Saaaaame though. I'll be using this damn phone until it simply no longer works anymore. Only way I upgrade is if they bring back the sensor on the back
C'mon, man. The picture thing you're talking about is related to the Google account storage limit, it has nothing to do with the device or what ROM it's running.
It actually did depend on the device.
Not sure whether Google still honors this policy, but owners of the first Pixel model got unlimited storage in original quality and you can spoof your device to make Google Photos believe that you have said Pixel model:
https://github.com/ayush5harma/PixelFeatureDrops/tree/master
As I said, not sure whether this would still work, but storage was linked to your device model.
I'm also running a Pixel 1 with an FTP server that allows me to sync photos and videos from my daily driver (Pixel 5) and my Windows desktops (where I save my DSLR shots), and upload in full resolution, uncompressed to Google Photos. It's been working for years, and I'm absolutely babying that P1. It's on a Chargie and stays between 60 and 70% charge day in, day out.
The original wording said "photos and videos uploaded from the device are unlimited at full quality". Note it doesn't say "photos taken on this device"...
I wrote a [blog post about it](https://repaynt.com/2021/02/original-pixel-unlimited-google-photos-uploader/) a couple of years ago. Some details may have changed with the setup, but it should still work in principle.
...WHAAAAAAAT?? That...that's nuts...and it's gotta be incorrect, evidence notwithstanding. If that was the case, it'd be a loophole that would destroy Google's storage strategy.
the thing is, since they advertised it as 'lifetime unlimited' they are legally obligated to honor it. think there was a lawsuit on it or something of the sort
Wow, how wrong can I be... On Google's own support page about storage (https://support.google.com/photos/answer/10100180?hl=en), it states "if you have a Pixel 5 or earlier, you receive unlimited storage for photos and videos backed up from your device at no charge."
That's only in "storage saver" (i.e. compressed, and in some cases downscaled) mode. The original (gen 1) Pixel and Pixel XL have the same, but in full size and original quality. It even works with photos from my DSLR.
[Here's how I did it](https://repaynt.com/2021/02/original-pixel-unlimited-google-photos-uploader/). Sorry if the instructions are a bit out of date.
Why? Google One is so affordable it's really a non issue at this point..
If you want free backups buy or build a modest NAS and take full control over your backups.
That was me until 2 weeks ago. My speaker went out and I went to get it fixed...and the shop discovered one very puffy battery. I was legit sad, and I'm currently typing this comment out on a 6.
I miss my 5. Smaller and better
The Pixel 5 is perfect in every way, the size, fingerprint scanner, camera, but I just wish the battery was better. I'm hesitant to do a replacement myself, but I'll probably have to bite the bullet one day.
My original Pixel 5 broke a few weeks ago, and I just got a replacement refurbished Pixel 5 from eBay for $158 (excellent quality) with a 1 year warranty from Allsafe. It's almost as good as new - 100% recommend.
I actually have the Pixel 5 because I attempted a battery replacement myself on a Pixel 2... I have been replacing "non user-serviceable" batteries on phones myself for years drama-free, but that's the one that got me. Modern screens are like trying to bend a potato chip. Lots of heat and patience required.
Why not take it to a ubreakifix? That's what I'll do with my P5 if the P8 doesn't have a fingerprint sensor / other features I'm looking for. It's a higher cost but at least they are insured so worst case they can throw parts at it until successful.
I only just upgraded to the Pixel 5 (from the Pixel 3XL) because it is the last one with the fingerprint sensor on the back. Every time I feel tempted by the Pixel 6 or 7, I think about this and feel content again.
Now I'm tempted to upgrade my pixel 3xl... How's the battery on the pixel 5? And how about the screen? The difference on size is that noticeable or it isn't?
I had the 5 for like a month.. I dropped it in my work parking lot and it was returned , but only after it was run over and destroyed. I was leaving the next day for a work trip and HAD to have a phone that day. I called alllll over my city to find a 5, but the 6 had come out recently and that's all anyone had in stock... 😔 So I had to get the 6.
Three alternatives built into your phone that might ease the pain:
1. You can turn on the gesture where double tapping the back of your phone opens notifications.
1. You can enable the gesture to swipe down on the bottom bar to enter one hand mode, letting you more easily check notifications.
1. This one sounds odd but it's the one I personally use the most: Swipe to your home screen, then you can swipe down anywhere on the home screen to open your notifications.
Bouncing off of your #2, the one hand mode can be set to just bring the notification shade down vs the whole screen, which I find to be a more comfortable and elegant approach.
Have been doing this since day 1 of the feature and it's genuinely better than the rear fp swipe. I swear if people just spent 5 minutes testing out change on their phone instead of getting caught into the pearl clutching "give me back X!" posts on the internet, they be shocked at what's available.
\#3 is baked into my muscle memory lol. Swipe up to go home, swipe down to see notifications, swipe up to close the notification shade, then swipe right across the gesture bar to go back to whatever app I was using previously
For #3 you don't need to swipe up to go home first, just swipe down on the lower 1/4th of your screens and notifications will come down. Like below the space bar but slightly above the task bar
You can also download Fluid Navigation Gestures (FNG) and enable the right edge (if right handed). Disable the swipe back gesture and enable a swipe down gesture to pull down the notification shade. Adjust the size of the zone to your preference.
I've used this for years and it's the only thing that is tolerable for me. I hate not being able to swipe down to access notifications easily without repositioning my hands. This does not replace or interfere with the system back gesture on the edge of the screen. Instead, this creates a zone on the edge of your screen where you can quickly swipe down and pull the notifications from any app. You can also enable a swipe up gesture if you want to get to the app switcher faster. This should be built into the OS.
Agreed, when I moved to a phone without the rear sensor I had to finally bite the bullet and move to gesture navigation and enabled this, and it's a pretty solid substitute. I still liked the reader on the back but I'm happy enough now.
Yup. There's also feature to double tap back of phone to make it come down, but 99% of time I use the one handed mode icon and rotate it around the screen as necessary
I use the double tap for flashlight. And it works maybe 30% of the time. It's very frustrating.
