Google kills two-year “Pixel Pass” subscription after just 22 months
Google kills two-year “Pixel Pass” subscription after just 22 months::Two years on a Pixel Pass was supposed to get you a new phone.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/08/google-kills-two-year-pixel-pass-subscription-after-just-22-months/Open linkView original on lemmy.world607
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This is why users don’t invest in the google ecosystem. No consistency or follow through.
The Netflix of technology
Does Netflix have a reputation for being inconsistent? I know people are pissed with the recent password sharing policy, but as a dev, I've only ever heard interesting/downright awesome stuff coming from Netflix's tech side.
Netflix has a reputation for killing TV shows after 2 or 3 seasons, before they can be wrapped up. So there's a ton of content on Netflix which is 'unfinished' and so completely unattractive to anyone that might want to start watching it. Why would I ever bother starting to watch, for example, Santa Clarita Diet if I already know the show just ends with no pay off?
I remember watching the first season of that, shame to hear it didn't get a proper finish.
I'm still mad about 1899. Cancelled on a cliffhanger after one season while having great reviews. I don't get it
This is exactly why Stadia failed. I honestly think if it was a service like Gamepass Ultimate where the games come with the sub, it would've been a success. Spending $60 on a game I can only play via Google's service though? Fuck no. Never. Not in a million years.
I mean, they should've communicated better, because that's essentially what the paid subscription was: subscribing would get access to a library of free games to play. I think the library could've been better.
Even today, I'm using Geforce Now + XBox Game Pass, I find that the streaming quality isn't the same as Stadia (but the game selection is much, much better).
My wife's computer had a hardware failure so I set her up on GeForce Now for a month until I could diagnose and fix the issue (i was super busy with returning to college at the time) and it was absolutely jarring how well it worked!
I got my money back and have a billion Bluetooth controllers for my steam deck.
I lucked out with the whole situation. I got in when they were offering a free stadia bundle with cyberpunk, then not long after they killed the service. I got my money back for cyberpunk and a free Chromecast and stadia controller out of it. Now that Google has enabled Bluetooth support, it's my go to PC controller.
I used to be all in with Google. After being burned over and over again, I’ve nearly entirely exited their ecosystem with some exceptions. I just don’t trust them anymore to maintain their products for the long haul.
Yeah I moved to Apple last year.
The garden walls may be higher but at least I don’t have to worry about the plants being chopped down.
Also I’m excited because there might actually be some resale value for my devices for once in my life.
I think the pixel 7 has the best camera around, that narrative changed a generation ago
I used to be a huge google supporter, and I'll still take android every single day over an iPhone... but other than that google could go burn for all I care.
I'd like to exit Google, but Gmail makes this oh so hard. I've been using Gmail since over 20 years, basically my life is on that service. How did you migrate off Gmail?
Just... export the emails and most systems will have a way to import old emails.
Hell for work I'm in the middle of migrating emails sent on a platform, logged on a secondary platform but stored on a third, to a fourth platform via CSV only.
There are ways to forwards all your emails into a new email address i think. Google it.
It's just a running joke at this point. If it doesn't sell as many ads as Search, YouTube and GMail, they'll kill it. Even if you're paying them for it.
They can't just have a little service that makes them a little bit of money. They have to have the top service that makes the most money.
I don't mind the pixels and I trust they'll stick around. So much user data to
selllearn fromWhat do you mean "ecosystem"? Are you unable to understand the idea of making products you can opt into and out of? Just because apple tries with every move to keep you dependent on them for all your devices, doesn't mean everyone else aims to do the same.
Lots of misunderstanding in these comments. Google Fi service is not going anywhere, Google is not cancelling any services. The Pixel Pass is basically just a bundle of optional services that can be added to your Fi account for a very slight discount. You do not get a free phone, you get interest free financing on your phone. Because they are cancelling the Pixel Pass Google has given me $100 credit towards my next phone, which is a better deal than the Pixel Pass itself.
Like many people I'm not happy with a lot of things Google has been doing lately, but the Pixel Pass being cancelled is not important.
Thanks for pointing out that typo, I fixed the credit amount
Damn. Shoulda kept your Pixel and put GrapheneOS on it.
