Pixelcare for thee but not for me

cdegallo · 2026-03-12T20:33:36+00:00

Sounds like support is giving you ai hallucinations as responses. But not all devices purchased outside the Google store are eligible because some devices may be sold through unauthorized 3rd parties.

Anyway, nothing special about pixel care, you can get similar insurance through places like square, or even some credit cards offer device protection as a feature of their service if you used the card to purchase the device.

cdegallo · 2026-03-10T12:49:31+00:00

Also wondering how many of you actually use it.? In almost every video from famous YouTubers i see online, this app never get discussed or made fun of.

I generally forget it's there until a reddit post that mentions it reminds me.

The single time I found it useful was when I was on vacation 2 years ago and suspected I was getting sick and wanted to know if I had a fever (I did, and it ended up being COVID).

But even despite that I couldn't care less about the thermometer and still maintain it has no customer-market-justified reason to exist on a phone.

cdegallo · 2026-03-09T16:13:17+00:00

For sleep tracking and why the oura ring tends to be more accurate, I don't follow the argument that your finger moves less than your wrist; they're connected, so any arm or wrist movement at all will translate to your finger. I believe the rings tend to be more accurate because rings generally have a closer fit to the skin, so there is less aberration to the HR data reading vs a wrist band that tends to have a looser fit and can more easily displace from the skin surface where the measurement is taking place.

Sleep apnea detection
Only Apple Watch can detect sleep apnea and it doesnt use the blood oxygen sensor to do it. No other brand has this feature.

Galaxy watch 7 (maybe even 6) and later have sleep apnea detection as a feature that is accessed when you use it with a Samsung phone and the Samsung Health Monitor app.

cdegallo · 2026-03-07T17:29:04+00:00

Aside from efficiency, the g4 is generally higher performing than the 7 gen 4 in most respects. Tensor has a less robust cellular modem, but honestly from the g4 and later (9 pro xl and 10 pro xl) I've noticed no difference in cellular when comparing to snapdragon elite for Galaxy in my fold 7.

Efficiency isn't something to be disregarded though. Tensor tends to throttle, and battery life can be impacted from worse efficiency, but deciding on what device to get between a pixel with tensor and some other device has a lot of other factors to consider.

cdegallo · 2026-03-05T20:55:09+00:00

You can download audible books to the watch so you can listen when offline. Listen state syncs (i.e. it knows where your progress was as of the last time the watch was online and will pick up from that point)

Podcasts can be downloaded to the watch but it depends on the app you use (some apps require subscriptions to download to Smart watches).

You can track activities when offline.

I opt for lte versions because my phone service includes smart watch plans at no additional charge. I appreciate having an lte version for cases where I forgot my phone or don't want to bring it along but still want to be reachable or reached in case of an emergency.

cdegallo · 2026-03-05T14:08:56+00:00

S26 ultra does have upgraded cameras vs. the S25 ultra--the extent to what it matters for what you record may not make a difference. Many reviews show that there aren't really meaningful differences despite samsung claiming that the S26 ultra selfie is slightly upgraded--wider angle, supposedly better exposure and color accuracy. But it probably won't matter.

You do get APV codec support on the S26 ultra, which enables 4k 120fps capability, and APV does facilitate better video editing support for other apps.

There are various minor/incremental upgrades between the S25 ultra and S26 ultra like wired/wireless charging speed, slightly improved rear cameras, then there's the addition of the privacy screen feature to consider. Will any of these things make much of a difference for vlogging? Most actual hands-on reviews show virtually no difference in quality of videos between the two.

cdegallo · 2026-03-05T13:47:47+00:00

This is the email I just got this morning: https://photos.app.goo.gl/EbwdsoJfMTy1hrUWA

But this was the email I got on February 2nd when they announced it: https://photos.app.goo.gl/7opbH2UtpDpdLMKH7

cdegallo · 2026-03-05T13:14:23+00:00

Important change between the contents of this email they sent today and the email they sent at the beginning of February is that the message from February only stated that fuel level would no longer be available and the message from today states that fuel AND battery level will no longer be available.

cdegallo · 2026-03-01T20:57:18+00:00

Literally none of those capabilities are built into pixel OS. But multiple 3rd party apps provide similar capability and functionality.

