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ulvir posted:Naw, I imported the phone over from England through some acquaintances of mine (transfered the money to them, they paid with their own CC) before it was available in stores over here, and before Norway was eligible for Nexus devices through the Google Store. Pretty SOL on that front, sadly. I was well aware of the risks, but it never crossed my mind that something actually might happen to the phone. Every single device I've own previously have all been working perfectly. Well it's not definitely going bad, you might have just had an unlucky glitch, so it's always worth a try if you're up for it I got a white Galaxy Nexus through Amazon.de and of course the NAND failed on that  it was about out of the usual warranty period at that point anyway
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Aug 30, 2015 19:16
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Everyone knows that the 2015 Moto G takes great pictures when the lighting is ideal, but I'm surprised how well some of my indoor shots turn out, even without HDR enabled. It's really not that much of a dropoff from my Z3. http://imgur.com/ZpA2v0E There were no lights on in the room and I'm surprised the sunlight didn't blow it out.
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Aug 30, 2015 19:18
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baka kaba posted:Well it's not definitely going bad, you might have just had an unlucky glitch, so it's always worth a try if you're up for it I might give that whole dev SDK thing a try next week, though I'm not banking on it working. Hopefully the rumored Nexus from LG isn't gonna be too expensive.
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Aug 30, 2015 19:44
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FistEnergy posted:Everyone knows that the 2015 Moto G takes great pictures when the lighting is ideal, but I'm surprised how well some of my indoor shots turn out, even without HDR enabled. It's really not that much of a dropoff from my Z3. Great picture but I'm a bit concerned about your cats weight.
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Aug 30, 2015 19:49
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Interesting discovery! Maybe! When I first got my Moto G, I quickly deduced that the default camera app was a load of poo poo so I decided to try a third party one. Then, however, I noticed that the picture quality of the app I was using (Snap Camera HDR) was really getting worse, so the camera was starting to disappoint me, which is why I was thinking of getting a phone with a better camera. FistEnergy's post made me decide to try out the default app again and hey, did the phone update without me knowing, somehow? Because now the default camera app is blowing Snap Camera out of the water. default app:  Snap Camera:  Tiny text on speakers/monitor/keyboard made this shot ideal for showing detail in low light (none except for the window behind me), I thought. Maybe it's just me but I think the first image picks up way more detail. edit: auto focus seems to work a LOT quicker, now, too. Daily Forecast fucked around with this message at 20:08 on Aug 30, 2015 |
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Aug 30, 2015 20:03
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Well your first pic is bigger and closer to all the stuff and has maybe slightly better focus, otherwise they look identical to me? e- not actually closer, just bigger and cropped
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Aug 30, 2015 20:08
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Phone was equally distant for either shot, which is interesting to me. I took a picture with one up, closed it, opened the other, took the next, all without moving the phone. So that'd be a point in the default's favor if anything. And I dunno, in the keyboard/speaker ("power/volume") it seems a lot clearer to me, or maybe I'm just going crazy. Either way, it's close enough now to not need to bother with a third party camera app. edit: I resized either picture in photoshop so that the vertical pixels were 1000px. So that's how the phone took them, just smaller because I didn't wanna break any tables.
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Aug 30, 2015 20:10
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The default Moto G camera app updated a few days ago.
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Aug 30, 2015 20:14
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FistEnergy posted:The default Moto G camera app updated a few days ago.  I am impressed that they were able to make it so much better with just a software update.
