It is honestly exhausting watching the current state of Android skins. Ever since Apple dropped the "Liquid Glass" aesthetic in iOS, almost every major Android OEM—Vivo (OriginOS), Oppo (ColorOS), Xiaomi (HyperOS), OnePlus—has tripped over themselves to copy it screen-for-screen.

The translucent frosted blurs, the bubbly rounded toggles, the exact same floating menu bars and dynamic island clones... it is a shameless 1:1 rip-off.

What frustrates me the most isn't just the copying itself—it's the complete lack of ambition. The whole point of Android is supposed to be variety, freedom, and distinct character. These brands have massive design teams and incredible hardware, yet they willingly throw away their own visual identity just to look like a knockoff iPhone. It screams insecurity, like they are telling their own buyers, *"We know you secretly wanted an iPhone, so we made our software pretend to be one."*

Right now, Google's Pixel UI feels like the only breath of fresh air left. With Material 3 Expressive, Pixel actually has a spine. It uses bold colors, distinct geometry, and fluid motion that doesn't look anything like iOS. Even Google's Android boss publicly shot down the idea of bringing Liquid Glass to Pixel, and honestly, thank God for that.

What blows my mind is how normal this has become. People in the community just shrug and say *"everyone copies everyone"* or *"it looks smooth, who cares?"* Taking inspiration on a useful feature is one thing; copy-pasting an entire aesthetic direction because you're afraid to be different is pathetic.

Why isn't there more pushback on this? Do people actually want their Android phones to look like iOS clones, or have we just given up on OEMs having their own character?

I must admit there are many amazing phones I'd love to try. But every time I swap my SIM from my P9 I can't last more than a day due to not having call Screening. It's one of those features that you don't really pay much attention to until it's no longer there.

Has anyone else seen a massive increase in spam texts in the last few days? I am getting 5 to 10 every day. I thought the Google Messages app did a pretty good job automatically sorting these into spam but it seems like a lot are getting through. Is there any setting I can change or anything I can do to make the spam screening much more stringent?

Pixel 8 user here. It seems like every day I run into something Gemini does that makes me irrationally angry.

I just asked it to set an alarm for tomorrow and it said "that's an intensely early start" and didn't set my alarm.

What stupid things has it done to annoy you?

Greetings!

I'm in a bit of a predicament. I shot vacation footage on my Pixel 11 in MotionCam Pro, but can't seem to get a Gyroflow profile working now that I've returned home. The footage was shot with the expectation that I'd be able to correct it with Gyroflow, so I'm now turning to you folks to ask if any of you have a Pixel 11 main lens camera profile that you can create and share with the Gyroflow devs through the desktop app. I've tried to use the test diagram but it didn't work.

Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.

Hey guys!

Just looking for opinions since I just read the megathread about Bluetooth and wifi issues.

I've got Pixel Care+ on my 8 Pro and the battery is degraded so I can get it replaced or fixed for free. What I'm wondering is am I better off getting the battery replaced at a ubreakifix since I don't have any Bluetooth or wifi issues instead of going the RMA and potentially getting a device that will have those problems?

Upgraded to a Pixel 11 Pro, can't figure out how to get notifications. I get IG and Text but nothing else. Mostly want to make sure I get alerts about new emails. I've tried what Google told me and it didn't help. I'

Hi all. I have a Pixel 9 that I purchased one year ago in the EU, so it's still well within warranty. Last month, the phone turned off and wouldn't turn back on. It wouldn't restart with the various button combinations either, no vibration, no nothing. My laptop still recognizes it as a Pixel when it's plugged in (but I can't access any contents), and it still rings when I ping it with Find Hub.

Given the issues I was having, I sent it in for warranty repair via RMA. Of course, once it arrived in Poland, like so many people before me, the inspection team found "Cracked screen" and "Frame or back cover damage", and they want €235.54 to repair the phone. My phone was, of course, not cracked when I sent it in. I demanded photos to support their claim. Here's the two photos they sent me so you can judge for yourself.

I've been in contact with Google to try to understand what is actually wrong with my phone, and to understand why they won't honor their warranty. We've been trading emails for a week, but now they're just sending me in circles and they're not answering any of my questions.

What recourse do I have from here? I've already filed a complaint with my country's consumer protection agency, and I'm at the point that small claims court feels like my only option. It seems like Google is just scamming me so that they don't have to honor my warranty, which is incredibly disappointing. If I don't pay, I'm left with a non-functional phone. If I do pay, I'm sure that they'll just find another way to scam me at this point, considering that I still don't even know what's wrong with my phone, but I'm damn sure that €235 worth of cosmetic repairs are not going to solve it.

If anybody at Google is listening and wants to actually help me, my details below:
Case ID: 8-9961000042007
RMA: RMA97670296

Since the last update my P10 has been lagging and freezing in pretty normal apps, mostly social media.

