Chill out please

Apple Music working better on Android wasn’t on my bingo card but yet here we are

5 icons in a row are better than 4 icons in a row. I don’t make the rules but I do.

To use an iphone is to use a phone in slow motion. This is how it feels like

Android apps are good enough that I don’t miss any particular app. Even if the iOS app was better, the Android version of it (either because there’s the same app for Android or there’s a different app that does the same thing) is most of the time good enough to not care because it does the job done.

And this is when I found out that Reeder can be replaced.

And today on Android I’ve installed Sum Up and now all of my chat messages get summarised. This is happening on a $300 device, for free. I have an assistant that allows me to ask even the trickiest questions and I can do stuff like circle to search.

Two weeks with my Pixel. That was quick! Still is my main phone.

Since I have moved onto the Pixel I find myself using Gemini a lot. I do it a couple times a day and my questions are mostly about small things. Yesterday I asked what the hell is baba ganoush, today I have asked what does “habibi” actually mean. We were picking new heaters and I wasn’t actually sure how do we calculate the wattage and it just answered me. MOST of the times I did fact-check and it was actually right!

This is a big change to my daily workflow. Because whenever something comes to my mind - I can (and I am!) ask about it and learn something new.

There are moments in which I’m missing my iPhone, sure. I do have these thoughts daily, but my sim card remains in the Pixel for about week and a half. Whenever I think about the iPhone, I remind myself that this tool has better assistant, better screen, does the same job and have OUT OF THIS WORLD notification system. And - that was new to me, seriously - these are to me worth more than iOS ecosystem? And the funny part of that is because I’ve moved from Apple to more open Google (evil, but a bit more open) - I can still access my photos and messages on my Mac. Because they are available in the web.

Crazy experience. I know we said these things about Apple, but they just figured some nice things out. You’re getting to bed and plugging up your phone? It’s getting darker and black & white, so you go to sleep instead of scrolling. Someone’s calling you and you can’t answer now? Flip your phone screen down and it will be silenced because obviously.

So, if anyone asks - I do like Pixel 8a.

After a week I’ve got used to the bigger border or fingerprint scanner (I found out that using a bit more force on it actually improved my finger readability). The only thing that right now is frustrating is the slow charging speed. Everything else is fine.

That’s my home screen after a week with Pixel 8a. My iPhone is being left, untouched since last week.

Pixel shots are good enough to post, without ANY touches.

Powązki. This is that golden autumn everybody was talking about. 🍂🍁

This is just crazy. I love it.

BuzzKill and Hurry for Android are worth every cent.

Warsaw being pretty.

Just to add to the point of iPhone feeling more expensive/premium and 8a feeling cheaper - I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, because I feel safer and have to be less careful with Pixel. I love glass, don’t get me wrong, but iPhone with case feels chunky and without one - very slippery.

Few random thoughts about iOS vs Android:

• I like Apple Pay experience more,
• the assistant on Android (the normal, non-Gemini) is so much better than Siri,
• I still have to keep around an iPhone because of smart home (thermostats are HomeKit only) - at least until we move in the new flat,
• I love Android back gesture and I miss it a lot on the iPhone,
• Android feels playful, but not in a way that makes me addicted to it,
• omg proper file system, I missed that!
• build quality on 8a vs 14 Plus is no match, iPhone feels expensive and 8a feels - unfortunately? - cheap,
• iPhone has better vibration motor but it doesn’t bother me that much, what bothers me is lack of very important notifications on the wrist, missed a couple calls already (can be fixed with getting a smartwatch what will happen eventually because my Apple Watch is getting old.

First time getting an update on Android day 0.

iOS notification system is like 0.1 version of what Android has. Seriously. I’m SNOOZING one notification to come back and notify me in an hour. SNOOZING.

I feel a bit more understood by this phone. It does interesting things and is very helpful with the assistants.

If this is what Pixel 8a does I want to see what 9 Pro can do.

I can admit that app quality is sometimes a bit worse on Android but web experience is so much better.

This phone makes sense for me even just for the camera. I’d love to get a Pro model or even just a normal one to get it even better with even better screen and then I’d just have to figure it out on Android because I love whatever it does with pictures.

I did some nighttime photography with Pixel today and it’s just amazingly good. Much much better than my iPhone. And whatever the camera did in postprocessing - would be something I’d add if it was missing. Seriously. Amazing.

This is where I’m at.