I'm so glad I keep seeing the "just GOS it", I greatly prefer my GOS pix6 to the stock one. As I said in an earlier comment in this post, I just can't switch the stock one over fast enough!
I hate Google as much as the next guy but I don't think switching to the product of an even more capitalistic company, one that is completely locked down and doesn't allow you to install your own OS, is actually a good solution…
That's 12.50 cents a month. You could have literally cancelled at any time.
Except that you're lying
That sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. Telling people they get a new phone if they sign up for 2 years then cancelling it at the 22 month mark.
Ah I just realised. I was assuming users would get a free upgrade at the end of the 2 years, but it might be they get it upfront at the start
Yeah, it's basically a deal at the time of phone purchase: do this 24-month interest free payment plan for a new device, and we'll throw in phone insurance, Youtube premium, and Google One for a significantly discounted price. At the end of 24 months, you can either get a new phone and sign up for another 24 months, or cancel at that time.
Yeah, its confusing the way its worded, but it's still kind of shitty. I am sure there were some who would have bought another phone, but we're lured into the Pixel deal. I know some people really look forward to replacing their phone every couple years, for whatever reason (they all seem pretty much the same to me).
This is just an interest free financing plan that comes bundled with services.
No one was going to get a free phone.
Google cancelled a project?!?
/Shocked Pikachu face
I really hope they cancel Web Environment Integrity too
I want to switch to Google Fiber but I can't shake the thought that as soon as I do they'll shut down operations and pawn my soul off to Satan ISP
I never considered it because the game streaming is still pretty new and I’ve never forgiven Google for killing the news reader.
It wasn't that though, it was just miscommunicated, the subscription was a ps+ type thing, while you could buy games and play them for no additional costs at 1080p. Having Phil Harrison lead the whole thing didn't help either (he rejected Hideo Kojima's offer to make an exclusive game for stadia ffs)
I will never move to GCP because of this. The reputation damage with Reader, Stadia, Hangouts, etc has made me not want to invest moving my companies services to their cloud. I doubt they are factoring this in when they shutter a service, but it is costing them millions. Google has shown it can't commit to supporting their products and services, so why bother spending time integrating with them and get locked in, just for it to be depreciated or discontinued immediately.
Nah, I bet they keep Fiber because of all the delicious data they can sponge up as your ISP. Same with Fi. I'm guessing both are safe regardless of their subscriber base.
Both are also in heavily regulated industries with oversight from state utility commissions and the FCC, where simply trying to exit a market requires a whole proceeding before the agency/commission. They could announce that they'd be exiting the industry and selling its assets to a competitor, but that would have to clear antitrust hurdles and would take a while.
I think that means that effectively, they can't just "kill" these services but would have to sell to someone else, and the approval process itself could result in some concessions for the consumer, so that even Satan ISP would have limited power to really screw over the consumer.
Interesting, thanks for sharing.
Yep, just like they did in Louisville.
Dude, they ARE Satan ISP.
One more headstone in the Google graveyard
But why iPhone?
I went to search for what the best phones are. Now I'm on OnePlus 8T for the past three years and the device still kicks most phones asses for what was a good price. I'll use this for another two years I guess and then I'll look at what is the best phone again. It won't be iPhone, that's for sure
Apple products are overpriced like hell, and simply not yours to do with what you want.
Probably because it's not 2010 and both platforms are matured to the point of being able to do almost the exact same things for the majority of users, so it's just down to small personal preferences.
This is so true now. I used to go back and forth between iPhone and Pixel phones, and then a few years ago decided it's just nicer with an iPhone. I know I'll get regular updates and I'll get OS updates way longer than any Android phone will. The OSes are pretty much the same now, little tweaks here and there between the two and they are nearly identical to how they work. And iPhone just has more QOL features over Android.
Yeah pretty much the same except iOS is absolute trash with the shittiest ux imaginable. Yeah, I have to use them for work. Safari is a fucking trainwreck as one example
The UX is pretty comparable to the Android one, I think. I don't use Safari, so I don't know too much about it. I use Firefox instead.
Firefox on iOS is actually just a reskinned safari, because apple will not allow an actual different browser on their platform. The EU probably is going to change that though.
And no I think the ux is not intuitive on iOS. Some of the simplest common options are either hidden or missing altogether
I think this is mostly right. There used to be big differences and now its very much just a preference. Except when price is taken into account.
