1y ago

What are the must-do changes that you've made to your Pixel?

Physical changes are also welcome, so things like skins, cases, screen protections etc... are fine to discuss.

For me, in this order:

Wi-Fi calling: it was very surprising that this was not on by default, and enabling it helped a bit with the battery life on my Pixel 7a;
Try custom launchers: I was happy with the phone but the very first annoying thing is the damn Google search bar and how there was no way to just hide it like any other widget. So I ended up installing KISS Launcher (it's FOSS and still maintained);
Bite the bullet and install GrapheneOS: you get more security, sandboxed Play Services, a more fine-grained permissions system and you can still install the default Pixel apps from the Play Store while cutting off their internet access, and most importantly you get rid of the Google bar (also enabled Wi-Fi calling as previously done).

32 comments

GrapheneOS is essential before connecting a pixel phone to the internet.
- Grapheneos is the whole reason I bought a pixel.
  
  Big same. Sadness over no micro SD though. Hell they should just have nvme 2280 slots these days.
- I had to connect it to the internet for oem unlocking

In the developer settings I set all the animations to twice as fast (half as long) so they feel snappier.

Use Insular to create distinct personal and work environments.
Install Silence from f-droid to screen phone calls, and completely stop spam calls in their tracks.
- I do the first thing but with Shelter instead, does Insular do anything better/different?
  
  Honestly not sure. I do know Insular is a fork of Island. Not sure if Shelter shares that lineage.
  
  not sure if this table is up to date but it has a comparison: https://secure-system.gitlab.io/Insular/faq.html
- Silence seems cool but it looks like it hasn't gotten an update since August 2019?
  
  I don't think there's much to update, to be honest. It just works, and has a solid set of basic features. The UI leaves a little to be desired, but isn't a deal breaker for me, because you basically set it and forget it.

Comment on WiFi calling: I had this on for a while, but found that it was way less consistent than cell towers. Calls wouldn't drop, but they would cut out for a second or two, and I would miss stuff in the conversation. So I actually turned this off unless I need it. You seem to like it for battery life - does it make that much of a difference?
My must-have things are more generic Android than Pixel-specific, but: Revanced apps for YouTube and YouTube music, a better file manager, Firefox, and Gallery (also by Google, but for some reason they want me to use Google Photos, which isn't great IMO). Plus F-Droid to find some good FOSS.
- Disabling Wi-Fi calling is very important to me. My call quality is much better going through the tower in my area. The tower's extremely reliable whereas Wi-Fi might or might not have the bandwidth available to handle a call.
  In my mind, a much better algorithm is needed to determine which connection is best for a call in real time.
  
  When I had sprint, I had seamless transitions between wifi and mobile. If my network got weak/ slow it would transition to mobile mid call. Idk if it ever went from mobile to wifi, but now that's its t mobile the wifi calling experience is much worse.
  In fairness, I haven't tried it on my new s22
- I haven't experienced drops in call quality but that's a good thing to know!
  You seem to like it for battery life - does it make that much of a difference?
  I'd obviously have to measure over multiple days with AccuBattery for reliable figures, but I did notice an improvement and I'm charging less often now after I enabled Wi-Fi calling. The best I got was two whole days without plugging the phone (because I just forgot) with battery saver disabled. But it will probably also depend on where you live since Wi-Fi calling probably won't make a difference if the signal strength from the cell towers is very good. (EDIT for another data point: after 1 day 2 hours the battery went from 58% to 21%)
  I wish they moved to TSMC chips instead of playing around with Exynos-based ones though, this would have eased the Pixel battery anxiety somewhat.

I very much like CalyxOS, it's fast and polished, using microG (an open source clone of Google play services) so all your apps work, but your battery lasts longer since everything ribs locally if you like.
- Anything in particular that works better with CalyxOS + microG than with GrapheneOS + sandboxed Play Services?
  
  There's a lot but not total function parity. Android auto is one I wish worked, but I have a motorcycle, so don't really care.
  You've just gotta hope the sandboxing is effective. I'd rather just have something open source fool the apps into thinking it's Google, vs having a low-level malware written by very smart Google engineers, constantly checking the perimeter of the sandbox for an open door..

You customize the OS and then install a custom OS?
I install LineageOS first thing because I can skip Gapps altogether, then I install DDG browser and enable App Tracking Protection (or Untracker might work better for you, use case dependent)
The I install Droidify and Obtanium for my apps, activate airplane mode and then toggle WiFi on.
- Very curious, why LineageOS on a Pixel phone?
  You customize the OS and then install a custom OS?
  I admit it was definitely an awkward way of writing it 🙃, but those are simply the things I tried in chronological order as I was not really familiar with GrapheneOS in the beginning.
  
  I've been using it since it was Cyanogen on my Nexus S, and stuck with it. I've tried many others, but almost a decade ago. LOS just stuck, as I liked the privacy features, flexibility and stability

Try Neo Launcher and its associated Neo Feed. Amazing control/customization.
I also recommend OpenBoard, but the newer maintained fork with gestures and other features.
Browser-wise - Mull.
Instead of Google autofill for passwords - something like Bitwarden instead.
- Mull seems to be not maintained anymore...

I bought a case that has a builtin MagSafe ring, it's super easy to snap the phone on the car charger and have it wireless charge.
- Out of curiosity, which one did you get?
  But yeah, a case is definitely the first must-buy (went case-free for years, changed my mind recently as I dropped my P7a on concrete for the third time 🙃). No MagSafe ring for mine, but I got a Ringke Onyx case. It's pretty cheap, looks great and even makes your phone much more pleasant to hold.
  
  I went with the TIANNIUKE Magnetic Case, more specifically the dark-gray one.

GrapheneOS, with Gcam and DeepL to get picture quality and translations back and PlayServices for email notifications
NewPipe, Optainium, OrganicMaps
dbrand grip case
I'm looking into Qi2 chargers/accessories

Install GCam, few reasons:
The new update that requires you to go into a menu to change exposure and white balance instead of just tapping on the viewfinder to show the two sliders infuriates me to no end.
Custom video bitrate. Not every video I take needs to be full quality, and even then, full quality video on my Pixels so far are not worth it. Couple hundred megabytes just for 1 min of footage that doesn't even look that good? Nah.
Photosphere >>>>> panorama. I don't understand why they decided to kill it off entirely.

Return it

32 comments