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

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > The Android Thread - He;pl

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

bull3964 posted:

No, but that's why I said that you would only want to use it for tiny purchases and nothing important. But now that you mention it, what if the vending machine malfunctioned and double submitted the transaction?

All Google Wallet transactions are covered under Google's 120 day Google Wallet Fraud Protection.

bull3964 posted:

That's all one in the same. By making it a proxy layer, Google is not engaging their partners. They are making it work in spite of their partners. Without partner engagement, people aren't told about it and then people don't know about it.

The whole reason why people are using Apple Pay is I'm sure their credit card company either sent them an email or a glossy letter in the mail telling them about this new and wonderful way to link their card up and pay. Credit card companies aren't going to advertise a feature that shields them from the actual transaction.

Hmm, yep yep, that's a really good point. Credit card companies like Discover and MasterCard sure aren't going to make websites promoting Google Wallet.

# ¿ Feb 24, 2015 21:05

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 16:58

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

bull3964 posted:

Did you ever, once, get communication about those features from those companies? Did you ever see them put a commercial on prime time TV about it? You can't watch a half hour of network TV without seeing one or two commercials about a credit card company touting Apple Pay.

Yes, I did (from Discover). I admit it was an electronic communication, not a mailer, FWIW.

Regarding the commercials, Apple has for years now featured prominently in commercials and other media, so I'm not sure "there are Apple ads" proves anything at all. Do you believe the thing with more TV commercials is the superior thing?

# ¿ Feb 24, 2015 21:48

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

bull3964 posted:

Bit of revisionist history here. Softcard (ISIS) was already being developed before Google released Wallet. One of the main sticking points for Verizon and other Softcard partners was an exclusivity agreement that was established before Google ever showed off Wallet.

So, it wasn't that carriers and credit card companies got pissed off at being bypassed and invented ISIS as a response. They were already well on their way to developing contactless credit card payments when Google strolled in and said "Hey, how about this Wallet thing we made?"

Google essentially sent out party invites after everyone else had already RSVPd to a different bash and then wondered why no one showed up.

It's just another example of them not working with their partners. Had they developed a formal plan for wallet and presented it to carriers and credit card companies to get them on board before ISIS ever was founded in late 2010, then this whole thing might have never happened. Instead, Google did their normal thing about playing it close to their vest and then launching a beta level product on their own, expecting everyone else to change their plans and play along after the fact.

Oh those poor carriers and credit card companies.

All the players involved here wanted their own piece of the pie, there was never going to be getting them on board with terms any reasonable person would accept. Which let's face it, is probably a large part of why Apple bided their time rather than getting involved.

# ¿ Feb 25, 2015 04:01

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

this_is_hard posted:

I wouldn't consider it too strongly, apparently the G Flex 2/Snapdragon 810 has ridiculous overheating/throttling problems.

Also reviews have been complaining about the display.

So the G Flex 2 has a bad processor and a bad screen, but hey, how important are those on a smartphone anyway?

# ¿ Feb 25, 2015 17:01

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

Hace posted:

Moto E 4G announced with SD410, Moto Display and Lollipop out of the box.

http://www.droid-life.com/2015/02/25/moto-e-4g-lte-specs-official/

Shame about the display, 720p at 5.1"

Moto E has a 4.5" display.

E: Beaten

# ¿ Feb 25, 2015 17:43

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

Here are some sourced quotes regarding the G Flex 2 display:

quote:

http://www.greenbot.com/article/2885053/lg-g-flex-2-review-a-powerful-curved-smartphone-that-might-just-convert-you.html

The phone�s display produces bright and vivid colors�about what you�d expect from a high resolution OLED display, thought it wasn�t perfect. For instance, even at the lowest brightness the display was too bright, and I found myself attempting to avoid turning the phone on in the dark. I would have appreciated a slightly lower brightness setting for nighttime use.

Also, the P-OLED�s colors didn�t appear as vibrant and true as normal OLED colors typically do. Oranges and reds appeared pastel-colored, and though white backgrounds appeared to be truly white at first glance, they�re actually a tad faded and blue-hued upon closer inspection.

quote:

http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/02/18/lg-g-flex2-review-practical-less-interesting/

Unfortunately, for a phone obsessed with its display, the G Flex 2's remains one of its biggest potential drawbacks. While the reduced size is welcome, the continued issues with graininess, distortion, and now the bewilderingly high minimum brightness are pretty substantial compromises for the sake of the curve.

