My impression after upgrading to Oreo and getting more Google-designed features and less Samsung-designed features has been pretty disappointing. I lost a bunch of features that were extremely useful.
Unfortunately, as you said, reconciling the two code-bases means that Android updates are slow-to-never. The promise of open source and upstreaming patches for features doesn't happen with Android. Every manufacturer does many of the same enhancements themselves and then Google re-implements it a few years later poorly.
I'm glad the Pixel 2 XL works for you! I just have a personal grudge against the pixel line of phones are they compete with OEM's directly without bringing good hardware to the table (except that god tier camera of course)
As usual, one must exercise care when consuming Internet content. Most of it is, quite unfortunately, "fake news" or "sponsored content".
Also I wanted to ask you about a previous comment you left. What really upset me was you saying Samsung Software is somehow not a feature because it's made by an OEM. Do you think Samsung should not be making features because it fragments the market? Because to me they've really done a good faith effort to be apple in quality of features and ecosystem of products. I really enjoy the care they have put into the user's quality of life. I could not see myself using anything but a Samsung Galaxy.
I do understand the appeal for the note though.
I use Samsung's DeX destop environment with a cheap USB c dongle that makes my note 8 a giant 24" Chromebook PC when I'm at my desk. It's really a desktop killer for me.
Examples:
- Samsung removed timed audio profiles. I no longer can say "silence for 1 hour" when I'm giving a talk. Now I need to babysit my phone and if I forget to put it back on loud, I'll miss calls.
- Samsung removed the automatic power save mode switch. Instead of stretching the last 15% of battery in the evening so I can call a cab... I now have a dead brick.
- Samsung broke handling of notifications in Work profile. They're not longer reliably working on my Wear watch.
- Samsung removed the ability to browse music in the car via AVRCP. Worked fine on Pixel XL.
- There's no way to set your phone to DnD mode while in a meeting automatically. Pixel had it.
And I could go on. Saying that Samsung just adds and improves on Googles' features is misleading. They also break a lot of things.
Timed audio profiles: I still have them on my note 8 but I literally don't use this feature.
Automatic Power Saving: Samsung indeed doesn't trigger this by itself anymore, but I do not want my phone throttling itself just because its almost out of battery. There is Samsung Routines which will activate powersavig mode whenever you want it to (any percentage)
Wear watches may not work well with Samsung, but I don't actually know the details here. I've avoided wear as a platform since it's not as nice as a Samsung Watch to me.
Samsung does have shit car pairing, I'll give you that point. I didn't even know cars could browse media on your pixel. That's cool.
What do you mean by setting dnd during a meeting? Google reads ur calendar and sets DND? That's cool too if that's a feature.
I guess you're right there's a lot of quality of life stuff Google does right for consumers with a busy life. I feel like Google missing something like Samsung DeX will permanently keep me a Samsung Fan for now.
I've been using this free app for years to do that, try it out: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.publicobje...
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cabooze.bu...
While you could consider all the Samsung apps extra and unnecessary - the Android ecosystem is a loose group of OEM's with varying degree of control over their flavor of Android. The base features are always there on all android phones but Samsung personalized theirs. It's a good decision despite android purists scoffing at it.
Pixel line of phones is there to satisfy those who really want stock that badly they're willing to buy a flagship phone with budget phone features
Samsung really nails the UI of their phones and the experience makes stock Android feel like a buggy unfinished mess.
yes. i can see it that way.
OTOH, I can also see this as the natural tension between Google's desire to force uniformity onto the entire Android ecosystem (good for consumers who want to switch between different handsets with less friction/confusion), and the handset maker's desire to prevent Google from controlling the Android user experience completely (good for consumers who don't want to be totally trapped in Google's vision and Google's service offerings.)