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A comment on Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams.

Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by Bhilai on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @12:05PM (#35977331)
Not sure about negative comments here. You dont like it, dont use the feature! Its not like Google is forcing you to use this. I bet people will celebrate this feature when Apple rolls around implementing it two years from now. I for one, look forward to using this feature on my Pixel as I live in a city where drivers are very aggressive and in general have a disregard for following the rules. I have been in an accident where the other driver outright refused to accept their mistake and made up a completely false story and a dashcam would have proved their fault without a doubt. I did mount a dashcam in my car since then but using the phone would be a much better proposition.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by bsimpson on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @12:40PM (#35977838)
If it's your word against the other drivers, the insurance company can find you each at fault.

I've gotten in the habit of recording my rides since then. Was using Droid Dashcam, but it make my Pixel feel slow/hot/buggy. Very keen to see a built-in version of the same functionality.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by jeffbee on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @12:58PM (#35978129)
When Apple rolls this out as Continuity Recorder, it will require your car to be signed into your iCloud account.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by wnevets on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @01:04PM (#35978200)
> I bet people will celebrate this feature when Apple rolls around implementing it two years from now.

Not only will it be celebrated but people will claim its revolutionary

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by ralfcheung on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @01:31PM (#35978594)
No need to wait for another two years, I already made an exact app you're talking about. it's not only a dash cam, but also comes with turn by turn navigation as well.

maybe I can claim it to be revolutionary :)

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dashmap/id1638360259

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by thunkshift1 on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @04:37PM (#35980962)
Cool app.. but why subscription? this should be a one time payment.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by CamelRocketFish on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @04:59PM (#35981203)
Why not a subscription given with each iOS version comes new APIs and deprecations requiring time and effort to fix?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by thunkshift1 on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @05:10PM (#35981309)
Hmmm.. Id say thats a cost of doing business on the app store? App stores should be doing a better job of making sure everything doesn’t require rework ever so often, but I don’t see why end customers have to pick up that tab. On a continued basis like in a subscription.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by CamelRocketFish on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @05:20PM (#35981402)
Subscriptions for apps are like paying the service fee to a skilled mechanic for your car's maintenance and upgrades. The developer acts as the mechanic, using the subscription revenue to continually improve the app's performance, security, and features. Just as the mechanic ensures your car runs smoothly and can add better features (tinted windows, reverse camera etc), the developer can deliver regular updates, replace outdated components, and introduce innovative features. Subscriptions support ongoing app maintenance and enhancement, providing users with a reliable and up-to-date experience, similar to how a mechanic's services keep your car in optimal condition.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by zoover2020 on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @06:54PM (#35982255)
That's a lot of fluff for meaning to say that subscriptions earn more than one-time purchase fees.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by thunkshift1 on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @07:22PM (#35982480)
How often do you pay your mechanic
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by 8note on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @09:15PM (#35983153)
Once per maintenance change, not once per car you buy
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by thunkshift1 on Thursday May 18, 2023 @11:45AM (#35989653)
By that logic you should pay the app only when the version changes, not every month
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by CamelRocketFish on Thursday May 25, 2023 @05:37PM (#36076576)
Great idea but there isn’t an easy way to manage that
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by ralfcheung on Thursday May 18, 2023 @01:18AM (#35984359)
It is unfortunately because of API cost from Mapbox. In Google's use case, they can obviously do it for free (for being Google and not integrated with navigation within the app). The 1 week tier is aimed for rental car users, for normal users, I'd recommend 1 month.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by ralfcheung on Thursday May 18, 2023 @01:01AM (#35984272)
the biggest cost for me is the navigation, mapbox charges quite a lot...on a per trip basis, but you guys can use the promo code HACKERNEWS for 1 month free trial
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by thunkshift1 on Thursday May 18, 2023 @11:47AM (#35989675)
Thats a good point.. I hadn’t considered the continued use of paid navigation apis for this app
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by andrewmcwatters on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @08:41PM (#35982943)
I love apps like this. There’s a world full of high quality software out there that is just waiting to be discovered.

