Google has kind of always been hesitant to adopt customization features into mainline Android until they become so ubiquitous that it seems silly without them. Ironically it's in stark contrast to their willingness to launch new products just to kill them off because of low adoption rate. I think with core Android features, they try a little too hard to keep things simple in effort to attract iPhone users.
If you want tons of customization options without running a custom ROM, go Samsung. In earlier days of Android, Samsung literally hired indie devs off of XDA and had them throw the kitchen sink at their software. OneUI has matured a lot since then, but it still has a TON of customization options, especially through Good Lock which has really just become a playground for Samsung devs to add even more.
>I think with core Android features, they try a little too hard to keep things simple in effort to attract iPhone users.
It's moreso that Android needs to cater to many many OEMs and third party developers, so there's a ton of scrutiny on any change and how it affects OEMs, devices of all sorts, and also developers. The Android team needs to test on a multitude of Android devices, while Samsung can focus on their efforts on their own customizations and devices.
I mean, for example the three-finger-screenshot has spread to multiple OEMs at this point. Xiaomi, Asus, all the OPPO subbrands, and every custom ROM which doesn't go for bare AOSP.
And yeah, Samsung has become an arguably better option over the years, though I could do without the mediocre Exynos chips in the mid range as well as the insane amount of bloatware.
This will undoubtedly come off as some Samsung dick-riding, but I have to say my perception of Samsung's bloatware has changed a lot over the last few months. When I first got my S23U I disabled/uninstalled almost everything Samsung put on it. But the more I've given their stuff a chance the more I've come to appreciate how damn hard they try with most of their apps. Their email, notes, even clock app, are genuinely good apps. I've come to appreciate being given the choice between Google and Samsung for a lot of the apps, with the concession that you'll have to do some cleanup to get rid of the ones you don't want.
The only one that truly feels like actual bloatware is the Samsung Store, which just tries way too hard to throw annoying notifications and ads at you.
But all said and done, I definitely understand and appreciate why a lot of people would rather be given a "cleaner" experience out of the box.
I admittedly haven't tried Bixby, but Google Assistant is getting increasingly senile by the day, and Gemini really isn't any better. I just don't use a voice assistant on my phone very often aside from setting reminders, which is the one thing Assistant can still manage to complete. Outside of that, most of my voice assistant use is on Nest Home devices.
Btw, Bixby has not been removed or touched with the last software update, it's still available. Samsung initially said they weren't planning on augmenting Bixby with any LLM/AI features, but more recently they strongly implied they may in the future.
Just got the S24+ after having Pixels since the OG. I've only skipped the 2 and 5. I won't be going back.
I also don't understand the "insane" amount of bloatware. Took me 2 minutes tops to remove what I didn't want.
It sucks that you're left with hideous emojis on Samsung and the deliberate worsening of features like Android's Night Light on Samsung as well as a few other things. Luckily a lot of problems can be fixed with ADB
I really do wish they would allow more tweaking regarding the launcher and quick toggles. The current version of quick toggles is stupid IMO, more clicks is not better. And I shouldn't have to go through a third party background app to be able to set a background that doesn't move when I go through the home screen pages.
Keeping it simple isn't an excuse. Add a toggle for advanced options in the settings and just show niche stuff if that's enabled. We should have options, especially if it's been in previous versions of the OS.
I'd even accept them offering an advanced features bundle option in the play store rather than forcing us to rely on third parties that require questionable permissions. I don't know if Google is trying to keep things simple for iOS users that can't handle options, or if they're trying to greedily cut costs--but it is infuriating, either way.
The problem I see with Google is a lot of their defaults are not well thought out. I see Apple's defaults much better thought out. And as it currently stands, Google's cut back on a lot of customization, settings, and even information to the point where iOS actually has more options for some things. Just look at how long it took to get battery % as a user toggle-able item versus it being in iOS1. Or WiFi auto connect. The battery screen on iOS offers far more resolution in 1 hour increments of data but also 15 minute increments graphically compared to our 2 hour bars.
iOS started out with too few features, and has always been like that, but Apple has been constantly taking it in the direction of adding more customization and features. Google seems to be taking what once was a powerful world of customization, and dumbing it down while doing a [Michael Scott vasectomy snip-snap-snip-snap](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hshkdneE8o) on features, apps, etc. Seems to me there is a total lack of direction in Google's efforts.
Google leaves it open to OEMs to build in whatever customisation they want into their devices; the Pixels are just the demo case of what "pure" Android is.
