This is probably a unique problem, but I have a Note 8 and a Note 4. I use the Note 8 as my day to day phone, but I use the Note 4 as my gym phone. I only have the one sim card and I throw it in whichever phone I'm planning to use.
Since I can't sync text messages between phones (or can I, that'd be the ideal solution), I'd like to disable sms/mms on my Note 4. Is that possible? I'd assume airplane mode would work, but I need to connect to the cell network for data.
I haven't looked into how to shut off messaging, but have you considered picking up a data-only SIM for the Note 4? I'm pretty sure that would keep messages from coming in; but my assumptions could be wrong.
I know there's an option to shut off Cellular data in Settings, but I don't know if there's an option to turn on *only* Cellular data.
you can't disable sms, as that's a built in feature to cellular.
The only way I know of doing this is with Google Voice/Project Fi, but then that's a built in feture into that service.
I've found a few apps that will sync, but those are all designed for 1 phone where it then syncs to a tablet/PC.
Unfortunately I think your use case is just super rare. The number of people who move their SIM between devices that often just can't be something that (m)any developers take the time to think about.
Stupid question: does your gym not have wifi? (note that the local Y where I used to frequent had extremely spotty wifi) I only ask because then you can just turn on the wifi in the Note 4 without having to migrate SIMs.
Though I suspect you do this so that you can still receive messages while you're working out(?)
I figured I was a pretty rare case; I dont want a separate data only sim as I have unlimited data on the sim I'm swapping around. I wish SMS Backup & Restore still worked, but it looks like the switch to EMS or Advanced SMS or whatever has broken its ability to backup messages.
I didnt think about gym wifi....I should look into that, probably the easiest solution. Or I guess I could just buy case for my Note 8 and use it at the gym (the phone is slippery, I probably should get one anyway).
I've been thinking about getting a 5th generation Moto G Plus (I'd be going for the 32 GB version), does anyone have any caveats about it or are there any other phones in that price and size range that are obviously superior?
The lack of physical buttons is disappointing, but I'm suspecting that I'm not going to have much choice there. Does not having NFC matter?
I've been thinking about getting a 5th generation Moto G Plus (I'd be going for the 32 GB version), does anyone have any caveats about it or are there any other phones in that price and size range that are obviously superior?
The lack of physical buttons is disappointing, but I'm suspecting that I'm not going to have much choice there. Does not having NFC matter?
I've been thinking about getting a 5th generation Moto G Plus (I'd be going for the 32 GB version), does anyone have any caveats about it or are there any other phones in that price and size range that are obviously superior?
The lack of physical buttons is disappointing, but I'm suspecting that I'm not going to have much choice there. Does not having NFC matter?
My wife likes hers
Good to hear. I think I'll go for it right now.
edit: The g5S was on sale and was only $10 more than the g5 (and it's only a tiny bit bigger), so I went ahead and got that instead. I was pleasantly surprised by how little bloatware was on it. I expected the really stupid stuff to be gone, but even some of the Google services weren't there.
I figured I was a pretty rare case; I dont want a separate data only sim as I have unlimited data on the sim I'm swapping around. I wish SMS Backup & Restore still worked, but it looks like the switch to EMS or Advanced SMS or whatever has broken its ability to backup messages.
I didnt think about gym wifi....I should look into that, probably the easiest solution. Or I guess I could just buy case for my Note 8 and use it at the gym (the phone is slippery, I probably should get one anyway).
If it is avaliable on those phones, my S8 and S7 came with Smart Switch which allowed me to transfer everything between phones in a matter of minutes. Not sure how often you switch back and forth but it would let you keep your messages synced with only a few minutes of downtime.
I am in love with my Pixel 2. The speed, the battery, the screen (okay, the colors are less saturated/pop a little less than on my S6, but it's seriously not noticeable), the camera. It's just a stellar experience overall. Also grabbed one of those fabric cases from Google (Carbon, aka black) and it looks and feels terrific. Fits perfectly but doesn't add a lot of bulk. Not as grippy as a TPU case, but just feels super premium.
This is exactly what I wanted out of my upgrade. Better performance, stock Android, and a much better battery. Good riddance to my ailing, failing S6.
Edit: Also, surprise release of Monument Valley 2 on Android today. Gonna download that after work.
