The Android Thread - He;pl - The Something Awful Forums

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Knifegrab: Jul 30, 2014; Gadzooks! I'm terrified of this little child who is going to stab me with a knife. I must wrest the knife away from his control and therefore gain the upperhand.

LastInLine posted:

You could try abiding by the terms of your service and paying for it?

Thanks for the tip Verizon Customer Service!

edit: OH gee, whats this!? http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/verizon-must-allow-android-tethering-apps-cant-charge-fee-fcc/

# ? Dec 29, 2014 19:51

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# ? May 10, 2024 13:14

cage-free egghead: Mar 8, 2004

Knifegrab posted:

Thanks for the tip Verizon Customer Service!

edit: OH gee, whats this!? http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/verizon-must-allow-android-tethering-apps-cant-charge-fee-fcc/

Change your plan to a Share Everything plan. That ruling came almost 3 years ago, but they applied it instead to anything but their Share Everything plans, mostly to tackle the people who were using Unlimited plans as home internet plans.

# ? Dec 29, 2014 20:27

ClassActionFursuit: Mar 15, 2006

Knifegrab posted:

Thanks for the tip Verizon Customer Service!

edit: OH gee, whats this!? http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/verizon-must-allow-android-tethering-apps-cant-charge-fee-fcc/

I will be the first to say that carriers in general and Verizon specifically are evil, but there's no just no way to rationalize that allowing tethering on an unlimited plan is a tenable position from a network management standpoint. It wasn't sold with the ability to do it and unlimited plans haven't been sold by them for three years at this point.

Network bandwidth is in fact a limited resource and I would argue that Verizon should do their part to make it available to all of their subscribers and not just those who choose to abuse it at the expense of everyone else.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't know why AT&T and Verizon don't just force everyone out of contract onto a modern plan. As far as I'm aware there's nothing preventing them from doing so except fear of churn and, let's face it, they can afford the churn. Just tell everyone on an unlimited plan that no, you can't do that anymore, and you can sign a new contract on a new plan or GTFO.

Edit: In case it's unclear to you, that open-access rule on the C-block only applies to capped data plans. It also only applies to the C-block and Verizon is increasingly using AWS to supplement their C-block holdings. Effectively that means that while they still can't block tethering on the C-block they have some weasel room if it comes down to a confrontation with the FCC (something they've shown they don't fear, yay captive regulation!).

In any case all carriers (to my knowledge) now include tethering just as a part of their service agreements, all you have to do is update to a modern plan and hey, you no longer have to play cat and mouse with their detection software. It really only becomes an issue when you try to have your cake and eat it too.

ClassActionFursuit fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Dec 29, 2014

# ? Dec 29, 2014 20:44

bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

LastInLine posted:

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't know why AT&T and Verizon don't just force everyone out of contract onto a modern plan. As far as I'm aware there's nothing preventing them from doing so except fear of churn and, let's face it, they can afford the churn. Just tell everyone on an unlimited plan that no, you can't do that anymore, and you can sign a new contract on a new plan or GTFO.

Because it's not worth it, that's why. In real terms, those users are not costing them any additional resources and even a fraction of a percent of churn could cause their shareholders to go into panic mode.

# ? Dec 29, 2014 20:49

ClassActionFursuit: Mar 15, 2006

bull3964 posted:

Because it's not worth it, that's why. In real terms, those users are not costing them any additional resources and even a fraction of a percent of churn could cause their shareholders to go into panic mode.

You'd know better than me, you're who I trust for Verizon stuff, but I don't think that's necessarily the case.

First off, there's just nowhere for a lot of customers to go. A lot of people are on Verizon because they need to be. Sprint and T-Mobile don't offer the coverage of Verizon in a lot of areas (read: anywhere rural, so 50% of America) making AT&T the only other option.

Secondly, any move they make in this area is likely to be mirrored by AT&T. It's not collusion, it's coincidence! They've done that many, many times over the years to avoid real competition and they'd do it again.

Third, while I'm sure many would say they'd leave if Verizon did that, I doubt many would. Particularly if the modern plans end up being cheaper on a monthly basis. You'd know better than me if that's the case but with every other provider their modern plans are cheaper than their older ones, is that not the case with Verizon?