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Aug 30, 2015 20:16
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Seems like there's a dearth of information about Samsung phones aside from "lol Touchwiz Samsung'ed," so I'll try to offer some impressions of my new-ish Verizon Note 4. I upgraded from an S4 with Cyanogen 11, which worked perfectly fine apart from an aging battery. The reasons I wanted a Note over, say, a Motorola or an S6 were for the screen and stylus. I have a Note 10.1 2014 tablet and love it. I am able to write lists, DnD character sheets, and do the occasional drawing. I wanted that type of functionality in a portable package. In practice, though, the size isn't ideal in my pocket. I have to slide the phone to the side of my leg in order to lift my leg and tie my shoes. In tighter jeans, the phone pokes out at times. It's also pretty annoying to hold and operate one-handed, even though I have scary-huge hands. The stylus is wonderful, and is a much better pointing device than a finger. It works great in all applications. For artwork, though, I'm missing the big screen of my tablet. The battery life and cell reception easily beat my S4. The build quality is the decent quality I've come to expect since the S3. Touchwiz and Verizon stay out of the way for the most part. The speed is okay, but i think CM is snappier on my old phone. There's a page of apps that I have disabled on both my tablet and phone for battery drain and usability reasons. I'd be happy to share my list. This device enforces the "no hotspot unless you buy it" rule, even though I'm on capped LTE data. I'm pretty sure that's illegal. The only thing that really pissed me off is the high volume warning which showed up while paired to my car stereo. It might have gone away with a recent update, though, I haven't seen it lately. It also doesn't pair with my car stereo until I manually tell either device to each time I turn the car on. I frequently see my car stereo blamed for its Bluetooth implementation though, so I don't know which device is doing it wrong. The fingerprint scanner really sucks and doesn't play nice with cases. This seems to be fixed in the Note 5. The screen is beautiful, the battery life is great, the stylus makes things easy, but its size would make me choose a different phone if I had to do it again. It's great for women with purses, though. My sister just shoves her Note 2 in her purse and doesn't think about it. So yeah, I don't really get the amount of Samsung hate in here. Some is certainly warranted. However, I'd call the build quality above-average and their software has really shaped up over the last couple of years.
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Aug 30, 2015 21:15
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azurite posted:Seems like there's a dearth of information about Samsung phones aside from "lol Touchwiz Samsung'ed," so I'll try to offer some impressions of my new-ish Verizon Note 4. It's because you're using a Note rather than the S series.
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Aug 30, 2015 21:22
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FAUXTON posted:It's because you're using a Note rather than the S series. Do you mean that there is an appreciable difference in the software stack these days? My S4 with Touchwiz was perfectly usable, IMO, but I had a 16GB model. I ultimately switched to CM because it freed up multiple gigabytes of storage.
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Aug 30, 2015 21:47
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FAUXTON posted:It's because you're using a Note rather than the S series. I'm using a Galaxy S6 Edge and I'd agree 100% with his assessment sans the Note-only features.
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Aug 30, 2015 21:52
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azurite posted:Do you mean that there is an appreciable difference in the software stack these days? My S4 with Touchwiz was perfectly usable, IMO, but I had a 16GB model. I ultimately switched to CM because it freed up multiple gigabytes of storage. Custom ROMs don't actually free up much. You get less carrier and OEM software shoving its updates in userspace, but systemspace is generally fixed and unavailable to user apps.
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Aug 30, 2015 21:59
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Sir Unimaginative posted:Custom ROMs don't actually free up much. You get less carrier and OEM software shoving its updates in userspace, but systemspace is generally fixed and unavailable to user apps. Back in the days of the EVO 4G, a popular thing to do with an S-OFF phone was to repartition it so you had more than 384MB of usable app space. Is this not possible/popular any more?
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Aug 30, 2015 22:20
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:Back in the days of the EVO 4G, a popular thing to do with an S-OFF phone was to repartition it so you had more than 384MB of usable app space. Is this not possible/popular any more? In tyool 2015 this is something you should not have to worry about.
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Aug 30, 2015 22:28
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Sir Unimaginative posted:Custom ROMs don't actually free up much. You get less carrier and OEM software shoving its updates in userspace, but systemspace is generally fixed and unavailable to user apps. I'm fairly certain this is completely untrue.
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Aug 30, 2015 22:40
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Blackberry Venice spy photos    That keyboard looks much better in the wild than it did in the renders.
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Aug 30, 2015 23:11
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Endless Mike posted:I'm fairly certain this is completely untrue. It is true, /system is mounted read only, always has been.
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Aug 30, 2015 23:14
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:Back in the days of the EVO 4G, a popular thing to do with an S-OFF phone was to repartition it so you had more than 384MB of usable app space. Is this not possible/popular any more? Android was a radically different beast then (the EVO 4G started life as a Gingerbread phone!); repartitioning at this point is probably not healthy for your phone. Endless Mike posted:I'm fairly certain this is completely untrue. I don't care what you can do with SD Maid or Titanium Backup or whatever. Converting apps to /system can do weird things (think 'break the local version of your Google account') and thanks to updates (which Google Play will diligently put in /data regardless of if you've enabled r/w on /system) will quickly render such space-saving efforts useless.
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Aug 30, 2015 23:16
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Sir Unimaginative posted:Custom ROMs don't actually free up much. You get less carrier and OEM software shoving its updates in userspace, but systemspace is generally fixed and unavailable to user apps. You might be right, I don't know where the Samsung ROM puts all the extra fluff. I definitely gained entire gigs of usable storage back after going CM, that much I know.
