200 points

And just like that, all G Pay branding on every store window, door, or register is deprecated. I think they forgot how to make products.

There’s a reason Apple sold 7 of the most-sold phones in America last year. They all have the latest OS available, have security patches for years to come, and use the same first-party apps. I beginning to think that Apple isn’t necessarily doing anything specifically innovative, they just aren’t constantly fucking with their customers (though they do still fuck OVER their customers regularly).

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123 points

yeah. google just isn’t a company you can rely on.

Even their search is going to shit (and with that google ads)

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36 points
*

The past year, for multiple times i wanted an app, i couldn’t find it on Google Play. The search is utter crap. I had to bing stuff with “google play” as a keyword to find what I was looking for. Ridiculous. In the original Play Store search they give three results that obviously have my search words substituted for more common ones, e.g. “music” instead of “sound”, and give you a few most popular for that, which is of course bullshit, because of course music apps are more popular than sound apps, BUT I DON’T WANT ANOTHER GODDAM MUSIC PLAYER. Then they show some useless random shit in a carousel, like FUCKING GAMES LIKE HEARTHSTONE AND MINECEAFT, WHICH IS THE LAST THING I NEED NOW … finally there is a “show more” button that triggers the actual search FOR THE SILLY SUBSTITUTED WORDS I DIDN’T ENTER, BUT THIS TIME WITH FUZZYNESS ON MAX SO IT DOESN’T EVEN MATCH THOSE ALL THE TIME.

I’m not a fan of MS, but: bing Play Store when?

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27 points

Search used to be so useful 😑

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15 points
*

https://youtu.be/Z3dSkkEr-wk

It’s even affected YouTube.

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33 points

Apple doesn’t invent new products; they take good ideas that others did poorly and do them well.

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10 points

I don’t believe that. I don’t think Apple innovates constantly, or that they are the most innovative, but they have their moments (Touch Bar, gigantic touchpad, one of the first laptop manufacturers to have insane display resolution, one of the first to take mobile audio quality seriously, Apple silicon, Vision Pro - which is NOT the same as Google Glass or HoloLens, AirPods).

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26 points

That’s how they beat competition: by innovating in small-ways.

They didn’t make the first Laptop, but they innovate in ways like high-quality display and trackpad, and having a touch-bar.

They don’t always do it well. Touch-bar and pressure-sensitive trackpad have been hit-or-miss features.

AirPods weren’t the first Bluetooth earphones, but Apple managed to make them wildly popular.

Vision Pro is … honestly I’m not sure where they’re going with it. I think the most similar competing product is the Facebook/Meta/Oculus “Quest”, but that focuses on running games while the Apple Vision emphasizes anything but games.

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7 points

Also one of the firsts to go all in on USBC on a laptop. Sure they spun their wheels on mobile but I gotta give them props for taking the plunge in their computers. Lotta people bitched about it but it needed to happen.

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5 points

“one of the first to take mobile audio quality seriously”

Is this referring to iPods? If so, then I agree. Hell, the first gen iPods are super sought after because they can use FLAC audio files. Although Apple has their own “lostless” audio codec now, so idk if it’s that big of a deal.

AirPods? Sure it’s impressive the noice canceling features in such a small package, but Bluetooth audio was nothing new and now they’re required because Apple removed the headphone jack.

I loved my 2017 LG ThinQ because it not only had a headphone jack, but it had a built in audio DAC to provide extra power to my Sennheiser studio headphones and it sounded soooo good.

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4 points

All examples you mention are just refinements of what others did, proving the point. Except the Vision Pro which is just factually a bad product and rightly getting lambasted by everyone for it. But eh, even Apple has their misses.

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3 points
*

It’s true, Apple stole ideas so much there is a term for it among the dev community: Sherlocking .

One of the most famous sherlocking case is Apple removing FlickType citing compliance with apple store guidelines, only to launch a similar app later: https://twitter.com/keleftheriou/status/1437845736951992321

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13 points

waiting for them to cancel android already

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7 points

Their business is advertising and Android is how they track an insane number of users. Like Chrome, they’ll never kill it, it’s far too valuable to them.