The Pixel 2 feels so good in hand that I really don't want to put a case on it... then again I really don't want to kill my phone by dropping it.
This is as close to perfect of an in hand feel I've had since my 2nd gen Moto X
I went about 24 hours caseless and really loved it. The texture on the back is great, the phone is small and comfortable to hold... but at the end of the day, it just felt too fragile for me. I was babying it taking it in and out of my pocket, and while I'm generally super careful with my phones, I've definitely survived a few drops over the years and a caseless phone just straight-up isn't going to survive one of those.
The official Google fabric case probably isn't providing much protection, but it provides peace of mind and would at least offer somewhat of a buffer in the event of a drop (plus, if I put the phone face-down on a table, the case provides a small buffer there, to keep the screen elevated).
The Moto G5s Plus is is actually managing to impress me. Like pretty much all Android phones there's a shortcut on the lock screen to open the camera, but in this phone (I don't know if it's manufacturer-related or inherent to 7.1), the gesture needed to do so is an utter pain in the ass. On my previous phone I kept the camera app disabled unless I immediately needed to use it, but here I think I can actually leave it up without having to worry about pocket-photos.
There's also a Moto app included that I immediately disabled at first, but I decided to mess around with it and while I don't care about most of the stuff it provides there are actually some pretty useful fingerprint sensor gestures that can replace the physical buttons that I've been missing.
I bought this phone intending to root it, but that's actually turning out to not even be necessary.
The Pixel 2 feels so good in hand that I really don't want to put a case on it... then again I really don't want to kill my phone by dropping it.
This is as close to perfect of an in hand feel I've had since my 2nd gen Moto X
I went about 24 hours caseless and really loved it. The texture on the back is great, the phone is small and comfortable to hold... but at the end of the day, it just felt too fragile for me. I was babying it taking it in and out of my pocket, and while I'm generally super careful with my phones, I've definitely survived a few drops over the years and a caseless phone just straight-up isn't going to survive one of those.
The official Google fabric case probably isn't providing much protection, but it provides peace of mind and would at least offer somewhat of a buffer in the event of a drop (plus, if I put the phone face-down on a table, the case provides a small buffer there, to keep the screen elevated).
yeah, for sure, I definitely know I should get a case but I DONT WANNA
I really hate putting cases on my phone because usually the phone feels pretty good in hand. So of course there is a story of me dropping my nexus 6 and having to live with a broken screen for over a year. To bad no popular phone manufacturer wants to make these phones more durable.
the november security update for the Pixel 2's includes the screen "fixes" There are apparenlty now 3 screen colour options. I don't have one to test myself, but the internet tells me that the differences between the 3 is minimal, and that it really looks like google just tacked something on as quickly as possible to make it look like they're doing something.
Other highlights is that the maximum sreen brightness of the 2 XL has been lowered by 50 nits. Google claims this will "significantly reduce" the wear on the screen while being nearly undetectable by the user. (note this is only on the 2 XL, not the smaller 2). And lastly, on both the 2 and 2 XL the nav buttons will when you're on a "static" screen to reduce burn in
Zxerolfor the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't doso i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered Userregular
This all seem like lamest shit fixes for the screen issues, but I don't know what else they could really do at this point other than crawling back to Samsung and taking an enormous write down.
Yesterday my case finally arrived and I love it. Purchased the Neo Hybrid Spigen case for the Pixel 2 and now I can hold the phone much more comfortably. Before it was actually too thin, too smooth, I felt like the phone would fly out of my hands if I wasn't careful enough. The case doesn't actually add that much more bulk to the phone, it certainly has a nice hand feel, makes pressing the side buttons for me a lot easier, and above all else gives me piece of mind that it's not going to slip out of my hands.
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minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
the november security update for the Pixel 2's includes the screen "fixes" There are apparenlty now 3 screen colour options. I don't have one to test myself, but the internet tells me that the differences between the 3 is minimal, and that it really looks like google just tacked something on as quickly as possible to make it look like they're doing something.
Other highlights is that the maximum sreen brightness of the 2 XL has been lowered by 50 nits. Google claims this will "significantly reduce" the wear on the screen while being nearly undetectable by the user. (note this is only on the 2 XL, not the smaller 2). And lastly, on both the 2 and 2 XL the nav buttons will when you're on a "static" screen to reduce burn in
The new "Saturated" option looks good and largely minimized the blue shift.
