It's only a beta if you opted into beta at some point.
I removed the beta by going into the play store, finding the google app, then scrolling down and removing myself from the beta.
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Pixel 3/Pixel 3 XL
- Thread starter nviz22
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It's only a beta if you opted into beta at some point.
I removed the beta by going into the play store, finding the google app, then scrolling down and removing myself from the beta.
A lot of people are having this call issue with their Pixel 3 and 3 XLs. Some are returning their phones because it can’t do the one thing a phone should do: be a phone. Google has yet to address this problem.Well poooooop! So weird that after that post, I ended up needing a second phone again. This time I had my Xr with me for backup and was using my Pixel 3XL to handle things.
I was having some car trouble. It's a long story so cutting to the chase: at the point in the conversation where I thought he has dropped off to call the other people involved in our car pool while I dealt with the car, he was actually still on the call. Apparently neither of us could hear each other for a minute or so. I was quite startled to discover he was still on the call when I heard his voice again all of a sudden.
Near as I can tell something similar to the cut out in this article happened to us on that call.
At one point a telemarketer called me on my iPhone while all this was going on. Good Lord why can't we make cold call telemarketing illegal?
And at another point I did legitimately end the call and he called me back and Google Call Screen answered. I tried to pick up the call but I was too flustered and apparently could not so I said the heck with it and called him back on my iPhone. The entire time I was swiping both phones all over like a mad woman trying to find this and that.
I'm too old for all of this. I'm going to get a flip phone with buttons.
Really anytime there's even remotely a crisis I turn into my grandmother.
So anyway just when you think you know a phone...sigh.
I did place another call to my husband under less stressful circumstances and we had a good quality call. No hisses and no drop outs between the two Pixel 3XL's. Very clear. However I wasn't outside trying to start the #$@! car. So take that for what it's worth.
Edited many times to fix many typos and blather because I am clearly still frazzled.
The nonstop issues I read about these phones make me hold my iPhone 8 Plus tighter, especially after reading about the flashing screen problem Pixels are experiencing, which leads to the phone permanently dying. Google has yet to addresss this problem as well. Interesting pattern.
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Google will address the problem(s)...in July...like it finally did with the Pixel 2 XL screen flashing last year. Ridiculous. The 3 seems to have the screen flash issue much more than the 3XL. So far so good with my new 3XL. No call issues, speakers are loud and clear, no flashing, uniform screen, no notch ear burn in / line (my launch day 3XL that I returned had burn in). The battery really stinks, but other than that I have no other complaints after 2 weeks with the phone.
Only two weeks... give it some time, haha. But it’s honestly ridiculous that such a huge company like Google cannot get it together. Hopefully your phone stays healthy.
(Also, I’m still waiting for someone with epilepsy to sue Google over the screen flashing issue/Google’s refusal to address the issue with the Pixel 3/3 XL.)
Isn't Apple going through something similar? The screen issues and flicker on the new iPhones and people getting headaches and eye strain?
You would think a company as big as Apple would have that figured out by now. I mean aren't they worth like a trillion dollars?
Indeed. The company size and revenue don’t matter if they just can’t be bothered to address an issue that’s not affecting a majority of their customers.
I mean, I'm sure if you push hard enough apple will replace the device. Problem (theoretically) solved.
It's the perk of dealing with a company that big and wealthy. They're willing to accept some issues as just defects.
I just got a text notification that my delivery is now set for tomorrow.
Now I have no alternative arrangements for tomorrow and absolutely no way to set up an alternative delivery for the Pixel. I can’t even pick it up from what I can see of my online options. It goes back to a town that is miles away anyway.
There is absolutely no explanation being provided. It just shows Delivery Exception and we looked it up and there is no further explanation. Every day I see the Fed Ex truck go through my neighborhood as I leave to pick up the kids. The one day they have something for me, they don’t make it over. I suppose there is some reason.
I’m at the end of their delivery route and the UPS and the Postal Delivery route. It is fairly common for them not to deliver at all and wait for the next day or just send it back if they feel like not completing their route two days in a row. It wasn’t always like this. FedEx used to be reliable.
I thought I recalled reading that a few members here had delivery issues with their Pixel 3 orders. Well, can add me to that list. Made arrangements to make sure I’d be home today as signature is required and Google doesn’t let you pre-sign for the delivery. Checked tracking throughout the day and saw no updates that it had even reached my area and now it’s been changed to tomorrow.