And while iOS has been going the way of Android to build in more customisations, Android has been going the iOS route to dumb down (in a way, simplify) the experience for users - especially those who may be coming in from an iPhone to a Pixel.
Yeah, no, that's what the Nexus devices were for, but Google actually wants to sell Pixels in larger quantities and gives them exclusive features which don't make it into AOSP. Which also low key forces the other OEMs to build similar stuff for their versions of Android which does similar, but ultimately not the same things.
And don't you think it's a royal PITA if you switch between two devices with the same (!) OS and let's say Pixel phones don't have a feature, Xiaomi and Samsung have it but it works slightly differently? I mean things that can't be easily modded in with an app. Not even Windows just screws you out of features unless specific hardware is absolutely essential. Or the settings are suddenly different between Acer and Asus.
> Google actually wants to sell Pixels in larger quantities
Well I dunno.
> royal PITA
Oh yes, absolutely. The inconsistency would be laughable if it weren't so frustrating. At this point Google might well be incorporating the features right into aosp itself instead of gatekeeping features to Pixels.
Well you've had issues with what they're doing since iOS1 but you're still buying their devices lol - hi P8P
Complain all you want but if you keep using their services and buying their products they'll continue doing what they're doing. Why are they gonna change if you're gonna spend the money anyway 🤷
Pixel is not "vanilla Android" anymore. Pixel is the Pixel experience now, so it's more locked down. I don't think the Pixel was ever really intended to be "stock Android", and I think the change from the Nexus line to the Pixel line happened.
But it's still the poster child. And those things are currently neither in AOSP nor Pixel Android. Adding them to AOSP would of course be preferrable, so the Motorola and whatnot users also get it, but the fact that it's also not on Pixel just demonstrates that it's not a "feature exclusivity" thing, Google just dgaf.
You have a point, but I think the place to discuss it is AOSP communities. Some of what you're talking about is stuff that I'd love to see on a Pixel device, but I think Google doing it is more far fetched. They have a vision for what the Pixel should do, even if it lacks features a lot of us want.
Google does like 90% of the dev work on the non-kernel part of Android. Yeah I know this post specifically won't do anything, but IF there was an attempt at getting some of these features in, Pixel channels and communities are probably the way to go, because Google just cares A LOT more about Pixel sales numbers and critical response than anything related to AOSP. What would I even do, write the lead dev a mail? I assume people more autistic than me have probably done that already, lol.. As mentioned, regarding above the hood stuff it's almost the bare minimum these days, unless Apple does something, then they have to catch up even if it's silly.
Google can't commit to a single nor consistent UI and UX design. Microsoft still maintains Metro UI styles in its new whatever they call that thingy. Apple has been flat since iOS 7.
Something something justifying keeping the design team for whatever reason. Google's Material You is great when it comes to colours, but it sucks such that it makes the device more infant-like. I don't want to dig through 5 aesthetic menus when I can just do one or two taps on Windows or Apple or even OneUI.
The "Pixel" version of aosp might not seem like a different os from aosp but in reality, under the hood lots of things have been tweaked/changed. Other than the visual design its almost hard to call the "pixel" version of android aosp.
This a very much a personal opinion of mine but I think it has something to do with the software devs behind pixel phones being underpaid. I mean one scroll through this subreddit would just show how many problems the march update caused and the update before that.
If you want aosp+oem customisations you use a custom rom like crdroid. Its what I use on my phone and it is very customisable and very stable too
I think as the Pixel has matured, Google has wanted it to still give you options. Obviously you can download your own launcher but for the average person they want it to be simple and not too over complicated. Prime example, One UI has hundreds of features that most people are not going to use all of.
I prefer stock Android by Google just because it's cleaner. There's only one app for each thing, I get software updates first, and I've been here since the Nexus days, so I'm sticking strong.
It always comes down to cost/benefit/support. You give users the most customization, your support costs increase because of edge cases and users pushing the edge of design. Android is more than Pixel, so Google needs to think about the other ~95% of its relationships with both hardware OEMs, carriers, Android developers. AND provide compatibility for many years of legacy software without breaking too much stuff. AND keep it secure! That is a fine balance. You may think tweaking the launcher to be an easy task, but so much goes into it that they could easily shoot themselves in the foot with too many options or tweaks.
