Phones Google Pixel 2 / Google Pixel 2 XL

[michael9891]

Switched off the gestures, much prefer the way I usually swipe up for the app drawer. Not sure if I'm imagining it but the time in the top left corner seems more cramped?

Preferred to swipe up/down for open apps, not sideways like it is now.

 

[Tig Bitties]

Android P impressions:

Wow, the "gestures" on P make no sense. It's too focused on app-switching. And while it's cool to slide the pill to the right to "alt-tab" between two apps, this was always available as a double-tap on the app-switcher button, which I think works faster. Alt-tab really didn't need to become a gesture.

Pulling up for the app drawer is terrible! It went from one swipe up to two swipe ups or a really awkward long-swipe up past half the screen. It's clunky and prone to going into the app-switcher window. To ensure you get it right, it requires stretching your thumb/hands further up with your swipe-up. Seriously, how did Google's designers think this was a good idea? It's terribly unintuitive.

This is the most half-baked and ill-thought of idea I've seen Google implement. It's not even a full fledge gesture system -- it's this mess of buttons and gestures. And as mentioned before, it doesn't even eliminate the lower bar to allow for more screen space. Google could have just updated the app switcher window from the old roller dex style to the new paginated one in P. The gestures gain you virtually nothing, and breaks the app drawer. I went back to the buttons.


I'm still messing around with the rest of P, but is it me or did P get a ton uglier? The quick toggles are hideous and in general the notification pull-down UI is messy. Why is the upper bar black while the quick toggle space gray (in dark mode)? Why did they break the uniformity of the notification pull down + quick toggles in Android O? In fact, why do the Vibrate icon, Wifi icon, data icon, all drop into the quick toggles window? Why don't they stay in the notification bar? And why are the toggles now this blue theme? What is this, Honeycomb?

I also think they crowded the app drawer with those two large quick buttons that you can't customize. They just populated whatever they think you want to do. Uh, sorry Google AI, you're not that smart at predicting what I want to do. And now you've taken up two giant ugly buttons in my app drawer.

Is Google trying to make everything ugly?

Everything feels so half baked. Dark theme only darkens the quick toggles and the app drawer, but not the system UI, where everything is still white. If your there is set to dark, notifications are white. Super inconsistent.


Honestly, Google is really going astray... I have no idea what they're doing.

Excellent Mini review and I agree and I am a big stock Android fan been using it since the Nexus one I bought brand new and I've owned every Nexus phone since and scratch on my head what Google is thinking with Android p?

I love my pixel 2 XL but Android p is very underwhelming and agree that gesture navigation just sucks rather keep it the way it is on Oreo.

But oh well what other choice do I have? iOS ? No ****ing no way, for me to ever want an iPhone again the operating system needs a major huge overhaul to bring it to 2018 and not stuck in 2008 still. And Samsung I'll pass

 

[epicrayban]

Switched off the gestures, much prefer the way I usually swipe up for the app drawer. Not sure if I'm imagining it but the time in the top left corner seems more cramped?

Preferred to swipe up/down for open apps, not sideways like it is now.

The new app switcher window is actually quite nice as it displays more info per app and makes it easier to use multi-window. But that's about it. The rest of the "gestures" and UI changes are weak to say the least. It's as if Google only focused on designing the new app switcher window and forgot everything else needs to make sense and look nice, too.


[doublepost=1533594391][/doublepost]

Excellent Mini review and I agree and I am a big stock Android fan been using it since the Nexus one I bought brand new and I've owned every Nexus phone since and scratch on my head what Google is thinking with Android p?

I love my pixel 2 XL but Android p is very underwhelming and agree that gesture navigation just sucks rather keep it the way it is on Oreo.

But oh well what other choice do I have? iOS ? No ****ing no way, for me to ever want an iPhone again the operating system needs a major huge overhaul to bring it to 2018 and not stuck in 2008 still. And Samsung I'll pass

iOS and Samsung software aside, I really don't know what Google is doing here. They've really lost their direction. This goes from Android P to the Pixel 3 design. Just weird, half baked, ill conceived ideas left and right.

