• kae@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    56
    ·
    10 months ago

    This is an overall win. The upward pressure is good for everyone, as phones have passed the meteoric rise of speed. Devices have been able to last far longer than their update cycle for a few years now.

    • captainsiscold@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      26
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      10 months ago

      My thoughts on it: cool, now give it a headphone jack again and I might buy it.

      I’m not buying a phone that requires $100 wireless earbud DLC (which honestly feel like just another thing to become e-waste in a few years when the battery gives out).

      • BarrelAgedBoredom@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        10 months ago

        My soundcore wireless headphones have lasted longer than any pair of wired headphones I’ve ever had. Going on 4 years now and just as good as the day I bought them. They were only $70 too. Not saying you’re wrong but there’s reasonably priced quality ones out there if you look

      • darkkite@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        10 months ago

        you can still use an adapter.

        I did on my T-Mobile g1. the first android phone

        • bug@lemmy.one
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          10 months ago

          I know the removal of established standards that people use is a bad thing, but I don’t know why people still pretend wireless headphones are suddenly the only option like this is all a conspiracy to sell planned-obsolescence tech and track everyone via Bluetooth. Adapters might not be ideal in every situation or for every use-case but don’t pretend most people can’t just leave one attached to the end of their headphones!

          • captainsiscold@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            10 months ago

            Fair enough, adapters do exist, but as you point out, there are situations where that is not ideal. On a long flight, for example, where I might want to charge my phone and also listen to something, or (in my case) someone who does some amateur audio engineering work on the side, where having the ability to simply wire in a device to play some audio is a big plus. My biggest problem is that phones from five years ago could do both wireless and wired headphones just fine, no adapters needed. What have we gained as consumers by the loss of one of those options?

            • bug@lemmy.one
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              10 months ago

              I think regularly taking long flights and tinkering with audio equipment are both niche enough use-cases to justify looking for phones that cater to your niche (I.e. have a headphone jack). As for why that is now niche, you often hear suggestions of improved waterproofing and/or more internal space for other things (or being thinner).

      • cheery_coffee@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        10 months ago

        Just buy a dongle, they’re cheap and the audio quality is better than most cheap DACs phones used to have.

        I get that it’s stupid and annoying, but what isn’t in 2033.

        • jsnfwlr@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          6
          ·
          10 months ago

          You realise DLC was originally referred to an expansion that was released a while after a game’s initial release. But now game developers are pulling half the features from a game, with those features being put in a DLC instead.

          So the original comment labeling the practice of a feature being pulled from the original product and put into a separate product is apt and valid.

          • SnowdenHeroOfOurTime@unilem.org
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            10 months ago

            … the fact that I realize this is why I think it’s a weird way to use the term.

            Headphones are not downloadable. They’re not even software. Also I don’t game all that much anymore but I’ve yet to play a game where I “needed” a dlc, I don’t think I’ve ever even bought one.

            I have, on the other hand, bought 100 pairs of headphones

            • jsnfwlr@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              3
              ·
              10 months ago

              You get that analogies exist right?

              The original commenter used the term “DLC” to paint a pretty precise mental picture. And you got hung up on the semantics.

              • SnowdenHeroOfOurTime@unilem.org
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                5
                arrow-down
                2
                ·
                edit-2
                10 months ago

                It’s a clunky analogy. I stand by that, and rightly so.

                It’s actually less of an analogy and more of a “look I’m a cool nerd too” type comment

        • captainsiscold@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          10 months ago

          Galaxy S9, and most likely a Sony Xperia 5 IV (or 5 V, since that’s supposed to release in a few days). Honestly I’m using the S9 until it completely gives out on me.

    • Honza368@feddit.uk
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      10 months ago

      It would be cool if they backported the promise. But I don’t expect it, honestly.

    • armrods@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      10 months ago

      They are not in charge of other oems updates, that’s why Play System updates were created (mainline modules)

  • Extras@lemmy.today
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    18
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    10 months ago

    Wait I’m confused are they going to up it to 8 years now for the 8th gen or is the number of years still up to debate? Either way not bad especially if they keep their current practices of being repairable and third party os friendly

  • spacedogroy@feddit.uk
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    12
    ·
    10 months ago

    Would have loved to see this for my 4A but glad they’re looking to extend the support window moving forward. Many phones now are powerful enough to go years past their obsolescence date and chucking them away is just e-waste.

  • UsernameIsTooLon@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    10 months ago

    Custom roms have proven that Pixels could have lasted about an extra 1-2 more android versions before performance really caught up. The Pixel 2 could run Android 13, albeit a bit buggier since it’s unofficial. My only guess would be costly reasons for Google to further support those devices longer at the time.

  • Mio@feddit.nu
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    10 months ago

    Only 3 years of OS updates, then you need a new phone. Give 5 years directly so you can start thinking about competing with iOS. What is the problem? They have control of the software and the hardware like Apple.

    • SlikPikker@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      10 months ago

      The ‘problem’ is that supporting ‘old’ hardware won’t net them the same high profit margins to which they’ve grown accustomed.

      • Mio@feddit.nu
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        10 months ago

        Not really true because Apple can do it, higher margins and support OS much longer. The problem is how they design their OS and the amount of work required. Just look at how long time Windows support all hardware. It is possible, all is just software. They just need to take the hugh upfront cost of the software development that can even help other vendors and suddenly you can do a lot of about the big OS fragmentation problem. You want your latest OS to run on like 90% of all devices. Today, I guess that number is down to like 15%.

