I was a teenage switcher to Android
- Thread starter fade
- Start date
It's like they're learning that people don't like the random crap they put on phones.
The car mode they put on the EVO was absolute garbage compared to the stock Android version. It was a big reason why I rooted right away, and also part of the reason I ditched Android altogether.
Starting to really dislike the bloatware on my HTC One m8. The included news aggregator app keeps taking over the phone overlay, absolutely cannot be uninstalled and tends to re-enable itself after being disabled in the settings. It seems like it should be possible to reformat with vanilla android, so I might give that a try tomorrow. Otherwise it's been a good phone and I'm hoping to keep it a bit longer before having to buy something new.
fade
Staff member
Well, I gave it a year. I got my wife a new iPhone, and as I was setting it up, I remembered how much easier and simple iOS was, and how everything was in intuitive, obvious places. Which is what I want in a phone. Sure, I'll play all day on a computer, but I want my phone to act as a little-seen barrier between me and apps. So, I figured I'd go back to iPhone.
Then I discovered my least favorite feature of Android phones. This phone, last year's flagship, is only selling for about $90 on ebay. I just sold a broken iPhone 5 I had laying around for that much. And it was clearly broken. My Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is in mint condition with box and factory unlocked, and those are going for next to nothing.
Then I discovered my least favorite feature of Android phones. This phone, last year's flagship, is only selling for about $90 on ebay. I just sold a broken iPhone 5 I had laying around for that much. And it was clearly broken. My Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is in mint condition with box and factory unlocked, and those are going for next to nothing.
I hate how much these stupid phones cost new, and I'm really not looking forward to being unable to get anything for them when it comes time to replace them (which will hopefully be some time after we've paid them off). There's something else about my phone that keeps really pissing me off, and every time I run across it I think "I gotta go add to @fade 's thread," but invariably forget - but I just now remembered. This may be an AT&T thing rather than a Samsung thing, but I dunno. Every time - and I mean every single mother fucking time - that I go to McDonald's my phone auto-connects to a wifi network called "ATTWIFI," without me telling it to, without me being able to configure anything anywhere to block that stupid WiFi access point, and without actually connecting to the internet. Every. Fucking. Time. I have to turn wifi off if I want to prevent it from doing that. I have no idea who is running this connection, what sort of data they may be collecting (or sending), or anything else about it and the only way to do anything about it is to turn wifi off if I'm at (or driving near) a McDonald's.
AT&T provides the McDonald's free wifi connection. AT&T phones are set to auto join AT&T branded networks. If you see it happen again, go to the wifi settings and tap on that network. There should be a switch for auto join that you can turn off.[DOUBLEPOST=1507652201,1507651939][/DOUBLEPOST]It's actually more of a problem with Comcast if you have the xfinity hot spot app running. You get to join every xfinity hot spot in range, even while you're driving. If you're going slow or in stop and go traffic, or just sitting at a light, you'll drop LTE in favor of a hot spot. And EVERY FUCKING TIME, you are just barely in range to get a connection, but nowhere near enough to actually transfer useful data. So any streams you are listening to drop off, maps and directions can't update, the works. There needs to be an "I'm driving, disable hotspot access" to keep this from happening.
Sadly, the turn-off auto-join option seems to only work for each individual McDonald's location. Good to know this is Ma Bell's bullshit though, and not a Samsung issue. Still gonna go back to iPhones after this though - integrating useful apps into the OS is just so much easier than me having to hunt down which app maker makes the best version of a messaging app and installing that, and then hoping everyone I want to talk to is using the same app... nah. Not for me, not anymore. The time has come to accept the fact that, unless and until I devote a serious amount of time and energy to learning more about current technologies, I am no longer a power-user.
While I don't really have a stake in this in any way...
A) While I'm more of a Windows person, I find Android placement of options and buttons and stuff more intuitive than iPhone. I have to search for practically everything when I use someone's iPhone. I'm not saying one or the other OS is better at the stuff, and I might even grant that Apple generally manages to do it better, but otherwise, that's really just a matter of habit, what you're used to, and taste
B) I...I don't know where you're seeing unlocked boxed second hand Samsung S7 Edges being sold for $90, but over here refurbished or second hand are still going for 500+ euro.