Apple no longer have an excuse for the high price of their phones because they are, as you said, basically the same as androids and in some cases just not as powerful.
Androids have the advantage of competing with itself. There are many different makes and models of android all fighting for space so new features or improvements happen faster than they do for iphones. Apple have lost what made iphones unique and therefore "worth it" in many consumers opinions.
If they are now basically an android they should cost the same as an equivalently specced android.
iPhone is still WAY more expensive, more prone to failure, harder and more expensive to repair, and you can't do the same with the device as on an android. So as long as you are a rich non-power user with little technical knowledge and don't care about the money, then I guess iPhones (and apple in general) are okay, I guess.
That also directly describes most Apple users
If anything that’s nonsense, iPhones are cheaper and easier to get repaired and far less to failure and I say this as someone who runs a store that sells phones.
iPhones are cheaper than Android phones? And they're easier to repair?
I'm sorry but both those claims are lies. iPhones and apple hardware in general always is more expensive for less hardware. And though I'm sure there are some hard to repair Android phones out there, apple typically makes sure you get sabotaged if you don't repair your hardware at their stores and yes, their repair services are insanely expensive
Try to as a normal non technical user get a random £200-300 android phone repaired that isn’t Samsung and then try to get an iPhone repaired and see the cost difference
Because they're lying
Because the phones just fucking work
Do you mean to say that android phones don't work?
They do not work as well no, take for example if I buy an android phone + a Samsung watch + Sony headphones and run them together you know what happened last time. The Samsung watch broke the Sony headphones touch controls because of the apps not integrating properly.
That’s the kind of it just works apple phones don’t deal with, I work with phones daily and the amount of people I see return android phones compared to iPhones is not even funny
Just buy a different android phone you buffoon
He's probably talking about his dissatisfaction with Google's entire Android platform on top of Pixel Pass
I mean, there are android phones from 2013 that still work...no need to advertise for apple.
lol, oh now it’s too much?
I don't believe you.
They need to get rid of that clown Sundar. Under his "leadership" Google has been on an endless downward trend.
He's helped with the only metric that shareholders actually care about: profitability. No matter that a lot of those on-paper $ have come through gimmickry and at the expense of the long-term success of the company.
You are right. The year before he became CEO, Google "only" had revenue of $66B. Last year, their revenue was $280B.
But if you look at the revenue chart, they were headed in that direction seemingly regardless of who was at the helm. But I think he is really hurting their long-term profits. I know that might sound crazy when they are making over 1/4 of a trillion per year, but there are more and more people who will simply not even consider a Google product these days because they feel in 6 months, Google will just kill it off. Who wants an orphaned phone or watch or VR headset, let alone all the software and services they kill off.
Yeah, they aren't just eating their seed corn. They're sowing the seed corn and then burning it down before it bears fruit, over and over
What the fuck?
It has been a pretty short trip from "Don't be evil" to "The cutting edge of late stage capitalism"
Which isn't a lot of time if we're being honest
Didn't feel like a trip to me, more like teleportation.
That day might come unless they can get the quality of search back under control.
I wouldn't be surprised (or sad) if a disruptor comes along with a new idea and gives 'em a hard time.
Personally I've already replaced a high percentage of my Google searches with the OpenAI gpt-4 playground.
I replaced google with Kagi. It’s much much much better. So much better that I’m literally willing to pay for a search engine. It just doesn’t compare.
Already has.
Tried searching for anything on it recently?
And then they started pushing Bard which in sure will replace search as soon as it can push ads slyly in conversation
They already have, it’s pay to play now
why would they kill their only successful product
This probably isn't a big deal, but this
is(and the fact that Google is an ad company) is the reason why I wouldn't rely on any Google service or product that I couldn't easily replace in a matter of minutes.It's this kind of knee jerk on Google's part that might save them a few bucks in the short term (presumably incentiviced with bonuses for the managers) but causes long time reputational damage over time.
I don't understand how seemingly no one up the chain considers this before pulling the plug so quickly.
Don't fuck with user trust. When you lose it it's pretty hard to get back.
I was all in for years and each product I've been burned, this is the last straw for me. As each thing I own fails or needs replacing, it won't be Google.