Google... What are you even doing.
[doublepost=1533594880][/doublepost]Uh, okay, so if you long press those two ugly big quick buttons in your app drawer and choose "do not show" enough times, they'll all just go away. Will my app drawer stay clean? Or will they come back with predictions on what I want to do next? This is really inconsistent and unintuitive.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. I don't see any real way to customize or fully turn this off, is there?

 

[co.ag.2005]

Android P impressions:

Wow, the "gestures" on P make no sense. It's too focused on app-switching. And while it's cool to slide the pill to the right to "alt-tab" between two apps, this was always available as a double-tap on the app-switcher button, which I think works faster. Alt-tab really didn't need to become a gesture.

Pulling up for the app drawer is terrible! It went from one swipe up to two swipe ups or a really awkward long-swipe up past half the screen. It's clunky and prone to going into the app-switcher window. To ensure you get it right, it requires stretching your thumb/hands further up with your swipe-up. Seriously, how did Google's designers think this was a good idea? It's terribly unintuitive.

This is the most half-baked and ill-thought of idea I've seen Google implement. It's not even a full fledge gesture system -- it's this mess of buttons and gestures. And as mentioned before, it doesn't even eliminate the lower bar to allow for more screen space. Google could have just updated the app switcher window from the old roller dex style to the new paginated one in P and been done. The gestures gain you virtually nothing, and breaks the app drawer. I went back to the buttons.

I'm still messing around with the rest of P, but is it me or did P get a ton uglier? The quick toggles are hideous and in general the notification pull-down UI is messy. Why is the upper bar black while the quick toggle space gray (in dark mode)? Why did they break the uniformity of the notification pull down + quick toggles in Android O? In fact, why do the Vibrate icon, Wifi icon, data icon, all drop into the quick toggles window? Why don't they stay in the notification bar (Edit: I know the answer to this now, it's for the notch!)? And why are the toggles now this blue theme? What is this, Honeycomb?

I also think they crowded the app drawer with those two large quick buttons that you can't customize. They just populate whatever they think you want to do. Uh, sorry Google AI, you're not that smart at predicting what I want to do. And now you've taken up two giant ugly buttons in my app drawer.

Is Google trying to make everything ugly?

Everything feels so half baked. Dark theme only darkens the quick toggles and the app drawer, but not the system UI, where everything is still white. If your theme is set to dark, notifications are white. Super inconsistent.


Honestly, Google is really going astray... I have no idea what they're doing.

I agree with regards to the gestures... Even OnePlus does much better with their implementation.

And, it sounds like the Pixel 3 will only have the gestures option, not the choice of buttons (standard) that we have on the OG Pixel and Pixel 2 XL

https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/...re-navigation-no-option-standard-nav-buttons/

 

[epicrayban]

I agree with regards to the gestures... Even OnePlus does much better with their implementation.

And, it sounds like the Pixel 3 will only have the gestures option, not the choice of buttons (standard) that we have on the OG Pixel and Pixel 2 XL

https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/...re-navigation-no-option-standard-nav-buttons/

Get out of here. Lol, Google has lost it.

Edit: If you read the article on Android Central about Pixel 3 only allowing gestures, you'll see an editor's note clarifying they meant that gestures will be on by default, and not as the only option.

Phew.

 

[widgeteer]

I agree with regards to the gestures... Even OnePlus does much better with their implementation.

And, it sounds like the Pixel 3 will only have the gestures option, not the choice of buttons (standard) that we have on the OG Pixel and Pixel 2 XL

https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/...re-navigation-no-option-standard-nav-buttons/

Yeah, the gestures are kind of half baked. I don't understand what Google is trying to "solve" with them. The 3 on screen buttons are pretty intuitive and useful.

 

[epicrayban]

Is the brightness of Android P darker? Before I would have my brightness settings at about middle, but now it needs to go to about 75% to be as bright as I used to like it.
[doublepost=1533597723][/doublepost]

Yeah, the gestures are kind of half baked. I don't understand what Google is trying to "solve" with them. The 3 on screen buttons are pretty intuitive and useful.

