I just tried the photo sphere mode again for old times' sake. It sure hasn't gotten any better. Maybe they're removing it so they can make and release a better version, but I won't hold my breath.
I mean, maybe, but hear me out: what if - crazy idea right here - they finish a fucking project before killing off the old one? Or, even wilder, maybe they improve the existing project? I’m about to blow this ceos mind with these radical ideas.
Maybe not do things like…
Gmail to Inbox to Gmail;
GPlay Music to YT music;
Reader to;
Hangouts to Messenger to Alo to Messages to Chat (or whatever the fuck it’s called now) to Messages (but with RCS so it’s okay we improved it we swear) ;
Google is like an adhd teen with no adult supervision or medication. It just decides that project x isn’t fun anymore and abandons it, but y will totally be better except it never is because y gets abandoned too because ooooh shiny.
I’m not angry at all, noooooo. It’s not like most of the projects I used have been axed and replaced (or not) with shittier alternatives. I absolutely love moving friends and family to systems for a few months just to hear about ‘why doesn’t x work anymore’ and ‘you said x would be around for a while’. Fuck you, Google.
Trust me, I still haven't gotten over the untimely deaths of Inbox or Play Music, and my comment history will show me raging about Google's inability to have a coherent messaging strategy. (By the way, you forgot the original Google Chat which was killed off before Hangouts!)
It's the same story every time. An app/service with excellent potential, left to stagnate for years, retired. It's at the point I don't bother trying anything new Google puts out because I can't trust that I won't be rugpulled again.
Edit: my mistake, it was called Google Talk, which was renamed to Gmail Chat, which was killed off in favor of Hangouts.
Maybe the Pixel team didn’t talk to the Maps team. Maybe they did and the maps team said they didn’t care. Maybe everyone involved in all of these features has since left the company. With Google, who knows?
Whoa I had no idea this happened. I used to be a part of a group that would go in and add street view for places like public transit stations so people could gauge accessibility. It’s such a shame that Google killed that ability…
A lot of it was updated with both OSM (imagery via Mapillary) and Google Maps.
While I love the “don’t make Google stronger” stance, the goal wasn’t to help Google but instead to help the people who needed the imagery. And (at the time, at least) most people planned their routes using Google Maps so it was important to meet them where they were.
What’s the point of keeping a feature as experimental for over 5 years? It was more relevant when Daydream and Cardboard were a thing and I have not heard one single person mention this feature as a plus point for buying a Pixel. Nobody cares about it now and the feature works like ass in the modern day.
What’s the point of keeping a feature as experimental for over 5 years?
Why not? Elon’s Full Self Driving does not seem to be leaving Beta (more like Alpha) anytime soon, either. It’s fine as long as it’s a marginal feature that isn’t heavily marketed and does not take up much space – in which case they should move it to a separate app and release it without fanfare on GitHub (like they did with Web Environment Integrity) and include a link for people looking for the deprecated feature.
Edit: The Wi-Fi I just posted this from says “Experimental” on its welcome page, and it’s been functioning flawlessly for the past 5+ years, woth double the range it’s supposed to cover.
It’s a poor person’s VR. Turns your phone into a VR headset. Ever sat on the couch and watched a bunch of YouTube videos? Or a TV show/movie? Put on the daydream, and you are sitting in a virtual theatre. It’s good when you need the house to be quiet because everyone is in bed. I’d say 90% of my Daydream usage is watching stuff like Youtube/Netflix.
It’s amazing when you are on a flight. It totally takes you away from the plane experience. Also really neat when travelling in general. Sitting in a hotel room watching content on a virtual big screen and not the pokey little hotel TV.
The cardboard is the super basic sibling to the Daydream. The Daydream has a hand remote controller that feels like a TV remote in your hand. It’s how you control the phone while wearing the headset. The Cardboard is a bit limited because you can’t really interact with it.
I mean i still have photo spheres from all over the world I took the last few years, so making decisions about future potential decisions seems like a really dumb way to navigate the universe. I’ll just look for a line of phones when my current Pixel dies that isn’t so hostile to users.
That’s what I mean, is google is hostile to its users by canceling features people use all the time. It’s just hard to feel invested in anything they do besides like YouTube and search
I loved this picture feature when out and about in nature. I loved adding them to Maps too! I’ve used this feature for about 10 years now. I can’t believe they are getting rid of it. It was so fun and something I thought others would add to their camera app
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