Current Events > I think I've settled my eyes on the Google Pixel 2. Going from iOS to Android

(+) Yeah! (+)

For first time and I have a few Qs. This isnt a thread for apple vs android dick swinging I just want some facts and answers lol

1. How deep/easy is customization on android compared to a jb iPhone? I was never a super customization guy but I did have quite a few tweaks on my apple phones and liked the ease of just downloading and installing them.

2. I know they sell it on the google online store and in verizon stores but I'm an AT&T customer and currently in a family plan. Do I just grab the unlocked phone and go to the AT&T store and ask for a SIM card or is there more to it?

3. What are your favorite eggs?
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3. Scramble
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i think people overplay the customization on android too much imo. unless you're going to root your phone, customization is pretty much just arranging which icons you want on your home screen and maybe setting up a widget or two.

tbh when i get a new android phone normally i spend like 20 minutes changing a few things and then i honestly dont touch it again.

there are a lot of benefits to android over ios imo but customization i think is kind of overblown
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It does not come with an SD Card slot.
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As former samsung fanboy, the Pixel 2 XL is probably the greatest phone ever made.

1. The customization differential is like ordering a slice of pizza from a cafeteria where they have cheese pizza or pepperoni pizza. Whereas stock android is like ordering your pizza from a restaurant where you can do anything you want.

2. I'm a google fi customer, so I can either use GSM or CDMA. With AT&T, just use the below link for instructions
https://www.att.com/plans/google-pixel.html

3. Basted, or sometimes scrabled french style if I feel like spending time making them.
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I love the software of the Pixel 2, but not the hardware. No SD card, no wireless charging, no headphone jack, and the XL has a defective screen. If you could get that OS onto the Note 8, you'd have the perfect phone.
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Recently switched from OnePlus One (had it for like 3 years, bought it before they were mainstream) to Nokia 8.

And all I can say is that it's amazing.
In every performance benchmark I ran it scored better results than the competition.
Performance is great for my needs, as I don't play mobile games.
Never had the slightest delay in any app.
They already pushed out official 8.1 oreo, too.

But the best feature is that it's bascially a brick. They rated it as the best build phone in every review I watched. Good old Nokia quality. A great change after all those Samsungs and even Oneplus fragile phones.
It's also significantly cheaper than the competition. Got it for like 350, while other devices of similar performance are in ~500 range (5t, s8, pixel is even more expensive).

The only downside is that camera isn't optimized well enough, but I use it like once a week so I don't care.

The Admiral posted...

I love the software of the Pixel 2, but not the hardware. No SD card, no wireless charging, no headphone jack, and the XL has a defective screen. If you could get that OS onto the Note 8, you'd have the perfect phone.

Snapdragon 835, 4 gigs ram, 1440 display is fantastic. Not sure what you mean "defective". If you mean "the contrast isn't turned up to 11" like they do on samsung and apple products, then that's not "defective. If you mean some issues with the first production run of the phone, then you may as well say any car from a line that had a recall ever is "defective"

EDIT: And the camera has been praised as the best one on the market for it's segment.
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The Admiral posted...

I love the software of the Pixel 2, but not the hardware. No SD card, no wireless charging, no headphone jack, and the XL has a defective screen. If you could get that OS onto the Note 8, you'd have the perfect phone.

I dont mind those things and I'm getting the regular not XL. Plus it comes with a headphone jack dongle anyways so eh.

Now I'm getting conflicted reports on the customization ITT <__<
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Touch posted...

Now I'm getting conflicted reports on the customization ITT <__<

Customization is certainly better than iOS.
And if you root, you can basically do anything.

Even without rooting, there's an app which allows you to completely change your phone's theme.

When I went to get a new phone, the rep warned me about the blueish tint to the Pixels screen and after that I couldn't unsee the shit
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GunmaN1905 posted...

Touch posted...

Now I'm getting conflicted reports on the customization ITT <__<

Customization is certainly better than iOS.
And if you root, you can basically do anything.

Even without rooting, there's an app which allows you to completely change your phone's theme.

Eh. I want more than just my phone's theme tho. UI or QoL tweaks to certain apps like FB, Instagram, etc for example.
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As I said, after rooting you can do whatever you want.

GunmaN1905 posted...

As I said, after rooting you can do whatever you want.

Yeah I just looked it up and its a lot more complicated than jailbreaking lol.

Whats up with rooting tho? Is it like jb where I cant upgrade my phone's firmware or I'll lose it or?
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On the bright side with the Google phones, they get the Android updates first becaus you don't have to deal with Samsung or the like needing to hack the shit out of it first.
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Give me a minute I'll try to address all of these questions
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Thanks for all the help and keeping the thread civil btw guys. I really appreciate it!
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Touch posted...

