefox] ===
-|-
-|
-[[Image:Firefox.png|thumb|none|150px]]
-| valign="top" | Replace the Google Chrome browser which always wants to phone home
-|-
-|
-=== [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.duckduckgo.mobile.android DuckDuckGo] ===
-|-
-|
-[[Image:DuckDuckGo.png|thumb|none|150px]]
-| valign="top" | Search the web without being searched.
-|-
-|
-=== [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=keepass2android.keepass2android_nonet Keepass2Android Offline] ===
-|-
-|
-[[Image:Keepass2Android.jpg|thumb|none|150px]]
-| valign="top" | To store your secret passwords and other stuff, even works without cloud sync.
-|-
-|
-=== [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.schildbach.oeffi Öffi] ===
-|-
-|
-[[Image:Öffi.png|thumb|none|150px]]
-| valign="top" | Very usefull public transport schedule viewer.
-|-
-|
-=== [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bambuna.podcastaddict Podcast Addict] ===
-|-
-|
-[[Image:Podcast Addict.png|thumb|none|150px]]
-| valign="top" | One of the leading podcasting apps.
-|-
-|
-=== [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher.prime Nova Launcher] ===
-|-
-|
-[[Image:Nova Launcher.png|thumb|none|150px]]
-| valign="top" | An alternate app launcher, which is more flexible than the default one provided by Google.
-|-
-|
-=== [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm Tasker] ===
-|-
-|
-[[Image:Tasker.png|thumb|none|150px]]
-| valign="top" | Automate everything. Even without using a cloud-based service (like [https://ifttt.com/ IFTTT])
-|-
-|
-=== [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.dwd.warnapp WarnWetter] ===
-|-
-|
-[[Image:WarnWetter.png|thumb|none|150px]]
-| valign="top" | A usefull advertisement-free weather forecast app (for Germany, directly from the DWD). Since they lost a lawsuit, you have to cough up a few bucks for it.
-|-
-|
-=== [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ghisler.android.TotalCommander TotalCommander] ===
-|-
-|
-[[Image:TotalCommander.png|thumb|none|150px]]
-| valign="top" | A free file browser.
-|-
-|
-=== [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.finalwire.aida64 Aida64] ===
-|-
-|
-[[Image:Aida64.png|thumb|none|150px]]
-| valign="top" | Android hardware and software information.
-|-
-|
-=== [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplemobiletools.gallery Simple Gallery] ===
-|-
-|
-[[Image:SimpleGallery.png|thumb|none|150px]]
-| valign="top" | A simple gallery application. Open Source, no advertisements. In case you hate the constantly-phone-home-bloatware provided by the phone company.
-|-
-|
-|}
 == Verdict  ==
 Nice so far.