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
the november security update for the Pixel 2's includes the screen "fixes" There are apparenlty now 3 screen colour options. I don't have one to test myself, but the internet tells me that the differences between the 3 is minimal, and that it really looks like google just tacked something on as quickly as possible to make it look like they're doing something.
Other highlights is that the maximum sreen brightness of the 2 XL has been lowered by 50 nits. Google claims this will "significantly reduce" the wear on the screen while being nearly undetectable by the user. (note this is only on the 2 XL, not the smaller 2). And lastly, on both the 2 and 2 XL the nav buttons will when you're on a "static" screen to reduce burn in
The new "Saturated" option looks good and largely minimized the blue shift.
that is good to hear, actually.
I do kind of wish the "natural" option was just colour neutral instead of blue though. =/
Has anyone used any of the more recent Sony phones? I care not about bezel size and they're pretty competitive both spec wise and price wise to all the other $500-600 phones. It's also reasonably easy to flash them with international firmware to get the fingerprint reader working in the US.
Even so, with further price drops and more cases coming out The Essential phone is looking better and better. I'm also holding out hope that the OnePlus 5T doesn't go up too much in price from the 5.
Yesterday my case finally arrived and I love it. Purchased the Neo Hybrid Spigen case for the Pixel 2 and now I can hold the phone much more comfortably. Before it was actually too thin, too smooth, I felt like the phone would fly out of my hands if I wasn't careful enough. The case doesn't actually add that much more bulk to the phone, it certainly has a nice hand feel, makes pressing the side buttons for me a lot easier, and above all else gives me piece of mind that it's not going to slip out of my hands.
I love Spigen cases. I had one for my Pixel XL, and my Note 8 case is wonderful.
Yesterday my case finally arrived and I love it. Purchased the Neo Hybrid Spigen case for the Pixel 2 and now I can hold the phone much more comfortably. Before it was actually too thin, too smooth, I felt like the phone would fly out of my hands if I wasn't careful enough. The case doesn't actually add that much more bulk to the phone, it certainly has a nice hand feel, makes pressing the side buttons for me a lot easier, and above all else gives me piece of mind that it's not going to slip out of my hands.
I love Spigen cases. I had one for my Pixel XL, and my Note 8 case is wonderful.
I'll second Spigen. I've used them for every smartphone I've owned and they are great. Plenty of options from super slim that just add a little grip, to tough, cover-all cases. Very reasonably priced too.
the only really big sized sized phone running Google Android (there's not really such a thing as "stock" anymore) are the Pixel 2 XL and the Pixel XL.
Other options really depend on price.
Stepping down just a bit in size, you can get something like the Moto E4 Plus which is a 5.5" 720p display. Moto's android install is very light on customization, pretty close to the Google Android OS. It also has a giant battery. and you can buy it straight up from Verizon prepaid. I think it's like $130, so super cheap.
OnePlus is releasing the 5T in a week or so, should be similar in size to the Pixel 2 XL/GS8+/Note 8, but we don't know pricing yet. I saw a single report fo $479, but we just don't know. OnePlus' android install is also pretty light. Heavily customizable, but if you leave it as is it'll look close-ish to what you get on a Google phone.
After that, honestly I'd look at the other options in the moto line. There's a bunch of G5 phones in various sizes, and the $400 X4. None of them are in the Note 8 size class, the bigger ones will be in the 5.5" range. You'll have to check on verizon comparability, but based on what I understand, the vast majority of the time any GSM phone works on verizon now.
Has anyone used any of the more recent Sony phones? I care not about bezel size and they're pretty competitive both spec wise and price wise to all the other $500-600 phones. It's also reasonably easy to flash them with international firmware to get the fingerprint reader working in the US.
Even so, with further price drops and more cases coming out The Essential phone is looking better and better. I'm also holding out hope that the OnePlus 5T doesn't go up too much in price from the 5.
I always liked Sony phones. Much prefer the fingerprint scanner/power button combo on the side. The only thing that kept me from getting another one is the camera. It is mediocre, at best, and takes a lot of finesse to get good pictures out of sometimes. Apparently they are changing the style soon to match with the trend of 18:9 screen and low bezels.