Why is it so hard for Google to nail down accurate estimated delivery times? I order from lots of other merchants, bigger and smaller, and never have these kinds of issues, or at least receive timely communication for the occasional hiccup. IIRC, my last few orders from Google have all been late.
I'm not sure what's going on. Both of our Pixels were extremely late. The first one I ordered for my husband was delayed close to two weeks if I remember correctly. My own was showing out for delivery on the promised date and then it just ended up back at the local hub and went out the following day with no explanation and I was just lucky my husband was able to stop by the house for a few minutes while I did the usual school pickup. I can not tell if it is a FedEx problem or a Google problem. Or both. I have one of those FedEx accounts that is supposed to let me see approximately what time my truck is supposed to appear near me but I can never get information that granular no matter what I do. Horrid useless app and account. I'm sorry you're going through this. Google will ask you about your experience buying the phone so definitely tell them you would like some delivery options . Last year they didn't require a signature and that was a problem for @jamezr so when I gave them my feedback I told them they should require a signature. Unfortunately they went too far on the opposite end of the spectrum and gave us zero delivery options. Not even hold for pick-up. Sigh.I thought I recalled reading that a few members here had delivery issues with their Pixel 3 orders. Well, can add me to that list. Made arrangements to make sure I’d be home today as signature is required and Google doesn’t let you pre-sign for the delivery. Checked tracking throughout the day and saw no updates that it had even reached my area and now it’s been changed to tomorrow.
Why is it so hard for Google to nail down accurate estimated delivery times? I order from lots of other merchants, bigger and smaller, and never have these kinds of issues, or at least receive timely communication for the occasional hiccup. IIRC, my last few orders from Google have all been late.
[doublepost=1549498892][/doublepost]
Sadly a replacement won't help that particular issue, if we are talking about the iPhone flicker.
If there is some sort of call cutout problem it would be my phone that has it. My husband's been practically living on his Pixel 3XL using it as a phone, talking to people from work and the doctors tending his mom and the extended family asking about his mom. Not one single problem for him so far. He loves this phone. It's probably the most successful Christmas present I've given him in years. He said this is the phone that has been the most customized to his needs and tastes that he's ever owned.
So far I have to agree, but I need to test that phone part a bit more. If there is a problem, I'll ask for an RMA on it. Google's been good about such things so far. Everything else about this phone has been sensational so far. It's got the most comfortable display for my vision that I own. Yes, even my wonky vision that can't tolerate flicker. I can't see any pwm flicker.
Not since my HTC 10 have I had a phone that's tempting me to ditch iOS altogether. The S9+ almost did the job. It may possibly still do so. I've got my eye on the Samsung sport watch as a possible replacement for my Apple Watch. The thing will probably be huge as always but it's got a minimalist style I could probably wear anyway. I could actually easily kick the iPhone to the curb at this point. I've got everyone texting my Pixel number in addition to my iOS number now. I'm feeling good with Waze and Google maps. It's kicking the damn watch to the curb that's a sticking point for me, personally.
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Except if it's caused by the PWM that affects some people different than others. They can't just give you a new one and not have it have the same problem.
Exactly. And at this point I question whether it's the pwm or something else. Like Apple's proprietary power management specifications for OLED. If it were pwm only, then I should not be able to use my S9+ or my Pixel 3XL, either. A few MR members who looked into the matter posted to me that the pwm is supposedly the same unit of measure (I forget what that is) across the iPhone displays and my S9+ display. I still use Face ID with no issue except a little bit of a dry eye feeling if I've used it a few times in a short span of time. So it wasn't Face ID causing my problems. Some people have had problems adjusting to even the Xr display, too. I did have a few days of discomfort myself but am fine now. I prefer the 8 Plus display for reading over the Xr display. I prefer the Pixel 3XL display above the 8 Plus display overall. It's given me the benefits of OLED without the problems I've had before.
There's some blue shift but I have to really be way over to the side to see it.
The OLED/PWM is not the issue I'm talking about. This is what I'm talking about in regards to the Pixel:
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/9t6tm0/pixel_3_screen_flicker/
https://i.imgur.com/gfQdZ5g.jpg
There are threads upon threads about this on Reddit. There's a Google chart of some sort that I believe Reddit users started in order to document this issue; it's somewhere in one of the flickering/flashing posts. It's causing some Pixels to permanently stop working/die. Google has yet to address this issue.