Thanks for sharing.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by mariusor on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @01:34PM (#35978631)
You're saying that as if it's the same people doing both. HN has a large enough number of users for both to happen and it not being hypocrisy.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by wnevets on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @01:38PM (#35978693)
> HN has a large enough number of users for both to happen and it not being hypocrisy.

Why would that matter in this hypothetical scenario? Releasing a feature two years after someone else has would not be revolutionary regardless of which phone someone uses.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by jeromegv on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @02:16PM (#35979197)
Yeah, those comments calling on the hypocrisies of a crowd are really getting boring. Same thing on reddit where people call on an entire subreddit for having been wrong or having a different opinion in a different thread.

We are talking of hundreds of thousands of user, is that really surprising that we see different opinions in different threads? I don't think it's unreasonable to believe that a comment thread about Google and Android might attract an entirely different crowd than an Apple thread.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by BoorishBears on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @01:11PM (#35978302)
Apple would never put iPhones up to something this low-brow.

This is the company that put a charging port under a mouse so you wouldn't leave it hooked up all day: they're not going to encourage you to stick your phone in a creaky phone mount in hot sunlight all day so you can do a bad dashcam impression.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by mrguyorama on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @03:03PM (#35979733)
In Apple world you don't need your phone to be a dashcam because you can afford stupid accidents and other expenses that mostly screw over the poors
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by johnea on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @04:40PM (#35980988)
The operative word here is "let", since any linux OS computer could do this.

It's only been goggle's abomination on top of linux that has prevented it...

Isn't it nice of the mulit-trillion dollar corporation to "let" you do things?

Let's all just worship the mega-wealthy a little more...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by barbazoo on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @01:04PM (#35978207)
Google is in no way interested in traffic safety and that's the reason I despise them for playing around in this field. For example, they encourage active use of the phone while driving by asking you to report and confirm/deny reports of "speed traps". It's similar to Tesla tinkering with self driving and using everyone around us as beta testers.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by SoftTalker on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @01:54PM (#35978925)
> they encourage active use of the phone while driving by asking you to report and confirm/deny reports of "speed traps"

Apple Maps does this also.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by barbazoo on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @01:58PM (#35978965)
That's a bummer
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by Dylan16807 on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @02:26PM (#35979318)
So what are you implying here with the quotes on "speed traps"?

There are very real speed traps on roads, and they endanger drivers in exchange for generating ticket revenue.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by barbazoo on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @02:58PM (#35979665)
> There are very real speed traps on roads, and they endanger drivers in exchange for generating ticket revenue.

Not if you drive the speed limit or less. Google endangers drivers (especially other drivers) by implicitly encouraging rapid deceleration at one of these "traps".

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by Dylan16807 on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @03:37PM (#35980165)
Actual speed traps cause rapid deceleration on purpose. There will suddenly be a speed limit sign that is very abrupt or very low or both.

A cop with a radar gun in a normal stretch of road with a reasonable speed limit is not a speed trap.

Though even for """speed traps""" that are just enforcement, if there is a big difference between the average speed and the speed limit then there's probably something wrong with the road design.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by mrguyorama on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @03:07PM (#35979782)
If someone slowing ahead of you puts you in danger, you were following too close. The parent was talking about encouraging users to use their phone to report the speed traps is a cause of distracted driving, which it is, which is dangerous.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by olyjohn on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @05:13PM (#35981343)
And you know what. Cops NEVER go after people for following too close. You see them always out there just knocking out speeders. Going 70 in a 60 is not dangerous. Following someone 6 feet off their bumper at 55 in a 60 is far more dangerous, but that requires doing actual work, not sitting on the shoulder knocking out ticket after ticket.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by mrguyorama on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @03:06PM (#35979766)
Wait, explain to me how a cop on the side of the road with a radar gun "endangers drivers"? If someone ahead of you slowing down before they get to a cop causes you danger, you were following unjustifiably close.

