Google Pixel 2XL - Revision history

Marc Saric at 15:50, 1 May 2025

2025-05-01T15:50:21Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:50, 1 May 2025
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			= Google Pixel 2XL =

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

Unknown user at 13:55, 6 October 2023

2023-10-06T13:55:57Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:55, 6 October 2023
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	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.		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.

Unknown user: /* Things I don't like */

2021-12-23T13:57:28Z

Things I don't like

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:57, 23 December 2021
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	* Charger has an USB-C plug. So not useable with standard cables, which come with an large USB jack on one end.		* 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.		* 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 ==		== Things which might have prevented me from buying the phone had I known them before ==

Marc Saric: /* Things I don't like */

2019-04-09T06:27:39Z

Things I don't like

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:27, 9 April 2019
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	* Quite overpriced		* Quite overpriced
	* Some of the unneccessary apps can't be uninstalled (Google cough Photos cough)		* 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.		* 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 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.

Marc Saric: /* Things I don't like */

2019-04-09T06:18:41Z

Things I don't like

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:18, 9 April 2019
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	* 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.		* 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 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.		* 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.

Marc Saric: /* Useful apps */

2019-04-09T06:13:44Z

Useful apps

Show changes

Marc Saric: /* Things I don't like */

2019-04-09T06:12:02Z

Things I don't like

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:12, 9 April 2019
Line 15:		Line 15:
	* 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.		* 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 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.		* 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.

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

Marc Saric: /* Things I don't like */

2019-04-09T06:11:41Z

Things I don't like

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:11, 9 April 2019
Line 14:		Line 14:
	* Quite slippery surface		* Quite 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.		* 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.		* Support for transferring apps, settings and data between an old and the new phone is a bad joke.

Marc Saric at 06:07, 9 April 2019

2019-04-09T06:07:53Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:07, 9 April 2019
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	Random rants about ~~the [[Google Pixel 2XL\|~~current]] smartphone ~~I use~~.		Random rants about my current smartphone.

	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.		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.

Marc Saric: Created page with "Random rants about the current smartphone I use. It is running Android 9.0, it is pretty much a mainstream-device, not hacked (no intention of doing so..."

2019-04-09T06:04:58Z

Created page with "Random rants about the current smartphone I use. It is running Android 9.0, it is pretty much a mainstream-device, not hacked (no intention of doing so..."

New page

Random rants about the [[Google Pixel 2XL|current]] smartphone I use.

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*)
* Quite 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).
* Support for transferring apps, settings and data between an old and the new phone is a bad joke.

== 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.