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The issues look pretty similar...and there are a ton of threads all over the internet including Reddit....on the display flicker causing headaches and eye strain some here on MR.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/eye-strain-while-using-iphone-x.2085427/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/vision-deteriorating-since-started-using-x.2114944/
https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/9gy1mz/pwm_eye_strain_with_oled_display_on_iphone_xxs/
I wonder how many negative things you said in those threads? Good guess to say not once?
But here in this section you don't waste time saying something negative about Android.....
Uhm, no, they are not "pretty similar." The flashing issue with the Pixel is not the same thing as the eye strain issues people are experiencing with iPhone X/XS screens. The Pixel screen literally strobe lights. I don't think you bothered to read that Pixel post or look at that image I linked to.
Here's the issue tracker users set up for the flashing issue: https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/119210591
I think you missed the bigger over all point......you are here to say something negative about the Pixel and other Android phones,,....quick to point out the faults.
But not so quick to point out faults or make negative comments about your personal phone of choice the iPhone....
The 2 display issues are not the same...but very similar
This isn't the "Pixel Positivity" thread. I post about negative issues about the Pixel because 1) I'm considering buying the phone, so keeping track of these issues and discussing them is important to me and 2) issues regarding the Pixel 3 and 3 XL seem to be unusually abundant. I never buy anything expensive without doing extensive research first.
The flickering/flashing issue, which you haven't even bothered to accurately respond to, is serious and is even causing some Pixels to die. Why wouldn't I post about this issue?
I criticize Apple often. Why do you think I'm considering getting an Android?
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I don't think you are considering Android at all.....you just say that as an premise to make the negative comments
The flashing thing you're talking about was also reported here by a forum member a few pages back. It is indeed a known problem and is probably a manufacturing defect, which most of us on this thread acknowledge happens a lot on Pixels.
Last year was really bad. Just about everyone who was buying Pixels last year, including both my husband and I, had to return a Pixel purchase due to a defect. Many people here had to do multiple returns!
This year shows an improvement, but there's still a ways to go for Google to get their act together. They're trying to market this as a phone for everyone, but they're still providing an experience better suited to the Nexus fans who know their way around the quirks of Android and could do their own trouble shooting and fixes. Housewives like me who struggle to operate my fancy TV setup need not apply for that job. I would not touch this if I didn't have a live in tech support guy.
The polish is in progress, we can see it is coming but it's not quite there yet. If you're seriously interested in making a move to Android it's good that you do the homework on this one. If you're technically adept, it's an interesting and worthwhile choice. But if you're looking for something that "just works" and looking for evidence of consistent qc, this isn't the device for you, not this year.
So far, what I am getting out of my time with the 3XL is such a revelation to work with an operating system that seems designed to serve me in a way that gives me some say in how I want that service to come across.
With Pixel 3XL in particular I am struck by how friendly and comfortable the phone feels to me. There's a directness and simplicity here that is not offered by Samsung. It's hard to articulate. I imagine some people would hate a Pixel, but I find them charming and more than sufficient for my needs. Lol, yes, when they work. I do not dispute the fact there are issues and some of my friends here on this thread have run smack into them.
With Apple I have to accept or adapt to how they want to serve me. And there's benefits to that, too. I'm just ready to try going in a different direction for awhile. I'm not throwing out my Apple stuff. It's all going to be here within reach. I'm not bored with Apple. I just find that the Pixel caters to me a bit more. As I go on I may find there's a price to be paid for that and I will retreat. I won't know unless I try it out with more commitment than I've been applying so far.
Thank you for this articulate, thought-out response. I’m not sure why some get offended when I post “negative” posts—I genuinely want to know what I’m getting myself into if I decide to purchase the device. It’s an expensive phone and moving from iOS to Android is a big step.The flashing thing you're talking about was also reported here by a forum member a few pages back. It is indeed a known problem and is probably a manufacturing defect, which most of us on this thread acknowledge happens a lot on Pixels.
Last year was really bad. Just about everyone who was buying Pixels last year, including both my husband and I, had to return a Pixel purchase due to a defect. Many people here had to do multiple returns!
