The Android Cell Phone Thread

[xerrox]

I gave up on my HTC M8 and ordered an iPhone (first one). The phone used to be great, then Verizon put out an update and the battery life and performance went to complete shit. As far as I can tell, rooting the updated version is pretty much off the table too. 

[whitney]

There's a VA in the Philippines whose been a tremendous help w/stuff I hate (spreadsheets) and so I want to give her $$ to get whatsapp (pretty sure that's why she doesn't have it...I was grandfathered in).

Plus whatever else she wants, cos I figure $10, $20 is a good amount.

How can I do this? I googled but the articles coming up has more typos and misspells than I do (which is huge).

[Fycus]

IIRC you can gift from android to android, from IOS to android you can give them play store credit- I dont think there is a way to give credit directly from iOS. 

[t-a]

Torn between a Nexus 6p and the new LG V10...any thoughts? 

Late to the party, but got a 6P at launch. Beautiful phone, and an actually really good camera.

 

Also trying google fi out. So far its good, going over on data worries me though.

[Fycus]

Ditched my s6 for the htc10. Very happy so far, it's 10x faster and very well executed. Seems like I might be taking a hit on camera quality but everything else resolved what I hated about the s6

[jayrock]

Android's new Instant Apps revealed at IO today sounds completely retarded. There are very specific reasons why mobile sites are preferred over many apps, but we all know these fuckers are just trying to shoe horn their advertising network into places where it was previously blocked with ease (mobile web)

Thankfully I don't have an android phone because the battery life is shit and they rarely get updates. The 2013 Nexus 7 is to this day still the best android tablet, but their tablet apps are all shit anyway

the only interesting thing coming down the pipeline is the possibility of installing android apps in chrome os

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/05/android-instant-apps-will-blur-the-lines-between-apps-and-mobile-sites/

Edited May 18, 2016 by jayrock

[SuE]

Android's new Instant Apps revealed at IO today sounds completely retarded. There are very specific reasons why mobile sites are preferred over many apps, but we all know these fuckers are just trying to shoe horn their advertising network into places where it was previously blocked with ease (mobile web)

Thankfully I don't have an android phone because the battery life is shit and they rarely get updates. The 2013 Nexus 7 is to this day still the best android tablet, but their tablet apps are all shit anyway

the only interesting thing coming down the pipeline is the possibility of installing android apps in chrome os

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/05/android-instant-apps-will-blur-the-lines-between-apps-and-mobile-sites/

 

 

huh? I'm confused by your rant as I took away the opposite impression from your linked news article i.e. Google is empowering web apps to be as feature rich as native apps. That's what many web developers are saying anyway e.g. Why I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

 

Obviously Google doesn't directly support adblockers but Android is open so it's a lot easier to install an adblocker on than platform -- not just for the browser but for apps and games -- when compared to iOS or WindowsPhone e.g. AdGuard

[jayrock]

Android is open, but google play services is anything but

Locking down an open platform such as the mobile web in favor of proprietary plug-ins only serves to further fragmentation and keep people in Google's version of the Internet. These will not work on competing platforms such as iOS or Windows. HTML5 was supposed to be the next big open platform for stuff like this, and everyone loves to shit all over Flash for being a closed sandbox, but hey it's google's world now so it must be good, right? Pass

There's a reason shit like flash, activex, Java, silverlight, etc are going to the way of the dodo. From a software development standpoint it makes more sense to allocate resources to a platform that has the widest user base and access, and not continue giving the keys to the kingdom to the Apple/Microsoft/Googles of the world.

So now, in addition to supporting a mobile website, iOS app, and Android app, there will need to be code developed and maintained for these plug-in experiences. a large amount of "apps" are simply web wrappers anyway, so it seems to me that focusing on that should be the highest priority for developers with limited resources

And all this is even before bringing up the fact that these "instant apps" are inviting new malware vectors into play on your mobile device. Search the news for "flash zero day" to see why this maybe isn't the smartest idea when thinking pragmatically about the platform and use

Edited May 20, 2016 by jayrock

[Oscur]

On one side project ara is still alive. On the other, it's massively underwhelming

[SuE]

So now, in addition to supporting a mobile website, iOS app, and Android app, there will need to be code developed and maintained for these plug-in experiences.

this is wrong though. plug-in experiences can reuse the android app code

[jayrock]

the red HTC 10 looks fucking sweet

 

https://imgur.com/a/g7iMg

[jayrock]

That said, the new Google Pixel phone looks like trash. iPhone prices and design ripoff without the iPhone quality

[mike lowrey]

Handled the 5" pixel, feels very solid but also very iphone-ish. expensive as hell, and a non micro usb charger? fuck that.

 

Also, it felt thicker and heavier than my Nexus 5 with a solid cover.

[halomunkey]

Anybody own a Xiaomi?? The concept mi mix looks amazing

 

[Fycus]

I have played around with coworkers and they are fine for the money, software is ho-hum but can be rooted easily. I think this is a great value for 500, and will likely sell out instantly and fetch a higher price through resellers for a couple months until stock levels out. Working in technology I can guarantee that if you drop it the device will be hosed and I know for a fact xiaomi doesnt have any warranty program especially when bought through a reseller (hence the low price, among other things like copyright infringement). Something to keep in mind if you drop $500 on a device...

[mike lowrey]

can't believe how hard it is to find a smaller high quality android phone. The Nexus 5 has been the perfect size for me and highly usable with one hand, can't say the same about any of the current 5.2"+ phones. The S7 feels like it weighs a ton compared to the N5 and is difficult to hold with one hand due to the shape and size.

 

compact Sonys (X, Z5) feel like crappy plastic, the Samsung A3 is a good size and build feels nice but a bit underwhelming performance wise and not a fan of their UI and all. Had high hopes for the Pixel 5" but its the same size and similar shape as the Galaxy S7, same problems.

[CASSAVA PIECE]

compact Sonys (X, Z5) feel like crappy plastic

z5 and z3 compacts are still really good phones, not sure about x. sony still has the best build quality imo

[e0d9n0b5]

pixel XL is very good

[CASSAVA PIECE]

wonder why still no iris scanners in north america other than on the note 7

[jayrock]

HTC 10 Black Friday sale has MSRP down to $499

http://www.htc.com/us/go/buy-htc-10/

Sooo tempted to grab a red one because they look fucking awesome, but I'll probably just ride out this 6s until the battery goes to shit

[jayrock]

ZTE Axon 7 black friday sale for about tree fiddy

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=75-705-054&iscoz=true

[mike lowrey]

z5 and z3 compacts are still really good phones, not sure about x. sony still has the best build quality imo

 

actually ended up getting the X. feels great compared to the compacts build-wise. Also happy with the closer-to-native Android after trying to use a Samsung.