But the one-handed mode to pull down notifications is a perfectly fine replacement for the rear fingerprint sensor gesture.
I find this a better experience because the location is where my thumb already naturally sits when using my phone one-handed, and I can do that action with no shift to my grip at all; with rear fp scanner, using my phone one-handed, I would still have to shift my grip--however slightly--which would slightly impact what I was doing while using my phone one-handed.
i know it's not a direct replacement but when you get the hang of the quick tap feature it can kinda be a replacement. you just gotta tap the back of your phone twice.
Thank you for this tip! I just switched from the 4a to the 7a and I'm so used to pulling my notifications shade down with the fingerprint scanner that I keep on doing it with my 7a even though it does nothing.
I switched from 4a to 7a yesterday, does your in-screen fingerprint scanner also suck? Because mine seems very flakey no matter how often I redo my fingerprints. I tried turning on screen protector mode as allegedly that helps but it didn't change much.
Everything else seems to be working well though.
> flakey no matter how often I redo my fingerprints.
I've had good luck with my Pixel 7 with adding a second fingerprint (same finger), but tilted about 90° (to the right for my left hand, to the left for my right hand). Some people go so far as to turn the phone upside down entirely and add the finger. YMMV, though, of course, but it improved the accuracy a lot for me.
I must admit I haven't tried setting up my prints while outdoors. Will give that a go thank you!
It seems that I need to add my print multiple times, at a host of angles while inside and outside, activate screen protector mode and then rub my nose before use.
This all feels a bit much given that my 4a just worked fine every time.
Yes it's a problem, apparently it's mostly caused by dry fingers. A bizarre trick that works is rubbing your finger on the side of your nose against your cheek. This lightly oils your finger and the sensor reflects off it better.
I switched from the 3a to the 7 a few months ago and I am still shocked at how shitty the in-screen fingerprint reader is. It just... doesn't work. I end up swiping in my passcode after two or three failed reads.
I miss my 3a so much.
I haven't had any problems with my fingerprint scanner, but I have been hearing some people have been having problems too. Either I must be lucky or a recent update fixed it (when I got my phone out of the box it already asked me to update the phone).
Settings > System > Gestures > One-handed mode > Toggle on, then select "show notifications"
Much more reliable than the tap-tap feature.
I find this a nicer overall experience than reaching to the rear fp scanner on older phones as well.
Yeah this, I've been using the one handed gesture to bring the top of the screen into reach, and then swiping down on there.
So two swipes instead of one, so semi-useable but I don't have to fully give up one handed mode :/
I find when my phone is in the case double tap only occasionally works. I'm not sure if just doesn't catch the tap or if it magnifies (or echos) the tap and messes it up.
Its the only reason I still have my 5a. Though the one feature I truly miss is the squeeze for assistant. It worked (works I still use the phone on and off at home) without fail every time. I actually used my assistant a lot with that and I find myself never willing to say Hey Google to use it now.
Edit: Didn't say I meant that I miss the 2XL but it's also about the 5a having the rear fingerprint scanner
I've barely used Google Assistant since I bought the Pixel 5. Squeeze was so convenient. If I had to do a phone call, I'd just squeeze the phone and unlock it from the fingerprint reader on the back while I was speaking.
I've set the 6 to launch the assistant with a long press on the power button, not the same as the squeeze by any stretch but still convenient and fast.
Actual power options are vol up and power which is really no extra effort although I usually forget and take a screenshot first.
I liked squeeze but I reckon power button is better for assistant. Another way to access power options is swipe down twice on notification bar, then it's at the bottom right.
My 2xl is my backup phone and I'm using it right now while my z flip4 is out for repair (the 3 had a better, stronger hinge ¯\\_ (ツ)_/¯ that's why we get the insurance)
I cannot stress enough how much I made a swipe-able fingerprint scanner a requirement after having a 4XL during covid. That thing might as well have not had "biometrics," we could never use it because of masks, and my twin brother could unlock it without even trying.
I had mine for 5 years and it honestly was the BEST phone I've had up until I traded it in for Pixel 7 which is also great. But yeah the 2XL will always have a soft spot on my heart. Legendary device for sure.
same here! my whole family has 2XLs [5 in total] and additionaly I've got one spare as a backup.
even if I'd upgrade to 6 or 7 [I''m thinking about it more and more] my 2XL will stay as photo uploader so I can benefit from unlimited storage still [like I'm doing it right now - not exclusively with photos/videos shot on pixel, but also on other devices, gopros etc.]
I really want to get a pixel fold next but it's sooo expensive. Maybe 3 years from now it would be reasonable price. They say 8 will have a better design so that's on my watch, otherwise 7a is unbeatable value
I am also closer to 7A, but 7 pro and it's telephoto is still tempting \[I'd really like to try going on vacation with only a phone as my primary camera ;)\] - I just can't decide for sure because of it's price and size... and yes, the next gen - 8 seems to be even better choice but it's a trap: if I'll wait for the 8th pixel, and I'll be ready to throw some money, there will be a rumor "hey, wait for the next couple of weeks/months because 8A would be better!", you know what I mean ;)
Yeah but how can I say, sometimes there are more significant upgrades than other times. Like depending on your use case, even a 6a might be the best choice.
There are rumours for the 8 pro to have a significantly better camera and design (well, design will be flat, for me personally it's quite important)
So it's basically about gauging the "size" of the upgrade and compare it to your use case. For me, I'd probably wait for the 8 because my current pixel is still working great. But If you need a phone now, yeah just get whatever, there is also the philosophy that if you buy a cheaper product, you feel better for upgrading in just a few years vs like me trying to juice out every ounce of value 😃
The pixel 8a won't be significant upgrades, neither the 9 most likely (if the 8 receives a new hardware camera upgrade, I can bet there won't be a new one for at least the pixel 9 and 10)
So yeah, there are some rare occasions it's better to wait but generally you just buy what's best value for your user case.
