Android is struggling to keep its market share in the United States, as Apple continues to take over in the market. But, despite Android as a whole losing ground, Google Pixel phones are becoming a bigger slice of the US market.
Counterpoint Research reports that, in Q2 2023, US smartphone shipments dropped by 24% year-over-year. That includes both iPhones and Android phones, and virtually every brand saw a drop in shipments. Samsung saw US shipments drop by 37% while Motorola saw a 17% drop. TCL saw the biggest decline at just shy of 70% year-over-year, and even Apple saw a 6% drop.
One thing that drive me nuts on Pixels is how uncustomizable the launcher is. Can’t even change basic things like the grid size or whether I want Google widgets locked permanently on the homescreen. Then, if you replace the launcher, gesture navigation gets all janky.
On the launcher you can change basically nothing. Can’t move or remove the at a glance widget or the google search bar that takes precedence over your app bar. Can’t change the size or number of quick setting icons. Can’t change icon packs. Can’t change the grid size. Can’t change the task switcher look.
You can basically change nothing other than the accent colour.
And you still literally can’t change the quick settings tiles or the theming etc.
Also changing the launcher fucks up gesture navigation.