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8 points

i was half joking, i’m expecting it to enshittify.

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2 points
*

Any Google tap and pay will still work under the Google Wallet umbrella. All they will do is add “Wallet” logos to future signage.

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8 points

They really seem to have lost any semblance of vision

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2 points

No, the G Pay logo and branding is entirely separate. It is and has always been the indication that you can pay with the Wallet app. Which sucks as far as naming goes, but at least it has been quite consistent.

Over here. I had no idea that in other countries they did all kinds of fuckery with their branding.

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2 points

Individual phones sure, but much like windows vs Mac . There’s way more android devices sold/out there.

The downside is relying on those non Google manufacturers to update those devices.

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4 points

I wonder how much of that is because Apple doesn’t compete in the sub-$400 market. I was surprised that my parents had a $100 Motorola Android that provided updates for something like 4 years, but yeah, some of the manufacturer’s just give up on even supporting their flagship devices (I see you, LG G4).

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3 points

That’s a huge part of it. But it’s like the PC thing all over where anyone can license and produce any kind of android device.

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4 points

android should be like windows or even desktop linux for that matter, google should update it directly.

they look like they are moving in that direction with treble and planning to use mainline linux, but they sure are taking their sweet damn time

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2 points

At the very least, manufacturers should be required to make their android build files available, even if they are kept in an escrow until the manufacturer stops selling that model (or they go out of business). Most of the phones going to the dump are because no updates are available, even though the hardware is still fine and any individual person (with a little patience) could build the latest release if they had the hardware bin files available.

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1 point

For what it’s worth, that’s the goal behind GKI (generic kernel image)

It allows Google to update the phone without the manufacturer’s input

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1 point

Apple isn’t necessarily doing anything specifically innovative

I don’t think they have really innovated for quite some time. But that said, they do know their market. They’ve got tons of people in the ecosystem and simply have to maintain them. It’s a lot easier than courting new users.

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1 point

Apple has never done anything innovative. They just take things other companies have done and sell it to people better. They have a fantastic marketing team, but they generally don’t do new ideas.

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155 points

First, there was google wallet, then came android pay, then google wallet and android pay got merged into google pay, then google pay was split into google wallet and google pay, then google pay shut down in us.

To be continued…

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58 points

Next: Google Android Wallet Pay

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43 points

Google Wallet with Gemini.

Gemini will suggest where you should spend your money next, based on AI analysing your spending patterns.

By the way Gemini is going to automatically pay the optimum amount of tip based on Google partnership.

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10 points

Optimal tips in US is now 35-45%, minimum for not getting kicked in the groin is 20%, plan accordingly.

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3 points

Suggest? Nah fam, it will decide what you want and make the purchases for you based on your overall profile, browsing patterns, bank account analysis and integration with smart devices in your home such as the fridge.

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15 points

… And now it’s dead too.

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4 points

Will it come with its own proprietary chat?

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12 points

It’s almost as if, and bear with me here this is a truly wild concept, letting every manager run their own little show and paying them based on how many new products they introduce isn’t actually healthy.

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9 points

Are you sure that you’re not thinking of Duo/meet/Hangout?

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7 points
*

Don’t put hangout in the same breath as duo and meet. It was way better than those “two”

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1 point

So true. I should have said “Allo”, but I’d forgotten it existed.

I have Google Fi and it was fantastic to have that work using Hangouts. I could turn any device into a spare phone. The “replacement” website feature is disappointing.

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4 points

More like: To be confused…

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1 point

This sounds like someone trying to describe the women’s legs of that video of OpenAI’s Sora … Tokyo Walk.

https://youtu.be/tRSdt5kmeW0?si=dEtq3md0u3phJuv4

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2 points

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

https://piped.video/tRSdt5kmeW0?si=dEtq3md0u3phJuv4

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.

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0 points

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

https://piped.video/tRSdt5kmeW0?si=dEtq3md0u3phJuv4

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.