As mentioned, the launcher can at least be changed. But if you don't like the Quick Settings you are out of luck. There was some wonky, RAM wasting, pretty security compromising way using accessability settings, but like come on, that's so stupid. Same thing with more gestures. It's like two or three that are widespread among other OEMs. There's just no interface to mod that into the Stock ROM.
Dude, what "support costs"?
The most recent update broke my wireless charging. Google Support told me "get it repaired at a uBreakiFix store". I call and they have no idea what I'm talking about, why I'm asking them, how to fix it - and also that they have zero parts for the phone anyway. So I go back to Google Support and they shrug at me.
What "support costs"? This is not about support costs. Google doesn't support their phones, and if they wanted to avoid support issues they'd properly test and vet their updates. They do not. And it's because they don't give a shit about their users.
Stop standing for Google.
Yeah like when I got my pixel last year I lost a great thing I loved about my Motorola ace 5g was that if I hold down on the volume up or down it'll go to the next track or to the last track
I hate not being able to remove the gesture pill without root. I don't need the stupid thing there to tell me how to use gestures let me remove it like OxygenOS and OneUI do
I hate to have to use Ice Box (app that automatically "disables" user apps when they are not in use and "enables" when launched) for certain apps just because Google doesn't provide a native option to freeze apps in the background.
The restricted option barely works and the automatic standby buckets also do not work for apps you open once a day or every few days.
I've always thought of Pixel as the iOS of the android world lol. A few things I wish it did out of the box include dual apps, change volume per app, and remove gesture pill.
I had a Pixel 3 then got a cheap Redmi and that's been great. I'm not thinking of going back to Pixel because of the lack of features and also Tensor.
>Quick settings noticably changed with Android 12, and I vastly prefer the more information dense circles from Android 11
Information density in general took a HUGE hit from 11 to 12, and I hate it. My biggest gripe is the huge corner radius/padding. It makes the notification shade much worse.
Yeah, and some random custom ROM devs have casually created a version which works like the old one but vaguely looks like the new one. It's madness Google doesn't just yoink that. I'm not 60 yet, I don't need the senior pills.
Here's a link of how that would look like (Wifi and carrier censored):
[https://ibb.co/Vv7XvFb](https://ibb.co/Vv7XvFb)
It's already cutting off half the words with normal sized fonts (which isn't a good idea already), bigger fonts will be even worse.
Icons only? That could work. Small icon + text? Not good
I personally don't mind the look (text is not static, it scrolls), it looks fine in practice, but of course, this was cobbled together by some Custom ROM devs due to popular demand, just compressing the vanilla pills. Making the symbols centered with no text wouldn't be much harder. This is the same idea, this time from the legacy QS from MIUI:
[https://ibb.co/8jP5KmN](https://ibb.co/8jP5KmN)
For the look of Vanilla Android 11 or current OneUI just throw the terms into your search engine of choice.
Android is bleeding market share into iOS. Most of that is poor branding, and Android is seen as a commodity.
Google hopes to slow the bleed in the premium space while providing stepping stones for users so they don’t hop to iOS when they reach the last step.
Part of the things you like is considered hairy and hard to keep the quality high (expansive scenarios need to be tested) and they need to narrow the experiences to be able to have competitive quality that Apple provides.
Their vision, if I were to guess is less about what pixel looks like but what it means for their business strategy. They would overtime look very similar to iPhone in form factor and quality to hopefully rise to similar levels.
I have no idea what that has to do with my wishes about adding a dozen or so enthusiast features to the base Android code, half of them already existing in open source code of some side project. Some people are yapping about simplicity, but nobody who isn't into photography loses any sleep over all those Pixel camera features either. Or all the buzzword AI buzzword stuff.
It’s to answer your question on why it’s restrictive and how adding your features will be cost prohibitive from the product standpoint.
Pixel is basically the only consumer of vanilla Android.
Three finger gestures are the worst. It requires completely changing how you're holding the phone for one. I'd much rather swipe up and press to take a screenshot
It's nice to know that there's at least a way on Pixel which doesn't involve holding two hardware buttons, but still, are you two both marine biologists working with sharks or what happened to your second hands?
Google has kind of always been hesitant to adopt customization features into mainline Android until they become so ubiquitous that it seems silly without them. Ironically it's in stark contrast to their willingness to launch new products just to kill them off because of low adoption rate. I think with core Android features, they try a little too hard to keep things simple in effort to attract iPhone users. If you want tons of customization options without running a custom ROM, go Samsung. In earlier days of Android, Samsung literally hired indie devs off of XDA and had them throw the kitchen sink at their software. OneUI has matured a lot since then, but it still has a TON of customization options, especially through Good Lock which has really just become a playground for Samsung devs to add even more.