It solves virtually nothing. You gain very little, it breaks the app drawer, and it's far less intuitive overall. It's one of the most half baked and ill conceived ideas ever from Google.

They had months to fix it, too. It was universally panned from beta testers.

 

[Tig Bitties]

If ain't it broke, don't fix it.

The 3 softkey nav buttons work great, and serve a purpose. One of the reasons I like Android so much, and not iOS is partly because of the softkeys Android has had for so long. But the new gesture based pill in P just sucks, and feels half assed and not thought through.

And today's news that the Pixel 3 will only have the gestures, no option or settings to use the old 3 key setup, WTF Google, you're drunk, go home

 

[epicrayban]

Real question, has Google explained why dark/light mode only works on the app drawer and notification pull down and not across the system UI? Like, is it too hard to do or something? Or is there some other reason or explanation?

I just don't get why Google isn't going all the way with their features. Ditto the gestures, why do these new features feel so incomplete?

 

[widgeteer]

Is the brightness of Android P darker? Before I would have my brightness settings at about middle, but now it needs to go to about 75% to be as bright as I used to like it.
[doublepost=1533597723][/doublepost]

It solves virtually nothing. You gain very little, it breaks the app drawer, and it's far less intuitive overall. It's one of the most half baked and ill conceived ideas ever from Google.

They had months to fix it, too. It was universally panned from beta testers.

Yup. It’s a mess. I don’t know if this is me or not: when you pull up the app switcher in landscape, the apps appear in portrait and vice versa depending on how the phone was last held.

Worst part of gestures? Watching OEMs butcher the whole thing more so by doing their own weird versions is gonna be painful.

And Jesus does this look like Google’s version of iOS. Why so many design cues from Apple’s OS? MD seemed to be heading in it’s own, slicker direction.

 

[RickTaylor]

. . .

And Jesus does this look like Google’s version of iOS. Why so many design cues from Apple’s OS? MD seemed to be heading in it’s own, slicker direction.

MD?

 

[widgeteer]

MD?

Material Design.

 

[epicrayban]

Material Design.

Completely agree. Google had a clean and intuitive look in Android O. This new direction is a confusing decision.

 

[nospleen]

Is the brightness of Android P darker? Before I would have my brightness settings at about middle, but now it needs to go to about 75% to be as bright as I used to like it.
[doublepost=1533597723][/doublepost]

It solves virtually nothing. You gain very little, it breaks the app drawer, and it's far less intuitive overall. It's one of the most half baked and ill conceived ideas ever from Google.

They had months to fix it, too. It was universally panned from beta testers.

https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/...c-brightness-slider-introduced-android-p-dp3/

 

[epicrayban]

https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/...c-brightness-slider-introduced-android-p-dp3/

Thanks for this. Not sure I understood it, but it was interesting.

So basically it's a more nuance slider?

 

[nospleen]

Thanks for this. Not sure I understood it, but it was interesting.

So basically it's a more nuance slider?

Yep. To your eye, the slider should increase the brightness to the visually perceptible percentage. 50% should look like you are using half of the available brightness.

I find myself using close to 90% and I used to use 65% or so.

 

[slitherjef]

Can I download the factory images (not update zip) and just use twrp to flash it like a rom? I don't see much difference between the factory images and a rom?

Will likely wipe my device I'm sure

 

[co.ag.2005]

Get out of here. Lol, Google has lost it.

Edit: If you read the article on Android Central about Pixel 3 only allowing gestures, you'll see an editor's note clarifying they meant that gestures will be on by default, and not as the only option.

Phew.

Ah! Thanks for the clarification! Whew...

 

[epicrayban]

Yep. To your eye, the slider should increase the brightness to the visually perceptible percentage. 50% should look like you are using half of the available brightness.

I find myself using close to 90% and I used to use 65% or so.

Yeah I'm much higher now too. Thanks!

 

[Macalicious2011]

Switched off the gestures, much prefer the way I usually swipe up for the app drawer. Not sure if I'm imagining it but the time in the top left corner seems more cramped?