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Aug 30, 2015 23:20
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Sir Unimaginative posted:Android was a radically different beast then (the EVO 4G started life as a Gingerbread phone!); repartitioning at this point is probably not healthy for your phone. It actually started life with Eclair - I remember upgrading mine to Gingerbread. Obviously Android was radically different then, but is repartitioning really a risk to your phone? As long as you make each partition large enough, what problems may arise?
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Aug 31, 2015 01:21
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FistEnergy posted:Everyone knows that the 2015 Moto G takes great pictures when the lighting is ideal, but I'm surprised how well some of my indoor shots turn out, even without HDR enabled. It's really not that much of a dropoff from my Z3. You should post here more often.
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Aug 31, 2015 01:41
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starry skies above posted:Refurb Moto X 2014 on sale. Only catch is it's unlocked Verizon version with the word "Verizon" engraved on the device. Really torn on this. I've got an aging Note 2 that, for its age had generally held up well, is getting really slow, and I'm looking to upgrade. The 16GB thing is apparently fine based on my current memory use and I assume this would be a lot more responsive. If this is truly a refurb, the price is great, as it's selling under current Swappa prices. Main concerns are related to the display and battery. Is it actually a manufacturer refurb, as the description only says 'new looking condition,' not refurbished. If it is a refurb, would the battery and display be new?
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Aug 31, 2015 02:05
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:It actually started life with Eclair - I remember upgrading mine to Gingerbread. Obviously Android was radically different then, but is repartitioning really a risk to your phone? As long as you make each partition large enough, what problems may arise? "And then he fatfinger-clobbered the radio partition and he didn't have a factory image and he was turbofucked, the end."
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Aug 31, 2015 02:15
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As I've been attempting to take more videos with the Nexus 6, I'm noticing a nearly constant issue where it does sort of a "pulse" of re-auto-focus every 5 seconds or so. It's really annoying. I'm using the stock camera app and mostly recording 4K video, but I think it's happened with 1080p as well. From some quick Googling it sounds like this is a pretty widely recognized software issue with the stock camera app, but is there a universally recognized fix, other than using a different camera app? I'll use a different app for video if I have to, but obviously it'd be a lot more convenient not to.
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Aug 31, 2015 02:58
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Hi, I posted here about a month ago asking some bullshit question about my battery and if my phone is going to be a piece of poo poo. Well, as it turns out, there is nothing wrong with the battery besides it's being old, the clipped micro SIM works fine in the phone's nano SIM slot, and 4.4.4 on this OG Moto X is suiting my needs just dandy. Coming from an untimely departed iPhone 6, I'm pretty happy with the functionality of this handset. It's major deficiencies are: Not having TouchID is annoying as gently caress. Bunch of busy notification icons on the top bar is fiddly and weird. Camera sucks balls. Outlook app feels hacked together compared to the ios version. I bet there are lots of examples of less polished Android app ports but I really only use a few so idgaf. Plus it looks like gmail app may suit my needs better because I can have it handle my exchange account now too???? Some burn-in on the oled screen, but I am using a 'b-grade refub stock' eBay phone, so I can't complain. Meanwhile, major advantages include: Not $700 Only $100 Better voice control Which is a brief list, but really counts for a lot imo. This concludes my report on switching from an iPhone to a android. Thanks for reading.
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Aug 31, 2015 03:10
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SMERSH Mouth posted:Bunch of busy notification icons on the top bar is fiddly and weird. You know you can turn notifications off for each app, right?
