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[Android] Thread v. 2018: Pixel 6 is out. Google might be bad at phones.

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    MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    furlion wrote: »
    Mugsley wrote: »
    NEO|Phyte wrote: »
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    Oh then that's totally reasonable.

    But might I get you to consider a NAS?

    An NAS is kind of hard to keep in your pocket.

    You're not trying hard enough!

    That actually is something i am thinking about doing. I have been reading up on building one and it looks both relatively easy and much cheaper than a prebuilt. My only concern would be setting up the software side but i am assume there are plenty of NAS for medium skilled tech people guides out there.

    I had FreeNAS set up for quite a while but it was too heavy for my use case. I also didn't like they way it handled users. I recently moved to OpenMediaVault and it's a bit more reasonable. Had to ask for help on a couple minor tweaks but I got it spun up in an afternoon.

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    DhalphirDhalphir don't you open that trapdoor you're a fool if you dareRegistered User regular
    three months with the Fold 5 and I already know I'm never going to buy a non foldable again

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    NoughtNought Registered User regular
    Ear3nd1l wrote: »
    NEO|Phyte wrote: »
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    Oh then that's totally reasonable.

    But might I get you to consider a NAS?

    An NAS is kind of hard to keep in your pocket.

    Is that a NAS in your pocket?

    Or are you just happy to see me.


    Anyone have an opinion on what mail app I should install, before the thread is recycled?

    I'm thinking about Nine Mail or ProtonMail.

    I'm willing to pay for one if it's a one time thing, but that doesn't seem to exist anymore.

    Something like four years ago I had a Huawei where the storage space slowly disapeared and I'm pretty sure it was Gmail hiding the downloaded mails in a way that I couldn't find and delete them.
    So ever since I have been using browser based email, but it's annoying to have to keep logging in.

    I have watched a few youtube videos, but the ones I can find feel like they are payed ads.


    Anyone have anything bad to say about Nine or ProtonMail, or have a strong opinion about another one?

    On fire
    .
    Island. Being on fire.
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    BullheadBullhead Registered User regular
    I've never really had an issue with gmail? Have used it since I first got a mobile phone.

    96058.png?1619393207
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    wunderbarwunderbar What Have I Done? Registered User regular
    Nought wrote: »
    Ear3nd1l wrote: »
    NEO|Phyte wrote: »
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    Oh then that's totally reasonable.

    But might I get you to consider a NAS?

    An NAS is kind of hard to keep in your pocket.

    Is that a NAS in your pocket?

    Or are you just happy to see me.


    Anyone have an opinion on what mail app I should install, before the thread is recycled?

    I'm thinking about Nine Mail or ProtonMail.

    I'm willing to pay for one if it's a one time thing, but that doesn't seem to exist anymore.

    Something like four years ago I had a Huawei where the storage space slowly disapeared and I'm pretty sure it was Gmail hiding the downloaded mails in a way that I couldn't find and delete them.
    So ever since I have been using browser based email, but it's annoying to have to keep logging in.

    I have watched a few youtube videos, but the ones I can find feel like they are payed ads.


    Anyone have anything bad to say about Nine or ProtonMail, or have a strong opinion about another one?

    I have so, so many questions about this. But this is not a gmail issue. Unless you specifically go and change settings, gmail only keeps emails on a device for 30 days, then offloads to cloud. Gmail doesn't download attachments by default, it downloads them on demand when you access the attachment. So unless you're getting tens of thousands of emails in a month, gmail is not a storage issue. That issue you described from four years ago sounds like a Huawei phone issue.

    Out of curiosity because I have never once thought about the amount of storage gmail takes on any android phone I've used in the last decade and it is using 169MB of space on my 256GB phone.


    Now, to answer your question more directly. If you're on gmail, use the gmail client, it is the best one. If your primary email address is an outlook/microsoft one, I recommend the Outlook app. If you're using a 3rd party provider, they probably have some recommendations on good apps to use.