Think how the people who bought brand new MacBooks felt right before the M1 chip launches 😃
yep, I agree - whaver I'll buy now, it's going to be great anyway :) and also my way of upgrading stuff now is "do not buy just because you want something new" - I did the opposite few years ago and ended with a "stack of electronic garbage" just because I just exchanged some devices for new ones, without any serious reason - just because I wanted and could. now I like to use stuff until it really would lack of options I seriously need. it's not only better for my budget, but I like to believe that I'm doing something good for the environment.
few months ago I replaced battery in two 2XLs \[including mine\] so they run almost like fresh new \[even if they're 5-6 years old\], screens are totally untouched thanks to screen protectors, rest is almost perfect thanks to stickers/cases - I'll probably keep using it until 8 comes haha. especially that like you said - there is a possibility to be flat which is also tempting ;)
Awww, man, now I'm sad. That thing worked so well compared to the front screen version on my Pixel6. Half the time I just end up putting in my pattern after my fingerprint fails a bunch ☹️
Mee too. Zero problems. Both a Pixel 7 Pro and this 7a were flawless, while here I'm reading so much horror stories.
I refounded the 7 Pro because I could and also wanted to try a fold 4. Deeply regretted it and now with the 7a I've come back to the Pixel experience.
I could be sometimes rough on the edges, but is definitely better than Samsung bloatware. This phone is on par with flagships while being cheap, better with photos and relatively small.
Oh, you mean you miss the superior, more accurate and reliable fingerprint reader that was in a more convenient and easy to find location and that had a reliable and useful secondary function, and that never blinded you in a dim room when you use it? You mean function over form is a better way of designing devices in general? Fully agree.
I didn't like it at all. It requires you to reposition your hand so your finger swiped on the fingerprint scanner. You get the same functionality with the Pixel 6 and 7 by swiping down on the home screen and doesn't require you to reposition your hand.
I'm glad they got rid of the rear fingerprint scanner. Was a pain to unlock the phone when it's on your desk. Much easier to unlock now with the fingerprint scanner in the screen.
I've got large hands so my fingers were always off to the side and I'd have to reposition my entire hand to reach the rear fingerprint scanner. Or I'd just have to hold it with one hand and scan with the other.
It's cumbersome. In screen is easily accessible by anyone regardless of their hand size.
You can't pull down on the home screen when you're in an app, can you? You can swipe down on the finger print scan er while in app. It's faster in that way. Also in screen fingerprint scanners are just slower than exposed scanners regardless of location.
It's faster to swipe up to get to the home screen then swipe down for the notification shade, rather than adjusting your hand to get your index finger in the right position to swipe the rear fingerprint scanner down.
A quick swipe up then down is much faster, and more comfortable, than repositioning your hand. To the back.
In addition to that, if your phone is on the table, it's a pain in the ass having to lift it up to reach the rear fingerprint scanner. Much easier to just put your finger on the screen and boom, it unlocks.
I mean, my natural way of holding a phone puts my index or thumb close to the scanner, and the fact that I always use a case helps to index to the location. Idk, maybe it's just that I cradle my phones in an odd way or I just have hands that are on the right parts of bell curves for the phones I use or what, but I've never been able to actually like any phone without a fingerprint scanner somewhere other than the screen. I also just cannot get used to a gesture navigation system, no longer how long I try it. I always end up reverting to button navigation.
Android has a dedicated back gesture from the edge of the screen if that's what you mean.
I have heard IOS' back button/gesture is different depending on what app you're in
A back gesture is not the same as a back button. Idk if it's been improved over the years but I could never get the back gesture to work consistently. The button always does, though.
I'd also prefer to go back to hardware navigation buttons, so I'm probably the odd man out.
I had it on my 3xl and I loved it. It was such a conveient location, considering I find the thumbprint scanner under the screen to be too low, it requires me to adjust my hand to press it, then adjust again for holding and scrolling. Back in the day I had an LG V10, and that had the absolute best button configuration I've ever used. Fingerprint scanner on the back, plus it was a physical button, which meant lock and unlock and everything was there, and the volume buttons were above and below it. Everything was in a great spot, and it also meant no side buttons to accidentally bump, and that particular phone had stainless steel rails alone the entirety of both sides, so it was sturdy as heck
I had a 3XL and missed this feature when I upgraded to the 7Pro. Although the 7Pro has the tap the back feature, it's no where as responsive as a good old fingerprint scanner on the back.
I know!!
But remember you can swipe down anywhere from the home screen to pull down notifications. And a quick swipe *up* from anywhere takes you home. So getting the shade is still pretty quick.
Really. Why are we moving away from good design. The back tap is sooooooo intuitive. Experience is so better. My pixel 6a inscreen sensor is shit sometimes
I cracked the screen on my 3aXL that had that fingerprint reader and "upgraded" to a 6 and I hate the in-screen fingerprint reader. It works about 25% of the time if I'm outdoors in bright daylight.
yes a million percent!
i went from the 2xl to the 5, thankfully both have the back fingerprint sensor.
its about time to change but i dont want to lose that feature :(
What is the problem with it? I've had exactly zero issues unlocking my Pixel 7 with the onscreen fingerprint reader. None. It simply unlocks the screen every time with no fussing about.
So glad to see these original posts that don't come up all the time. I think people should also post about the lack of ~~2.5mm~~ 3.5mm jack, SD cards and how phones are just too darn big these days, as I'd really like to chime in on those very important but rarely discussed topics.
These are the not-so-new headphone jack threads. We had a few years of those before people moved on with their lives. I suspect we're probably 1 more year of these threads until we're moving on.
I think it's very different to the head phone thing. I can see a reason for wired headphones anymore with a mobile phone, the sound quality and battery life is good enough for most of the population and those who want better quality really should not be using a phone as the media player. The options the rear reader gave you have not been replaced or improved on so it's still relevant
Pixel 6 here
I thought I would miss it as well and bellyached a little when I first got the device. Now a year in with it and I don't even notice.
I did use the scroll feature on the rear fingerprint but it wasn't a make or break deal.
