've been an Android user since I got my first Samsung Galaxy S3 and getting ads on the standard launcher on my Philips Android TV was one step too much.
Google will start showing ads in the launcher sooner or later. I might be paying more money for the Apple equivalent, but they aren’t as hostile to their users as Google are.
They’ll also start paring features out of the device as soon as it’s convenient for them, like they did with the OnHub as soon as Google Home devices launched. I’m still salty about the OnHub, they flat out neutered a multifunction device down to a big WiFi AP because they just didn’t want people using any of the smart home or speaker functionality once they had other products to sell.
Amusingly the old Android TV Chromecast (or whatever stupid name they gave it) was actually one of the better boxes for customisability. You could side-load apps so could install a custom (ad-free) launcher and 3rd-party clients like smarttube. You couldn’t really get much better than that without running something like a proper Linux OS on a RPi.
Hoping this one will be similarly OK for tinkering (not that I need a replacement any time soon!)
I wonder what this will look like when integrating with other apps. I don’t think there’s a standard ical type for birthdays, for instance.
I can’t really say I can find a use for this feature (all the birthdays I need to remember are in my contacts too) but I guess it’s useful if you just want to jot down someone’s birthday but not their name or phone number?
A global launch for the Xiaomi Mix Flip means the device will make its way to markets outside of China, such as countries in Europe. A US launch is not expected.
The US is a single country. Europe is a continent with 50+ countries. Whether or not the phone releases in a single country does not determine how “global” the launch is.
The US is quite a large country though… Approximately the size and population of all European countries combined. Calling it a continent wouldn’t be too far off
They already have your birthday (and maiden name) through your friends’ contacts.
Being able to add birtdays manually is definitely useful, altough I believe it’s better and more organized to add them through contacts. (Not that I actually use Google contacts/calendar.)
I guess putting them in the contacts is simpler, and automatically comes up. Presumably it’s one click from the calendar reminder to the contact so you can call/text them.
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