    XBL: thewunderbar PSN: thewunderbar NNID: thewunderbar Steam: wunderbar87 Twitter: wunderbar
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    Ear3nd1lEar3nd1l Eärendil the Mariner, father of Elrond Registered User regular
    Spark email is decent. It's what I use for an address I have for some side gig work.

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    MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    Ear3nd1l wrote: »
    Spark email is decent. It's what I use for an address I have for some side gig work.

    I use this to manage multiple Gmail accounts in one app. I think it's cleaner than the Gmail app. Also the Gmail app was a bad user experience for years.

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    NoughtNought Registered User regular
    edited November 2023
    You know, you're absolutely right.

    My phones don't have that much space since I usually buy them at $100-150, but you are right that email shouldn't take up that much room.

    I think I just sold myself on email being the culprit since I wasn't really adding anything else to the storage at a slow and consistent rate.


    But thanks for the input on email apps. I'll think about it a few more days and then do what I would have done anyway. :)

    I use google calender, since it's easy to sync on multiple devices when everything is android, so I think support for that will end up deciding it in the end.

    Nought on
    On fire
    .
    Island. Being on fire.
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    MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    Does anyone else use Bouncer to manage app permissions? Since Android 14, it hasn't been working right.

    There was an update in the past two weeks but it hasn't fixed anything.

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    MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    My Pixel 6 Pro works perfectly fine but I'm sorely tempted by the offers I've been getting lately to upgrade to a 8 Pro. I can probably trade this one in for a decent amount, too.

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    urahonkyurahonky Resident FF7R hater Registered User regular
    I have a 6a and thinking the same thing. My issue is that I don't really need all that horsepower.

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    urahonkyurahonky Resident FF7R hater Registered User regular
    We were going to upgrade both of our pixel 6as to the pixel 8 and give the kiddos our old phones but we ended up buying them new computers for Christmas and didn't want to overspend.

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    wunderbarwunderbar What Have I Done? Registered User regular
    urahonky wrote: »
    I have a 6a and thinking the same thing. My issue is that I don't really need all that horsepower.

    well, the Pixel 8 is getting 7 years of updates so while you may not need/want the horsepower of the high end phone today, lets say you do decide you want to use that phone for 5 years, in 5 years you'll appreciate the horsepower it did have at launch, since the phone will still be very usable. (aside from the fact that you probably will need to replace the battery at some point)

    XBL: thewunderbar PSN: thewunderbar NNID: thewunderbar Steam: wunderbar87 Twitter: wunderbar
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    ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    Or you can wait a while for the Pixel 9 or 10 or whatever while still getting use. It's a decision everyone kinda has to make on their own I guess.

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
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    MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    Google just shaved $200 from the 8 Pro. I assume this is because the 8a/Pro are on the horizon. That's a lot of phone for $800

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    wunderbarwunderbar What Have I Done? Registered User regular
    Mugsley wrote: »
    Google just shaved $200 from the 8 Pro. I assume this is because the 8a/Pro are on the horizon. That's a lot of phone for $800

    The 8 Pro has been on a nearly perpetual sale since Black Friday, and the pixel devices are usually on a sale at least somewhere. Honestly past the pre-order period no one should ever be paying full MSRP for a Pixel, as you can usually find one on sale somewhere.

    Also, there has never been a "pro" sku in the a series of phones. that's just one cheaper phone, i.e. the 7a.

    XBL: thewunderbar PSN: thewunderbar NNID: thewunderbar Steam: wunderbar87 Twitter: wunderbar
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    MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    MVNO discussion: we are trying out Google Fi for my family and my mom. My Pixel 6 Pro occasionally loses service and won't get it back unless I restart (maybe once every week or so).

    Is that expected or is it potentially a bad SIM? We are in the Philly Metro area.

    Similarly, I've had to move one daughter's iPhone to eSIM and the other (iPhone) needed a new SIM to connect without issues. The second phone is a iPhone X so no eSIM.