Lastly, they only need to do it to the people abusing it. They know how many people are using vast quantities of data per month. Just find out the line of where those people are costing you more than you're making and cut them off. I'd have to imagine if it's like most ISP figures that there's a very obvious low percentage of abusers relative to the rest of the users.

# ? Dec 29, 2014 20:59

bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

The point is that even the abusers are literally costing them next to nothing. Spectrum congestion is due to population density and has little to do with how much data an individual uses and bandwidth is dirt loving cheap once you are off the tower. They do things to make unlimited unattractive, but they are still better off having an unlimited customer than not so they aren't going to rock the boat too much.

You asked why they don't do it and the reason is someone has calculated that it will end up costing them more than if they just left things alone. So, they leave things alone.

# ? Dec 29, 2014 21:11

ClassActionFursuit: Mar 15, 2006

bull3964 posted:

The point is that even the abusers are literally costing them next to nothing. Spectrum congestion is due to population density and has little to do with how much data an individual uses and bandwidth is dirt loving cheap once you are off the tower. They do things to make unlimited unattractive, but they are still better off having an unlimited customer than not so they aren't going to rock the boat too much.

You asked why they don't do it and the reason is someone has calculated that it will end up costing them more than if they just left things alone. So, they leave things alone.

Yeah that makes sense, obviously they'd do it if they needed to. The thing that gets me is it's not like unlimited customers have anywhere else to go. No one is going to sell them an unlimited plan so what are they going to do? Go somewhere else and pay more for less coverage and less data? Verizon hasn't historically been concerned with how their customers feel, why is this line the one to hold? Why go through the trouble of stopping tethering, not allowing subsidies on unlimited plans, etc. when they could just... not?

I'm also skeptical that their math includes the customer service and billing savings that killing legacy plans gives you. I can't find it now but T-Mobile said when they forced people off legacies that they were dealing with hundreds of plans. I should note that their postpaid numbers went up (a lot) after forcing people to modern plans mainly because their modern plans aren't designed to gently caress people over. Verizon could do the same but they'd have to resist the urge to gently caress their customers as hard as possible which I'm not sure they could do.

# ? Dec 29, 2014 21:29

Knifegrab: Jul 30, 2014; Gadzooks! I'm terrified of this little child who is going to stab me with a knife. I must wrest the knife away from his control and therefore gain the upperhand.

I don't have an unlimited plan, I have a single line plan with 2 Gb of data usage.

# ? Dec 29, 2014 21:32

bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

Unlimited plans are the least of Verizon's billing woes. Their entire system is a gigantic clusterfuck and I honestly wonder if keeping the unlimited plans is simply because no one can figure out how to remove them. When I first ordered Quantum TV to replace my regular DVR, I got shipped 3 routers instead of one router and two STBs. It's that bad.

As to where to go, I know if I was punted off my unlimited I would immediately go to Cricket. I would also probably drop most of my FiOS services as well since I get a discount by bundling my cell service.

So, at least with me, Verizon risks hundreds of dollars of services a month by loving with my plans. I'm at a peaceful standoff with them right now in that what I'm getting isn't costing me a whole lot when it's all totaled up. But it's like a jenga structure. Pull one block wrong and the whole thing collapses.

They do this on the FiOS side too. I'm on a plan that expired in 2010, but I haven't touched anything because renewing would mean a minimum of $15 /month rate hike with no improvement to my services. Sure, I would get 50/50 internet instead of 35/35, but that really wouldn't give me any real world improvement.

bull3964 fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Dec 29, 2014

# ? Dec 29, 2014 21:38

bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

Knifegrab posted:

I don't have an unlimited plan, I have a single line plan with 2 Gb of data usage.

Only share everything plans are eligible for free tethering. Single plans are not.

# ? Dec 29, 2014 21:39

ClassActionFursuit: Mar 15, 2006

bull3964 posted:

Unlimited plans are the least of Verizon's billing woes. Their entire system is a gigantic clusterfuck and I honestly wonder if keeping the unlimited plans is simply because no one can figure out how to remove them. When I first ordered Quantum TV to replace my regular DVR, I got shipped 3 routers instead of one router and two STBs. It's that bad.