This year shows an improvement, but there's still a ways to go for Google to get their act together. They're trying to market this as a phone for everyone, but they're still providing an experience better suited to the Nexus fans who know their way around the quirks of Android and could do their own trouble shooting and fixes. Housewives like me who struggle to operate my fancy TV setup need not apply for that job. I would not touch this if I didn't have a live in tech support guy.
The polish is in progress, we can see it is coming but it's not quite there yet. If you're seriously interested in making a move to Android it's good that you do the homework on this one. If you're technically adept, it's an interesting and worthwhile choice. But if you're looking for something that "just works" and looking for evidence of consistent qc, this isn't the device for you, not this year.
So far, what I am getting out of my time with the 3XL is such a revelation to work with an operating system that seems designed to serve me in a way that gives me some say in how I want that service to come across.
With Pixel 3XL in particular I am struck by how friendly and comfortable the phone feels to me. There's a directness and simplicity here that is not offered by Samsung. It's hard to articulate. I imagine some people would hate a Pixel, but I find them charming and more than sufficient for my needs. Lol, yes, when they work. I do not dispute the fact there are issues and some of my friends here on this thread have run smack into them.
With Apple I have to accept or adapt to how they want to serve me. And there's benefits to that, too. I'm just ready to try going in a different direction for awhile. I'm not throwing out my Apple stuff. It's all going to be here within reach. I'm not bored with Apple. I just find that the Pixel caters to me a bit more. As I go on I may find there's a price to be paid for that and I will retreat. I won't know unless I try it out with more commitment than I've been applying so far.
What do you like most about your Pixel that an iPhone can’t provide for you? How are you doing without iMessage? I know no one who owns an Android, and my friends often text me pictures and videos and I know the Pixel would compress these because of MMS. Also, having no end-to-end message encryption worries me. Third-party messaging apps aren’t an option for me since my friends won’t download a separate app just to talk to me.
[doublepost=1549515796][/doublepost]This was just posted about the flashing issue: https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/anzuoq/pixel_3_was_amazing_until_it_wasnt/
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No one is offended........ Most of us regulars have seen so many "say" they are interested in an Android phone then proceed to bash everything Android. Saying repeatedly how much they prefer IOS icons or similar things. They say something negative about Android and how great IOS and iPhones are and how they like them more.
The proof is in the pudding so to speak.....posts speak for themselves.
I doubt very much you will get any Android phone.
One quick plus to Android in general is that as an avid reader of books on the Kindle app and watcher of movies from Amazon Prime, I can buy books and movies from within the same apps I use to view them. I can't do that on the iOS versions of Amazon Kindle and Amazon Prime Video.
I have to exit the apps and go to the web site and purchase them and download them and then go back into the iPhone app to consume the content. Pain in the tail. Of course since this is due to business and not technical limitations, it could all change at any time.
Basically what the Pixel in particular gives me is a consistently clean direct access to Google Assistant without having to bypass other built in assistants that are improving, but still tend to strike out more often than Google Assistant does.
Of course you can get Google Assistant on an iPhone or Samsung and yes it's also available on other Android brands that also have a lighter touch than Samsung. But with the Pixel it's a more direct access. I would imagine that's also true of Android One devices. I can't say because I haven't used them.
Prior to the Pixel I had an HTC 10 that gave me something of a taste of what stock Android could be, but their flavor of Android, Sense, did have a way of imposing itself on my experience. For example, where we are used to swiping for Apple News, they provided an inbuilt news app from one of their partners that I could not replace or customize due to some glitch and that thing was awful. It fed a constant stream of hideous tabloid news. Not even good funny "Justin Beiber is a Reptillian Shapeshifter" news but more along the lines of murders nobody needs to hear about at breakfast.
Similarly, I find the Bixby page on my S9+ a bit annoying. I can see how they want to make it useful and indispensable, but I'd rather have Google news there. All the things it wants to show me on that page I can already place as widgets in locations that better suit me. I don't need that Bixby page. I don't like it. I don't like the Apple Widget page either. I am not saying they are poorly designed. They're fine. I just don't like them and Pixel fortunately isn't making me put up with that sort of thing.
So far I like Google news better and unfortunately that is probably because Google spies on me and knows what I might be interested in and puts it in front of me. For example I play games like Sims 4 and it knows this somehow, (probably because I log into the official site via Chrome on my pc) and puts Sims 4 tips and news I'd never have found for myself right there on my news page.