Preferred to swipe up/down for open apps, not sideways like it is now.

I had the same view at first but nowadays I rarely use the app drawer or even my homes screen any longer as AI has been incredibly good at recommending the top 5 apps I'm most likely to use on any given time of day.

However I appreciate why some might be annoyed by the change.

 

[epicrayban]

After forcing myself to use the gestures for the night, it's clear Google wants you to go through the new app switcher as your central hub of sorts to navigate around the OS.

The double swipe up actually amounts to the same number of inputs you'd have to do regularly if you were in an app and trying to get to the app drawer. You hit home then swipe up. Whereas with gestures, you swipe up twice. Same number. And it can be done in any app so it's sort of like going home but as mentioned, Google rather you go through the new app switcher. Of course, this means when you're at home, you'll now have to double swipe up or long swipe up to get to the app drawer, whereas the old way was one swipe up.

It's wise that they kept the five main apps from your dock in the app switcher window, too. This helps. It also reinforces the central hub idea, replacing the traditional method of going back to the home screen (which you still can do).

I still think it's half baked, half committal, and pretty unintuitive. It really didn't need to be like this. It still doesn't solve anything or improve anything in any major way. It just changes things up with no real gain. You could have just changed the roller dex to the new one and it would've been great.

 

[widgeteer]

After forcing myself to use the gestures for the night, it's clear Google wants you to go through the new app switcher as your central hub of sorts to navigate around the OS.

The double swipe up actually amounts to the same number of inputs you'd have to do regularly if you were in an app and trying to get to the app drawer. You hit home then swipe up. Whereas with gestures, you swipe up twice. Same number. And it can be done in any app so it's sort of like going home but as mentioned, Google rather you go through the new app switcher. Of course, this means when you're at home, you'll now have to double swipe up or long swipe up to get to the app drawer, whereas the old way was one swipe up.

It's wise that they kept the five main apps from your dock in the app switcher window, too. This helps. It also reinforces the central hub idea, replacing the traditional method of going back to the home screen (which you still can do).

I still think it's half baked, half committal, and pretty unintuitive. It really didn't need to be like this. It still doesn't solve anything or improve anything in any major way. You could have just changed the roller dex to the new one and it would've been great.

Only thing I like so far is the visual/animation tweaks to Android Messages. I couldn't be less interested in the Pixel 3 after this.

 

[akuma13]

Running all the Android P betas has been a great experience. I was surprised at how smooth it ran. Android has definitely come a long way but I agree with all the questionable design choices. Knowing now that there is definitely no system wide dark mode is a bummer. It’s one of the reasons i decided to get a pixel. Using Subtratum I could implement a dark system wide UI change (without rooting). Now i’m learning Android Pie is becoming more restrictive and Substratum no longer works on the new os. Android is becoming more and more like ios but taking more of the bad instead of the good. I’ll be surprised if I get the Pixel 3XL now. I’ll just stick with my Pixel 2XL and get the new iphone 9 plus when it comes out.

 

[co.ag.2005]

Running all the Android P betas has been a great experience. I was surprised at how smooth it ran. Android has definitely come a long way but I agree with all the questionable design choices. Knowing now that there is definitely no system wide dark mode is a bummer. It’s one of the reasons i decided to get a pixel. Using Subtratum I could implement a dark system wide UI change (without rooting). Now i’m learning Android Pie is becoming more restrictive and Substratum no longer works on the new os. Android is becoming more and more like ios but taking more of the bad instead of the good. I’ll be surprised if I get the Pixel 3XL now. I’ll just stick with my Pixel 2XL and get the new iphone 9 plus when it comes out.

I agree and honestly going to look a little harder at the new iPhones coming out this fall. I do really like my OnePlus 6 but I think the P3XL will get a pass from me. It'd be funny if Apple implemented a dark mode in iOS (like they did with MacOS Mojave) before Google gets to it

 

[Aneres11]

Cannot WAIT to unearth all these comments again come October as y'all are waiting for your Pixel 3 deliveries.

Say what you will, you all know it's going to happen.