The Pixel 9 is the most disappointed I have ever been with a phone

[poochyena]

The pixel 9 might be the most disappointing phone I ever purchased. The lack of customization immense.
From my sony xperia phone to this pixel phone, I can not:
Block calls that aren't in my contacts list (the on/off button to do so is removed from the menu it was at on the old phone)
Enable 3-button navigation in games (games are forced full screen)
Remove the time/date from the top of the home page
Remove the search bar from the bottom of the screen
Have 5 apps in a row (why is it my smaller phone could fit more apps on screen than my bigger phone??)

Its just extremely disappointing. I thought a newer phone from one of the major phone makers would have more customization, not less. I haven't come across any ways I can customize this new phones in ways I couldn't in my older phones.
I bought this one because it was on sale for $300, and my older phone had a cracked screen and bad reception in some areas.
Looking to see if I can find some solutions to this, or might return it. I can't decide.

 

[continuum]

Block calls that aren't in my contacts list (the on/off button to do so is removed from the menu it was at on the old phone)
Enable 3-button navigation in games (games are forced full screen)
Remove the time/date from the top of the home page
Remove the search bar from the bottom of the screen
Have 5 apps in a row (why is it my smaller phone could fit more apps on screen than my bigger phone??)

Aside from the gaming (since I don't game on my Pixel 9a), I would have to check to see if you can do all those things on it, but I'm pretty sure you can make all those changes. Android as you're already familiar pretty much lets you customize everything...

Both phones are basically running stock Android. You may need to change the launcher but I did that on my Sony as well.

 

[asbath]

I think most of those issues are more unfamiliarity with stock Android OS than anything else. But that's not to say these aren't problems with the stock Google experience on Android 16. I just think that you're coming from an OS that allowed much more freedom and customization than the new Google OS allows. Which is a shame because Android was wonderful for the level of customization it allowed.

I only have the Pixel 7 Pro, but I would say if these things bother you, you might be better off returning the Pixel 9 and looking elsewhere. Google focused on AI more than the Android experience of yesteryear with the last couple major versions. I don't think customization is ever coming back.

 

[continuum]

Block calls that aren't in my contacts list (the on/off button to do so is removed from the menu it was at on the old phone)

Hmm can confirm I see this on my Sony but not my Pixel 9a.

Try a third party dialer like KnownCalls maybe?

Remove the time/date from the top of the home page
Remove the search bar from the bottom of the screen

I've done this on my Pixel 9a, not sure why you are having problems doing so. Again I do have a 3rd party launcher installed so cannot speak to your out of the box experience.

Have 5 apps in a row (why is it my smaller phone could fit more apps on screen than my bigger phone??)

Again, I've done this on my Pixel 9a, not sure why you are having problems doing so. And yet again I do have a 3rd party launcher installed so cannot speak to your out of the box experience.

We do have a long discussion on 3rd party launchers for Android right here in this forum, if you want to scroll past the first couple of posts:
https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/open-source-nova-launcher-thwarted.1509219/

 

[poochyena]

We do have a long discussion on 3rd party launchers for Android right here in this forum, if you want to scroll past the first couple of posts:
https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/open-source-nova-launcher-thwarted.1509219/

Thanks. I had heard about launchers a loooong time ago, but never really knew what they were exactly and never looked into them before. Smart Launcher looks good. I'll try that one out since Nova seems to be dead.

 

[kperrier]

Block calls that aren't in my contacts list (the on/off button to do so is removed from the menu it was at on the old phone)

On my Pixel, running the latest Android published, I can have google screen unknown callers, and then I can block them/mark as spam after they don't actually leave a message

 

[Gisboth]

Block calls that aren't in my contacts list (the on/off button to do so is removed from the menu it was at on the old phone)

Use Do Not Disturb function in settings. Allow calls from folks in Contacts

 

[poochyena]

One more thing I remembered, the pixel doesn't have a notification dot, so if I get a text and don't hear the text sound, I just don't know I have a text until I open the phone. With my Sony, if I got a text 10 minutes ago, I could just glace at the phone on the table and see the notification light blinking.