As to where to go, I know if I was punted off my unlimited I would immediately go to Cricket. I would also probably drop most of my FiOS services as well since I get a discount by bundling my cell service.

So, at least with me, Verizon risks hundreds of dollars of services a month by loving with my plans. I'm at a peaceful standoff with them right now in that what I'm getting isn't costing me a whole lot when it's all totaled up. But it's like a jenga structure. Pull one block wrong and the whole thing collapses.

They do this on the FiOS side too. I'm on a plan that expired in 2010, but I haven't touched anything because renewing would mean a minimum of $15 /month rate hike with no improvement to my services. Sure, I would get 50/50 internet instead of 35/35, but that really wouldn't give me any real world improvement.

Ah, I think I understand now. Thanks!

Knifegrab posted:

I don't have an unlimited plan, I have a single line plan with 2 Gb of data usage.

Oh, in that case gently caress 'em. Tether all you want, they're just being dicks.

# ? Dec 29, 2014 21:45

Knifegrab: Jul 30, 2014; Gadzooks! I'm terrified of this little child who is going to stab me with a knife. I must wrest the knife away from his control and therefore gain the upperhand.

God I hate Verizon so loving much.

# ? Dec 29, 2014 21:52

cuedotcom: Jun 16, 2009

bull3964 posted:

So, at least with me, Verizon risks hundreds of dollars of services a month by loving with my plans. I'm at a peaceful standoff with them right now in that what I'm getting isn't costing me a whole lot when it's all totaled up. But it's like a jenga structure. Pull one block wrong and the whole thing collapses.

# ? Dec 29, 2014 22:07

Super-NintendoUser: Jan 16, 2004; COWABUNGERDER COMPADRES; Soiled Meat

cuedotcom posted:

Verizon

Pro-tip: do not use Verizon auto-billing for FIOS. Just pay it manually every month. When you end your service and they charge you an insane number for "equipment return fees" and then promise to reimburse you when they get it back you can just say "nope, not paying that" and return the hardware prompty and be done with them. Any other process results in you having to fight them for months to get your $300 back.

# ? Dec 29, 2014 22:41

kitten smoothie: Dec 29, 2001

kitten smoothie fucked around with this message at 03:59 on Jul 26, 2018

# ? Dec 29, 2014 22:48

TheGoatTrick: Aug 1, 2002; Semi-aquatic personification of unstoppable douchery

Insane Totoro posted:

So one month after getting my Z3 Compact, here are my impressions:

9. Availability of cases and accessories is a little slim.

I recently picked up one of these for use with the magnetic charger and it's great. Much easier to get into position than the ebay Chinese cable I was using before and the magnet is really strong. The X2 version has plenty of clearance for a case. Highly recommended, because it means you don't have to deal with the flap over the USB port anymore.

# ? Dec 30, 2014 00:22

ilkhan: Oct 7, 2004; I LOVE Musk and his pro-first-amendment ways. X is the future.

Z4/Z4c probably next phone if it retains the waterproof (likely) and adds qi (possible).

# ? Dec 30, 2014 00:56

Kytrarewn: Jul 15, 2011; Solving mysteries in
Bb, F and D.

ilkhan posted:

Z4/Z4c probably next phone if it retains the waterproof (likely) and adds qi (possible).

US carriers will probably make them remove Qi again, like with the G3.

# ? Dec 30, 2014 01:52

cuedotcom: Jun 16, 2009

SIR FAT JONY IVES posted:

Pro-tip: do not use Verizon auto-billing for FIOS. Just pay it manually every month. When you end your service and they charge you an insane number for "equipment return fees" and then promise to reimburse you when they get it back you can just say "nope, not paying that" and return the hardware prompty and be done with them. Any other process results in you having to fight them for months to get your $300 back.

I use auto billing for nothing.

# ? Dec 30, 2014 02:25

UnfortunateSexFart: May 18, 2008; ð» ððð« ð·ððð·
ð ð ð ð« ð®ð ð¾ð ð ð¡ððð

Can you have Qi with a glass back?

# ? Dec 30, 2014 02:30

bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

Reverse Centaur posted:

Can you have Qi with a glass back?

Nexus 4

# ? Dec 30, 2014 02:32

b0nes: Sep 11, 2001

cuedotcom posted:

I use auto billing for nothing.