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Aug 31, 2015 03:22
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Thermopyle posted:Please respond to individual posts containing incorrect information. Fair enough, it's worth a shot. Guillermus posted:Yes, it is waaaaay better on the newer devices but it still has too much bloat and useless samsung apps. It was silly the difference in storage usage between a Galaxy S4 with touchwiz and a Google Play edition, I had 9gb free (out of 16gb) with Touchwiz while I had 12gb free when I flashed it with the Google Play rom. You can squeeze more battery life without touchwiz and less ram usage (more for multitasking). You can see this clearly putting a Note 5 and a Nexus 6 side by side. Touchwiz kicks out of memory apps faster than stock android making multitasking slower. I don't talk about touchwiz being ugly because it's a matter of taste and I don't mind what font or icons people use. It's hard to refute a vague statement such as "too much bloat" but if we assume it means pre-installed programs that hamper performance, that is incredibly rare in any modern Android flagship. Sure back in the dark days of 2011 you had actual carrier bloat such as Sprint's NASCAR and other apps, which constantly ran in the background, could not be disabled and pushed notifications despite the fact that the user had never launched them even once, these apps actually did hinder the already flaky performance of Android devices of the time, and OEM skins of the time objectively made performance worse. I can't speak for all Android phones since I can't say I've used every single one but in most cases what they do have are pre-installed apps that the user can easily disable and hide when they first set up their device if they so wish (in TouchWiz at least, in any case). Calling these apps "bloat" is like complaining that Nexus devices are bloated for including apps like Gmail, Music, and Newstand. They are ultimately either inconsequential, or useful if the user likes them. Then we have the "useless Samsung apps" another vague statement that doesn't specify which apps are actually useless. Now if they refer to Samsungs added functionality apps like S-Note and S-Health for instance, again these are apps that are easily disabled and hidden away if so desired. It's worth mentioning that these apps have also generally been well received by users and critics, so it's hard to take the word of someone that's never even used them that they're objectively useless. If they refer to apps like the launcher, messaging, etc. then they should specify exactly what makes them garbage, since these apps are for the most part on par with those offered on any other device, and easily replaceable. The Galaxy S4 is two generations old at this point so I'll skip that, but Guillermus makes a good point about Touchwiz kicking apps out of memory faster than stock Android. Now this one is an objective fact, a solution to Lollipop's memory leaks that should not be around anymore. In real world usage the impact on multitasking is overblown, as for the most part the user won't cycle between enough intensive apps fast enough to be constantly slowed down by reloading, but it is an undeniable fact that it exists. Does this make the phone worthless garbage though? This is a minor software issue, with so far no indication of being permanent. The Nexus 5 isn't a garbage phone just because it poo poo itself when 5.0 came out, that was fixed, and just in this page we're seeing how software updates have improved the Moto G's camera. I'd categorize this as an overblown nitpick, that should not define an entire phone just like it doesn't for others. ilkhan posted:Still a bunch of bloat, still has lovely UI elements you can't easily fix, still costs $800. Another common complaint in this thread "lovely UI elements you can't easily fix" again, what lovely UI elements? Whenever I see someone inquire about it, the complaint boils down to "it's different than 'stock' Android" most commonly referring to the settings screen as an example. Now, the case could certainly be made that the settings screen in AOSP is preferable, but, who gives a poo poo? You will never see the settings screen after the first time you set up your device, if even then. The notification shade being different doesn't make it worse, and certainly doesn't invalidate the entire device even if it could be proven to be objectively inferior. With the availability of themes now it's an even less justifiable reason to dismiss an entire line of phones as "not good." dissss posted:The software however is - it isn't really apparent from a quick play just how much stuff LG has messed up so you'll just keep finding more and more wtf stuff Now I don't have enough experience with the LG G4 to conclusively refute this, since I've only briefly played around with one, but given what I've seen in this thread regarding TouchWiz phones it's hard not to dismiss this as "made up poo poo that sounds like it could be true if you've never used the devices in question." Just like the performance issue on the Nexus 6 seem completely overblown to me, but having yet to see one in the wild find it impossible to confidently refute, but I remain skeptical. I'll gladly accept evidence to the contrary, but I doubt these issues would categorize either phone as complete garbage. But take the device I do own, the Note 4. The phone with the best display of any phone of 2014 according to DisplayMate, the best camera of any phone in 2014 according to DxOMark, top 3 battery life, quick charging, wireless charging, fingerprint scanning, every software feature available to Android and then some. Should someone really have to prove that a phone that is objectively a very strong contender for best phone of 2014 is not garbage? Or should the people claiming as much be expected to provide a more solid argument than "Samsung garbage m8"? Should I take statements such as "the G4's software sucks" or "the N6 is an underperforming whale" at face value, knowing the very same statements made about the Note 4 are often misguided at best? This is not to say these phones are the best phones, or that they are objectively better than Nexus or Moto phones. But a statement like FistEnergy posted:you should be buying a Nexus or a Moto if you need an Android phone. Is unequivocally wrong. In fact, I'd even dare to suggest the average user's experience would probably be better on a Galaxy flagship, since nobody spends the majority of their time staring at the launcher or settings menu. Their Facebook and Instagram pictures will come out better, their apps will look better on the nicer screen, and their battery will last longer. All much more important to the software experience than the fact that the multitasking menu takes a second or two to react if you haven't used it in a while. Is it worth a premium over a perfectly capable Moto G for 1/4 the price? That's up to each individual to decide.
