Google's Pixel smartphones are continuing to grow in the US, as shipments in the US grew in Q2 2023 while everyone else dropped.
Android is struggling to keep its market share in the United States, as Apple continues to take over in the market. But, despite Android as a whole losing ground, Google Pixel phones are becoming a bigger slice of the US market.
Counterpoint Research reports that, in Q2 2023, US smartphone shipments dropped by 24% year-over-year. That includes both iPhones and Android phones, and virtually every brand saw a drop in shipments. Samsung saw US shipments drop by 37% while Motorola saw a 17% drop. TCL saw the biggest decline at just shy of 70% year-over-year, and even Apple saw a 6% drop.
My Android phone fucking blows. The one I had prior was great but I lost it. I hate the constant alerts from the apps I can't delete, I can't take up close photos anymore without it looking like shit and not focusing, the screen will flip horizontal at random times when it's got the lock screen option turned on. I don't want a Google phone, though.
I used to have a Samsung Galaxy S6, I rooted it so I could remove the facebook app... turned out they built a custom circuit in a little chip that permanently breaks NFC if you rooted it. Ridiculous.
I found not being able to remove the app frustrating, and wanted to go further than disable it. My thinking was, it's my phone, I want it setup my way, and I don't want bloat... especially facebook bloat on the phone.
If it’s anything like any of my Samsung phones I’ve had, Facebook isn’t actually installed - the icon is just a stub. Opening it takes you to the store to download the actual app. Might be different where you are or if you bought a carrier phone though, I only ever buy outright from manufacturers or stores, never carrier.
You can adb disable them. Not the same as a full removal, if you wipe/reset the phone they come back, but for most purposes they're effectively gone. Do a backup first, if you remove one too many or the wrong one, and other apps might start crashing.
I've done that before but after updates it seems to reset for some reason? Having to do it over and over is frustrating, unless I'm missing something which is not outside the realm of possibility
I'm biased but I like my Pixel 7 Pro quite a bit, though the Pixel 7 is also good.
Doesn't really matter if it's a Google phone or not though: They track you the exact same unless you fully rip out all Google Services, which also means ripping out all banking apps and the Play store.
Yeah, that's a good point. I feel like in terms of tracking you have to unplug completely to be successful. No Square card readers, no social media, no Google anything, not to mention having to vet every service you use which doesn't feel like it would be worth it.
I've been using oneplus phones for years and theyre awesome but I'm not running the oxygenOS that it comes with, I'm running lineageOS or other AOSP type of roms.
Haven't messed with the stock oxygen (I think it's called ColorOS now?) in a while, but maybe will check it out. Far as I knew it didn't really come with any bloat ware?
oneplus has its own sort of problems
I've heard ram management sucks on oneplus 11 with 12 GB ram because they keep killing apps in background to preserve battery(even after using the phone for weeks so it should've adapted)