    • Pxtl@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      10 months ago

      Also is that 3 years from the first day they sell one or 3 years from the last day they sell one?

    • The_Mixer_Dude@lemmus.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      10 months ago

      You say that 5 years is needed to compete with iPhone but Android is 4 years ahead of iOS so effectively your net result after 3 years is still further forward than iOS after 5

      • Mio@feddit.nu
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        10 months ago

        No, you need to look at OS API level which gets updated every OS. App developers just assume that based on age that they will no longer support older devices.

  • csm10495@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    10 months ago

    This article is garbage. It never says what the expected change even is. Like is it 5 years? Idk since it never says.

  • IdleSheep@lemdro.id
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    8
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    10 months ago

    With how terrible my P7P update experience has been (literally every update has made the phone buggier and more unstable) I’m no longer sure if this is a good thing or not. Maybe if they fix their insane QA issues.

      • MrPoopbutt@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        10 months ago

        I got my phone through my carrier. Unbeknownst to me at the time, carrier provided phones have locked bootloaders so you can’t install grapheneOS on them, or if you can, I haven’t found a guide to reliably do so. The phone was $800 off through the carrier so I can’t complain too much, but I would have got it straight from Google if I had known prior to buying that you can’t install grapheneOS on it.

        • GVasco@discuss.tchncs.de
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          10 months ago

          All modern phones come with a locked bootloader. This is to protect the OS and the User data, preventing anyone with physical access to the devixe from reseting the device and installing their own software without permissikn. I had to unlock mine on my 1+ 7P before installing /e/OS. It might just be that carrier locked phones might need something extra to unlock them not sure.

      • IdleSheep@lemdro.id
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        I’m switching phones instead, but even if I wasn’t I don’t want to risk bricking my phone or playing the cat and mouse game with banking apps.

        Either way I’m never touching a pixel again until they fix their buggy software.

        • GVasco@discuss.tchncs.de
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          10 months ago

          There’s almost no risk, you can install it from the browser, the bootloader gets relocked so no issues with banking apps and rooted device, and you can still have play services on the phone but without it being able to access the whole storage and device info. You seem to literally just be spewing words without knowing anything about the subject.

          If you don’t want it I’d be willing to take it and experiment myself with graphene OS.

          • IdleSheep@lemdro.id
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            10 months ago

            I’m saying I don’t want to modify my device because I don’t want to risk damaging it. How is that spewing words without knowing anything about the subject? I don’t care how easy it is for other people to modify it or how functional the phone might be afterwards, I don’t want to risk modifying it myself, that’s all. Also I wouldn’t want Graphene for other reasons, but that’s besides the point. It’s on Google to fix their crappy software, not me.

            • GVasco@discuss.tchncs.de
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              10 months ago

              Because there is practically no risk of damaging the device and bricking it. If you knew anything about the the distribution, it’s inhalation and android you’d know that the risk is almost nonexistent and reversible. I understand you don’t want to run any risk, sure, it’s a valid reason, but to damage the device is practically impossible just from installing another android variant.

  • radau@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    10 months ago

    Doesn’t mean much with how bad the QA and overall lifespan of Pixel devices have been unfortunately. Hopefully better this time but hard to want to put money in when the previous generations all had such issues and bad QC.

    Extending warranty for the 5As then handing out equally defective devices is a pain. I’m on my 3rd one and I’m really not planning on it surviving over a year since none of the others did and when they died I was sitting down using the phone.

    Only thing keeping me on them is GrapheneOS, too difficult to go back after getting a taste of it lol

  • Orbituary@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    10 months ago

    Wish I could unlock my Verizon Pixel 7 Pro’s bootloader so I can put something less robust on it.

    My Pixel 5 was going strong until it landed face down on some granite.

    • Nate@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      10 months ago

      #1 reason I’ll never buy anything Verizon. Had to prematurely get rid of phones that could’ve lasted years more.

      • Orbituary@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        10 months ago

        I fucked up and bought an unlocked phone without checking the original provider. It astounds me nobody’s figured out how to fix this yet. Going to have to live with it for a while.

  • aaaaaaadjsf [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    10 months ago

    It’s pretty embarrassing that Google got outdone by Samsung on the update front. Mid range Samsungs getting more Android version updates than flagship Google Pixel devices should never happen. Google matching or exceeding them is the minimum of what should be expected.

    Also the first few generations of tensor just being a rebadged Exynos processor has hit their reputation hard. Everyday users don’t know what chip is in their phone, but they do know that cell reception and thermals have gotten worse since the change.

  • imrichyouknow@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    10 months ago

    It’s good but I personally don’t care, phone manufactures will eventually stop updating their old phones, since Pixel phones are so open I can rely on third party ROMs comfortably, that’s also why I got the Pixel 6 Pro at the first place. Although I would admit for the mass majority an Apple like updating experience is essential.

    I would really like to see Google improve their hardwares, I have no complaints with my 6 Pro whatsoever, but it’s obviously inferior to the Samsung’s S Series Ultra or the Apple’s iPhone Pro, both in terms of specs and designs. I have no issues with specs since I don’t play games but I believe most people still do, designs however is much more important especially in the premium phones frontend.

  • Apeeksiht@lemdro.id
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    14
    ·
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    Pissel devices are like bad hardware plus best software experience making it mediocre at best. Idk when they’ll ship good quality tensor soc. And before someone come and tell me hey i own a pissel and it’s fine for me. Guess what it’s not fine for me.

    Here are the cons

    Bad cellular reception : yes really bad on 5g. Overheats like crazy. When it overheats ui lags like hell.