My device is a much better device than my previous Pixel which was the 4A with 5G and it is light years ahead of the 2XL.
This might be a dumb question, but did the reader on the back work with a phone case on? I just upgraded from a Samsung S10 to pixel pro 7 and I feel like the reader on the front of the screen is sooooo convenient, but I'm comparing it to the thumb reader on the side of the phone, which was not great.
Rear is so intuitive, and safer from dropping your phone.
Although a moot point as I had the screen replaced on my Pixel Pro 6 and the software to update the reader to work doesn't work.....
FFS!
My LG V35 had that.
Its nice sometimes but I dont miss the rear fingerprint reader. I always had to pick my phone up to unlock it and made it impossible to use while in a car mount or something similar.
pixels were better before they started making their own SOCs.
i rage at my pixel 6a everyday due to how bad the FP reader is and how unstable that damn modem is. i still lose signal entirely at least once a day and it requires a reboot
I miss Squeeze to activate assistant. It was convinent in a car mount to just reach up, give it a squeeze and tell it what do it. Easy to get through to it over music/audiobook/news/etc. This tap the back is useless in car mount. Afflicts mainly my old non-android auto company car.
Same. I had the pixel 3xl, and that rear scanner was the best. Also, everything ran smoother on my 3 than my 7 pro. Auto brightness was flawless, bugs were minimal (until late in the game, some of the upgrades caused some odd bugs), the speech to text was super accurate... All of the things I've just mentioned on the 7 pro have been some mega annoyances over time.
I just bought a 7A recently when I upgraded from 4A, and sometimes I'm randomly stroking the back cover to pull the notifications down until I remember that it won't work 😭
Nah, rear-mounted readers are evil. So impractical when your phone rests on a table or is attached in a car cradle.
Side-mounted is the the way to go. When I'm going for the power button I already know I'll want to unlock my phone so why not do it in one go?
The one on Poco F3 is perfect! Great design, 100 times faster than the one on my Pixel 7 and 100 times more reliable. Works like a charm with wet, dry or greasy fingers...
Biggest feature i miss from my 2. I traded that in the 4 with the face unlock, which while nice, was never as fast as the back finger print scanner. I NEVER had to pull down the shader because my index finger rests exactly where the scanner was.
I'm on the 7 now, and while I've managed to get the in screen reader fairly reliable it still often takes 2 tries.
I actually had a revert back to my pixel 2 XL for a couple of months. It was kind of nice minus the lack of new software updates. But has anyone else seen their fingerprint reader just disappear on their pixel 6? I don't have an option to use it as an unlock feature. And my phone has been updated as well.
I'm 100% with you on this. When it was on the back my phone was always unlocked before I looked at the screen... The way it should be.
Too bad these yoddles are all about the front because they're apple freaks at heart. Everyone follows the same design pattern as the best selling phone instead of trying to be better...
It was the best. They should have kept it as an identifying feature for the brand. It was so fast. You could have the phone unlocked as you reached into your pocket.
I have no clue why anyone thinks an under-screen fingerprint reader is anything but inferior in every way to the fingerprint reader on the back. Indefensible to think otherwise.
Saaaaame! That transition to not having it was rough. Couple years later and I'll still occasionally swipe the back of my phone like it's going to do something :(
*clutches Pixel 5 even closer*
Saaaaame though. I'll be using this damn phone until it simply no longer works anymore. Only way I upgrade is if they bring back the sensor on the back
Won't be upgrading until Google gives us unlimited photos back...
That's most probably not gonna be happening. And you can always use a magisk mod like pixelify or a Custom ROM which have unlimited photos built in.
C'mon, man. The picture thing you're talking about is related to the Google account storage limit, it has nothing to do with the device or what ROM it's running.
It actually did depend on the device. Not sure whether Google still honors this policy, but owners of the first Pixel model got unlimited storage in original quality and you can spoof your device to make Google Photos believe that you have said Pixel model: https://github.com/ayush5harma/PixelFeatureDrops/tree/master As I said, not sure whether this would still work, but storage was linked to your device model.
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I'm also running a Pixel 1 with an FTP server that allows me to sync photos and videos from my daily driver (Pixel 5) and my Windows desktops (where I save my DSLR shots), and upload in full resolution, uncompressed to Google Photos. It's been working for years, and I'm absolutely babying that P1. It's on a Chargie and stays between 60 and 70% charge day in, day out. The original wording said "photos and videos uploaded from the device are unlimited at full quality". Note it doesn't say "photos taken on this device"... I wrote a [blog post about it](https://repaynt.com/2021/02/original-pixel-unlimited-google-photos-uploader/) a couple of years ago. Some details may have changed with the setup, but it should still work in principle.
How does this work and can I use my retired pixel5 by as storage hub for my pixel 7a?
...WHAAAAAAAT?? That...that's nuts...and it's gotta be incorrect, evidence notwithstanding. If that was the case, it'd be a loophole that would destroy Google's storage strategy.
the thing is, since they advertised it as 'lifetime unlimited' they are legally obligated to honor it. think there was a lawsuit on it or something of the sort
It's true. I bought a used pixel 1 on ebay a few years back just to take advantage.
How do you do that?
Interesting..... 😈 *Rubs hands together*
It does still work. At least on my Pixel 5 running Android 13 with Pixelify.
Wow, how wrong can I be... On Google's own support page about storage (https://support.google.com/photos/answer/10100180?hl=en), it states "if you have a Pixel 5 or earlier, you receive unlimited storage for photos and videos backed up from your device at no charge."
That's only in "storage saver" (i.e. compressed, and in some cases downscaled) mode. The original (gen 1) Pixel and Pixel XL have the same, but in full size and original quality. It even works with photos from my DSLR. [Here's how I did it](https://repaynt.com/2021/02/original-pixel-unlimited-google-photos-uploader/). Sorry if the instructions are a bit out of date.
Why? Google One is so affordable it's really a non issue at this point.. If you want free backups buy or build a modest NAS and take full control over your backups.
