[rurp]

I recently got a new Pixel phone and Google's much hyped new AI features just seem so... gimmicky. One of the setup examples shows how you can circle a tent on the left side of a picture and move it more to the center. Neat, I guess? It's kind of a fun toy but I'm not sure what problem this is actually solving. I'm sure there are some usecases for this out there, but it's not a capability I have ever found myself wishing for.

Meanwhile the rest of the phone is surprisingly buggy and annoying. Basic functionality I use every day is worse than on any other recent phone.

Google has never been a great product org, but this desperate need to be seen as one of the cool kids in AI is making things worse. Granted I think of phones/computers more as a tool than a toy and put much higher value on usability and reliability versus novelty; perhaps I'm outlier in that.

[Rinzler89]

>I recently got a new Pixel phone and Google's much hyped new AI features just seem so... gimmicky

Not just that, but their biggest crime is that almost none of those fancy AI features Google paraded at the Pixel launch even actually run on-device but need to be sent to their cloud for processing, despite all the gloating about their new Tensor 3 chip's AI capabilities being the most important (since that chip sucks at CPU and GPU benchmarks compared to Apple and Qualcomm). Also, their Tensor 3 can't even run Google's smallest LLM. Absolutely embarrassing.

They REALLY need to unify the HW and SW development efforts to create a coherent and functional product, instead of designing them separately bazaar style then jerry rigging them together like some underfunded start-up making products for Kickstarter.

[moralestapia]

>Absolutely embarrassing.

So sad but this continues to be the case for Google's incursion into AI. Why do they still keep Pichar around?

[mupuff1234]

As a customer running on device is fairly low on my priorities, and I assume that's the case for at least 90% of users.

Would it be nice? Sure, but I much prefer useful features now that could run on device later on if it adds value.

[throw7]

I can't stand all the "AI" junk, especially when things worked better in the past. My pet peeve: I used to be able to ask google maps while I was driving "What's the E.T.A.?" and it would respond with, you know, the answer. It's been broken for many years now and responds with nonsense.

Another one: I can't tell my phone to change it's name to what I want. Basic "AI" fail.

[jpalawaga]

honestly, it seems like every phone has its broken quirks. I recently switched from iphone to android and there's still a random collection of everyday things I do that are simply... broken.

Maybe these devices have become so complicated they're simply too challenging to work out all of the edge cases out of. New features are easier.

[Rinzler89]

>Maybe these devices have become so complicated they're simply too challenging to work out all of the edge cases out of. New features are easier.

With the amount of telemetry and data Google is collecting I doubt they can't catch edge cases, let alone recurrent bugs that impact multiple users.

I wanted to buy a Pixel on sale last week but I watched a 6 month long term review of the Pixel and the reviewer complained that every new update fixed some bugs but added it's own new bugs.

It's why I'm still gonna keep using a phone that stopped getting updates over a year ago: it's finally stable and no more new bugs are being introduced by updates, as my mind and muscle memory has already adapted to the old bugs.

Maybe I'm getting old but while 10 years ago I couldn't wait for new major updates to arrive on my phone, I feel like phone SW has peaked a few years ago and has been on a constant decline ever since, with new updates just adding useless crap that bugs you and changing things for the sake of change without improving them, and I would much rather have a phone that only updates security but nothing else. Basically I don't want my phone to be a Googler's playground and me being the beta-tester.

[olyjohn]

Not to mention all the Google shit on Android is just constantly harassing you. LOOK HERE, LOOK THERE, SET UP THIS, SET UP THAT, TURN THIS ON, TURN THAT ON, GIVE US FEEDBACK, SYNC NOW, SIGN IN TO GOOGLE, LET US SCAN YOUR PHONE FOR YOUR SAFETY, SIGN IN FOR SECURITY, SYNC YOUR PHOTOS, SYNC YOUR DRIVE, USE AI FOR THIS, HERES HOW YOU DO THIS THING BECAUSE ITS NOT OBVIOUS AND WE SUCK AT UI, GET UPDATES, WE DISABLED PERMISSIONS ON OLD APPS, WE DID THIS FOR YOU, WE DID THAT FOR YOU, POST PICTURES OF YOUR RECENT HOME DEPOT TRIP.

Jesus christ, I've had to dismiss at least 20 different popup things just in the Messages app since I reset my phone a few days ago. Just fuck off already!

And guess what. After resetting the phone, I still can only make a successful outgoing phone call 1 out of every 3 tries, and it will only work after a reboot. It worked fine after the reset for about a day. Now, again, it barely works as a phone.

Rodney Dangerfield was right. There is no fucking respect for the people using the phones. There is only respect for the stocks going up. Fuck you and give us money, that's what smartphones are all about.

Yesterday I ordered a Nokia flip phone. I'm done with iOS and Android. It has added nothing to my life except distractions and maintenance. I spent 3 days trying to get this piece of trash to work as a phone. Just a total waste of my life.

[Rinzler89]

>, I still can only make a successful outgoing phone call 1 out of every 3 tries

Which phone? Pixel?

[onemoresoop]

Harassment as a service. That comes from the advertising mindset..