I am done, I looked past a lot of faults because of the overall capabilities of the ecosystem they created and they've slowly dismantled it and changed and tweaked everything to be annoying to use.
It's like they intentionally pick the best features, remove them and try to gaslight me into thinking it's better now.
I'm just done with them.
Wtf are you even talking about.
Your question really made me laugh because I was indeed rambling but the overall point was - I bought Google products, they've dismantled and changed things to make it less useful than it was or they have cancelled the product/program entirely. So I'm not buying their products anymore. It's my opinion but it's my money and I'm going to choose to spend it elsewhere.
Hope that clears it up.
Since everything I'm aware of that they've cancelled is free software, I'm curious what products you are talking about
Pixel pass is the most recent service they've cancelled on me, my movies I bought on Google TV after being moved to YouTube but that service is gone too.
Their assistant devices have slowly gone crazy and barely understand anything and half the features for them have been removed for one reason or another.
Also the transition from the Nest app for my cameras which was amazing to the shitty Google home app which had half the features and didn't work with all my cameras so I had half on nest and half on Google home.
Also their WiFi app is now also in Google home and it has less features than the original stand alone. So it's not all free services, it's things I've paid for and been burned over and over again.
I had a lot of their stuff over the years and it's always great at first until... it's not.
Okay, this explanation does make sense. I've only ever really given money directly to Google by buying their phones, and recently a Google TV device. I have a Nest thermostat which I bought before they owned it, and while they haven't actually messed anything up with it per se, it's been really annoying how many times they've nagged me about migrating my Nest account to a Google account. Also they did cancel a bunch of features on Fitbit after they bought it. Granted I didn't really use any of those features but I could see how that would be frustrating.
The voice assistant is pretty bad. tbf though, I think Siri is as well. Apple doesn't buy companies quite so often but I'm pretty sure they've changed their offerings over the years. A while back I went looking for a way to play my iTunes purchases on Linux and... that was not possible. The Apple DRM is a huge pain in the ass.
this is sooooooooooo shitty, I'd be so fucking upset
The title made it sound bad, then I read the article. It basically said they are canceling a subscription service offering. No one is getting cheated out of a phone. You could pay 45 or 55 dollars a month for 2 years and once it was over you could pay that again to get a new phone. So $1080 for their phone + google services or $1320 for the more expensive phone with their services.
It was started with the Pixel 6. The Pixel seven I see listed as $599 through the playstore. So thats $481 or $240.50/year on google services you can avoid paying for and just get the phone. Oh, and you are "eligible" for that new phone whenever you want.
Whoa, you read the article before getting out your pitchfork? I wish more people would. Part of the reason I left Reddit was due to people (or bots) who would post articles with titles that were unfair, combined with users who wouldn't read, yet had strong angry opinions about everything.
I bought my pitchfork with a saftey in it. Figure by the time I take the safty off I may have cooled down some haha
This is Google's standard operating procedure.
I cannot believe that in the year 2023 people were still paying for a Google service that was supposed to last beyond 30 days. Especially one that was supposed to have a long-term reward. You would have to have so much blind trust in Google at that point.
EDIT: I now understand that this was a a two-year installment plan for the existing phone. That being said, I still don't think anyone should buy into Google products or services expecting them to have long-term support. Google has shown time and time again that they are willing to kill any and all projects at any time with almost no warning.
Well, that solidifies my plan for graphene os on this 7pro and once fairphone comes state side I'm going all in. Been moving to Proton services and this will be the first and last Google phone I get. So sick of their backtracking on everything I enjoy. Fuck Google.
I heard the latest fairphone doesn't have a headphone jack
Im running GrapheneOS on my 7 Pro and I like it very much. Only issue I had was Android Auto. That seems to be not possible to have...
This is the best summary I could come up with:
When the service launched in October 2021, Google said that every two years on the Pixel Pass would make you eligible for a brand new phone.
but Google doesn't answer its own question, saying only, "We offer the best value of our hardware products and give users the flexibility to purchase their favorite services.
We continue to evaluate offers based on customer feedback and provide different ways for them to access the best of Google."
That won't happen here, though—while new signups are no longer allowed, existing users will be able to finish out their two-year term.
You’ll receive a monthly bill for Google One, Google Play Pass, and YouTube Premium at the current discounted rate, which is visible in the email sent to you on August 29, 2023 with the subject line, 'An important update on Pixel Pass.'