    We had the SIMs delivered when we signed up. My mom hasn't had any issues so far.

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    m!ttensm!ttens he/himRegistered User regular
    edited February 12
    Mugsley wrote: »
    MVNO discussion: we are trying out Google Fi for my family and my mom. My Pixel 6 Pro occasionally loses service and won't get it back unless I restart (maybe once every week or so).

    Is that expected or is it potentially a bad SIM? We are in the Philly Metro area.

    Similarly, I've had to move one daughter's iPhone to eSIM and the other (iPhone) needed a new SIM to connect without issues. The second phone is a iPhone X so no eSIM.

    We had the SIMs delivered when we signed up. My mom hasn't had any issues so far.

    I have similar issues with my Pixel 5a (edit: on Google Fi). I'll have full signal while driving and then suddenly nothing loads even though it says I have full 5G signal. Usually I can pull down the windowshade, turn off mobile data, wait ~5 seconds for the phone to declare zero signal then flip data back on and it'll reconnect. I think what is happening is it wants to be on T-Mobile as the main carrier but the signal kind of sucks (metro Cincinnati area) and it has problems trying to piggyback into AT&T towers. My wife does seem to have fewer issues than me though, so maybe it is an antenna issue 🤷‍♂️

    m!ttens on
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    MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain? ChicagoRegistered User regular
    Mugsley wrote: »
    MVNO discussion: we are trying out Google Fi for my family and my mom. My Pixel 6 Pro occasionally loses service and won't get it back unless I restart (maybe once every week or so).

    Is that expected or is it potentially a bad SIM? We are in the Philly Metro area.

    Similarly, I've had to move one daughter's iPhone to eSIM and the other (iPhone) needed a new SIM to connect without issues. The second phone is a iPhone X so no eSIM.

    We had the SIMs delivered when we signed up. My mom hasn't had any issues so far.

    Does it only come back after a full restart, or will flipping the cell connection (Use SIM) on/off do it?

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    LD50LD50 Registered User regular
    I'm on Fi in Vermont, where I assume it switches networks fairly often. I have not had any issues at all, but I have a samsung phone rather than a pixel.

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    MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    It won't switch back unless I restart, but I haven't tried letting airplane mode sit for up to 5 mins.

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    NaphtaliNaphtali Hazy + Flow SeaRegistered User regular
    It might be the Pixel 6 Pro itself. Haven't run into that personally on Fi, but I haven't used that specific device or been in that specific region either.

    Steam | Nintendo ID: Naphtali | Wish List
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    furlionfurlion Riskbreaker Lea MondeRegistered User regular
    I have a galaxy Note 20 5g and anytime it switches to 5g i completely lose data. Every single time for like 2 years now. I really wish i could disable it but i can't figure out how.

    sig.gif Gamertag: KL Retribution
    PSN:Furlion
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    ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    LD50 wrote: »
    I'm on Fi in Vermont, where I assume it switches networks fairly often. I have not had any issues at all, but I have a samsung phone rather than a pixel.

    I forgot you were in Vermont. I tried a TMO hotspot a couple years back and it worked terribly so I just kinda ruled Fi out. Working for you though?

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
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    LD50LD50 Registered User regular
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    LD50 wrote: »
    I'm on Fi in Vermont, where I assume it switches networks fairly often. I have not had any issues at all, but I have a samsung phone rather than a pixel.

    I forgot you were in Vermont. I tried a TMO hotspot a couple years back and it worked terribly so I just kinda ruled Fi out. Working for you though?

    I have a 5g connection pretty reliably and get decent cellular speeds, but I live in Essex. I imagine it could be a lot worse if I went out somewhere further from civilization.

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    ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    LD50 wrote: »
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    LD50 wrote: »
    I'm on Fi in Vermont, where I assume it switches networks fairly often. I have not had any issues at all, but I have a samsung phone rather than a pixel.