# ¿ Feb 25, 2015 17:51

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

quote:

http://www.androidcentral.com/lg-g-flex-2-review

For the most part it's a decent-looking screen, but "decent" is about as much praise as we can muster. Here, as with other areas of this device, you'll witness the compromises involved with creating a curvy smartphone, and if you're expecting something to rival Samsung's latest SuperAMOLED displays then you'll be disappointed. While it's perfectly visible in daylight, and delivers the deep blacks we've come to expect from OLED screens, it's decidedly mediocre in other areas.

Firstly, the minimum brightness level is criminally high, making use at night or in darker rooms problematic to say the least. Colors are generally muted compared to what we've seen from rival OLED panels. Although the display settings menu allows you to choose between three preset levels � normal, vivid and natural � these don't do much to improve color quality. There's also a noticeable graininess to images on the screen, which is most noticeable when looking at dark greys or gradients. And on top of that, we've noticed some yellowish discoloration around the top of the screen on our unit.

# ¿ Feb 25, 2015 18:27

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

It seems unusual to me that a company would require you to have/use a phone while offering zero compensation / reimbursement for it.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2015 15:59

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

Hadlock posted:

I probably type two pages a week in email on my blackberry. Physical keyboard is greatly desired.

Hadlock posted:

Touchscreen keyboards are a cancer.

Just gonna repeat myself:

Rastor posted:

Welcome to the "I miss physical keyboards" club, friend. I stuck with them as long as I possibly could (Motorola Photon Q and then LG Optimus F3Q) but they just plain don't make them with anything but the shittiest possible internals nowadays. Clip-on bluetooth keyboards are all horrible pieces of poo poo still.

DON'T try to find one that's the same size as the Droid 4. Instead get the absolute largest phone you think you can possibly stand / fit in your pockets. The larger space to work with will make the onscreen keyboard slightly more bearable.

I like my Moto X (2014) overall. I still miss the physical keyboards every time I write something, but using letter swiping on the onscreen keyboard I'm at least not too much slower, even though it doesn't feel as natural. And I admit it, once again having a phone with powerful hardware and current software goes a long ways to make up for the loss.

I assure you, I know where you're coming from, but give up. Seriously, give it up. We physical keyboard die hards have lost the war and now they're just doing a mop up operation on us.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2015 18:10

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

Vagrancy posted:

Google Play Devices is dying/dead, long live the Google Store

EDIT: Yeah it's dead

https://support.google.com/store/answer/6160260

They're also taking steps toward physical retail stores.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2015 19:07

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

Red Warrior posted:

I see they have re-boxed brand new ones (with third-party accessories) for $300 also.

That's tempting but I'd be on StraightTalk or Cricket. I'm guessing if refurbs are starting to go out to resellers that they will have Pure or AT&T models soon? On the other hand I'm on a Nexus 4 now so it's not like I'm used to LTE anyway.

In other deals it looks like if you buy a Moto X 2 direct from Motorola right now you get a free Moto E 2nd Gen 3G https://www.motorola.com/us/motorola-shop-all-sale.html

In other other deals it looks like you can get a Moto X 2014 White/Bamboo refurbished for $260.

# ¿ Mar 18, 2015 16:41

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

Motorola repair cost for a broken screen is about $150.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2015 19:06

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

JIZZ DENOUEMENT posted:

How do I block a number on a Droid Maxx? All the online answers I find aren't applicable.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-85396/

# ¿ Mar 21, 2015 03:18

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

peepsalot posted:

Anyone know how to block a number on 5.1?

I keep getting calls from "Windows IT dept" about my viruses or whatever.

Add number to contact, set contact to "All calls to voicemail".

Rastor posted:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-85396/

# ¿ Mar 25, 2015 03:05

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

Logikv9 posted:

I want distance charging. Why even bother putting it on a pad when it can charge from X feet away?

http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/8/7518559/wattup-energous-wireless-charging-from-15-feet-away-ces-2015

# ¿ Apr 1, 2015 21:33

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

flashy_mcflash posted:

Is the battery life on the S6 as middling as the reviews suggest? That's a dealbreaker for me as I'd buy a freakin' flip phone at this point if it'd last for 2 days straight on idle. To me it's still looking like the Z3 is the one to beat for battery life.

