Thoughts on Android Central's article on Pixel 3's "horrendously slow" camera?

[Reg Robinson]

My Pixel 3 is not having the same camera lag issue that Andrew's is having, but I trust him. My wife has had to do two warranty swaps on her Pixel 3 while mine has been just fine. I'm not sure that quality control is doing the best job in the Pixel 3 assembly building.

 

[Mr Segundus]

It's instantaneous for me too, but I don't leave any apps open. Ever.

 

[Mr Segundus]

The sky is falling, just like the P2 screen burn in,

That wasn't a non-issue. I had terrible burn-in on my Pixel 2 XL.

 

[B. Diddy]

What I'd like to know is what apps Andrew installs on his phone, and if the camera works normally in Safe Mode. If it's not slow in Safe Mode, then something he routinely installs is causing the issue, and I'd guess that the other people who complain about this problem have that same app (or a similar app) installed as well. I saw a reply to a tweet asking him if he tried Safe Mode, but what he said was that after a factory reset, it works normally for a short while, but then after installing "a few apps," it starts again. I'd like to know what those few apps are, and if he's tried uninstalling them one by one.

 

[mustang7757]

What I'd like to know is what apps Andrew installs on his phone, and if the camera works normally in Safe Mode. If it's not slow in Safe Mode, then something he routinely installs is causing the issue, and I'd guess that the other people who complain about this problem have that same app (or a similar app) installed as well. I saw a reply to a tweet asking him if he tried Safe Mode, but what he said was that after a factory reset, it works normally for a short while, but then after installing "a few apps," it starts again. I'd like to know what those few apps are, and if he's tried uninstalling them one by one.

I agree, the easiest thing to do was put in safe mode or disable adaptive battery and see what happens. The last resort would be factory reset.

 

[marcb11]

What I'd like to know is what apps Andrew installs on his phone, and if the camera works normally in Safe Mode. If it's not slow in Safe Mode, then something he routinely installs is causing the issue, and I'd guess that the other people who complain about this problem have that same app (or a similar app) installed as well. I saw a reply to a tweet asking him if he tried Safe Mode, but what he said was that after a factory reset, it works normally for a short while, but then after installing "a few apps," it starts again. I'd like to know what those few apps are, and if he's tried uninstalling them one by one.

Come on now, that's too logical and would require some effort that may ruin his chance for a splashy article and to obtain clicks.

You know, investigate the issue like 99 percent of people would do and I don't know call Google support for a phone that's still under warranty.

Because had he done any of that he may have found he had a bad app or just simply a bad phone.

But that's too logical, that would eliminate the article, that would solve his problem.

 

[marcb11]

That wasn't a non-issue. I had terrible burn-in on my Pixel 2 XL.

I'm sure some people had the issue, however my point was, AC made such a huge deal over it, talked like every single P2xl was just crap, burn in, bad screens, etc. Created this crap storm and in the end, a handful of early devices had issues, all were fixed and it was nothing. Most P2xl owners had and continue to have no screen issues, myself included.

My point is, this place doesn't report anything insightful or helpful anymore. The only person I trust and respect is Jerry and even he has been forced to write fluff Chromebook articles with Amazon links all over the place.

Anytime I see a really interesting article hit my feed it is more often than not a report of something Android police or 9-5 Google reported.

There are far better Android and apple sites with far better news and helpful articles than here, here the forums is all it's about and I like the podcast. But even the podcast with it's in conversation ads is getting to be bs.

 

[gendo667]

I think the guy that wrote this is Skip Bayless's alter ego.

What can I do to stir the pot today?

God I hate Skip Bayless.

 

[swebb]

I'm sure some people had the issue, however my point was, AC made such a huge deal over it, talked like every single P2xl was just crap, burn in, bad screens, etc. Created this crap storm and in the end, a handful of early devices had issues, all were fixed and it was nothing. Most P2xl owners had and continue to have no screen issues, myself included.

My point is, this place doesn't report anything insightful or helpful anymore. The only person I trust and respect is Jerry and even he has been forced to write fluff Chromebook articles with Amazon links all over the place.

Anytime I see a really interesting article hit my feed it is more often than not a report of something Android police or 9-5 Google reported.

There are far better Android and apple sites with far better news and helpful articles than here, here the forums is all it's about and I like the podcast. But even the podcast with it's in conversation ads is getting to be bs.

Agree. There are more articles than before, but much less substance. And many of the articles are just recycled. How many more "Best Cases for Pixel" articles do we need?

Totally agree about Jerry. His are the only articles I read based on the byline.

 

[N4Newbie]

Since, as we all know, Facebook is the root of all evil and the Facebook app is evil incarnate, permit me to say that I do not have the Facebook app installed and my 3XL's camera works perfectly.

Anyone else?

 

[xocomaox]

If there are slowness issues with the Google Camera while Facebook is installed, that's a problem. Facebook is one of the most popular Android apps. But it's likely not Facebook or there would be way more reports of the issue.