Seconding this. Autopay is an invitation for them to screw you somehow.

# ? Dec 30, 2014 02:33

UnfortunateSexFart: May 18, 2008; ð» ððð« ð·ððð·
ð ð ð ð« ð®ð ð¾ð ð ð¡ððð

bull3964 posted:

Nexus 4

Never seen one in person. Nexus 5 seemed to be the first one really sold hard in Canada.

# ? Dec 30, 2014 02:55

HolyDukeNukem: Sep 10, 2008

Reverse Centaur posted:

Never seen one in person. Nexus 5 seemed to be the first one really sold hard in Canada.

The Sony z3v has qi charging and is a glass back. It also just came out recently.

# ? Dec 30, 2014 03:02

BoyBlunder: Sep 17, 2008

After having 3 Nexuses (Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 5) over the past 3 years, I just bought a 32GB Moto X 2014.

My wife has had a Droid Maxx with Moto's kickass software on it for a while now, and I've been super jealous for a while. My Nexus 5 was turned off when I woke up on Saturday morning, and when I grabbed it off my Tylt Vu, it burned the poo poo out of my hand. This is literally the 6th Nexus 5 I've had hardware issues with over the past year, so I'm done with it, and pulled the trigger on a Moto X today.

I hope my luck doesn't travel over to Motorola land.

# ? Dec 30, 2014 03:07

UnfortunateSexFart: May 18, 2008; ð» ððð« ð·ððð·
ð ð ð ð« ð®ð ð¾ð ð ð¡ððð

HolyDukeNukem posted:

The Sony z3v has qi charging and is a glass back. It also just came out recently.

Another phone I'll never see. But I guess I have my answer.

# ? Dec 30, 2014 03:23

Nondescript Van: May 2, 2007; Gats N Party Hats

I just got a z2 and I am really liking it. The camera and video options are ridiculous compared to my 2013 moto x. I'm also a fan of Sony's styling as well.

# ? Dec 30, 2014 04:42

Munkaboo: Aug 5, 2002; If you know the words, you can join in too
He's bigger! faster! stronger too!
He's the newest member of the Jags O-Line crew!

Anybody have recommendations on a minimalist Droid Turbo case? my wife got the non-ballistic back and that poo poo is slippery.

# ? Dec 30, 2014 05:42

kensei: Dec 27, 2007; He has come home, where he belongs. The Ancient Mariner returns to lead his first team to glory, forever and ever. Amen!

Munkaboo posted:

Anybody have recommendations on a minimalist Droid Turbo case? my wife got the non-ballistic back and that poo poo is slippery.

I got an extra Diztronic case for my 64GB Kevlar one, if that's what you got I'll get it to you for shipping.

PM me.

# ? Dec 30, 2014 06:02

hotsauce: Jan 14, 2007

Munkaboo posted:

Anybody have recommendations on a minimalist Droid Turbo case? my wife got the non-ballistic back and that poo poo is slippery.

I have the perfect solution :classiclol:

# ? Dec 30, 2014 06:02

DangerZoneDelux: Jul 26, 2006

Munkaboo posted:

Anybody have recommendations on a minimalist Droid Turbo case? my wife got the non-ballistic back and that poo poo is slippery.

I always hate how cases feel but I'm going to email to see how much or if they would do a custom back for a Nexus 6 from here http://www.valentinegoods.com I had a stingray back for an iPhone and it made it so much better to hold. I'm sorry for the dead animals though

# ? Dec 30, 2014 06:02

Magog: Jan 9, 2010

So I figured out the price gap between the nexus 5 and the nexus 6, the nexus 6' included Sim card slot key is metal not plastic :downs:

. Also despite all google/motorola's efforts I finally got one.

# ? Dec 30, 2014 08:16

ThermoPhysical: Dec 26, 2007

After 1,750 stars in Google's Issue Tracker, the Lollipop memory leak has finally been fixed.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/1...-issue-tracker/

The fix will be in a future release of Android so probably 5.0.3 or higher.

Also:

quote:

Fun fact: this particular bug climbed all the way to the 34th highest ever position in the Android issue tracker by number of stars, at over 1750. More extraordinary, perhaps, is that prior to being closed it was the most-starred unresolved issue in the tracker aside from a couple of really old ones dating back to 2010, despite having been in the issue tracker for only 6 weeks. Impressive turnaround time, I guess (by Google standards, at least).