Number One Tricky
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
Has anyone used any of the more recent Sony phones? I care not about bezel size and they're pretty competitive both spec wise and price wise to all the other $500-600 phones. It's also reasonably easy to flash them with international firmware to get the fingerprint reader working in the US.
Even so, with further price drops and more cases coming out The Essential phone is looking better and better. I'm also holding out hope that the OnePlus 5T doesn't go up too much in price from the 5.
I always liked Sony phones. Much prefer the fingerprint scanner/power button combo on the side. The only thing that kept me from getting another one is the camera. It is mediocre, at best, and takes a lot of finesse to get good pictures out of sometimes. Apparently they are changing the style soon to match with the trend of 18:9 screen and low bezels.
Sony's camera hardware for the phone, (Sensor and optics) are the best in the industry. However Sony's camera software and processing of its own images is probably the worst out of all manufacturers. It really showed when at one point where LG and Samsung were using an older Sony camera sensor were producing better images than Sony's latest phone using its brand new sensor.
My 5X has gotten progressively worse over the last week or so, to the point where it was becoming unusable (yes, it was still set to Skia). I factory reset it tonight and restored from backup. That made a massive difference and at least for now feels like almost exactly like it did with Nougat.
I forgot to mention I have not switched the renderer to Skia from OpenGL after the refresh. Performance feels totally fine. Another benefit of using OpenGL is that photos actually load and thumbnails now display properly.
Battery life does seem to have gone down though, but that may have been related to me having used a fast charger the day before on a rather old phone battery when I forget to charge my phone overnight. Hopefully I didn't actually damage my battery by fast charging it and limiting how much of a charge it holds now. A few days more use should give me a better idea about the impact on battery life.
Hm. I haven't reset this phone yet, even though I reset my N5 about 3 times over its life. Now I'm debating running the update and doing a factory reset. I'm not too keen on losing my message history in Textra; but it's not the end of the world (and I wonder if Textra Pro started doing some sort of archive/backup so that I can grab my message history?).
So I've found a sort of workaround to my multiple phone sms issue. Samsungs Messages app will let you copy texts to your sim card which I can then copy over to my actual phone.
It'd be nice if Textra could do the same thing, but its not a huge deal temporarily switching default apps.
Posts
Yeah, I told them to turn it off and try it but I have not heard back from my friend yet.
edit: Seems like that did it, or it just was a temporary issue for them. Either way
Since I can't sync text messages between phones (or can I, that'd be the ideal solution), I'd like to disable sms/mms on my Note 4. Is that possible? I'd assume airplane mode would work, but I need to connect to the cell network for data.
I know there's an option to shut off Cellular data in Settings, but I don't know if there's an option to turn on *only* Cellular data.
The only way I know of doing this is with Google Voice/Project Fi, but then that's a built in feture into that service.
I've found a few apps that will sync, but those are all designed for 1 phone where it then syncs to a tablet/PC.
Unfortunately I think your use case is just super rare. The number of people who move their SIM between devices that often just can't be something that (m)any developers take the time to think about.
Though I suspect you do this so that you can still receive messages while you're working out(?)
I didnt think about gym wifi....I should look into that, probably the easiest solution. Or I guess I could just buy case for my Note 8 and use it at the gym (the phone is slippery, I probably should get one anyway).
The lack of physical buttons is disappointing, but I'm suspecting that I'm not going to have much choice there. Does not having NFC matter?
My wife likes hers
Good to hear. I think I'll go for it right now.
edit: The g5S was on sale and was only $10 more than the g5 (and it's only a tiny bit bigger), so I went ahead and got that instead. I was pleasantly surprised by how little bloatware was on it. I expected the really stupid stuff to be gone, but even some of the Google services weren't there.
If it is avaliable on those phones, my S8 and S7 came with Smart Switch which allowed me to transfer everything between phones in a matter of minutes. Not sure how often you switch back and forth but it would let you keep your messages synced with only a few minutes of downtime.
PSN:Furlion
This is exactly what I wanted out of my upgrade. Better performance, stock Android, and a much better battery. Good riddance to my ailing, failing S6.
Edit: Also, surprise release of Monument Valley 2 on Android today. Gonna download that after work.