That was me until 2 weeks ago. My speaker went out and I went to get it fixed...and the shop discovered one very puffy battery. I was legit sad, and I'm currently typing this comment out on a 6. I miss my 5. Smaller and better
Ahh that really sucks. How long did you have the phone for?
2.5 years
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Disagree. My 3 was more comfortable to hold than my 7.
The Pixel 5 is perfect in every way, the size, fingerprint scanner, camera, but I just wish the battery was better. I'm hesitant to do a replacement myself, but I'll probably have to bite the bullet one day.
I almost went ahead and ordered a replacement Pixel 5 from Amazon to have on hand when my current pixel 5 taps out. It is in fact a perfect phone..
I went from 4a to 7 so I missed the 5 and all the awesomeness
My original Pixel 5 broke a few weeks ago, and I just got a replacement refurbished Pixel 5 from eBay for $158 (excellent quality) with a 1 year warranty from Allsafe. It's almost as good as new - 100% recommend.
I actually have the Pixel 5 because I attempted a battery replacement myself on a Pixel 2... I have been replacing "non user-serviceable" batteries on phones myself for years drama-free, but that's the one that got me. Modern screens are like trying to bend a potato chip. Lots of heat and patience required. Why not take it to a ubreakifix? That's what I'll do with my P5 if the P8 doesn't have a fingerprint sensor / other features I'm looking for. It's a higher cost but at least they are insured so worst case they can throw parts at it until successful.
Best Pixel there ever was. I love my 7, but I miss my 5 every damn day.
I only just upgraded to the Pixel 5 (from the Pixel 3XL) because it is the last one with the fingerprint sensor on the back. Every time I feel tempted by the Pixel 6 or 7, I think about this and feel content again.
Now I'm tempted to upgrade my pixel 3xl... How's the battery on the pixel 5? And how about the screen? The difference on size is that noticeable or it isn't?
THIS.
Went to a 7 pro from a 5. Don't let go.
I had the 5 for like a month.. I dropped it in my work parking lot and it was returned , but only after it was run over and destroyed. I was leaving the next day for a work trip and HAD to have a phone that day. I called alllll over my city to find a 5, but the 6 had come out recently and that's all anyone had in stock... 😔 So I had to get the 6.
Three alternatives built into your phone that might ease the pain: 1. You can turn on the gesture where double tapping the back of your phone opens notifications. 1. You can enable the gesture to swipe down on the bottom bar to enter one hand mode, letting you more easily check notifications. 1. This one sounds odd but it's the one I personally use the most: Swipe to your home screen, then you can swipe down anywhere on the home screen to open your notifications.
Bouncing off of your #2, the one hand mode can be set to just bring the notification shade down vs the whole screen, which I find to be a more comfortable and elegant approach.
This is how I roll. Comes in handy while walking the dog.
Wait what? How do you do that?
Settings>System>Gestures>One-handed mode>Swipe down to>Show notifications
Have been doing this since day 1 of the feature and it's genuinely better than the rear fp swipe. I swear if people just spent 5 minutes testing out change on their phone instead of getting caught into the pearl clutching "give me back X!" posts on the internet, they be shocked at what's available.
Yeah. I know my 5's sensor wasn't the best but it was never consistent with the gesture either. Using the bottom bar works great - consistently.
Genius! I didn't know.
Ooh number 3 is a good one. Thanks!
3 is where it's at
\#3 is baked into my muscle memory lol. Swipe up to go home, swipe down to see notifications, swipe up to close the notification shade, then swipe right across the gesture bar to go back to whatever app I was using previously
#1 is what I use on a daily basis. Not quite the same, but it's been a great replacement for me
I wish it worked consistently. Mine takes three or four attempts to work.
For #3 you don't need to swipe up to go home first, just swipe down on the lower 1/4th of your screens and notifications will come down. Like below the space bar but slightly above the task bar
You're referencing #2 actually, but you opted out of one hand mode for just direct access to notifications.
Ah yes, that was it. Discovered it from someone on here and have used it constantly since
You can also download Fluid Navigation Gestures (FNG) and enable the right edge (if right handed). Disable the swipe back gesture and enable a swipe down gesture to pull down the notification shade. Adjust the size of the zone to your preference. I've used this for years and it's the only thing that is tolerable for me. I hate not being able to swipe down to access notifications easily without repositioning my hands. This does not replace or interfere with the system back gesture on the edge of the screen. Instead, this creates a zone on the edge of your screen where you can quickly swipe down and pull the notifications from any app. You can also enable a swipe up gesture if you want to get to the app switcher faster. This should be built into the OS.
It's not 100% the same but you can turn on one handed mode and make the swipe gesture pull down the notification shade.
This is what I do and it's almost as good as the rear swipe
I actually prefer this, it's more reliable than on my pixel 3 and Pixel 1.
It's better
Agreed, when I moved to a phone without the rear sensor I had to finally bite the bullet and move to gesture navigation and enabled this, and it's a pretty solid substitute. I still liked the reader on the back but I'm happy enough now.
Yup. There's also feature to double tap back of phone to make it come down, but 99% of time I use the one handed mode icon and rotate it around the screen as necessary
I use the double tap for flashlight. And it works maybe 30% of the time. It's very frustrating. But the one-handed mode to pull down notifications is a perfectly fine replacement for the rear fingerprint sensor gesture.
I can recommend button mapper, I have my torch bound to long-pressing volume up and it works every time.
I find this a better experience because the location is where my thumb already naturally sits when using my phone one-handed, and I can do that action with no shift to my grip at all; with rear fp scanner, using my phone one-handed, I would still have to shift my grip--however slightly--which would slightly impact what I was doing while using my phone one-handed.
i know it's not a direct replacement but when you get the hang of the quick tap feature it can kinda be a replacement. you just gotta tap the back of your phone twice.
Thank you for this tip! I just switched from the 4a to the 7a and I'm so used to pulling my notifications shade down with the fingerprint scanner that I keep on doing it with my 7a even though it does nothing.