Sorry but nobody is going to do a smartphone with a 2 day battery anymore. Thin is in.

The new thing is to support quick/Turbo/wireless charging and let the road warriors get one of these or maybe something like this.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2015 20:19

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

isndl posted:

It's like you think the Droid Turbo doesn't exist.

I know of the Droid Turbo, but though it does indeed have a thick battery, 2-day battery life isn't an iron-clad guarantee.

A 2-day smartphone isn't going to happen. Instead of hoping for one, get some turbo chargers and scatter them around your life. If you are a road warrior, get a mobile battery pack which supports turbo charging.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2015 20:58

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

isndl posted:

That's why I 'imported' my Moto Maxx from Puerto Rico. Bit of a hefty price to pay up front though, I'll admit.

GSM Arena tested it at what, 30 straight hours of talk time? There aren't many contexts where that's insufficient. And if it is, I'm impressed and you're fortunate that it also supports turbo charging.

Some proud Droid Turbo / Moto Maxx owners around here. I meant no offense, it's a very nice 2014 phone.

Looking at the 2015 and beyond flagship phones -- I'm saying, they're not going to be configured with 2-day batteries.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2015 21:57

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

b0nes posted:

Stupid question: Do android phones need special cables like Apple to charge fast?

No, the cables are standard, but you need a charger and phone that both support the same fast charging standard.

# ¿ Apr 16, 2015 03:19

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

BeastOfExmoor posted:

Nah, this thread pretty much stays away from platform fanboyism.

Well we can fix that: Samsung Galaxy S6 vs iPhone 6

# ¿ Apr 18, 2015 05:03

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

Yeah it's not a Lollipop thing, I've not heard of any Gmail issues in Lollipop specifically.

Do you use any "funky" apps? Battery helpers / task killers, that sort of thing? You haven't turned off background data or altered any APN settings? It happens on both Wifi and cellular networks?

# ¿ Apr 22, 2015 16:20

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

Spatule posted:

What's the best way of playing Android games on a TV ? Not speaking about HDMI out on a tablet or Chromecast, but something like a cheap console with a pad (or using you phone / tablet as one).

Not as cheap option: https://shield.nvidia.com/android-tv

# ¿ Apr 27, 2015 20:47

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

I'm pretty sure vanilla android has never had the restart option.

If your manufacturer used to include a restart option but no longer does, that would be a question for that manufacturer.

# ¿ May 4, 2015 04:24

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

http://phandroid.com/2015/05/04/moto-x-promo-225-dollars-off/

Big sale on the Moto X 2014 today - up to $225 off. Maybe not long before we hear about the Moto X 2015?

# ¿ May 5, 2015 13:00

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

Hatter106 posted:

I'm running stock Android 5.1 and can't seem to delete any of the non-Google email accounts I added to the Gmail account. When I look at them in the Settings->Accounts screen, the corner menu that usually lets you delete an account just says "Sync Now."
So it will only let me delete them if they're synced?
The problem is that I'm deleting them BECAUSE they've been unable to sync for months. :\

I'm at my wits' end, any suggestions?

By "non-Google" do you by chance mean Exchange? Some Exchange accounts require being a device administrator. And you can't remove an administrator account. If this is your problem, go to Settings -> Security -> Device Administrators, select the email account and remove the administration privilege.

Failing that, go into settings -> apps -> all and clear data for every app named something related to "email" or "gmail" or "exchange".

# ¿ May 5, 2015 13:29

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

Rastor posted:

http://phandroid.com/2015/05/04/moto-x-promo-225-dollars-off/

Big sale on the Moto X 2014 today - up to $225 off. Maybe not long before we hear about the Moto X 2015?

Hey look at that, we're hearing about the Moto X 2015:

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Third-generation-Motorola-Moto-X-specs-leak_id68996

The rumor gives it similar internals to the LG G4, while keeping the (relatively) small 5.2" screen size.

# ¿ May 6, 2015 02:10

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

spincube posted:

Won't ever happen. Never, ever, ever, in a million years. Google is an ad company in the business of selling user data to their actual customers; why the hell would they deliberately make it easier for people to opt-out of the process like that?