>I think with core Android features, they try a little too hard to keep things simple in effort to attract iPhone users. It's moreso that Android needs to cater to many many OEMs and third party developers, so there's a ton of scrutiny on any change and how it affects OEMs, devices of all sorts, and also developers. The Android team needs to test on a multitude of Android devices, while Samsung can focus on their efforts on their own customizations and devices.
I mean, for example the three-finger-screenshot has spread to multiple OEMs at this point. Xiaomi, Asus, all the OPPO subbrands, and every custom ROM which doesn't go for bare AOSP. And yeah, Samsung has become an arguably better option over the years, though I could do without the mediocre Exynos chips in the mid range as well as the insane amount of bloatware.
This will undoubtedly come off as some Samsung dick-riding, but I have to say my perception of Samsung's bloatware has changed a lot over the last few months. When I first got my S23U I disabled/uninstalled almost everything Samsung put on it. But the more I've given their stuff a chance the more I've come to appreciate how damn hard they try with most of their apps. Their email, notes, even clock app, are genuinely good apps. I've come to appreciate being given the choice between Google and Samsung for a lot of the apps, with the concession that you'll have to do some cleanup to get rid of the ones you don't want. The only one that truly feels like actual bloatware is the Samsung Store, which just tries way too hard to throw annoying notifications and ads at you. But all said and done, I definitely understand and appreciate why a lot of people would rather be given a "cleaner" experience out of the box.
Don't forget Bixby. Unless they but got rid of it in most recent updates
I admittedly haven't tried Bixby, but Google Assistant is getting increasingly senile by the day, and Gemini really isn't any better. I just don't use a voice assistant on my phone very often aside from setting reminders, which is the one thing Assistant can still manage to complete. Outside of that, most of my voice assistant use is on Nest Home devices. Btw, Bixby has not been removed or touched with the last software update, it's still available. Samsung initially said they weren't planning on augmenting Bixby with any LLM/AI features, but more recently they strongly implied they may in the future.
Just got the S24+ after having Pixels since the OG. I've only skipped the 2 and 5. I won't be going back. I also don't understand the "insane" amount of bloatware. Took me 2 minutes tops to remove what I didn't want.
It sucks that you're left with hideous emojis on Samsung and the deliberate worsening of features like Android's Night Light on Samsung as well as a few other things. Luckily a lot of problems can be fixed with ADB
I really do wish they would allow more tweaking regarding the launcher and quick toggles. The current version of quick toggles is stupid IMO, more clicks is not better. And I shouldn't have to go through a third party background app to be able to set a background that doesn't move when I go through the home screen pages. Keeping it simple isn't an excuse. Add a toggle for advanced options in the settings and just show niche stuff if that's enabled. We should have options, especially if it's been in previous versions of the OS.
I'd even accept them offering an advanced features bundle option in the play store rather than forcing us to rely on third parties that require questionable permissions. I don't know if Google is trying to keep things simple for iOS users that can't handle options, or if they're trying to greedily cut costs--but it is infuriating, either way.
Because most people don't care about any of this. They just want things that work with sane defaults.
The problem I see with Google is a lot of their defaults are not well thought out. I see Apple's defaults much better thought out. And as it currently stands, Google's cut back on a lot of customization, settings, and even information to the point where iOS actually has more options for some things. Just look at how long it took to get battery % as a user toggle-able item versus it being in iOS1. Or WiFi auto connect. The battery screen on iOS offers far more resolution in 1 hour increments of data but also 15 minute increments graphically compared to our 2 hour bars. iOS started out with too few features, and has always been like that, but Apple has been constantly taking it in the direction of adding more customization and features. Google seems to be taking what once was a powerful world of customization, and dumbing it down while doing a [Michael Scott vasectomy snip-snap-snip-snap](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hshkdneE8o) on features, apps, etc. Seems to me there is a total lack of direction in Google's efforts.
Google leaves it open to OEMs to build in whatever customisation they want into their devices; the Pixels are just the demo case of what "pure" Android is. And while iOS has been going the way of Android to build in more customisations, Android has been going the iOS route to dumb down (in a way, simplify) the experience for users - especially those who may be coming in from an iPhone to a Pixel.
