Honestly, I have a note 9 and I really like the Andorid 9 update. Like, One UI is really good. I now put it a very close second to Pixel Launcher as a UI.
Yeah I'd been planning to stay on the S8 for awhile because it still works well but I may need to do an emergency switcharoo here, this honestly feels like an OS you'd find on a tablet designed for babies and/or really, really old people.
If you don't like the new Samsung skin, you won't like Pixel Android either.
If you actually liked the super heavy old-school skins, LG is basically your only option now.
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
I suddenly feel mildly comforted by LG on Android 8.0 being relatively unterrible. Relatively. Certainly compared to the above.
Android 9.0 I can't say. I already know that 9.0 adds that obnoxious fucking search bar that you can't remove because we're Google and we know better than you go fuck yourself consumer, making a different launcher basically a requirement.
I use the Pixel launcher on my note 8 because I want that search bar. Makes it easy to create reminders and calendar entries.
I also really prefer the unified widget for the calendar and weather.
I suddenly feel mildly comforted by LG on Android 8.0 being relatively unterrible. Relatively. Certainly compared to the above.
Android 9.0 I can't say. I already know that 9.0 adds that obnoxious fucking search bar that you can't remove because we're Google and we know better than you go fuck yourself consumer, making a different launcher basically a requirement.
I use the Pixel launcher on my note 8 because I want that search bar. Makes it easy to create reminders and calendar entries.
I also really prefer the unified widget for the calendar and weather.
I would be completely on board with the search bar if it wasn't a permanent feature. In other words, the way the search bar already was.
Samsung and LG, I know, let you remove the search bar in Android 8.0 normally. I don't think that's true for 9.0 because So-Sayeth-Google-From-The-Mountain. I know my mother's Nokia 6.1 runs Android One, which says "Fuck you," to that kind of flexibility. "If you didn't want a Google search bar taking up permanent real estate, why did you buy an Android phone?"
The particular irony is because my mother is the sort of person who couldn't even use the search bar if she wanted to. She'd insist on opening Chrome, and even then, she'd almost certainly do it on her PC. Her phone is exclusively for messaging apps (Facebook and Line), photographs, and actual phone calls. I doubt she'll ever search for something on her phone, because there's so little on it, and what there is comes as photos she took, not apps or searchable results.
At least Google isn't so evil as to remove the ability of other launchers to make it optional.
EDIT: And putting it at the bottom...is just kind of weird. Almost worse than if it were a permanent feature on the top of you screen.
I suddenly feel mildly comforted by LG on Android 8.0 being relatively unterrible. Relatively. Certainly compared to the above.
Android 9.0 I can't say. I already know that 9.0 adds that obnoxious fucking search bar that you can't remove because we're Google and we know better than you go fuck yourself consumer, making a different launcher basically a requirement.
I use the Pixel launcher on my note 8 because I want that search bar. Makes it easy to create reminders and calendar entries.
I also really prefer the unified widget for the calendar and weather.
I would be completely on board with the search bar if it wasn't a permanent feature. In other words, the way the search bar already was.
Samsung and LG, I know, let you remove the search bar in Android 8.0 normally. I don't think that's true for 9.0 because So-Sayeth-Google-From-The-Mountain. I know my mother's Nokia 6.1 runs Android One, which says "Fuck you," to that kind of flexibility. "If you didn't want a Google search bar taking up permanent real estate, why did you buy an Android phone?"
The particular irony is because my mother is the sort of person who couldn't even use the search bar if she wanted to. She'd insist on opening Chrome, and even then, she'd almost certainly do it on her PC. Her phone is exclusively for messaging apps (Facebook and Line), photographs, and actual phone calls. I doubt she'll ever search for something on her phone, because there's so little on it, and what there is comes as photos she took, not apps or searchable results.
At least Google isn't so evil as to remove the ability of other launchers to make it optional.
EDIT: And putting it at the bottom...is just kind of weird. Almost worse than if it were a permanent feature on the top of you screen.
1) Samsung most definitely lets you remove the search bar in their Android 9 UI. I don't know about LG.
2) the search bar at the bottom looked weird at first, but in practice I found it to be super useful, because it's within reach of your fingers. UI elements at the top of these super tall phones are really hard for a lot of people to reach. Moving things you'll interact with to where your fingers can actually reach is actually good UX.
I suddenly feel mildly comforted by LG on Android 8.0 being relatively unterrible. Relatively. Certainly compared to the above.