Basic supply and demand. There's a lot more freedom in the U.S., so unlocked phones are affordable.
But they'd work easily and handily if only you used Apple Server, Macs as computers, iTunes for your music library, and iPads for tablets.
GasBandit
Staff member
Thing is, we actually have to have computers that do workBut they'd work easily and handily if only you used Apple Server, Macs as computers, iTunes for your music library, and iPads for tablets.
But they'd work easily and handily if only you used Apple Server, Macs as computers, iTunes for your music library, and iPads for tablets.
...I was going to try and find a picture of Steve Jobs with a similar pose and caption it, but I'm reeeeeeeally not that motivated.
Also 11.0.1 DID fix the MSExchange bug, so there's that.
Now you just need to apply that logic to your underlings...Thing is, we actually have to have computers that do work
--Patrick
GasBandit
Staff member
Well, we did just fire number 2 and replace him.
The new girl is learning REALLY fast. I'm worried she's too smart to be satisfied with drudge work for long... and truthfully, that is what the Underling #2 position is, mostly. So either she'll quit/move on, or get bored and slack off.
Why do the darn redheads always have to be smart, yo.
I'd like to see some $90 S7 edges! It looks like they're closer to $300 on ebay, $300 - $400 on local craigslist and facebook market. There's a listing for a $230 one with a black spot on the screen.
I have two kids who would love to upgrade to the S7 though, so if anyone sees any lying about, let me know!
Which reminds me. Hey @GasBandit, have you gone all Harvey Weinstein yet?
GasBandit
Staff member
She's barely been here a week, she's still... learning the ropes.
fade
Staff member
Meh, I don't feel like arguing about it, but when I looked at eBay a week ago, there were definitely good condition Edges going around $100-$250. They are higher today for whatever reason. Even the high end of that is pretty low for something that was "cutting edge" just a year ago, and selling for $800 a pop.
Poll finds that the average household owns more than two Apple productsBut they'd work easily and handily if only you used Apple Server, Macs as computers, iTunes for your music library, and iPads for tablets.
Eh, it's CNBC so take that as you will.
i.e., the survey found that 64 percent of the public lie horribly about how they use their smartphones CERTAINLY NOT FOR PORN ONLY FOR USEFUL THINGS.
--Patrick
thread necro 
Goodbye iPhone S6
Hello, Samsung Galaxy S8
I never really fell in love with the iphone. I only got it for the photo quality. Lots of stuff annoyed me to no end the entire time I owned it.
Got the S8 today, and I'm already in love with how much easier it is to get stuff (contacts, music, photos, etc) from my computer onto the new phone.
Goodbye iPhone S6
Hello, Samsung Galaxy S8
I never really fell in love with the iphone. I only got it for the photo quality. Lots of stuff annoyed me to no end the entire time I owned it.
Got the S8 today, and I'm already in love with how much easier it is to get stuff (contacts, music, photos, etc) from my computer onto the new phone.
In case you want to know EVERYTHING about Android 9 “Pie”
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/09/android-9-pie-thoroughly-reviewed/
—Patrick
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/09/android-9-pie-thoroughly-reviewed/
—Patrick
Having the same bloatware issue with my new Samsung that I did with my HTC last year... I don't care about Groupon, don't believe I ever conciously decided to install it, yet it seems to have decided I absolutely MUST have Groupon. I completely uninstall it, it comes right back and floods my notification feed after the next update. Uninstalling again and seeing it was maybe a fluke or I somehow didn't get it the first time.
I'm rather steadily becoming fed up with Android/Samsung. The semi-weekly software updates, constant resetting of my defaults to semi-factory settings, attempts to get me to buy a new theme for my splash screen, the fact that the "clear" button on the notification screen does nothing anymore - seriously, no matter how many times you tap it, you still have to close each notification individually - the dead fingerprint reader, how hot the damn thing gets with normal use (damn near burnt my dick off when I dropped my phone in my lap the other day), the non-existent battery life, the list goes on and on. I really love how much it wants me to install and constantly run FullScreen - I'm still trying to figure out what the hell this app even is, btw, they're a media-marketing organization from the looks of their website, no idea why they would push an app on Samsung users.