This is a very wrong post. For one thing Google has always had a policy of never, ever selling user data. For another thing, many of the permissions controls have little or nothing to do with collecting user data.

Aspects of this change have been rumored / leaked for years now, it's clearly something Google has in fact been working on.

# ¿ May 8, 2015 19:09

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

TraderStav posted:

As a true SA Goon I have garnered an irrational disdain for all things Samsung since I entered the Android world despite never owning one. This S6 looks to be a really amazing phone, please convince me otherwise. It even sounds like that the worst offender (Touchwiz) is muted enough to where it's tolerable. It's got an awesome camera, great hardware/build quality, fingerprint scanner that actually works, decent-enough battery life...

Stop me from buying this phone and leaving my Z3c in the dust as I have envy here.

Um, OK. The weak point of the S6 is the battery.

techradar posted:

In terms of the actual battery life of the Samsung Galaxy S6, in moderate usage you'll get a full working day of around 17 hours out of it. This means you might have to decide whether or not you want to watch a movie on the commute home, and that's simply not good enough.

In 2015 we expect phones to be able to last more than a day easily, especially for the prices Samsung is charging for the S6. To lower the capacity beggars belief

mashable posted:

The 2,550 milliamp-hour (mAh) battery might get you through the day, or it might not, depending on what you're doing. But you won't ever be pleasantly surprised that it kept on trucking far longer than you thought, unless you simply don't touch it for much of the day.

wired.com posted:

the S6 battery is a little hit-and-miss. I�d get a day and a half, fill �er up again, and then sputter out at 10 hours. It always lasts the whole day, but I wouldn�t count on anything more before it kicks into the grayscale, super-limited Ultra Power Saving Mode.

theverge posted:

In our web browsing battery test (which loops a web page once a minute), the Galaxy S6 held up well, achieving over nine hours of uptime. But in actual usage � especially when streaming YouTube or playing games � I got less than that, sometimes distressingly less. There were days that I made it to midnight and beyond before it conked out, and there were days where the battery saver mode kicked in as early as 6PM. That�s decidedly average at best, and worse than what I get with an iPhone 6.

androidcentral posted:

In my typical daily use, which includes hefty amounts of time on Wifi, lots of notifications coming in from multiple email accounts, updates from social networks, some podcast and music listening, all with automatic screen brightness turned on, I could get about 14 hours out of a charge.

So for me that's grabbing the phone off of its charger at 8 a.m. and having it dead as a doornail at 10 p.m. � enough for an average day, but of course not every day is average. If I needed to flip on a hotspot when out of the house or spend a little time watching some YouTube videos, I could easily drain the battery in 11 hours instead. That has my phone dying at 7 p.m., and that's not good.

# ¿ May 12, 2015 19:55

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

forever whatever posted:

I apologize if this is the wrong thread to post this in, but what is the longest anyone here has heard of a phone with water damage bouncing back? On the evening of the 9th I dropped a Galaxy Alpha in a sink because I'm a superstar, immediately took the battery out, took the sim card out, dried it the best I could, and put it in front of a fan for the next 3 days. Today, I put a fresh battery in, plugged it into my computer, turned it on, and it worked like it was brand new.

I called ATT and they were all like, well it's water damaged so there's no guarantees it won't explode tomorrow etc. but for now I just have the battery out and am keeping it in rice unless I absolutely need to use a phone. It's insured and I can get it replaced for 199$ but I'm just curious what the odds are that it will somehow continue to operate unscathed.

There's very little chance it will explode, you don't need to keep running it through a rice cycle and handling it like it's dangerous. Check it for corrosion periodically. If it stops working (there is a chance of that) then you can use your insurance.

# ¿ May 12, 2015 22:10

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

Lblitzer posted:

I thought Huawei was making the next Nexus. I haven't heard anything about LG doing it again.

I heard that LG will make a Nexus 5 2015 and Huawei will make a Nexus 6 2015.

Who knows. :shrug:

# ¿ May 12, 2015 22:11

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

ThermoPhysical posted:

The thing about two Nexus phones has been a rumor since before the Nexus 5. At this point, it's mostly Huawei being talked about because Google supposedly visited them a while ago to talk about something.

Other than that, LG's just kind of been tossed in there for...whatever reason.

Androidpit claims to have sources inside LG but then again androidpit is garbage-tier reporting.

