Your Pixel might be missing calls, but do you still use your smartphone as a phone?

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

🗣️ This is an open thread. We want to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments and vote in the poll below — your take might be featured in a future roundup.

Can we all agree that the recent Pixel phone missed calls debacle is one of the strangest tech stories of the year? Some Google smartphone owners have noticed that their devices often don’t ring until a call drops. As you can imagine, this is a particularly annoying issue for those who use their phones as well… phones.

But this has made me wonder: how many of our readers still use their phones as “phones”?

Joe Maring / Android Authority

Personally, I rarely ever do anymore.

I’ve placed two calls this year — TWO — and both were to my bank. If I call a loved one or friend, I usually use WhatsApp’s calling facility. Work meetings are conducted via apps, while the voice calls I receive are almost entirely from companies trying to sell me insurance, phone plans, or cars I never asked for or don’t need.

Contrast this to the early 2000s, when I owned a Nokia 3310. I couldn’t imagine not being able to call my friends or parents when I was a freshman in high school. What was once my mobile handset’s defining feature is now well down my list of priorities.

Is your Pixel missing incoming phone calls? 94 votes Yes, and it's driving me crazy! 52 % It was, but I fixed it. 2 % Not that I've noticed. 46 %

If anything, a phone that doesn’t ring sounds like a feature, not a bug (I’m kidding, obviously).

... continue reading