Phones Google Pixel 2 / Google Pixel 2 XL

[widgeteer]

Of course this is very subjective but I actually think I slightly prefer the gestures on P. Neither are really intuitive but I actually think the X gestures less so. If you hand someone an X, even if they’ve used an iPhone before, they generally have no idea how to navigate. Give that same person a Pixel running P and they’ll more often at least understand the home button and back button. A single swipe to access the mult-app window on P is much better than the janky ‘swipe and hold’, swipe an inverted ‘L’ or swipe diagonally moves needed to do the same on the X. It’s also much easier to dismiss apps (no need to activate close gesture) and the suggested apps at the bottom seem pretty spot on. You can even copy content directly from those windows without having to bring the app to full screen.

The quick swipe to scroll between apps is a great feature on both but it’s inconsistent on the X. On the X, if you swipe right you can swipe left to return to the previous app but only if you do it relatively quickly, otherwise you have to swipe left again. Android P is consisent in both directions and even lets you bump up the scroll speed.

P is far from perfect—always needing to double swipe to access the app drawer is often a pain. I also think it would feel like a more consistent experience if they ditched the back button entirely and went with swipes from the left or right edge to go back or forward, respectively—but only if it applied system-wide. I love the left to right gesture to ‘go back’ on the iPhone but it’s super inconsistent.

Regardless, I’m a fan of gesture based navigation in general—just think they both need a little polish.

I don’t think your initial comparison works. Of course there’s a bit more of a learning curve picking up an X because Apple had to redesign navigation from the ground up. P is simply a modified version of their navigation system.

The pill’s actions are inconsistent. If you hold your finger on it a second too long when trying to use it to multitask, it opens Google Assistsnt instead. Long, slow swipe up seems to only work on the home screen to get to the app drawer.

I’m willing to cut P slack because it’s an early beta though.

 

[epicrayban]

The biggest crime of the new pill gestures in P is that it doesn't even create any more screen space. Kind of doesn't make any sense.

 

[DiamonDecoden]

I really hope they will refine the gestures. The gestures are nice but pressing buttons is not outdated either. It's more precise.

 

[Tig Bitties]

So I have had my Pixel 2 XL since December going on 6 months now and I have to say I'm just as happy and satisfied with it today as I am the first day I got it. Since the pixel 2 release there's no new phone that's come out that's even remotely tempted me to switch or think about getting.

And I've been known to be a phone whore, always switching to the latest and greatest newest smartphone. But stock Android is just so good, and Android P DP2 being fantastic, I don't want a Samsung or LG or HTC UI phone anymore. I just like stock vanilla, and it's timely updates.

And the iPhone, no offense, but no way. I am not a fan of iOS whatsoever. Unless Apple updates iOS with a vastly revised notification system and a bunch of other much needed revisions, I can't go iPhone, it would be a massive downgrade from my Pixel 2 XL.

 

[TheBigKing]

So I have had my Pixel 2 XL since December going on 6 months now and I have to say I'm just as happy and satisfied with it today as I am the first day I got it. Since the pixel 2 release there's no new phone that's come out that's even remotely tempted me to switch or think about getting.

I am on the same boat not looking for other devices

 

[jamezr]

The biggest crime of the new pill gestures in P is that it doesn't even create any more screen space. Kind of doesn't make any sense.

yeah...my thoughts too. I guess they want to make it easier for people who switch to a Pixel from an iPhone maybe?
But this is still beta software. I like the back and resents buttons more than the gestures in its current form

 

[Macalicious2011]

I couldn't find cases with a neck strap so I made my own!

I'm going on holiday soon and want to use a rugged case attached to a lanyard. By wearing the phone from the neck, the risks of it being dropped during frequent handling will be reduced. Furthermore, pointing and shooting will be quicker, especially if I'm eating walking while eating ice cream.

Below is a protective case I bought on eBay for £4.70. I used a drill to make two small holes and voila! I have a rugged case with a neck strap. It's a two minute hack. When I return from holiday I will resume to my thin clear case, but anytime I'm going to photograph a lot, I will use the rugged case.

 

[widgeteer]

So I have had my Pixel 2 XL since December going on 6 months now and I have to say I'm just as happy and satisfied with it today as I am the first day I got it. Since the pixel 2 release there's no new phone that's come out that's even remotely tempted me to switch or think about getting.

And I've been known to be a phone whore, always switching to the latest and greatest newest smartphone. But stock Android is just so good, and Android P DP2 being fantastic, I don't want a Samsung or LG or HTC UI phone anymore. I just like stock vanilla, and it's timely updates.

And the iPhone, no offense, but no way. I am not a fan of iOS whatsoever. Unless Apple updates iOS with a vastly revised notification system and a bunch of other much needed revisions, I can't go iPhone, it would be a massive downgrade from my Pixel 2 XL.

I’ve had the opposite. I find the X to be my favorite smartphone on the market in combo with an Apple Watch.