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Aug 31, 2015 03:58
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Desk Lamp posted:Another common complaint in this thread "lovely UI elements you can't easily fix" again, what lovely UI elements? Whenever I see someone inquire about it, the complaint boils down to "it's different than 'stock' Android" most commonly referring to the settings screen as an example. Now, the case could certainly be made that the settings screen in AOSP is preferable, but, who gives a poo poo? You will never see the settings screen after the first time you set up your device, if even then. The notification shade being different doesn't make it worse, and certainly doesn't invalidate the entire device even if it could be proven to be objectively inferior. With the availability of themes now it's an even less justifiable reason to dismiss an entire line of phones as "not good." The last samsung I used extensively was an S3, and it was filled with that poo poo. Have they honestly unfucked their software?
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Aug 31, 2015 04:38
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The settings menu is honestly better than stock Android because you can make a favorite list of setting panes and never look at anything else.
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Aug 31, 2015 04:39
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Chu020 posted:Really torn on this. I've got an aging Note 2 that, for its age had generally held up well, is getting really slow, and I'm looking to upgrade. The 16GB thing is apparently fine based on my current memory use and I assume this would be a lot more responsive. If this is truly a refurb, the price is great, as it's selling under current Swappa prices. Main concerns are related to the display and battery. Is it actually a manufacturer refurb, as the description only says 'new looking condition,' not refurbished. If it is a refurb, would the battery and display be new? I have no idea! I will post my thoughts whenever I receive the device. It was an emergency purchase for me as I had broken my Nexus 5 a few weeks earlier.
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Aug 31, 2015 04:39
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ilkhan posted:Is the notification shade still filled with all the samsung crap? Have they un-turbo-hosed the settings menu? Is the phone still filled with useless animations If by Samsung crap you mean the customizable toggles, they're still there, still not crap. The settings menu remains "different to stock Android" but you can make a case for either one being superior. As far as I can tell there aren't any animations that you wouldn't find on Android, and they can still be disabled. The fact remains though, those are all subjective nitpicks and far from an objective reason to declare a phone garbage.
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Aug 31, 2015 05:11
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Samsung isn't updating the S5 to Marshmallow.
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Aug 31, 2015 05:29
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Sir Unimaginative posted:Samsung isn't updating the S5 to Marshmallow. If you are referring to the link posted a few pages ago, that's not really anything to go on. It was one blog sourcing another blog that said they had a "confirmed" list without citing any Samsung source. In short, it was a clickbait article that just listed the most recent devices as "confirmed" because that was the safe bet just so the article could show up in search results for "Samsung Marshmallow."
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Aug 31, 2015 05:45
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Does anyone know how to make the Twitter android app not use its own lovely camera app and instead use the phone's
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Aug 31, 2015 05:52
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Here's the thing: stock Android is loving garbage for the vast majority of smartphone users, you know, the ones who use them as facebook/twitter/instagram machines, who take pictures of their food at restaurants and show their friends pictures of their cats (yes I realize the irony). Something bubbly and friendly like Touchwiz is perfect for non power users (who are such a vanishingly small market that they're irrelevant) and Samsung knows this. I mean, what, did you think that literally one of out every two Android phones ever sold is a Samsung because they are a bad company with terrible phones? lmao
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Aug 31, 2015 06:01
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Daily Forecast posted:Here's the thing: stock Android is loving garbage for the vast majority of smartphone users, you know, the ones who use them as facebook/twitter/instagram machines, who take pictures of their food at restaurants and show their friends pictures of their cats (yes I realize the irony). Extraordinary claim with no substantial evidence. Even if you backed it up you'd still have to make the claim that Samsung's additions were worthwhile. And the carrier's. quote:I mean, what, did you think that literally one of out every two Android phones ever sold is a Samsung because they are a bad company with terrible phones? No, I think it's because advertising is a motherfucker.
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Aug 31, 2015 06:05
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Segmentation Fault posted:Does anyone know how to make the Twitter android app not use its own lovely camera app and instead use the phone's I don't use the Twitter app, but I assume it should be pretty easy to post pictures to twitter straight from your camera app or gallery via the share menu.
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Aug 31, 2015 06:06
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Daily Forecast posted:facebook/twitter/instagram machines I do all these things and stock Android is fuckin awesome. My senior mother even got a Nexus 6 and loves it, she thinks it's the best phone she's ever had and had no problem learning and using stock.
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Aug 31, 2015 06:07
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