I'm also getting black pixels on the screen that show up and then disappear after a bit.

Is it just mine or is this happening to more people? Found any fix?

There's a lot of posts about issues with pixels since the September/October updates. Specifically performance related.

A Redditor has already logged a case with Google if you're experiencing issues add your +1 and comments here:

https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/571186734

Mods: could this link be pinned?

Hey Pixel community,

I own a Pixel 7A phone from the last 2 years. It works perfectly fine with no lag and the battery is also fine not much degradation.

But from last few weeks the back panel of phone is coming out when it heats up. As I already saw some discussions about the battery puffing and all. It doesn't see to be the case as I pulled 75 percent of panel just to check that at 100 percent battery it wasn't swollen or something.

I am also attaching the Dev Check app screenshot of battery.

Please help me. Should I be worried or what should be my next step. I am worried about water getting inside as the back panel comes off randomly when phone heats.

Screenshots: https://postimg.cc/gallery/D2Hb28k

If I take 50 pictures, then review them and decide to delete 49 of them and keep the best one, is the one saved photo left on the device, but the original 50 are still in Google Photos cloud?

I want to have Google photos sync with the phone gallery so that there aren't unnecessary photos stored on Google Photos cloud.

Hey All. I've been trying to take a screenshot all day by pressing the power and down volume button but it's not working. Just shows the volume slider or the power off button.

Have tried long press, short press, with case, without case, even gone into gestures but can't see an option for it now.

Anyone else noticed this or just my phone being weird?

Thanks

Ciao a tutti, da diversi mesi riscontro uno strano problema con il mio Google Pixel 9 Pro e vorrei capire se qualcun altro si è trovato nella stessa situazione o se esiste una soluzione.

Il problema riguarda esclusivamente la riproduzione dei messaggi vocali su WhatsApp e Telegram.

Quando ascolto un vocale e avvicino il telefono all'orecchio per sentirlo dall'altoparlante superiore, lo schermo non si spegne e l'audio continua a essere riprodotto dall'altoparlante principale, come se il telefono fosse ancora in vivavoce.

Di conseguenza, quando porto il telefono all'orecchio, rischio di toccare accidentalmente lo schermo con la guancia e premere pulsanti o attivare funzioni indesiderate.

La cosa che mi lascia perplesso è che durante le chiamate normali il sensore di prossimità funziona perfettamente. Ho provato con l'app Telefono di Google, durante le chiamate, ad avvicinare il telefono all'orecchio e il display si spegne regolarmente.

Per cercare di risolvere il problema ho già:

- Aggiornato WhatsApp e Telegram all'ultima versione disponibile.

- Aggiornato il sistema operativo del Pixel 9 Pro.

- Controllato le impostazioni del telefono e delle applicazioni, senza trovare nulla di anomalo.

A questo punto non so più come muovermi.

Secondo voi potrebbe trattarsi di un bug delle applicazioni, di un problema di compatibilità con Android o di qualcosa legato alla gestione del sensore di prossimità da parte del telefono?

Mi conviene contattare l'assistenza Google oppure quella di WhatsApp e Telegram? E soprattutto, c'è qualcuno con un Pixel 9 Pro che riscontra lo stesso problema?

Preciso che ho nominato solamente queste 2 app, perché molto banalmente sono le uniche app di messaggistica che utilizzo. Non so se questo problema si riscontri anche in altre app che io non conosco.

Grazie in anticipo a chiunque possa darmi una mano! 🙏

Device: Pixel 9 Pro Fold

Issue: Phone completely stopped working / turned off (covered under extended warranty)

Status: 10 Days without a device / Stuck in Support Loop

I’m writing this out of sheer frustration after being without my primary phone for 8 days due to a constant stream of miscommunications, cancelled orders, and backend system errors with Google Support.

Timeline of What Happened:

1. Initial Claim: My Pixel 9 Pro Fold completely died and wouldn't turn on. Online documentation and support confirmed it was covered under extended warranty. Support informed me they would replace it with a Pixel 11 Pro Fold.
2. Advance Exchange Confusion: I specifically requested an Advance Exchange. On the call, the rep instructed me to proceed with a standard device return, claiming that "behind the scenes" they would process an advance exchange and ship the new device first.
3. No Confirmation / Cancellation: After several days with zero order confirmation or shipping details, I called back. I was told my original order had been cancelled, and a new standard shipping RMA was opened instead.
4. Supervisor Escalation #1: I escalated to a supervisor who opened a new case, manually processed the Advance Exchange, and sent me a link to authorize the hold on my credit card.
5. Credit Card / Hold Issues: The first attempt threw a payment error on their end ("bank didn't approve"). I updated my payment method with a new card.
6. Active Hold, Still No Shipment: The pre-authorization hold successfully went through—I can see the active hold on both my bank account and on payments.google.com. However, no order confirmation was generated, and no RMA/shipping label was sent.
7. Supervisor Escalation #2: I called back to check on the stuck hold. Another supervisor created yet another case, telling me a new RMA email would be sent "asap." I replied to the email thread asking them to trace the existing RMA/order tied to the active hold.
8. Current State: Radio silence. No response to my emails, no RMA email, no replacement shipped, while an active hold remains on my credit card.