 

[Michael Goff]

Turns out I quickly had to downgrade back to stable. I forgot to check if Fitbit works with the Preview and quickly ran into the answer when I couldn't sync my Versa.

Edit: Turns out Fitbit was just down, wouldn't do anything on Oreo for a while. Back on P with working Fitbit.

 

[jamezr]

Really liking the P beta so far. All my apps have worked. The beta has been very stable and battery life seems to be a little better. Tried the gestures....not really for me. I like the back button too much! Its nice gestures wasn't turned on by default for me.

Love the new volume controls display
Love the battery percentage is displayed on the ambient display now.
Like the new text selection feature when copying text.

 

[tbayrgs]

Really liking the P beta so far. All my apps have worked. The beta has been very stable and battery life seems to be a little better. Tried the gestures....not really for me. I like the back button too much! Its nice gestures wasn't turned on by default for me.

Love the new volume controls display
Love the battery percentage is displayed on the ambient display now.
Like the new text selection feature when copying text.

The back button doesn’t go away with gestures enabled.

 

[jamezr]

I like the functionality of having the buttons on the bottom.

I don't see a back button on my home screen. First screenshot is with the buttons second is with gestures enabled.

I know the back button appears in apps. But its not the same for me.
Its a personal preference...i like the buttons.

The back button doesn’t go away with gestures enabled.

 

[tbayrgs]

I like the functionality of having the buttons on the bottom.

I don't see a back button on my home screen. First screenshot is with the buttons second is with gestures enabled.

I know the back button appears in apps. But its not the same for me.
Its a personal preference...i like the buttons.

Alright, but just to be clear for anyone reading who has not used the P beta yet, having the back button appear on the home screen isn’t actually offering additional functionality. It’s not there because when you return home, there is nothing to go back to.

 

[JaySoul]

I couldn't find cases with a neck strap so I made my own!

I'm going on holiday soon and want to use a rugged case attached to a lanyard. By wearing the phone from the neck, the risks of it being dropped during frequent handling will be reduced. Furthermore, pointing and shooting will be quicker, especially if I'm eating walking while eating ice cream.

Below is a protective case I bought on eBay for £4.70. I used a drill to make two small holes and voila! I have a rugged case with a neck strap. It's a two minute hack. When I return from holiday I will resume to my thin clear case, but anytime I'm going to photograph a lot, I will use the rugged case.

I hope you removed the phone from the case before you drilled it

 

[Macalicious2011]

I hope you removed the phone from the case before you drilled it

Naah I didn't bother as I wanted a 3.5mm at the bottom of my phone anyways.

 

[jamezr]

The back button doesn’t go away with gestures enabled.

I would rather have

Alright, but just to be clear for anyone reading who has not used the P beta yet, having the back button appear on the home screen isn’t actually offering additional functionality. It’s not there because when you return home, there is nothing to go back to.

Like I said it is more of a personal preference. I like having the buttons. I think it is easier to use the buttons than swiping myself. Especially for the resents button. But again its my personal preference.

 

[Tig Bitties]

There's an update on the Play Store for the stock Google Phone app. And man they killed one thing I LOVED the most about it, the swipe to the different panels. I would always swipe left to my Favorites, or swipe right to the Contacts, or further swipe to the Voicemail. It was so smooth and fast, to just swipe from anywhere on the screen.

Now it's been moved to the bottom of the screen, no more swiping, now you need to tap on which panel you want. Which to me takes even longer now, and is not as fast and smooth as before.

I have been using the stock Google or ASOP Phone app for years, probably 8 years or so. This change is no bueno.

 

[tbayrgs]

There's an update on the Play Store for the stock Google Phone app. And man they killed one thing I LOVED the most about it, the swipe to the different panels. I would always swipe left to my Favorites, or swipe right to the Contacts, or further swipe to the Voicemail. It was so smooth and fast, to just swipe from anywhere on the screen.

Now it's been moved to the bottom of the screen, no more swiping, now you need to tap on which panel you want. Which to me takes even longer now, and is not as fast and smooth as before.

I have been using the stock Google or ASOP Phone app for years, probably 8 years or so. This change is no bueno.

It is a bit strange to see them adding swipe gestures to the OS while simultaneously removing them from their stock apps.

 

[spinedoc77]

Of course this is very subjective but I actually think I slightly prefer the gestures on P. Neither are really intuitive but I actually think the X gestures less so. If you hand someone an X, even if they’ve used an iPhone before, they generally have no idea how to navigate. Give that same person a Pixel running P and they’ll more often at least understand the home button and back button. A single swipe to access the mult-app window on P is much better than the janky ‘swipe and hold’, swipe an inverted ‘L’ or swipe diagonally moves needed to do the same on the X. It’s also much easier to dismiss apps (no need to activate close gesture) and the suggested apps at the bottom seem pretty spot on. You can even copy content directly from those windows without having to bring the app to full screen.