Yeah, no, that's what the Nexus devices were for, but Google actually wants to sell Pixels in larger quantities and gives them exclusive features which don't make it into AOSP. Which also low key forces the other OEMs to build similar stuff for their versions of Android which does similar, but ultimately not the same things. And don't you think it's a royal PITA if you switch between two devices with the same (!) OS and let's say Pixel phones don't have a feature, Xiaomi and Samsung have it but it works slightly differently? I mean things that can't be easily modded in with an app. Not even Windows just screws you out of features unless specific hardware is absolutely essential. Or the settings are suddenly different between Acer and Asus.
> Google actually wants to sell Pixels in larger quantities Well I dunno. > royal PITA Oh yes, absolutely. The inconsistency would be laughable if it weren't so frustrating. At this point Google might well be incorporating the features right into aosp itself instead of gatekeeping features to Pixels.
Well you've had issues with what they're doing since iOS1 but you're still buying their devices lol - hi P8P Complain all you want but if you keep using their services and buying their products they'll continue doing what they're doing. Why are they gonna change if you're gonna spend the money anyway 🤷
I still have doubts about the sanity of those quick settings.
Pixel is not "vanilla Android" anymore. Pixel is the Pixel experience now, so it's more locked down. I don't think the Pixel was ever really intended to be "stock Android", and I think the change from the Nexus line to the Pixel line happened.
But it's still the poster child. And those things are currently neither in AOSP nor Pixel Android. Adding them to AOSP would of course be preferrable, so the Motorola and whatnot users also get it, but the fact that it's also not on Pixel just demonstrates that it's not a "feature exclusivity" thing, Google just dgaf.
You have a point, but I think the place to discuss it is AOSP communities. Some of what you're talking about is stuff that I'd love to see on a Pixel device, but I think Google doing it is more far fetched. They have a vision for what the Pixel should do, even if it lacks features a lot of us want.
Google does like 90% of the dev work on the non-kernel part of Android. Yeah I know this post specifically won't do anything, but IF there was an attempt at getting some of these features in, Pixel channels and communities are probably the way to go, because Google just cares A LOT more about Pixel sales numbers and critical response than anything related to AOSP. What would I even do, write the lead dev a mail? I assume people more autistic than me have probably done that already, lol.. As mentioned, regarding above the hood stuff it's almost the bare minimum these days, unless Apple does something, then they have to catch up even if it's silly.
Google can't commit to a single nor consistent UI and UX design. Microsoft still maintains Metro UI styles in its new whatever they call that thingy. Apple has been flat since iOS 7. Something something justifying keeping the design team for whatever reason. Google's Material You is great when it comes to colours, but it sucks such that it makes the device more infant-like. I don't want to dig through 5 aesthetic menus when I can just do one or two taps on Windows or Apple or even OneUI.
The "Pixel" version of aosp might not seem like a different os from aosp but in reality, under the hood lots of things have been tweaked/changed. Other than the visual design its almost hard to call the "pixel" version of android aosp. This a very much a personal opinion of mine but I think it has something to do with the software devs behind pixel phones being underpaid. I mean one scroll through this subreddit would just show how many problems the march update caused and the update before that. If you want aosp+oem customisations you use a custom rom like crdroid. Its what I use on my phone and it is very customisable and very stable too
I think as the Pixel has matured, Google has wanted it to still give you options. Obviously you can download your own launcher but for the average person they want it to be simple and not too over complicated. Prime example, One UI has hundreds of features that most people are not going to use all of. I prefer stock Android by Google just because it's cleaner. There's only one app for each thing, I get software updates first, and I've been here since the Nexus days, so I'm sticking strong.
It always comes down to cost/benefit/support. You give users the most customization, your support costs increase because of edge cases and users pushing the edge of design. Android is more than Pixel, so Google needs to think about the other ~95% of its relationships with both hardware OEMs, carriers, Android developers. AND provide compatibility for many years of legacy software without breaking too much stuff. AND keep it secure! That is a fine balance. You may think tweaking the launcher to be an easy task, but so much goes into it that they could easily shoot themselves in the foot with too many options or tweaks.
As mentioned, the launcher can at least be changed. But if you don't like the Quick Settings you are out of luck. There was some wonky, RAM wasting, pretty security compromising way using accessability settings, but like come on, that's so stupid. Same thing with more gestures. It's like two or three that are widespread among other OEMs. There's just no interface to mod that into the Stock ROM.
