Kind of funny. Long story short, my headphones broke and since this is my first iPhone after 13 years on Android, I just had to try it out. My initial thought was that the pixel didn’t have a dac and neither did the USB hub, but it works on the iPhone and I’m a bit surprised 😂👏
USB-C, or the Audio Accessory Mode, supports both the "Analog Mode" and the "Passthrough mode". In the latter, the DAC is located in the cable. The jack adapter included with the Pixel 2, for example, is one of these. When the cable does not work, its probably because the phone does not know what mode to use or because it has not implemented the "Analog mode" over USB-C.