To take some sting out of the move, Google is offering a "$100 loyalty reward credit" for active Pixel Pass subscribers.
The original article contains 498 words, the summary contains 160 words. Saved 68%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
The headline is sensationalist since it implies they were going to get a free phone and Google bailed at the last minute.
Really? Because that's how I'm reading it.
I think Ars Technica has it wrong with that wording, the FAQ from Google support linked in that article says:
So you can upgrade your phone for the current term, but you can't renew your subscription and upgrade again.
You're reading it wrong. You can upgrade to a new phone, just not a new phone that comes with PixelPass.
They would have had to pay. It’s not like they already paid and now they’re not getting what they were promised.
I have a pixel phone and never heard of pixel pass
Say what you want about apple, but this is why they are winning. They don’t jump the gun, they don’t go home early, they stick with it consistently.
They are no more expensive than Samsung. So, other than the walled garden app ecosystem keeping all the malware out, whattcha got?
It is. NextDNS and Brave Browser. I usually am not a fan of Brave but it's the best browser on iOS
Would you mind sending a link about NextDNS configuration?
https://nextdns.io/
All iOS browsers are actually safari under the hood, until the EU forces them to stop being huge pieces of monopolistoc shit. And brave is run by a shady POS company, maybe worse than apple, which is saying a lot
I know but Brave has an built in adblocker and many more features which are pretty useful. Also Brave isn't as shady as everyone makes it sound.
A big tech company is using your data for profit. That's as shady as it gets
Source? As far as I know they collect less data by default than Mozilla does. And that whole Brave rewards thing is opt-in
https://lemmy.ml/post/4077809
You can. The subscription services are optional and mostly geared towards lazy bastards like myself. I could manually back my phone up to any Mac or windows machine but I pay for the convenience of iCloud storage instead. The other subscription services are purely entertainment driven (Music, TV+, Arcade, etc.) and not required to have a fully functioning device.
As an apple user it is definitely possible. I don’t even have a million work-arounds. They’re pretty direct
that's about it.
buys a Samsung
Apple has messed around a lot with its phone payment plans in recent years, though. It's not clear whether they really want to become a bank or not.
Nothing says "keeping all the malware out" more, than constantly having to remove malware ;-)
https://www.scmagazine.com/analysis/meta-uncovers-400-malicious-apps-on-android-and-ios-apps
https://cointelegraph.com/news/fake-trezor-crypto-app-removed
https://threatpost.com/click-fraud-malware-apple-app-store/149496/
shit, they should have at least waited the two months, issue some phones to early-adopters and then discontinue the subscription saying there was too little interest amongst the users to justify keeping it up. otherwise it looks like they pulled out at the very last moment to screw peopleedit: ohhhhh, you were supposed to get a new phone when singing up for another two years, then they did well cancelling it before the two-year mark
Classic Google
How dare they up their services prices like everyone else, they are the devil!
Oh what's that, if you had the service they have you $100 dollars off the phone you would have had to by anyway? Damn. That sucks that their customers will have to opt in to services instead of them all being grouped together.
No part of this isnt sensationalized.
Basically this says, "The service prices have gone up everywhere, instead of raising the grouped price we are just having you choose individual services you want"
Fuck Google and fuck pixel too lol
Nah, I like my Pixel.
Only 2 downsides to pixel:
All other issues are solved with GOS.
I haven't used a 3.5mm jack in close to a decade, so it's a non-issue for me, but I get your point.
Yeah, it's about having the choice
To be fair, community's beloved repairable and sustainable Fairphone doesn't have one either…
And it's a phone that I would've considered if it had one.
What's the point of having a 3.5 mm Jack when you have LDAC codec for hi res audio over bluetooth?
I could list dozens of reasons but at the end of the day it comes down to having the option and making the choice, instead of having it made by some company. And as someone who repairs their own phones, 3.5mm jacks really don't take a lot of space. It's definitely not enough to make a substantial improvement to battery size. You question the point of having them, I question the point of removing them when they were (and still are) a universal standard with not many downsides.
some of us prefer legacy cans.
Also the low end of wired is cheaper and sounds better than the low end of wireless.