Who knows. :shrug:

# ¿ May 13, 2015 18:01

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

The menu button was a holdover from the world of non-smartphones and was introduced in a phone with a 3.2" display. It is worse than useless on today's phones and only lasted as long as it did because Samsung dragged their feet removing it.

Edit:

Desk Lamp posted:

Mostly because having the menu button always present in the same easy to reach spot alongside all the other buttons you use to navigate your phone seems like a better solution than figuring out where the developer of that particular app decided the menu button should be. If used correctly it allowed for a cleaner interface on apps and it's certainly easier to use on a 6 inch screen like the Nexus 6 than hunting for a menu button on the upper edges of the screen.

The "clean interface" of having a menu button comes at great expense to the user because there may or may not be additional options that only appear if you press something that's not on the screen. For all the complaints about the mysterious behavior of the Android back button, the menu button has always been far worse.

Rastor fucked around with this message at 21:14 on May 18, 2015

# ¿ May 18, 2015 21:10

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

Combat Pretzel posted:

Is it actually possible to move app purchases from one account to another? I have a Google Apps account that I'd like to close, and I've plenty of purchases tied to it, which I'd like to move to a regular Gmail account.

I doubt that's ever going to happen. Do let me know if I'm wrong though.

# ¿ May 20, 2015 01:14

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

notaspy posted:

Ok Goons, help me make up my mind.

I'm in the Uk.
I want to replace my nexus 4 as I've bashed it to pieces.
I want a replacement that isn't phablet sized.
I want a replacement that isn't full of the manufaturers bulllshit apps.
If i have to go with the last but one generation, thats cool.
I will be buying out right as gently caress paying over the odds for a new phone.

From what I can see I am pretty much limited to the nexus 5 unless I have missed something.

Moto X 2014, or get a loaner / cheap phone or something until the Moto X 2015 or Nexus 5 2015 are available.

# ¿ May 26, 2015 18:43

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

notaspy posted:

I wasn't aware of the Moto X as an option in the UK, just to confirm it doesn't get hosed up with silly moto apps? I'll have a look. Ty Goons.

Yes, it is an option in the UK.

It has Moto tweaks / apps but they are optional.

# ¿ May 26, 2015 19:34

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

FistEnergy posted:

Wife smashed her TMO 2013 Moto G. Should she get a 2014 G or a 2014 E? The lack of LTE on the G sucks, but the processor and camera are better. The camera is a factor because we take a lot of photos of the kids. The main thing that worries me is the E's lack of an LED flash.

Moto G: $179.00

ASUS ZenFone 2: $199.00

Worth considering, I think.

# ¿ May 26, 2015 20:39

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

Kawabata posted:

I just bought a Zenfone 2 (the 2 gb one) and while it's an amazing phone for the price it's also full of bloatware, like holy poo poo, over 50% of my RAM is being eaten away by the stupidest apps.

Is there a list somewhere of everything I can disable without making a mess? This would be a big quality of life improvement.

According to the Anandtech review, "ASUS has shoved the worst offending apps into a folder called Apps4U, and made them all uninstallable." As a general guideline, if it seems like an app, it's usually safe to disable, while if it seems like a service / background task, disabling it may potentially cause issues.

You can try starting off with the Apps4U folder and then if you want to clear off more, just disable one more thing each morning; that way if something goes haywire it should be obvious which dependency you just disabled that was responsible.

# ¿ May 26, 2015 21:48

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

FistEnergy posted:

Crap. It's an unproven phone maker with no track record for providing updates or supporting the U.S. market. And it doesn't have Motorola's excellent software. This isn't a great situation.

Actually ASUS has been supporting the U.S. market with Android tablets for quite some time now, and have a half decent record on updates. And they've got plenty of phone experience, just not sold in the U.S.

# ¿ May 27, 2015 04:53

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

The nVidia Shield Android TV box is now available through Amazon, Best Buy, etc.

Engadget hands on: NVIDIA's Shield Android TV

# ¿ May 28, 2015 20:32

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 16:58

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

Combat Pretzel posted:

In regards to Brillo, I suppose we can't expect a home automation interface from Google? Haven't seen the keynote.

It's definitely home automation related.

In terms of automation interface, they may be leaving that open for app developers to create.

# ¿ May 28, 2015 21:50

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