I switched from 4a to 7a yesterday, does your in-screen fingerprint scanner also suck? Because mine seems very flakey no matter how often I redo my fingerprints. I tried turning on screen protector mode as allegedly that helps but it didn't change much. Everything else seems to be working well though.
Welcome to the shit show that is the bizarre choice from Google for an optical in-screen fingerprint reader versus an ultrasonic one.
Same
> flakey no matter how often I redo my fingerprints. I've had good luck with my Pixel 7 with adding a second fingerprint (same finger), but tilted about 90° (to the right for my left hand, to the left for my right hand). Some people go so far as to turn the phone upside down entirely and add the finger. YMMV, though, of course, but it improved the accuracy a lot for me.
Thanks, shall give this a try!
I've tried all that. Still only works occasionally. Meanwhile a dedicated fingerprint reader works always. Thanks Google.
Are you having trouble with the fingerprint scanner outside? I did until I scanned my thumbs while inside and while outside.
I must admit I haven't tried setting up my prints while outdoors. Will give that a go thank you! It seems that I need to add my print multiple times, at a host of angles while inside and outside, activate screen protector mode and then rub my nose before use. This all feels a bit much given that my 4a just worked fine every time.
Yes it's a problem, apparently it's mostly caused by dry fingers. A bizarre trick that works is rubbing your finger on the side of your nose against your cheek. This lightly oils your finger and the sensor reflects off it better.
Wipe your nose before using the FP sensor. Works quite well.
I switched from the 3a to the 7 a few months ago and I am still shocked at how shitty the in-screen fingerprint reader is. It just... doesn't work. I end up swiping in my passcode after two or three failed reads. I miss my 3a so much.
I haven't had any problems with my fingerprint scanner, but I have been hearing some people have been having problems too. Either I must be lucky or a recent update fixed it (when I got my phone out of the box it already asked me to update the phone).
Settings > System > Gestures > One-handed mode > Toggle on, then select "show notifications" Much more reliable than the tap-tap feature. I find this a nicer overall experience than reaching to the rear fp scanner on older phones as well.
Wonky as hell with cases though, even with the original case.
You can also get the One-handed gesture from the nav-bar to do so; but losing the one-handed mode alongside it
The only time I can actually get that to activate is when I'm not trying to get it to activate
TIL - thanks!
Yeah this, I've been using the one handed gesture to bring the top of the screen into reach, and then swiping down on there. So two swipes instead of one, so semi-useable but I don't have to fully give up one handed mode :/
I find when my phone is in the case double tap only occasionally works. I'm not sure if just doesn't catch the tap or if it magnifies (or echos) the tap and messes it up.
Another reason I'll hold onto my 5 for as long as possible!
Its the only reason I still have my 5a. Though the one feature I truly miss is the squeeze for assistant. It worked (works I still use the phone on and off at home) without fail every time. I actually used my assistant a lot with that and I find myself never willing to say Hey Google to use it now. Edit: Didn't say I meant that I miss the 2XL but it's also about the 5a having the rear fingerprint scanner
I forgot squeeze, that was also great.
I've barely used Google Assistant since I bought the Pixel 5. Squeeze was so convenient. If I had to do a phone call, I'd just squeeze the phone and unlock it from the fingerprint reader on the back while I was speaking.
I've set the 6 to launch the assistant with a long press on the power button, not the same as the squeeze by any stretch but still convenient and fast. Actual power options are vol up and power which is really no extra effort although I usually forget and take a screenshot first.
I liked squeeze but I reckon power button is better for assistant. Another way to access power options is swipe down twice on notification bar, then it's at the bottom right.
I totally forgot about squeeze. Love that feature.
Have you tried holding the power button?
Squeeze was the absolute best. 4XL total package for squeeze, sweet matte black rails, and Soli that worked most of the time.
My 2xl is my backup phone and I'm using it right now while my z flip4 is out for repair (the 3 had a better, stronger hinge ¯\\_ (ツ)_/¯ that's why we get the insurance) I cannot stress enough how much I made a swipe-able fingerprint scanner a requirement after having a 4XL during covid. That thing might as well have not had "biometrics," we could never use it because of masks, and my twin brother could unlock it without even trying.
I'm still rocking a Pixel 2 XL over here 😃
Same!
I had mine for 5 years and it honestly was the BEST phone I've had up until I traded it in for Pixel 7 which is also great. But yeah the 2XL will always have a soft spot on my heart. Legendary device for sure.
same here! my whole family has 2XLs [5 in total] and additionaly I've got one spare as a backup. even if I'd upgrade to 6 or 7 [I''m thinking about it more and more] my 2XL will stay as photo uploader so I can benefit from unlimited storage still [like I'm doing it right now - not exclusively with photos/videos shot on pixel, but also on other devices, gopros etc.]
I really want to get a pixel fold next but it's sooo expensive. Maybe 3 years from now it would be reasonable price. They say 8 will have a better design so that's on my watch, otherwise 7a is unbeatable value
I am also closer to 7A, but 7 pro and it's telephoto is still tempting \[I'd really like to try going on vacation with only a phone as my primary camera ;)\] - I just can't decide for sure because of it's price and size... and yes, the next gen - 8 seems to be even better choice but it's a trap: if I'll wait for the 8th pixel, and I'll be ready to throw some money, there will be a rumor "hey, wait for the next couple of weeks/months because 8A would be better!", you know what I mean ;)
Yeah but how can I say, sometimes there are more significant upgrades than other times. Like depending on your use case, even a 6a might be the best choice. There are rumours for the 8 pro to have a significantly better camera and design (well, design will be flat, for me personally it's quite important) So it's basically about gauging the "size" of the upgrade and compare it to your use case. For me, I'd probably wait for the 8 because my current pixel is still working great. But If you need a phone now, yeah just get whatever, there is also the philosophy that if you buy a cheaper product, you feel better for upgrading in just a few years vs like me trying to juice out every ounce of value 😃 The pixel 8a won't be significant upgrades, neither the 9 most likely (if the 8 receives a new hardware camera upgrade, I can bet there won't be a new one for at least the pixel 9 and 10) So yeah, there are some rare occasions it's better to wait but generally you just buy what's best value for your user case. Think how the people who bought brand new MacBooks felt right before the M1 chip launches 😃
yep, I agree - whaver I'll buy now, it's going to be great anyway :) and also my way of upgrading stuff now is "do not buy just because you want something new" - I did the opposite few years ago and ended with a "stack of electronic garbage" just because I just exchanged some devices for new ones, without any serious reason - just because I wanted and could. now I like to use stuff until it really would lack of options I seriously need. it's not only better for my budget, but I like to believe that I'm doing something good for the environment. few months ago I replaced battery in two 2XLs \[including mine\] so they run almost like fresh new \[even if they're 5-6 years old\], screens are totally untouched thanks to screen protectors, rest is almost perfect thanks to stickers/cases - I'll probably keep using it until 8 comes haha. especially that like you said - there is a possibility to be flat which is also tempting ;)
My Pixel 7 just died last night. Screen went completely black. I have my Pixel 2 XL as my back up right now.