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97 points
*

Random as hell.

What is with google and all these apps that get killed or rebranded very abruptly?

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64 points

So I’ve heard advancement at Google/Alphabet depends on launching new products, not improving existing ones. Which means a lot of continually reinventing the wheel, because crafting truly novel new platforms is actually quite hard.

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This is the answer. Rising stars get promo, then abandon it. Google under Sundar is just a corporate advancement simulator.

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15 points

Money, it is all about money.

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39 points

It’s about lack of coherent leadership.

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8 points

I was irked about Google podcasts but that made sense since they were obviously trying to push YouTube subscriptions. This I’m not sure.

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7 points

Now they will have youtube pay

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8 points

Or just You Pay

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2 points

I think most people hated this app though?

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69 points

FFS I literally use this all the fuckin time

God fuckin damnit Google

What’s next, are you going to kill Gmail‽

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85 points

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28 points

How long until they change 8.8.8.8 and break half the internet

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29 points

I’m just waiting for them to figure out how to inject ads into DNS.

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3 points
*

It’s too big to fail now. Advertisers hardcode it into their apps and iot devices to evade DNS adblockers for a while now.

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22 points

Can we just sunset google altogether

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9 points

don’t forget alphabet, otherwise they just sunset google to launch gogol or some shit

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1 point
Deleted by creator
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42 points

Did you not hear?

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40 points

NGL you had me for a moment

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9 points

This would give me a straight up heart attack and I’m already trying to get off Gmail.

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-48 points

Don’t be a dumbass spreading blatant hoaxes thinking you’re funny.

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54 points

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50 points

Come on, it is funny.

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17 points

Isn’t google wallet basically the same thing?

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13 points

Yes, and it works better. They said over a year ago that wallet would replace GPay, and remind you that it will stop working basically anytime you open it. I’m all for shitting on Google but being upset over this is dumb.

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6 points

Why don’t they upgrade the original product rather than create a new one? Answer: fucking laziness

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2 points

But isn’t wallet only for tap to pay? I use Google pay to send and receive money between my friends and family literally all the time. Reading the email Google sent me, they only talk about tap to pay still working on wallet.

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1 point

I have 8 bucks in Google Kajigger, is it moving to the new thing? Do I have to sort out how to move it around? I’m think I had it all hooked up to a bank at one point. Maybe it was a friend that sent me money?

I think I used it to pay for Dunkin Donuts, but both apps list Dunkin Donuts, can I just use the money there?

That’s why this is all so annoying, I have to figure out this whole process, old and new, just for 8 bucks.

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-6 points

Samsung Pay is pretty good if you have a Samsung phone.

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2 points

Unfortunately I don’t have a Samsung phone

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Fortunately, I don’t have a Samsung phone.

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-11 points

Relax dippy. Just a rebrand to Google Wallet. Try to breath for a minute before sounding brain dead.

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25 points

Literally the only feature I use on it is getting sunset.

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10 points

Use your bank. Stop giving the world’s largest advertising company more data about you.

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1 point

Out of curiosity, what’s the benefit of Google Pay for you over Venmo or Zelle?

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54 points

Introducing: Google Pay Meet

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15 points

Google-Wave your Google-Pay-Meet device over the Google-Reader and we’ll Google-Optimize your purchase so you can get back to Google-Hangouting with your friends faster than you can say “watch Google Play Movies & TV on Android Auto for phone screens”

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7 points

watch Google Play Movies & TV on Android Auto

Android Auto, not to be confused with Android Automotive

“Overview of Android Automotive vs Android Auto Android Auto is connecting smartphones with the infotainment system via an app installed on the infotainment system, whereas Android Automotive OS is an operating system that’s installed on the vehicle itself, acting as the key enabler for software-defined vehicles.” source

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5 points

“Android auto for phone screens” is another product they killed: https://www.androidpolice.com/google-kills-android-auto-for-phone-screens/

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1 point

This name is reserved for their upcoming hooker service

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