GunmaN1905 posted...

As I said, after rooting you can do whatever you want.

Yeah I just looked it up and its a lot more complicated than jailbreaking lol.

Whats up with rooting tho? Is it like jb where I cant upgrade my phone's firmware or I'll lose it or?

Depends on the phone.
For example Samsungs are really easy to root.
It basically gives you access to everything that's locked from manufacturer side.
The only downside is that you lose your warranty.

As for firmware, you can install whatever you like on your phone.
My favorite android version for Galaxy S1-4 was Cyanogenmod, that's why I got Oneplus One back in the day, because it had stock Cyanogenmod. You could do whatever you wanted with it.
Custom roms usually have way more customization options, it's just that they're not optimized for every phone.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/
That's the go-to site for everything android related.
Most phones have their own subforums, so you can check the stuff that interests you.

Touch posted...

1. How deep/easy is customization on android compared to a jb iPhone? I was never a super customization guy but I did have quite a few tweaks on my apple phones and liked the ease of just downloading and installing them.

If you want to use your android phone just like an iPhone (i.e. download, install, and forget) you can. You have some additional options available to you that iOS doesn't, but nothing mind blowing. The most significant form of customization you'll get with Android are custom launchers which are things that redesign the main app screen/desktop thing and default functionality (for example, the launcher I use allows me to do things like assign swiping downwards with two fingers to launch a specific application--I actually use it for something different but you get the idea). Widgets are overblown and predominantly useless but there are some useful ones. Many applications come with a widget version (for example, the VPN app that I use comes with a widget that lets me turn it on and off by just tapping the icon instead of having to open the application).

2. I know they sell it on the google online store and in verizon stores but I'm an AT&T customer and currently in a family plan. Do I just grab the unlocked phone and go to the AT&T store and ask for a SIM card or is there more to it?

I strongly recommend grabbing the unlocked phone from google directly. If you buy one from the store, it could come with OEM garbage and that's terrible.

3. What are your favorite eggs?

Benedict

Whats up with rooting tho? Is it like jb where I cant upgrade my phone's firmware or I'll lose it or?

There are basically 3 different layers of root. the first is superuser permissions, the second is unlocked bootloader. third is custom ROM. You can do whichever that fits your needs, but they are basically done in that order. First you get superuser permissions and use that to unlock the bootloader, with the bootloader unlocked you can install a custom ROM.

The benefits are numerous and too many to go into detail, but you may not care about these benefits. The disadvantages are: Yes if you update your firmware you lose root (you have to manually upgrade your own OS with a rooted version), You become more vulnerable to malware attacks on your phone, and certain security features such as android pay are disabled on a rooted phone (there is no workaround don't even try).

Personally I get tired of having to manually update my phone OS so I just don't bother with root these days.
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I see. Thanks a bunch for the indepth explanations Tyranthraxus!

And one final question

How worried do I have to be about viruses/malware on android phones? I know iOS has p damn good security with that kinda stuff so how does android stack up?
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You'd have to worry only if you're an idiot that downloads/clicks stuff that are obvious scam.

GunmaN1905 posted...

You'd have to worry only if you're an idiot that downloads/clicks stuff that are obvious scam.

Ah okay sweet. Thanks!
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Touch posted...

I see. Thanks a bunch for the indepth explanations Tyranthraxus!

And one final question

How worried do I have to be about viruses/malware on android phones? I know iOS has p damn good security with that kinda stuff so how does android stack up?

I honestly don't understand how people get viruses on their computers and phones. Are they just window lickers who faceroll their keyboard, clicking every link on shady porn sites?
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rabbi_baby posted...

Touch posted...

I see. Thanks a bunch for the indepth explanations Tyranthraxus!

And one final question

How worried do I have to be about viruses/malware on android phones? I know iOS has p damn good security with that kinda stuff so how does android stack up?

I honestly don't understand how people get viruses on their computers and phones. Are they just window lickers who faceroll their keyboard, clicking every link on shady porn sites?

Agreed.
Haven't used antivirus on my PC for like 10 years now.
I install it once in a few months just to check if everything is clear.
Windows defender+adblock is more than enough.

I have the OnePlus X. It came with their lame Oxygen OS (because they can no longer use CyanogenMod like the OnePlus One) so I rooted my device and I'm currently running the latest Android 8.1. As far as software goes, rooting is pretty much mandatory. Hardware could be better though. The camera quality is notably bad, like with all OnePlus devices. The pixel 2 seems like the best option now, but the price is a little steep.
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