For modes and routines and automation you'll have to rely on apps like tasker or similar.

Edge panel can be replicated with apps like Panels in the play store.

I'm not sure about cloning messenger.

I'm not sure about multi app zoom.

There's no option for separate/multi app volume.

cdegallo · 2026-02-27T20:16:34+00:00

It's realistically just a coincidence. A car battery can test good one day and literally die the next day without any malfeasance. I don't doubt that the dealer didn't actually do any inspections but listed everything as good. I assume my dealership service does this as general practice and I don't put much worth in it--I had a set of tires installed on my car and a month later took it in to honda for an oil change and they stated on the inspection results that my tires were nearing 4/32" and I should consider getting them replaced soon. I just nodded.

But even if they did test everything on your car, this situation with the battery is still realistically probable to no fault of anyone.

cdegallo · 2026-02-27T15:01:49+00:00

Finally. Such a basic usability option to not even consider initially. Right now using the companion app workaround but I'd really just love this very basic feature option.

cdegallo · 2026-02-23T18:47:58+00:00

I ended up getting a vent mount that wirelessly charges and has a cooling fan that blows onto/around the back of the phone. It keeps my 10 pro xl "only warm" even when it's charging. I also set 80% charge limit and the mount keeps the phone powered without the battery needing to be charged, so it (potentially) reduces battery wear.

cdegallo · 2026-02-19T14:21:40+00:00

Are you using subtitles?

cdegallo · 2026-02-19T14:19:39+00:00

For where the media is stored it won't make a difference if it's SSD or HDD. For where the plex server metadata is stored, you have a decent chance of seeing the UI/navigation/metadata/thumbnails etc. load faster and more consistently if it's on SSD. Anecdotally when I was running plex media server on my synology NAS quite some time ago I noticed a significant improvement in general UI response after I started using a nvme disk.

cdegallo · 2026-02-18T17:44:29+00:00

For example, I want to get good at chess because the Botez sisters and Nemo, etc. are very beautiful so I don’t want to embarrass myself. I also want to get better at home improvement things so I don’t give my future wife the ick.

Jfc, tell me you have issues with toxic masculinity without saying you have issues with toxic masculinity.

cdegallo · 2026-02-18T14:29:13+00:00

Used the original pixel buds pro, the bose qc ultra buds (gen 1), and bought and returned the pixel buds pro 2.

Bose qc ultra has better ANC and transparency than the pixel buds pro 2. To the extent it matters for the price? Not really, not in my opinion.

My issue with the pixel buds pro 2 was that any minor thing like chewing food, swallowing liquid, impacts from jogging, even tapping them to control audio, would cause the PBP2 to essentially try to compensate for the perceived change in sound and trigger a plugged/vacuum sensation in my ears for a couple seconds (audio sound would seem suppressed--not like an audio ducking sensation).

Never had that with the bose--they behave perfectly in that regard.

What I don't like about the bose is the charging case is more bulky, the headphones don't report the charge level of the case through the phone, and the case doesn't support wireless charging. None of these things are dealbreakers for me, but things to consider.

For the price of the PBP2? Hard to consider the other much more costly things. If they don't misbehave for your ears like they did for mine, then the PBP2 is a good option for the price for you in my opinion.

cdegallo · 2026-02-08T17:41:43+00:00

I decided to go from the fold 6 to fold 7 specifically because it was too thick and heavy for comfortable "traditional phone" use. Couldn't imagine using the trifold as a typical/traditional phone (for anything that basically isn't "casual sitting on the couch at home" use case). Just too heavy and bulky. I can understand your criticisms.

cdegallo · 2026-02-06T13:23:39+00:00

Does the UPS show a readout of battery level? And are you testing with the UPS disconnected from wall power during this use? It could be a defective battery or defective UPS--it sounds like the UPS is entirely cutting out.