And, similar to @David's experience, there's a Facebook app on my phone which I absolutely, positively cannot remove. I can "disable" it, but I cannot remove it. It's built in to the operating system of the phone, apparently. I have a really hard time believing that Google would hard code their social media rival's software into their OS, so I assume this one is either Samsung or AT&T. Plus I still have the stupid Samsung direct connect software that turns itself back on every update, with its stupid Samsung Pay app, which I'll probably never be able to use (I also really need to find a new credit union, ours is rapidly becoming a bank). Every time there's an update I have to go reset things back to the way they were. Not everything - that would be a huge exaggeration - but enough that it takes 5 to 10 minutes each update to reset my preferences for things like Time Zone (it constantly thinks I'm in Central), screen lockout time, whether or not to automatically connect to all AT&T wifi networks (not just no, but HEEEELLLLL NO), whether or not to automatically connect to all Spectrum wifi networks (see above), whether or not to automatically connect to all Xfinity wifi networks (can you guess the answer?), whether or not to use auto-brightness, and all manner of other bullshit.
I'm trying to decide if I'm going to defect back to Apple when I can afford new phones again, or if I want to give Android another shot and just skip out on the Samsung crap.
And, similar to @David's experience, there's a Facebook app on my phone which I absolutely, positively cannot remove. I can "disable" it, but I cannot remove it. It's built in to the operating system of the phone, apparently. I have a really hard time believing that Google would hard code their social media rival's software into their OS, so I assume this one is either Samsung or AT&T. Plus I still have the stupid Samsung direct connect software that turns itself back on every update, with its stupid Samsung Pay app, which I'll probably never be able to use (I also really need to find a new credit union, ours is rapidly becoming a bank). Every time there's an update I have to go reset things back to the way they were. Not everything - that would be a huge exaggeration - but enough that it takes 5 to 10 minutes each update to reset my preferences for things like Time Zone (it constantly thinks I'm in Central), screen lockout time, whether or not to automatically connect to all AT&T wifi networks (not just no, but HEEEELLLLL NO), whether or not to automatically connect to all Spectrum wifi networks (see above), whether or not to automatically connect to all Xfinity wifi networks (can you guess the answer?), whether or not to use auto-brightness, and all manner of other bullshit.
I'm trying to decide if I'm going to defect back to Apple when I can afford new phones again, or if I want to give Android another shot and just skip out on the Samsung crap.
I've used Samsung for a few years and I'm now using a Huawei - in both cases, we don't have the same type of operator-inflicted extra torture you guys get, but anyway - the Huawei does a LOT less of that sort of crap, though, on the other side, Android updates come through a bit later. "not a crappy update every week" is nice, but "waiting a month longer for an essential security update" is the downside there.
GasBandit
Staff member
Well, if it helps you make up your mind, I have experienced none of that on my google pixel... base Android is SO much nicer than the abomination Verizon/LG mutilated Android into, and obviously, google branded phones get the security/os updates first - but they come every few months instead of every week.
I'm on a Samsung Galaxy S8 on Sprint, and I'm not running into that kind of crap either.
I imagine that most of your headaches are coming from AT&T.
Bloatware, yes...I got a fair amount of that, and I disabled it all. But the rest? Nope..it's been smooth sailing since switching from the iPhone.
I imagine that most of your headaches are coming from AT&T.
Bloatware, yes...I got a fair amount of that, and I disabled it all. But the rest? Nope..it's been smooth sailing since switching from the iPhone.
Well, that's timely. Google admits to "accidentally" changing users' battery settings remotely. In what they're calling an internal test that was accidentally applied to more than just the internal pool of users, Google last week reset a significant, but untallied, number of users' battery saving systems. Email wasn't syncing, new text messages weren't being delivered, and anything else that's locked out by "strict" battery management was non-functional as well. People who noticed what had happened were able to turn their settings back to normal and continue on with their day.
Sounds like this explains why my gmail wouldn't sync last week while I was waiting for an email from a vendor I wanted to do business with, or why our text messages kept not being received while my in-laws were in town visiting.
Sounds like this explains why my gmail wouldn't sync last week while I was waiting for an email from a vendor I wanted to do business with, or why our text messages kept not being received while my in-laws were in town visiting.
I thought that only happened with Pixels with Pie though.