The quick swipe to scroll between apps is a great feature on both but it’s inconsistent on the X. On the X, if you swipe right you can swipe left to return to the previous app but only if you do it relatively quickly, otherwise you have to swipe left again. Android P is consisent in both directions and even lets you bump up the scroll speed.

P is far from perfect—always needing to double swipe to access the app drawer is often a pain. I also think it would feel like a more consistent experience if they ditched the back button entirely and went with swipes from the left or right edge to go back or forward, respectively—but only if it applied system-wide. I love the left to right gesture to ‘go back’ on the iPhone but it’s super inconsistent.

Regardless, I’m a fan of gesture based navigation in general—just think they both need a little polish.

As someone who thought he would hate the X's gestures, I don't think I could live without them. The things you mention are just muscle memory that gets built up in a day or 2, then there is no thinking about it at all. The only gripe I agree with is having to activate the mode to dismiss apps, it should have just been a swipe up like before. But it's still fine, how often do you really dismiss apps? For me it's just occasionally like when Ecobee forgets my login info or an app misbehaves. Even the L swipe I appreciate because I'm not activating the multi app window by accident.

I still have gripes about iOS navigation though, my biggest one is the tiny tiny back arrow the OS puts up on the upper left to return to a prior app, and it's inconveniently placed where most apps have buttons/menus as well, so it's a crapshoot on which one I end up pressing. They really have to fix that, it surprises me that something so unpolished and unintuitive could make it into iOS.

But honestly we are all just nitpicking, Google will have their own way of doing things and it will be great and just a matter of muscle memory. Gesture based navigation is pretty awesome even if the implementations are slightly different.

 

[tbayrgs]

As someone who thought he would hate the X's gestures, I don't think I could live without them. The things you mention are just muscle memory that gets built up in a day or 2, then there is no thinking about it at all. The only gripe I agree with is having to activate the mode to dismiss apps, it should have just been a swipe up like before. But it's still fine, how often do you really dismiss apps? For me it's just occasionally like when Ecobee forgets my login info or an app misbehaves. Even the L swipe I appreciate because I'm not activating the multi app window by accident.

I still have gripes about iOS navigation though, my biggest one is the tiny tiny back arrow the OS puts up on the upper left to return to a prior app, and it's inconveniently placed where most apps have buttons/menus as well, so it's a crapshoot on which one I end up pressing. They really have to fix that, it surprises me that something so unpolished and unintuitive could make it into iOS.

But honestly we are all just nitpicking, Google will have their own way of doing things and it will be great and just a matter of muscle memory. Gesture based navigation is pretty awesome even if the implementations are slightly different.

Agreed about pretty much everything. I prefer gesture navigation in general—it’s muscle memory for me as well, especially noticable when I grab my Pixel and try to swipe left to right to go back, especially when web browsing. I also have vestigal muscle memory of the X’s ‘go home’ gesture as I constantly find myself doing it from the Pixel’s home button. Now if iOS would just make the left to right gesture from the left edge of the screen ubiquitous across the system and all apps, it would be terrific. Would eliminate the need for the ‘back’ buttons in the top left corner.

I find I still prefer using TouchID vs. FaceID but like navigating with gestures better overall. Both platform’s gestures will hopefully receive a nice ‘coat of polish’ in subsequent updates.

 

[Michael Goff]

I'm going to out myself as an idiot here. When I woke up this afternoon, I picked up my Pixel 2XL and stared at the screen because that's totally going to make it turn on and unlock.

 

[slitherjef]

I'm going to out myself as an idiot here. When I woke up this afternoon, I picked up my Pixel 2XL and stared at the screen because that's totally going to make it turn on and unlock.

That's how apple trolls you lol

I kinda wonder why apple didn't make like Samsung with face id to smart scroll

 

[slitherjef]

Anyone else on the p beta switch back to Nova? I've been using the stock pixel launcher since I've had the device.

My app drawer has a couple weird rectangles presumably Google assistant updates. The icons are right under the first line of frequently used apps.

Is it me or is Android getting a bit more redundant on things? For example Google assistant, you can sat hey Google, squeeze (I finally did turn it off) hit the Google icon in your app drawer or hold the home icon, or if you have the default pixel launcher, you can just swipe left to right.

I've noticed a bit of weirdness watching YouTube when the device was in landscape the menu bar didn't hide.

So far I haven't noticed too many bugs. Things seem fast and fluid still.

 

[ActionableMango]

I'm using the TicWatch E.

What do you think of the TicWatch? Still using it?

 

[akuma13]

@ActionableMango yes still using it. it does what it supposed to do and does it well. I wish the health fitness side was more robust but that's Googles doing since it uses androidwear.
LOVE the always on display!

Andoid P beta is a little unstable for me. especially when using gestures to swipe up in order to switch apps. It becomes unresponsive sometimes. Is anyone having issues with this?