    I forgot you were in Vermont. I tried a TMO hotspot a couple years back and it worked terribly so I just kinda ruled Fi out. Working for you though?

    I have a 5g connection pretty reliably and get decent cellular speeds, but I live in Essex. I imagine it could be a lot worse if I went out somewhere further from civilization.

    Probably, yeah. I grew up in Essex, it's a lot more populated than down here in White River, though since we're at the intersection of the two interstates it's probably not awful.

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
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    Fartacus_the_MightyFartacus_the_Mighty Brought to you by the letter A.Registered User regular
    Did any 3rd party alarm apps ever fix the issue with alarms not going off after a phone restart? I've had to go back to using my clock/radio because it's just too damn easy to hit "dismiss" instead of "snooze" on the built-in app.

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    CarpyCarpy Registered User regular
    Anyone had success viewing/storing heic formatted gifs? They're being texted from an iPhone and weirdly they animate correctly in the drop-down preview notification but in the actual text they're just static images. Same thing if I save them and view them in Photos

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    KamarKamar Registered User regular
    What's up with Android's dictation software doing great...then fucking up after the fact?

    "Salad?" I say for my shopping list. "Salad?" it says for a split second. Then it changes to "Solid?".

    Constantly, all the time, it never stops. It will write long, complex sentences exactly correctly as I said them, then change them to gibberish a split second later.

    ???

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    MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain? ChicagoRegistered User regular
    edited February 23
    Is it picking up extra noise and trying to interpret context from the whole thing?

    Like I assume you're saying "salad", then pausing for it to update? Not saying "house" after and it translating to "sold house". Quieter environment make any difference or no?

    MichaelLC on
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    wunderbarwunderbar What Have I Done? Registered User regular
    the dictation will make the changes it thinks are right after the sentence, not during. That's to conserve processing power. It's more likely to miss words altogether if it is trying to change the sentence/words as your dictating.

    Doesn't make the changes correct, but that's why.

    XBL: thewunderbar PSN: thewunderbar NNID: thewunderbar Steam: wunderbar87 Twitter: wunderbar
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    wunderbarwunderbar What Have I Done? Registered User regular
    So. I have had to opportunity to play with a Pixel 7a for a few weeks. My primary phone is a Z Fold 4, and I've been mostly using Samsung phones since the Galaxy S8, so 5+ years.

    I kind of don't like the Pixel Launcher. It is simple to a fault. There are basic customization things in OneUI on samsung phones that just... don't exist on Pixel Launcher. It isn't terrible, it's just so basic. there are other things at OneUI does that the Pixel Launcher is just missing that I do miss. It is wild to me that we are onto the 8th generation of Pixel and the Pixel launcher feels like a half done product. I know you can replace the launcher, and use apps like Tasker to replace lost functionality, but I feel like in 2024 Google's take on Android shouldn't require 3rd party apps to replicate functionality found elsewhere.

    The screen on the 7a is not good. 90Hz is fine, the size is ok, the bezels I can live with, but the actual panel is bad. The color banding is awful, the viewing angles are just ok, and it does not get bright enough. We have some Galaxy A53's at work that we use for a few things and the screens on those are miles better than the Pixel 7a for roughly the same price at launch. No excuse for a screen that bad.

    But holy hell this $500 phone takes significantly better photos than my $1800 Z fold 4. It isn't even close. Despite the hype for Pixel Samsung for a few years did have better cameras and photo quality than Pixel. But um, no longer. Samsung phones to not handle motion well at all. and the 7a picks up more detail in medium lighting situations. It's completely flipped from the last time I tested a google phone.

    I may end up carrying this stupid pixel 7a to be a camera while using the Fold 4 as my main device. And then hope the Pixel Fold 2 comes to Canada in the fall and doesn't suck. I'm not sure I can go back to a normal phone full time because the lager display of the folding phone really is a game changer for me, but my god that camera.