 

[swebb]

My first guess would be other camera apps installed on the phone.

 

[Mr Segundus]

I'm sure some people had the issue, however my point was, AC made such a huge deal over it, talked like every single P2xl was just crap, burn in, bad screens, etc. Created this crap storm and in the end, a handful of early devices had issues, all were fixed and it was nothing. Most P2xl owners had and continue to have no screen issues, myself included.

My point is, this place doesn't report anything insightful or helpful anymore. The only person I trust and respect is Jerry and even he has been forced to write fluff Chromebook articles with Amazon links all over the place.

Anytime I see a really interesting article hit my feed it is more often than not a report of something Android police or 9-5 Google reported.

There are far better Android and apple sites with far better news and helpful articles than here, here the forums is all it's about and I like the podcast. But even the podcast with it's in conversation ads is getting to be bs.

The displays on all the Pixel 2 XLs were terrible. No phone should ever have a POLED display.

 

[Mr Segundus]

Since, as we all know, Facebook is the root of all evil and the Facebook app is evil incarnate, permit me to say that I do not have the Facebook app installed and my 3XL's camera works perfectly.

Anyone else?

No. I have Facebook installed and my camera isn't slow to open. Although, nobody should have Facebook installed, but that's a different conversation.

 

[KillerQ]

Clearing the camera case INSTANTLY brings the camera back to snappy and fast like its brand new... This tells me a software update could fix everything here....

 

[Robisan]

Google is simply the only company selling a high-end phone with terrible camera performance.

--Call out highlight from the AC article

Anecdotes are not data.

Martonik (and Android Central) literally indicts an entire product line based solely on his own experience, without any evidence that anyone other than Martonik suffers this problem, let alone any journalistic inquiry as to how widespread the problem is (AC forum? XDA? Reddit? Google Product Forums? Buehler?), what attempts had been made resolve the issue, contacting Google for comment, etc. This should never have been approved for publishing by an editor, except that, well...

Andrew is the Executive Editor, U.S. at Android Central.

 

[Javier P]

Re: Thoughts on Android Central's article on Pixel 3's "horrendously slow" camera?

I don't have a Pixel but it's Sunday so I'll give my 2 cents anyway

Big accusations need bigger proof or at least the effort to try some basic troubleshooting before publishing that kind of bombastic title. I haven't seen any of that. Maybe this lag is a hardware issue on some batches or a memory management problem or just an easy-to-fix software conflict. The thing is that there's no way way to know for sure what's going on when so little information is offered.

I'll try to gather most things being posted here and others of my own. These are the facts so far.

- Few people reported lag when using the camera, specially while using music/podcast apps.
- Most members report no lag at all.
- Clearing the cache for the camera app seemed to fix the lag for most people having this problem.
- A factory reset fixes the problem for everyone having this lag. Unfortunately it seems that the same lag is back after a while.

This definitely sounds like a software issue to me and basic troubleshooting is easy, as posted by other members: select the Camera app - force stop - clear cache & data - restart the phone in safe mode and see if the lag is still there.

I'd put my money on some conflict with personal settings or with a third party app that includes camera permission. Maybe I'm wrong but there are some easy steps that would narrow the search. It could be great if Martonik and other people having this lag tell us what happens after doing them. If they didn't fix the problem then we could try a few more things before agreeing that the camera lags no matter what and, only then, bash Google for good.

On an anecdotal note. My wife has a recurrent problem with her camera app, every month or so she's got a black screen when trying to open it from the screen shortcut but it works fine when opened from others apps like WhatsApp or FB Messenger. Force stop - clear cache - restart the phone works every time. I blame her FB Messenger app because ... well ... it's Facebook, right?

 

[mustang7757]

this phone was doomed before it was released from the specs to the notch and not being much of an upgrade to the pix 2. It's one of the most talked about and scrutinize android phone and always compared to most high end phones for reason, because it's one of best android phones you can buy with that said no phone going go without some sort of glitch or bug so I'm just going keep enjoying this phone and look forward to pixel 4.

 

[anon(10092459)]

It's one of the most talked about and scrutinize android phone and always compared to most high end phones for reason, because it's one of best android phones you can buy...

Ain't this the truth. Brand seems to be a controversial one. Lot of people like to write and talk about Google and their hardware, especially the Pixels.

Still seems one or two people are looking forward to Pixel 4 anyways.

https://www.androidauthority.com/2019-smartphones-poll-results-939949/

 

[anon(10092459)]

Re: Thoughts on Android Central's article on Pixel 3's "horrendously slow" camera?

I'd put my money on some conflict with personal settings or with a third party app that includes camera permission.

I think this is probably it, as well ... Andrew said (in the comment section) that he is on his 3rd Pixel and he had the same problem with all three. I would bet he installed everything the same way on each one. Sounds like user error to me...

This is the same guy who claimed it took him every bit of two weeks to set up an S9. Andrew has touched countless Android devices. Samsung is a heavy UI, but not to that degree in the hands of an experienced tech personality.