Yet I don't find Google news to restrict me to one particular viewpoint. I still get news that's not aligned with all of my political ideals. It's more diverse than I would have expected. Yes I know I can customize Apple News. And I have done so. But it never seems to throw me any interesting curve balls anymore. It used to. It definitely feels curated now...by my mom.
I mentioned there may be a price to pay or a Devil to bargain with for all this convenience and that IS being constantly spied on. I don't know how much of that I will tolerate over time. We shall see.
But as we have seen from yesterday's headlines on this site, iPhone users are not immune to having their data harvested. It will be an ongoing battle and Apple may try to plug these data leaks but meanwhile the carriers and simple public records and the insurance companies will accumulate the truly intrusive data about you.
I'm getting along much better than I expected without iMessage probably because I haven't yet tried to convert the number I use for iMessages over to my Pixel. I don't know or understand what's going on, but whenever I have heard of people having issues of missing texts from people with whom they used to communicate with on iMessages, it's because the number they're using was associated with iMessage.
@jamezr doesn't seem to have any problems so if y'all can put aside your differences he can possibly explain why and how he doesn't have any problems. My husband is not currently having any issues either.
I simply gave out my Android number and people added it to any group texts I have been on with my iPhone.
Where I have a problem is if I am just on the Pixel and one of the kids is only on their iPad and I need to text them.
My texts are pretty boring and consist mostly of discussion about dinner and shopping lists and the kids homework, so I haven't worried too much about encryption. But due to the snags I mentioned about Pixel not being able to text to the iPad, as well as some concern that I may want more privacy in the future, as a family we may look at something like Telegram or a similar service. SMS will suffice for the limited texting I do now with people whom I can't ask to download an app.
I don't know why, but I haven't noticed any issues sharing pictures via SMS. They come through just fine. I guess the carriers changed something? I'll have to ask my husband or maybe someone here knows.
I will need to do more testing on videos. It's been a long time since any of us have shared videos. As I recall, the quality seemed fine when I was looking at video shared in a group text that included Android users. I was on the iPhone when I viewed the video.
Even on an iPhone, I had gotten used to sharing links to my Google photos rather than sending the actual pictures if there are more than one.
From the questions you're asking me, it really does sound like an iPhone is your ideal device for the way you use a smartphone and the way you've described your preferences. Why are you interested in leaving iPhone for an Android? It just doesn't sound like it would be a good fit for you. It's definitely not for everyone.
If you do switch maybe give the S9 or S10 and the new One UI a try since that's got the widget page similar to what you're used to on iOS. If you don't like the icons there may be frame style icon packs you can get to dress them up a bit. I honestly didn't care for the S8+ myself. It's amazing the difference one year made. But it just doesn't sound like you would enjoy the switch, yet.
Sorry if this post is long and choppy. I had to keep breaking away to take care of everyone and everything as per my usual morning routine. I've not even had coffee yet. Blahhh
I switch between my Xs Max and Pixel 3 XL sometimes daily.
I just sign out of iMessage and all is good. I still get messages from iPhone only users.
Then you can still message from your Mac or iPad by going here
https://messages.android.com/
Years ago pics from an iPhone to an Android would be a pixelated mess. Today, it is not a problem. I'm sure there is some degradation but on this 6" rectangle I cannot notice it. Videos on the other hand, is a hot mess. It looks like it was taken by a Razr flip phone. I've convinced my wife to start sharing via Google Photos links on her iPhone if I want a nice video. It's not easy convincing others to use something else though so it's not ideal.
Welp due to the joke that is "fast charging" that takes IMHO way too long that seems to slow down the closer it gets to 100% that seems to more like a gambling game "will it charge" in my XL 2, I'm starting to think early retirement of it (seems many of these devices need this) and yank the fi sim out and stick it in my 3.
Seriously it seems worse after the Jan pie update and I wiped the system doing it. Reliable charging it certainly is not. It's not just this XL 2, I've seen my mom's do this and my previous one also.
Not sure if the 3 has the same issue yet or not
Seriously it seems worse after the Jan pie update and I wiped the system doing it. Reliable charging it certainly is not. It's not just this XL 2, I've seen my mom's do this and my previous one also.
Not sure if the 3 has the same issue yet or not