    XBL: thewunderbar PSN: thewunderbar NNID: thewunderbar Steam: wunderbar87 Twitter: wunderbar
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    ZiggymonZiggymon Registered User regular
    wunderbar wrote: »
    So. I have had to opportunity to play with a Pixel 7a for a few weeks. My primary phone is a Z Fold 4, and I've been mostly using Samsung phones since the Galaxy S8, so 5+ years.

    I kind of don't like the Pixel Launcher. It is simple to a fault. There are basic customization things in OneUI on samsung phones that just... don't exist on Pixel Launcher. It isn't terrible, it's just so basic. there are other things at OneUI does that the Pixel Launcher is just missing that I do miss. It is wild to me that we are onto the 8th generation of Pixel and the Pixel launcher feels like a half done product. I know you can replace the launcher, and use apps like Tasker to replace lost functionality, but I feel like in 2024 Google's take on Android shouldn't require 3rd party apps to replicate functionality found elsewhere.

    The screen on the 7a is not good. 90Hz is fine, the size is ok, the bezels I can live with, but the actual panel is bad. The color banding is awful, the viewing angles are just ok, and it does not get bright enough. We have some Galaxy A53's at work that we use for a few things and the screens on those are miles better than the Pixel 7a for roughly the same price at launch. No excuse for a screen that bad.

    But holy hell this $500 phone takes significantly better photos than my $1800 Z fold 4. It isn't even close. Despite the hype for Pixel Samsung for a few years did have better cameras and photo quality than Pixel. But um, no longer. Samsung phones to not handle motion well at all. and the 7a picks up more detail in medium lighting situations. It's completely flipped from the last time I tested a google phone.

    I may end up carrying this stupid pixel 7a to be a camera while using the Fold 4 as my main device. And then hope the Pixel Fold 2 comes to Canada in the fall and doesn't suck. I'm not sure I can go back to a normal phone full time because the lager display of the folding phone really is a game changer for me, but my god that camera.

    The Samsung Z series line have always used mid tier camera sensors compared to the SUltra phones, at first people were told it was because they couldn't fit the components into the form factor, but I remember going to a Samsung press event in the UK and got told straight up its to avoid cannibalisation of sales.

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    wunderbarwunderbar What Have I Done? Registered User regular
    Ziggymon wrote: »
    wunderbar wrote: »
    So. I have had to opportunity to play with a Pixel 7a for a few weeks. My primary phone is a Z Fold 4, and I've been mostly using Samsung phones since the Galaxy S8, so 5+ years.

    I kind of don't like the Pixel Launcher. It is simple to a fault. There are basic customization things in OneUI on samsung phones that just... don't exist on Pixel Launcher. It isn't terrible, it's just so basic. there are other things at OneUI does that the Pixel Launcher is just missing that I do miss. It is wild to me that we are onto the 8th generation of Pixel and the Pixel launcher feels like a half done product. I know you can replace the launcher, and use apps like Tasker to replace lost functionality, but I feel like in 2024 Google's take on Android shouldn't require 3rd party apps to replicate functionality found elsewhere.

    The screen on the 7a is not good. 90Hz is fine, the size is ok, the bezels I can live with, but the actual panel is bad. The color banding is awful, the viewing angles are just ok, and it does not get bright enough. We have some Galaxy A53's at work that we use for a few things and the screens on those are miles better than the Pixel 7a for roughly the same price at launch. No excuse for a screen that bad.

    But holy hell this $500 phone takes significantly better photos than my $1800 Z fold 4. It isn't even close. Despite the hype for Pixel Samsung for a few years did have better cameras and photo quality than Pixel. But um, no longer. Samsung phones to not handle motion well at all. and the 7a picks up more detail in medium lighting situations. It's completely flipped from the last time I tested a google phone.

    I may end up carrying this stupid pixel 7a to be a camera while using the Fold 4 as my main device. And then hope the Pixel Fold 2 comes to Canada in the fall and doesn't suck. I'm not sure I can go back to a normal phone full time because the lager display of the folding phone really is a game changer for me, but my god that camera.