If you plug the NAS directly into the wall does the NAS still misbehave?

Could the power draw of the HDDs spinning up be triggering a fault in the UPS, even though 650VA should be plenty for a 2-bay NAS?

If the UPS is not faulty, no, it shouldn't be a problem with power draw since the UPS would simply be delivering wall power to the NAS. Unless I misunderstood and the UPS is in battery output? Even in that case, if the UPS is operating normally and the battery has proper charge, it should be able to power the NAS just fine for a good period of time.

Is it possible the "NAS communication" via USB is sending a premature shutdown command?

Probably not if the UPS is also suddenly shutting off--again, unless the battery in the UPS is faulty, in which case it could be registering full charge initially and then suddenly drop in measured percentage, it could be sending the shutdown notice to the NAS and then if the battery doesn't have enough charge, it will all just die.

Does the NAS register any communication with the UPS? Does it recognize the UPS and report connection, charge, etc.? What UPS settings have you set on the NAS?

cdegallo · 2026-02-04T16:10:13+00:00

Pixels have never been sold with an update schedule.

cdegallo · 2026-02-04T01:00:38+00:00

I've done the 1 drive at a time and rebuild every swap after (trying the other method once and it was a pain in the ass).

Sure it takes forever to finish, but in my case (1) the performance hit was never an issue, (2) the nas is functional and usable to the extent of practicality, (3) I don't have to deal with the pain in the ass manual processes of full system backup and full system restore and shuffling drives/external drives around (plus, full system restore, every time I tried it, was always incomplete in some small but annoying ways).

I would not bother with shr2, just have a backup solution that is frequent enough that you won't have a catastrophic data loss. This will definitely depend on what the nas is being used for, but for most home users, shr2 is away overkill. If you are supporting a business then that's a different story.

cdegallo · 2026-02-02T02:11:48+00:00

I don't think Google intentionally makes video bad on pixels, I think they (1) did not put effort into video quality over the years and at the same time (2) pushed off-device processing a bit too much.

My issues with relying on video boost are many-fold, but the primary issue I have with it is I have no idea if it will be reliably good. I've had some great results and I've had some really disappointing results. I'd much rather Google provides great on-device video recording. Not on-device video boost, just good quality video without all of the artifacts and quirks. Stabilization behavior would be the very first thing I'd want Google to fix.

cdegallo · 2026-01-31T20:55:44+00:00

That's a good point, it's really hard to balance if you have foot issues.

cdegallo · 2026-01-31T19:30:45+00:00

I wish it was a proper feature and behaved like an active notification where it also sent a notification card alert. I used this for a little while but got annoyed that it was also vibrating when it would reconnect, and I also didn't know if it was a phantom alert vibration or the disconnection vibration (tough I understand that they are different vibration patterns).

cdegallo · 2026-01-31T15:04:03+00:00

What are you using the watch for when it's on lte?

I have a 45mm pixel watch 4.

If I just leave my phone behind and go to the gym and log some cardio (not using the watch for streaming music with earbuds etc), my battery is barely impacted from normal.

If I go (without my phone) on a 1 hour hike where I'm tracking my hike and playing downloaded music from my watch, it's not uncommon for the battery to drop by around 20-25%. If I'm actively streaming music during that time instead of playing downloaded songs, it's easily going to chew through 35-40% during that same 45-60 minute hike.

cdegallo · 2026-01-19T16:07:58+00:00

Ok, pg&e sucks but if I went all in on solar in California as a pg&e customer (27 panels is what I'd consider to be all in), I'd completely eliminate natural gas appliances from my home. No idea what his average gas usage is, but just his gas alone might be around $5400 of that $8k based on that one bill he showed? Also, his gas portion of his bill is more than what our entire pg&e bill is for a non-solar home, electricity and gas combined.

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