I guess I'll say some good stuff.
The pixel 9 has:
-A much better fingerprint scanner. The sony phone would straight up not work much of the time.
-A much more responsive camera. Sure, the quality is better too, but I care less about that. With the sony phone, the camera app would take multiple seconds to load the app and then several more seconds to actually focus, if it would even focus at all. I don't care much about the quality, but it just would not properly focus most of the time. This pixel camera opens up and focuses instantly.
-A screen I can actually see in the sunlight. The sony screen just couldn't get bright enough in the sun.

So as far as hardware goes, its an improvement, which I expected with it being a newer and a more expensive phone (at regular price). Its just the software that is disappointing. Gonna try out Smart Launcher today and see how much that improves things for me.

 

[Gisboth]

I just don't know I have a text until I open the phone

Should see Notification for text msg on the lock screen

A much better fingerprint scanner.

I only use fingerprint when face id doesn't work (which is rare)

 

[poochyena]

Should see Notification for text msg on the lock screen

yea but again, seeing the lock screen requires I interact with the phone in some way, unless I have always on display on.. which I don't want since 95% of the day I'm not going to have any notifications anyways and its just using extra battery for no reason.

 

[Gisboth]

yea but again, seeing the lock screen requires I interact with the phone in some way,

Yeah, you have to pick up the phone.

 

[poochyena]

Yeah, you have to pick up the phone and look at it.

I'm looking at my phone on my desk right now without touching it.

 

[continuum]

To be fair the lack of a notification LED isn't unique to Google...

Looks like it's almost gone away in favor of always-on displays. Most models mentioned in this /r post from two years ago are many, many, many years old.

View: https://www.reddit.com/r/Smartphones/comments/1789pde/is_there_a_smartphone_in_2023_that_includes_an/

 

[Paladin]

Not sure if it has it but many phones have the option for Always on Display that uses a small amount of power to show basic info like time and notifications on the screen even when it is 'off'.
Personally, when I lost the ability to have a notification LED on the phone, that was when I tried a 'screen notification LED' app that puts a color dot on the screen or a color band around the screen for notifications. It worked ok. Not great. Then I got a smart watch that can show me notifications and buzz even when I don't have my phone right beside me or in hand. That works great.

The Nothing Phone 3, 3a (and Nothing Phone 2, I think) has a screen on the back and/or some LEDs for notification features. It might also offer more customization options you want.

 

[continuum]

Pretty sure the OP said that's exactly not what he wanted.

yea but again, seeing the lock screen requires I interact with the phone in some way, unless I have always on display on.. which I don't want since 95% of the day I'm not going to have any notifications anyways and its just using extra battery for no reason.

Ooo good call.

The Nothing Phone 3, 3a (and Nothing Phone 2, I think) has a screen on the back and/or some LEDs for notification features.

I CTRL-F'ed Notebookcheck's review of the Nothing Phone 3a and did not see anything saying "notification", but yar, it does have a screen on the back that do that.

 

[Paladin]

Yeah, if you don't want it, that's fine. It only uses around 3-5% of battery per day from what I have seen. Not a big deal if you're not using the phone much anyway. I get the desire to optimize things but you can reach a point where you hae optimized out the features that make the device useful and enjoyable to use so there is a happy middle ground. If the AoD option is no good, there are apps that only light up the screen to show the notification (and repeat on a desired setting if you want). That could be a good software compromise too.

 

[zipperbipper]

I have noticed how the Pixel experience is not as open as I wish it was. It's weird to think that after all this time that Samsung seems to be a better experience for being highly customizable. Not only do they give you a bunch of features and options to tweak out of the box, but they also have Good Lock which gives you even more options. I can't think of any other phone maker that let's you do that within their walled garden.

But of course the Pixels have great support for custom ROMs, as well as other wins, so that's why I stay with them. I try to ignore the immovable search bar as much as I can. lol