Current Case Details for Support / Mods:

• Case ID(s): 8-1309000041241, 2-0292000041462
• Status on payments.google.com: Multiple active Pending Hold

I just want the Advance Exchange order that was authorized on my card to actually trigger and ship out. If any community managers or support specialists here can take a look and get this out of tier-2 limbo, I would greatly appreciate it.

Hi all,

I've been using Pixel phones for quite some time (5 years). While I've enjoyed Google's native recorder app thoroughly, I feel the dire need to categorize recordings in user customized folders but I do not find any such option to do so.

Any solution, anyone have on this?

The currently used model is pixel 11 pro.

GP 10. Visual voicemail was working perfectly with my carrier and then, sometime within the last few months, completely disappeared from my phone. As in, the "Visual voicemail" toggle does not even APPEAR in Phone settings anywhere. Tried using the carrier's recommended app and it can't activate because, I assume, visual voicemail is silently disabled.

Tried clearing full storage for the Phone app. No dice. I see lots of threads on here about issues with visual voicemail this year but no solutions. Anyone run into this, where it just completely disappears from your device, and have a fix?

No mods or anything to the phone build. Just straight Google + regular updates.

I have a Pixel 10, and the microphone works fine in the default camera app and for voice recordings. However, when I record videos directly in third-party apps like Snapchat, WhatsApp, or Instagram, my voice is extremely quiet or barely audible. I've already tried clearing app caches, reinstalling those apps, checking permissions, toggling the system microphone access, rebooting, and updating everything. None of that fixed it. The issue seems app-specific, not hardware, because the voice recordings sound normal. Other Pixel 10 users have reported similar behavior, and the problem hasn't been definitively resolved yet. I'd like to know if this is a known bug for Pixel 10 and whether a software update is planned to fix microphone behavior in third-party video recording.

TL;DR: Pixel 10 Pro died 14 days after the 1-year warranty ended. Google refused to warranty it and quoted $535 for a motherboard replacement. Interestingly, replacing the motherboard magically fixed months of poor wireless reception and battery life, making me suspect the phone was defective from day one.

I bought a brand new Pixel 10 Pro from the Google Store. Exactly 14 days after the 1-year warranty ended, it bricked completely. The phone has been babied without any physical or liquid damage. I took it to the Google Store where they diagnosed a dead motherboard. The repair quote was $535 USD—half the price I purchased the phone. I asked for a goodwill warranty exception, but the best they could offer was 20% off repair, which I reluctantly accepted.

The catch: For months before it died, I struggled with awful wireless issues (intermittent phone calls and 5G connection) and terrible battery life. The built-in diagnostics always showed everything was "good," so I thought it was my carrier's issue and just lived with it. After replacing the motherboard (battery not replaced), both issues vanished magically. I strongly suspect the original motherboard had been defective from day one and degraded until it died right past warranty. (Awesome planned obsolescence by Google engineers.) I regret not pushing for a warranty claim sooner when those warning signs appeared.

Lesson learned: if you find any minor issues on your Google devices, it might become much worse down the road. Get it fixed while it's still under warranty!

Last night my pixel started crashing once again, it's been doing this on and off for months. I kept restarting it, charging it, turning it off and on again- nothing worked. Then I used this website in an attempt to restore the image: https://pixelrepair.withgoogle.com/steps as well as https://flash.android.com/welcome. When I used pixelrepair, it made things worse. My crashed in the middle of the update, and after that I couldn't even boot the lockscreen.

OEM Unlocking is not enabled, and because I cannot get into my phone I cannot enable it through settings, so I cannot successfully use flash.android.com.

I tried going into Recovery Mode, then selecting "Apply Update from ADB", and used the latest public build "frankel-ota-cp3a.261005.005-fb1a83f7.zip" It failed at the 74% marking, and consistently fails at the 74% marking. Phone stops, restarts, then goes right back into the command screen.

I already have a ticket in with Google support, and am planning on sending the phone out this weekend. The problem is that it'll take up to about 2 weeks for me to get it back. I need this phone for work, school, pretty much everything (don't put all your eggs in one basket I know, but technology requirements make that a bit difficult these days)

Any advise in the meantime before I ship ol boy out for repairs? I will not be opening the phone so as to not void the warranty.