    The Samsung Z series line have always used mid tier camera sensors compared to the SUltra phones, at first people were told it was because they couldn't fit the components into the form factor, but I remember going to a Samsung press event in the UK and got told straight up its to avoid cannibalisation of sales.

    That's close, but not *quite.* The Z Fold 4, which released during the year of the S23, used the camera setup of the S22 (not the ultra model) year. The Z Fold 5 did reuse the same camera setup, though so did the S23. So it's not middling. It isn't the Ultra cameras, because the sensor size on the Ultras actually would be too big. But it's the same sensors/setup as the "standard" S series phones.

    My thing with the Samsung cameras is actually more in the software, both the "rules" of what the camera does to try to get good pictures, and the post processing. Samsung Cameras, even the S24 Ultra, do not handle motion nearly as well as other high end phone cameras. They also over sharpen to the point of losing detail compared to others. There were a number of years in the 2018 to roughly 2021 time period where Samsung's camera quality was quietly on par with Pixel. Samsung by default did add more brightness/contrast than Google did, which is why photos could look different, but you could see that the camera quality itself was roughly the same.

    But it's now been 2-3 years where Google has made appreciable improvements in camera, and Samsung has not. Samsung's cameras are still roughly as good as they were in 2021 and 2022, while Google has actually improved.

    XBL: thewunderbar PSN: thewunderbar NNID: thewunderbar Steam: wunderbar87 Twitter: wunderbar
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    MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain? ChicagoRegistered User regular
    The March update really messed up our Pixel 7s.

    Hot during charging, delayed messages, screen not responding, and more.

    I hate the Bluetooth change, forcing multiple extra presses.

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    jothkijothki Registered User regular
    edited March 29
    I just switched from a phone with Android 11 to a phone with Android 13, and I've concluded that the overscroll stretch needs to die. Unfortunately, this seems to require disabling a bunch of other animations. Is there anything actually of value that's potentially lost by doing this?

    edit: Okay, how the fuck do I get rid of the media player in the notifications? Please tell me there's a way.

    jothki on
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    CarpyCarpy Registered User regular
    The new group details for a group chat feels really under baked. You can't call anyone directly from it anymore, instead you have to hit the dot menu then go to "edit contact" which takes you directly to their contact card and then you can call someone

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    jothkijothki Registered User regular
    Being able to call someone directly from there seems like it'd be a terrible idea, especially given how Android doesn't throw up any sort of confirmation first for that sort of thing.

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    The Dude With HerpesThe Dude With Herpes Lehi, UTRegistered User regular
    edited April 8
    This evening my android (pixel 6 pro) just randomly decided to use a different keyboard layout in apps, and I can't figure out how to go back.

    Well, if I restart the phone, it'll go back for a short bit, then it changes again.

    The new layout has two "number" key shortcuts in the bottom left and right, and a shift button where the delete used to be, put most punctuation behind the "number" menu, and it's really shitty.

    I've gone through system settings for keyboards and can't seem to change it back, and don't know what is going on.

    I changed absolutely nothing on my phone, it just decided to do it earlier and keeps doing it. Is this a thing now? Am I missing something?

    When I tried to google the problem the vast majority of results were language related things, that isn't my problem. Then I tried some different search words and I get some things about "gboard" which I don't know anything about. I guess there's an app for it, but I don't have it, and never have.

    I just want my keyboard layout on my phone the way it was.

    EDIT: I cleared the app cache/storage for gboard (I apparently have it running, must be a default thing?) and that reverted it, we will see if it lasts.

    The Dude With Herpes on
    Steam: Galedrid - XBL: Galedrid - PSN: Galedrid
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    Inquisitor77Inquisitor77 2 x Penny Arcade Fight Club Champion A fixed point in space and timeRegistered User regular
    Might want to check the language and/or accessibility settings, too.

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