Yay ChiFi
ChiFi is amazing for the cost most of the time. For me though, having to carry extra things for the wireless options just makes it more inconvenient as well as remembering to recharge. And dongles just end up constantly unplugging with regular movement. I miss headphone jacks. Such a crap move.
I always prefer wired in most circumstamces; wired earphones, Xbox controllers, printers, etc. I just want something to be the exact same every time I use it so my life is similar. I don't want to worry about swapping out batteries, or recharging and then then the battery eventually dying. It's just one extra thing that you have to worry about.
Not to say the newer specs of Bluetooth aren't great because it has come a long way. And I do have an 1st MX Masters mouse that I love. Idk I just generally prefer consistency and reliability over the ergonomic and mobility advantages. Everyone is different I guess
I'd argue it's a bigger moral choice than no usb-c display out. And the $8 dongle doesn't resolve it. I find that I use wired headphones while charging my phone about 30% of the time, making 30% of my time using them either vastly inconvenient or time that I can't use my wired earphones. The good vs evil comes in when you think about why they removed the jack - which was only to sell their wireless buds. There is no other reason that stands any questioning.
Yes, and GrapheneOS.
They were eligible for a brand new phone after 24 months if they recontracted for another 24 months. If they decided to unsubscribe during months 25-48, they'd be on the hook for the remaining cost of the phone. I mention this because at least for where I am, this is the default position - this decision would just mean the user needs to get their brand new phone on a contractual repayment from a provider other than Google.
staring blankly in GrapheneOS
I genuinely cannot switch my stock pixel to GOS fast enough 😭 I'm only taking my time to avoid data loss, rushed a switch like this in the past and it did me real dirty.
graphineos isn't a phone
Hey guys we have a captain obvious over here!
oh :(
Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina
I am a girl with a penis, so automatically, what you are saying, is false
Don't this mess with consumer laws ? People who had paid for this should definitely sue.
I actually don't think anyone used it. The issue is Google didn't allow you to go back and add it within a certain time of your purchase. It also wouldn't let you purchase it at checkout with a new Pixel if you were already paying for one of the subscriptions it was composed of.
I think the other issue is most people aren't upgrading back to Pixel and most of their users are new and unsure if they will continue with Pixel. Personally, meh. Google kills something that isn't profitable and it's clear it wasn't being used as intended or gaining as much traction as they thought it would. On top of that it was just kind of a mess. If I buy a Pixel from Google why don't I have a week after my purchase to at least add Pixel pass.
I love my Pixel and I have had every Pixel except the 5. I will continue to buy them with or without this pass.
nooo now pit jump
Man? A lot of these comments are so damn negative.
For the record I am one of the few Pixel phone users that has had every Pixel but the 5 and I wouldn't switch and don't plan on switching.
I have just about everyone Google products in my home from Nest Hubs to Nest homes, Pixel buds, Pixelbook, etc.
The fact that it was cancelled a month before even the very first of the folks on the plan would've received a key offering of the plan makes it seem like google offered this in bad faith, and when viewed in the context of them removing grandfathered rates, etc. That view is only reinforced.
As someone who has had a nest security system and dropzone cameras discontinued, as well as removal of grandfathering status on multiple plans, I still appreciate googles stuff, but I have no expectancy that anything I am enjoying will be continued in the future, and that lack of consistency is concerning.
Succulently put.
Purchasing a new car recently, and the Polstar 2 which I liked the look of was taken off my shortlist the femtosecond that I learned it came with Android automotive.
Google's track record is appalling. This is somewhat okay if you're getting it "for free" (yes yes, "you are the product", I know), but it's wholly unacceptable if I'm paying for it and I risk Google weaseling out of updates after a couple of years.
Not sure if it's your cup of tea, but fair phone just announced that they're committing to supporting the fair phone 5 with 8 years of updates
What key offering are you referring to? Re subscribing? You are Eligible to get a new phone any day you want, go to the store and buy one, or buy one online. You would have had to pay for the phone through the plan. They even through in a 100 dollars if you wanted to buy the next pixel.
I never had the pass, so I might be wrong, but IIRC a key point was that for a fixed monthly rate, purchasers of the pass were guaranteed upgrades every two years. That means that Google offered to cap the cost of their phones.
They got rid of this plan, so I suspect the next pixels will be released at higher price points.