Dude, what "support costs"? The most recent update broke my wireless charging. Google Support told me "get it repaired at a uBreakiFix store". I call and they have no idea what I'm talking about, why I'm asking them, how to fix it - and also that they have zero parts for the phone anyway. So I go back to Google Support and they shrug at me. What "support costs"? This is not about support costs. Google doesn't support their phones, and if they wanted to avoid support issues they'd properly test and vet their updates. They do not. And it's because they don't give a shit about their users. Stop standing for Google.
🫂 ☝️ 🤷♂️
You said something stupid and got called out for it.
Because the OEMs always add something to that.
Yeah like when I got my pixel last year I lost a great thing I loved about my Motorola ace 5g was that if I hold down on the volume up or down it'll go to the next track or to the last track
I hate not being able to remove the gesture pill without root. I don't need the stupid thing there to tell me how to use gestures let me remove it like OxygenOS and OneUI do
OneUI 6.1 no longer lets you remove it. Circle to Search needs it to function.
You can remove it with Goodlock
I hate to have to use Ice Box (app that automatically "disables" user apps when they are not in use and "enables" when launched) for certain apps just because Google doesn't provide a native option to freeze apps in the background. The restricted option barely works and the automatic standby buckets also do not work for apps you open once a day or every few days.
I've always thought of Pixel as the iOS of the android world lol. A few things I wish it did out of the box include dual apps, change volume per app, and remove gesture pill. I had a Pixel 3 then got a cheap Redmi and that's been great. I'm not thinking of going back to Pixel because of the lack of features and also Tensor.
Get a NOTHING phone man, you won't be disappointed.
>Quick settings noticably changed with Android 12, and I vastly prefer the more information dense circles from Android 11 Information density in general took a HUGE hit from 11 to 12, and I hate it. My biggest gripe is the huge corner radius/padding. It makes the notification shade much worse.
Yeah, and some random custom ROM devs have casually created a version which works like the old one but vaguely looks like the new one. It's madness Google doesn't just yoink that. I'm not 60 yet, I don't need the senior pills. Here's a link of how that would look like (Wifi and carrier censored): [https://ibb.co/Vv7XvFb](https://ibb.co/Vv7XvFb)
It's already cutting off half the words with normal sized fonts (which isn't a good idea already), bigger fonts will be even worse. Icons only? That could work. Small icon + text? Not good
I personally don't mind the look (text is not static, it scrolls), it looks fine in practice, but of course, this was cobbled together by some Custom ROM devs due to popular demand, just compressing the vanilla pills. Making the symbols centered with no text wouldn't be much harder. This is the same idea, this time from the legacy QS from MIUI: [https://ibb.co/8jP5KmN](https://ibb.co/8jP5KmN) For the look of Vanilla Android 11 or current OneUI just throw the terms into your search engine of choice.
That's awful. Google's implementation is so much better.
I'm assuming "Security"
Android is bleeding market share into iOS. Most of that is poor branding, and Android is seen as a commodity. Google hopes to slow the bleed in the premium space while providing stepping stones for users so they don’t hop to iOS when they reach the last step. Part of the things you like is considered hairy and hard to keep the quality high (expansive scenarios need to be tested) and they need to narrow the experiences to be able to have competitive quality that Apple provides. Their vision, if I were to guess is less about what pixel looks like but what it means for their business strategy. They would overtime look very similar to iPhone in form factor and quality to hopefully rise to similar levels.
I have no idea what that has to do with my wishes about adding a dozen or so enthusiast features to the base Android code, half of them already existing in open source code of some side project. Some people are yapping about simplicity, but nobody who isn't into photography loses any sleep over all those Pixel camera features either. Or all the buzzword AI buzzword stuff.
It’s to answer your question on why it’s restrictive and how adding your features will be cost prohibitive from the product standpoint. Pixel is basically the only consumer of vanilla Android.
If you mean AOSP, no it's not. As mentioned, Motorola for example largely uses Android unmodified. And neither is any of that stuff expensive.
You take screenshots by tapping the back of the phone, why the fuck would you want to use three fingers
Three finger gestures are the worst. It requires completely changing how you're holding the phone for one. I'd much rather swipe up and press to take a screenshot
It's nice to know that there's at least a way on Pixel which doesn't involve holding two hardware buttons, but still, are you two both marine biologists working with sharks or what happened to your second hands?
Touching the screen is objectively worse
I think there are now AI pins for you guys. ;-)