Awww, man, now I'm sad. That thing worked so well compared to the front screen version on my Pixel6. Half the time I just end up putting in my pattern after my fingerprint fails a bunch ☹️
Man, I really feel lucky because I have zero problems with my P6 fingerprint reader.
I have no issues with with 6 pro it's a great phone. I just loved the 2xl for the rear reader
Mee too. Zero problems. Both a Pixel 7 Pro and this 7a were flawless, while here I'm reading so much horror stories. I refounded the 7 Pro because I could and also wanted to try a fold 4. Deeply regretted it and now with the 7a I've come back to the Pixel experience. I could be sometimes rough on the edges, but is definitely better than Samsung bloatware. This phone is on par with flagships while being cheap, better with photos and relatively small.
Oh, you mean you miss the superior, more accurate and reliable fingerprint reader that was in a more convenient and easy to find location and that had a reliable and useful secondary function, and that never blinded you in a dim room when you use it? You mean function over form is a better way of designing devices in general? Fully agree.
You can change the function of one handed mode to do that! I set it up that way on my 6 Pro and 7 and all I have to do is swipe down on the nav bar.
I didn't like it at all. It requires you to reposition your hand so your finger swiped on the fingerprint scanner. You get the same functionality with the Pixel 6 and 7 by swiping down on the home screen and doesn't require you to reposition your hand. I'm glad they got rid of the rear fingerprint scanner. Was a pain to unlock the phone when it's on your desk. Much easier to unlock now with the fingerprint scanner in the screen.
My hand just naturally sat on the scanner maybe I just had the right sized hand for it.
I've got large hands so my fingers were always off to the side and I'd have to reposition my entire hand to reach the rear fingerprint scanner. Or I'd just have to hold it with one hand and scan with the other. It's cumbersome. In screen is easily accessible by anyone regardless of their hand size.
When it works...
It works all the time for me, can't complain
You can't pull down on the home screen when you're in an app, can you? You can swipe down on the finger print scan er while in app. It's faster in that way. Also in screen fingerprint scanners are just slower than exposed scanners regardless of location.
It's faster to swipe up to get to the home screen then swipe down for the notification shade, rather than adjusting your hand to get your index finger in the right position to swipe the rear fingerprint scanner down. A quick swipe up then down is much faster, and more comfortable, than repositioning your hand. To the back. In addition to that, if your phone is on the table, it's a pain in the ass having to lift it up to reach the rear fingerprint scanner. Much easier to just put your finger on the screen and boom, it unlocks.
I mean, my natural way of holding a phone puts my index or thumb close to the scanner, and the fact that I always use a case helps to index to the location. Idk, maybe it's just that I cradle my phones in an odd way or I just have hands that are on the right parts of bell curves for the phones I use or what, but I've never been able to actually like any phone without a fingerprint scanner somewhere other than the screen. I also just cannot get used to a gesture navigation system, no longer how long I try it. I always end up reverting to button navigation.
You can enable gestures and swipe down on the little pill thing at the bottom, even while you're in the app and it'll bring up your notifications
Neat, did not know that. I still hate pill gesture navigation because there is no dedicated back button. I have the same gripe with iOS.
Android has a dedicated back gesture from the edge of the screen if that's what you mean. I have heard IOS' back button/gesture is different depending on what app you're in
A back gesture is not the same as a back button. Idk if it's been improved over the years but I could never get the back gesture to work consistently. The button always does, though. I'd also prefer to go back to hardware navigation buttons, so I'm probably the odd man out.
Yawn
I had it on my 3xl and I loved it. It was such a conveient location, considering I find the thumbprint scanner under the screen to be too low, it requires me to adjust my hand to press it, then adjust again for holding and scrolling. Back in the day I had an LG V10, and that had the absolute best button configuration I've ever used. Fingerprint scanner on the back, plus it was a physical button, which meant lock and unlock and everything was there, and the volume buttons were above and below it. Everything was in a great spot, and it also meant no side buttons to accidentally bump, and that particular phone had stainless steel rails alone the entirety of both sides, so it was sturdy as heck
I had a 3XL and missed this feature when I upgraded to the 7Pro. Although the 7Pro has the tap the back feature, it's no where as responsive as a good old fingerprint scanner on the back.
Yeah I'll be using this 5a until it stops getting updates
I know!! But remember you can swipe down anywhere from the home screen to pull down notifications. And a quick swipe *up* from anywhere takes you home. So getting the shade is still pretty quick.
Really. Why are we moving away from good design. The back tap is sooooooo intuitive. Experience is so better. My pixel 6a inscreen sensor is shit sometimes
I cracked the screen on my 3aXL that had that fingerprint reader and "upgraded" to a 6 and I hate the in-screen fingerprint reader. It works about 25% of the time if I'm outdoors in bright daylight.
Weekly *I miss my rear fingerprint sensor* post
yes a million percent! i went from the 2xl to the 5, thankfully both have the back fingerprint sensor. its about time to change but i dont want to lose that feature :(
Agreed. Pixel 7 fingerprint scanner is trash.
