this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
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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.

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[–] Blaidd@lemm.ee 73 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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.

[–] wahming@monyet.cc 70 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] MrGerrit@feddit.nl 60 points 1 year ago
[–] o0joshua0o@lemmy.world 59 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Google cancelled a project?!?

/Shocked Pikachu face

[–] 0x2d@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

I really hope they cancel Web Environment Integrity too

[–] efrique@lemm.ee 53 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It has been a pretty short trip from "Don't be evil" to "The cutting edge of late stage capitalism"

[–] CaptKoala@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 year ago

Didn't feel like a trip to me, more like teleportation.

[–] detalferous@lemm.ee 46 points 1 year ago

One more headstone in the Google graveyard

[–] AnonymousBaba@lemmy.world 40 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

i am waiting for day whrn google kill its search engine

[–] sirboozebum@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Already has.

Tried searching for anything on it recently?

[–] bitwolf@lemmy.one 2 points 1 year ago

And then they started pushing Bard which in sure will replace search as soon as it can push ads slyly in conversation

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[–] narc0tic_bird@lemm.ee 30 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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.

[–] appel@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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.

[–] Xyz@infosec.pub 2 points 1 year ago (5 children)

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.

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[–] qwertyqwertyqwerty@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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.

[–] discusseded@programming.dev 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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.

[–] naeap@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 year ago

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...

[–] x4740N@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I heard the latest fairphone doesn't have a headphone jack

[–] lilShalom@lemmy.basedcount.com 16 points 1 year ago

This is Google's standard operating procedure.

[–] Veedem@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago (4 children)

The headline is sensationalist since it implies they were going to get a free phone and Google bailed at the last minute.

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[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 11 points 1 year ago

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!

[–] gila@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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.

[–] tsonfeir@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago (4 children)

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?

[–] octobob@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 year ago (9 children)

I haven't seen an ad on any of my devices in like 4+ years, nor have I paid for any monthly subscriptions.

Say what you'd like about Google and Android, I'm not exactly singing their praises or anything, but I don't think that's possible with Apple.

[–] Naja_Kaouthia@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

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.

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[–] BlinkerFluid@lemmy.one 5 points 1 year ago

that's about it.

buys a Samsung

[–] GamingChairModel@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

They don’t jump the gun, they don’t go home early, they stick with it consistently.

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.

[–] nudnyekscentryk@szmer.info 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

~~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 people~~

edit: 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

[–] denast@lemmygrad.ml 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

staring blankly in GrapheneOS

[–] CaptKoala@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

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.

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[–] AbsolutelyNotCats@lemdro.id 3 points 1 year ago

Classic Google

[–] calzone_gigante@lemmy.eco.br 3 points 1 year ago

Don't this mess with consumer laws ? People who had paid for this should definitely sue.

nooo now pit jump

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