This is as close to perfect of an in hand feel I've had since my 2nd gen Moto X
I went about 24 hours caseless and really loved it. The texture on the back is great, the phone is small and comfortable to hold... but at the end of the day, it just felt too fragile for me. I was babying it taking it in and out of my pocket, and while I'm generally super careful with my phones, I've definitely survived a few drops over the years and a caseless phone just straight-up isn't going to survive one of those.
The official Google fabric case probably isn't providing much protection, but it provides peace of mind and would at least offer somewhat of a buffer in the event of a drop (plus, if I put the phone face-down on a table, the case provides a small buffer there, to keep the screen elevated).
There's also a Moto app included that I immediately disabled at first, but I decided to mess around with it and while I don't care about most of the stuff it provides there are actually some pretty useful fingerprint sensor gestures that can replace the physical buttons that I've been missing.
I bought this phone intending to root it, but that's actually turning out to not even be necessary.
yeah, for sure, I definitely know I should get a case but I DONT WANNA
Eh, it's Amazon...
Other highlights is that the maximum sreen brightness of the 2 XL has been lowered by 50 nits. Google claims this will "significantly reduce" the wear on the screen while being nearly undetectable by the user. (note this is only on the 2 XL, not the smaller 2). And lastly, on both the 2 and 2 XL the nav buttons will when you're on a "static" screen to reduce burn in
The new "Saturated" option looks good and largely minimized the blue shift.
that is good to hear, actually.
I do kind of wish the "natural" option was just colour neutral instead of blue though. =/
Even so, with further price drops and more cases coming out The Essential phone is looking better and better. I'm also holding out hope that the OnePlus 5T doesn't go up too much in price from the 5.
I love Spigen cases. I had one for my Pixel XL, and my Note 8 case is wonderful.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
I'll second Spigen. I've used them for every smartphone I've owned and they are great. Plenty of options from super slim that just add a little grip, to tough, cover-all cases. Very reasonably priced too.
Welp, never doing that again...
1) Uses stock Android
2) Is compatible with Verizon (negotiable)
3) Is on the larger side (or even Note-sized)
4) Doesn't have to be cutting-edge
In my research I've found phones that fulfill some but not all of these criteria... Anyone know of something that might fit the bill?
Other options really depend on price.
Stepping down just a bit in size, you can get something like the Moto E4 Plus which is a 5.5" 720p display. Moto's android install is very light on customization, pretty close to the Google Android OS. It also has a giant battery. and you can buy it straight up from Verizon prepaid. I think it's like $130, so super cheap.
OnePlus is releasing the 5T in a week or so, should be similar in size to the Pixel 2 XL/GS8+/Note 8, but we don't know pricing yet. I saw a single report fo $479, but we just don't know. OnePlus' android install is also pretty light. Heavily customizable, but if you leave it as is it'll look close-ish to what you get on a Google phone.
After that, honestly I'd look at the other options in the moto line. There's a bunch of G5 phones in various sizes, and the $400 X4. None of them are in the Note 8 size class, the bigger ones will be in the 5.5" range. You'll have to check on verizon comparability, but based on what I understand, the vast majority of the time any GSM phone works on verizon now.
I always liked Sony phones. Much prefer the fingerprint scanner/power button combo on the side. The only thing that kept me from getting another one is the camera. It is mediocre, at best, and takes a lot of finesse to get good pictures out of sometimes. Apparently they are changing the style soon to match with the trend of 18:9 screen and low bezels.
Get the phone back from them and go after whoever the shipper was.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
Pssh. USPS. I'm sure that'll go nowhere.
FWIW, I raised a question to the Fi support but I expect not much joy to come from that.
Sony's camera hardware for the phone, (Sensor and optics) are the best in the industry. However Sony's camera software and processing of its own images is probably the worst out of all manufacturers. It really showed when at one point where LG and Samsung were using an older Sony camera sensor were producing better images than Sony's latest phone using its brand new sensor.
https://www.androidcentral.com/lots-people-are-having-trouble-google-stores-trade-program
Google seems to be having a really tough go with their 2017 hardware push.
Battery life does seem to have gone down though, but that may have been related to me having used a fast charger the day before on a rather old phone battery when I forget to charge my phone overnight. Hopefully I didn't actually damage my battery by fast charging it and limiting how much of a charge it holds now. A few days more use should give me a better idea about the impact on battery life.
It'd be nice if Textra could do the same thing, but its not a huge deal temporarily switching default apps.