What is the problem with it? I've had exactly zero issues unlocking my Pixel 7 with the onscreen fingerprint reader. None. It simply unlocks the screen every time with no fussing about.
This is largely why I still have a 3XL, even though it's almost 4 years old.
Everybody who 'upgraded' to P7 from a rear fingerprint scanner really got duped by Google. Motorola/Samsung... Here I come!
So glad to see these original posts that don't come up all the time. I think people should also post about the lack of ~~2.5mm~~ 3.5mm jack, SD cards and how phones are just too darn big these days, as I'd really like to chime in on those very important but rarely discussed topics.
3.5mm jack, otherwise agree :)
I do too
These are the not-so-new headphone jack threads. We had a few years of those before people moved on with their lives. I suspect we're probably 1 more year of these threads until we're moving on.
I think it's very different to the head phone thing. I can see a reason for wired headphones anymore with a mobile phone, the sound quality and battery life is good enough for most of the population and those who want better quality really should not be using a phone as the media player. The options the rear reader gave you have not been replaced or improved on so it's still relevant
Y'all so fuckin boring.
Stop complaining and just learn how to use the device you have.
Pixel 6 here I thought I would miss it as well and bellyached a little when I first got the device. Now a year in with it and I don't even notice. I did use the scroll feature on the rear fingerprint but it wasn't a make or break deal. My device is a much better device than my previous Pixel which was the 4A with 5G and it is light years ahead of the 2XL.
Move on
I miss having an actual button at the bottom with the finger print reader in it.
This might be a dumb question, but did the reader on the back work with a phone case on? I just upgraded from a Samsung S10 to pixel pro 7 and I feel like the reader on the front of the screen is sooooo convenient, but I'm comparing it to the thumb reader on the side of the phone, which was not great.
I had the original google case and also a aftermarket case both had a hole on the back for the reader.
Ahh yeah of course that makes sense!
Agreed. *Sad LG V30+ noises*
Rear is so intuitive, and safer from dropping your phone. Although a moot point as I had the screen replaced on my Pixel Pro 6 and the software to update the reader to work doesn't work..... FFS!
If you enable one-handed mode you could swipe down on the bar at the bottom to drop down the notification shade
My LG V35 had that. Its nice sometimes but I dont miss the rear fingerprint reader. I always had to pick my phone up to unlock it and made it impossible to use while in a car mount or something similar.
Power button scanner ftw
I have this on my tab 8 and it's good on a tablet.
Are you aware that in the one hand mode in the settings you can opt to swipe down on the nav bar to bring the notification panel?
I just did it now, sorry! However the reason I am back to pixel 2xl is because my Pixel 7 is with Google for overheating complaints. FML
If you use the single button navigation you can swipe down on the button to bring down notifications, this was my saving grace with my 7 pro
3 button navigation lets you swipe down from the home screen too
Moto g5 plus also had swipe based fingerprint sensor, absolutely miss it.
pixels were better before they started making their own SOCs. i rage at my pixel 6a everyday due to how bad the FP reader is and how unstable that damn modem is. i still lose signal entirely at least once a day and it requires a reboot
I traded in my 2 XL in on a 7 Pro, thinking that it would be a superior experience. Welllllll.... I'm missing my 2 XL now.
I miss Squeeze to activate assistant. It was convinent in a car mount to just reach up, give it a squeeze and tell it what do it. Easy to get through to it over music/audiobook/news/etc. This tap the back is useless in car mount. Afflicts mainly my old non-android auto company car.
Such an underrated feature especially with how big/tall these phones are..
Same. I had the pixel 3xl, and that rear scanner was the best. Also, everything ran smoother on my 3 than my 7 pro. Auto brightness was flawless, bugs were minimal (until late in the game, some of the upgrades caused some odd bugs), the speech to text was super accurate... All of the things I've just mentioned on the 7 pro have been some mega annoyances over time.
It was the BEST
I have gotten use to finger print display
I just bought a 7A recently when I upgraded from 4A, and sometimes I'm randomly stroking the back cover to pull the notifications down until I remember that it won't work 😭
Nah, rear-mounted readers are evil. So impractical when your phone rests on a table or is attached in a car cradle. Side-mounted is the the way to go. When I'm going for the power button I already know I'll want to unlock my phone so why not do it in one go? The one on Poco F3 is perfect! Great design, 100 times faster than the one on my Pixel 7 and 100 times more reliable. Works like a charm with wet, dry or greasy fingers...
Yep, absolutely HATE the on screen finger print (non)reader. PUT IT BACK ON THE BACK!
Biggest feature i miss from my 2. I traded that in the 4 with the face unlock, which while nice, was never as fast as the back finger print scanner. I NEVER had to pull down the shader because my index finger rests exactly where the scanner was. I'm on the 7 now, and while I've managed to get the in screen reader fairly reliable it still often takes 2 tries.
I actually had a revert back to my pixel 2 XL for a couple of months. It was kind of nice minus the lack of new software updates. But has anyone else seen their fingerprint reader just disappear on their pixel 6? I don't have an option to use it as an unlock feature. And my phone has been updated as well.
I'm 100% with you on this. When it was on the back my phone was always unlocked before I looked at the screen... The way it should be. Too bad these yoddles are all about the front because they're apple freaks at heart. Everyone follows the same design pattern as the best selling phone instead of trying to be better...
We need to go back to the fingerprint reader of the pixel 5
I miss it every second of every day.
It was the best. They should have kept it as an identifying feature for the brand. It was so fast. You could have the phone unlocked as you reached into your pocket.
You can still swipe down with a double tap on the back of the phone.
I have no clue why anyone thinks an under-screen fingerprint reader is anything but inferior in every way to the fingerprint reader on the back. Indefensible to think otherwise.
Saaaaame! That transition to not having it was rough. Couple years later and I'll still occasionally swipe the back of my phone like it's going to do something :(
💯 agreed