Most people who reported the bug had a Nexus 5 or a Nexus 7 but others reported it as well.

Magog posted:

So I figured out the price gap between the nexus 5 and the nexus 6, the nexus 6' included Sim card slot key is metal not plastic . Also despite all google/motorola's efforts I finally got one.

The SIM slot key for the Nexus 4 was metal too. :v:

ThermoPhysical fucked around with this message at 08:50 on Dec 30, 2014

# ? Dec 30, 2014 08:47

ClassActionFursuit: Mar 15, 2006

Magog posted:

So I figured out the price gap between the nexus 5 and the nexus 6, the nexus 6' included Sim card slot key is metal not plastic . Also despite all google/motorola's efforts I finally got one.

I'm pretty sure my Nexus 5 SIM key is metal. I'm not going to dig it out to verify that though.

# ? Dec 30, 2014 09:02

hooah: Feb 6, 2006; WTF?

Has anyone removed the battery on a Nexus 4? Last week while I was replacing the daughterboard (still would like to know why that didn't make the LED start working again), I was going to take out the battery for safety before I realized that unhooking it was enough. The top and right edges (as you're looking at the battery) sort of folded a little - is this normal?

# ? Dec 30, 2014 15:11

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

baka kaba posted:

The camera API got completely updated, with a much faster processing engine that should make the whole thing much more reactive and capable, as well as allowing for some HDR bracketing magic. But I heard about that a few months ago, as far as I know it's not in any official camera app yet. One of the third-party apps is supposed to have updated to use at least some of the stuff, I don't know if it's faster though

If anyone is interested in playing around with features of the new API, there's a development app you can play with here https://github.com/PkmX/lcamera

# ? Dec 30, 2014 16:08

The MUMPSorceress: Jan 6, 2012; ^SHTPSTS; Gary’s Answer

LeftistMuslimObama posted:

Reposting because I got missed before:

My Note 4 keeps "losing" my wifi trusted credentials for my work wifi. Every morning when I come in, I have to modify the wifi settings for this network and my CA Certificate and User Certificate will say "(unspecified)". If I try to click the menu to select my certificate, it won't appear in the list. If I go look in the Trusted Credentials screen in system settings, the cert is definitely there! Nevertheless, the only way to get it to work is to reinstall the certificate and reselect it on the wifi settings. It'll then work for the rest of the day, but every morning I do this dance.

I've even tried re-exporting the certificate from my computer to make sure it wasn't a corrupt cert file.
Trying to prevent this being missed again.

And no, I'm not rooted. No modifications whatsoever.

And again, since it got buried in benchmarkchat. My googling is totally failing me, because all the variations of "note 4 certificate issue" I can think of end up finding all sorts of "notes on the *** certificate standard" type of pages.

# ? Dec 30, 2014 17:14

nimper: Jun 19, 2003; livin' in a hopium den

GWBBQ posted:

If anyone is interested in playing around with features of the new API, there's a development app you can play with here https://github.com/PkmX/lcamera

Disclaimer: Only works with Nexus 5 and Nexus 6.

# ? Dec 30, 2014 17:18

7 Bowls of Wrath: Mar 30, 2007; Thats so metal.

LeftistMuslimObama posted:

And again, since it got buried in benchmarkchat. My googling is totally failing me, because all the variations of "note 4 certificate issue" I can think of end up finding all sorts of "notes on the *** certificate standard" type of pages.

I'm not sure if this is the same issue, but my Note 4 loses my work's wifi username/password credentials as well, but only after i disable/re-enable wifi via the toggle. It stays persistent over a reboot and everything, only when I toggle wifi while at work does it require me to re-enter my login and password info.

# ? Dec 30, 2014 17:41

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# ? May 10, 2024 13:14

Ochowie: Nov 9, 2007

Hey Android thread. I'm considering switching from an iPhone 6+ to either an N6 or a Moto X. I have the N6 on order but I'm not sure about a phone bigger than the 6+. Also, I kind of like the Moto Maker option with the Moto X. What are the general thoughts on which of the two phones to get?

# ? Dec 30, 2014 17:53

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