There are lots of things that can happen on a highway to take a car from 80mph to 0mph in just a few feet (very heavy things to run into) without warning, and if you don't have enough distance to react to that and stop, you are following too close.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by olyjohn on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @05:08PM (#35981291)
Have you never seen how people hit their brakes, swerve into open lanes, and back up traffic for miles just because of a cop or some shit on the side of the road?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by nicenewtemp84 on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @03:32PM (#35980093)
One, it's insane to ask drivers to input data while driving.

Two, these are not "speed traps", they are simply officers on the side of the road. These officers are doing a public service looking for cell phone users, and for aggressive speeders.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by olyjohn on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @05:09PM (#35981299)
No they're not. They're too busy staring through the scope of their LIDAR gun to know what's actually going on on the freeway.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by nicenewtemp84 on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @07:38PM (#35982589)
I personally have seen them staring through regular binoculars lately more often than a radar gun. I assume they are looking for people holding cell phones. This is in Northern California.

Also, being seen on the freeway at all helps the crazies in their dodge chargers slow donw a little. If they know the cops are out, they'll keep it to 95 instead of 105.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by Fatnino on Thursday May 18, 2023 @12:21PM (#35990277)
Waze just calls them cops on the road, I think?

But Google maps uses the euphemism speed trap so it doesn't look like just tracking cops.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by m463 on Thursday May 18, 2023 @04:01AM (#35985175)
Yes, I suspect it's a data collection project. Like the street view cars, but everywhere.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by theandrewbailey on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @02:39PM (#35979451)
After watching dashcam crash videos for 5 years, I finally got around to getting a dashcam for myself (not that I intend to star in any of those videos, mind you).

Don't turn left in Russia. You'll get t-boned almost every time.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by lcnPylGDnU4H9OF on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @02:42PM (#35979487)
> Don't turn left in Russia. You'll get t-boned almost every time.

I'm skeptical. How does this happen if I yield to traffic that's already on the road?

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by thriftwy on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @02:50PM (#35979559)
Somebody decides to speed past you in the wrong lane as you try to turn?

Otherwise, it's not as dangerous as dashcam videos make it look. What's the opposite of survivor bias?

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by theandrewbailey on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @03:08PM (#35979795)
> What's the opposite of survivor bias?

Confirmation bias, maybe.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by lcnPylGDnU4H9OF on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @02:53PM (#35979599)
Oh, I see. I didn't lower my scumbag bar enough, I guess. Yeah, that's nuts.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by jefftk on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @04:27PM (#35980836)
Survivor bias is a specific case of selection bias, and the issue here is also selection bias: there's a selection effect on which dashcam videos you end up seeing.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by johnea on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @04:38PM (#35980976)
The operative word here is "let", since any linux OS computer could do this.

It's only been goggle's abomination on top of linux that has prevented it...

Isn't it nice of the mulit-trillion dollar corporation to "let" you do things?

Let's all just worship the mega-wealthy a little more...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by olyjohn on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @05:07PM (#35981282)
I was gonna say this. I've thought of this idea years and year ago. This is an old ass idea, and the only reason phones didn't do it before, is because Google and Apple wouldn't let us do it. It should be embarassing that it's taken them this long to come up with it.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by victor871129 on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @08:25PM (#35982853)
I prefer to use my $25 dashcam on my car (I did my research to find a pretty decent one). This dashcams always recording and mounted.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by shard on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @09:32PM (#35983271)
Could you pass on the results of your research? I don't think I found a dashcam at that price range, and I was actually looking to use an old smartphone as my dashcam, but it didn't seem like a good solution as 1. I would have to start the app manually whenever the phone powers up, and 2. I wouldn't want to leave the phone in a holder in the car all the time as it could invite thieves.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google will soon let Pixel phones double as dashcams by jerryzh on Thursday May 18, 2023 @07:25AM (#35986480)
> You dont like it, dont use the feature! Its not like Google is forcing you to use this.

And why only Sony have 3.5mm headphone jack now? I guess Apple did not force us right?

[ Parent | on HN ]