Android 9.0 I can't say. I already know that 9.0 adds that obnoxious fucking search bar that you can't remove because we're Google and we know better than you go fuck yourself consumer, making a different launcher basically a requirement.
I use the Pixel launcher on my note 8 because I want that search bar. Makes it easy to create reminders and calendar entries.
I also really prefer the unified widget for the calendar and weather.
I would be completely on board with the search bar if it wasn't a permanent feature. In other words, the way the search bar already was.
Samsung and LG, I know, let you remove the search bar in Android 8.0 normally. I don't think that's true for 9.0 because So-Sayeth-Google-From-The-Mountain. I know my mother's Nokia 6.1 runs Android One, which says "Fuck you," to that kind of flexibility. "If you didn't want a Google search bar taking up permanent real estate, why did you buy an Android phone?"
The particular irony is because my mother is the sort of person who couldn't even use the search bar if she wanted to. She'd insist on opening Chrome, and even then, she'd almost certainly do it on her PC. Her phone is exclusively for messaging apps (Facebook and Line), photographs, and actual phone calls. I doubt she'll ever search for something on her phone, because there's so little on it, and what there is comes as photos she took, not apps or searchable results.
At least Google isn't so evil as to remove the ability of other launchers to make it optional.
EDIT: And putting it at the bottom...is just kind of weird. Almost worse than if it were a permanent feature on the top of you screen.
1) Samsung most definitely lets you remove the search bar in their Android 9 UI. I don't know about LG.
2) the search bar at the bottom looked weird at first, but in practice I found it to be super useful, because it's within reach of your fingers. UI elements at the top of these super tall phones are really hard for a lot of people to reach. Moving things you'll interact with to where your fingers can actually reach is actually good UX.
That's good to hear that it's still an option for Samsung.
And making it permanent, regardless of location, still sucks.
I suddenly feel mildly comforted by LG on Android 8.0 being relatively unterrible. Relatively. Certainly compared to the above.
Android 9.0 I can't say. I already know that 9.0 adds that obnoxious fucking search bar that you can't remove because we're Google and we know better than you go fuck yourself consumer, making a different launcher basically a requirement.
I use the Pixel launcher on my note 8 because I want that search bar. Makes it easy to create reminders and calendar entries.
I also really prefer the unified widget for the calendar and weather.
I would be completely on board with the search bar if it wasn't a permanent feature. In other words, the way the search bar already was.
Samsung and LG, I know, let you remove the search bar in Android 8.0 normally. I don't think that's true for 9.0 because So-Sayeth-Google-From-The-Mountain. I know my mother's Nokia 6.1 runs Android One, which says "Fuck you," to that kind of flexibility. "If you didn't want a Google search bar taking up permanent real estate, why did you buy an Android phone?"
The particular irony is because my mother is the sort of person who couldn't even use the search bar if she wanted to. She'd insist on opening Chrome, and even then, she'd almost certainly do it on her PC. Her phone is exclusively for messaging apps (Facebook and Line), photographs, and actual phone calls. I doubt she'll ever search for something on her phone, because there's so little on it, and what there is comes as photos she took, not apps or searchable results.
At least Google isn't so evil as to remove the ability of other launchers to make it optional.
EDIT: And putting it at the bottom...is just kind of weird. Almost worse than if it were a permanent feature on the top of you screen.
1) Samsung most definitely lets you remove the search bar in their Android 9 UI. I don't know about LG.
2) the search bar at the bottom looked weird at first, but in practice I found it to be super useful, because it's within reach of your fingers. UI elements at the top of these super tall phones are really hard for a lot of people to reach. Moving things you'll interact with to where your fingers can actually reach is actually good UX.
It is also a really convenient button to activate the assistant if you don't want to have to talk to your phone.
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
Yeah I was going to say there's no new updates that I've seen.
The best choice for Android software usability remains OnePlus, with Pixel a close second.
Unless you want a headphone jack in which case is pretty much Samsung or bust.
LG is the bestest for headphone jacks. For now.
Fair enough. I'm sticking with Samsung mostly because the headphone jack and camera. Having a kid makes me want to have the best camera I can get on hand at all times.
Yeah I was going to say there's no new updates that I've seen.
The best choice for Android software usability remains OnePlus, with Pixel a close second.
Unless you want a headphone jack in which case is pretty much Samsung or bust.
LG is the bestest for headphone jacks. For now.
Fair enough. I'm sticking with Samsung mostly because the headphone jack and camera. Having a kid makes me want to have the best camera I can get on hand at all times.
Makes perfect sense
Samsung are probably ahead of LG on the camera front, although LG are still in the "very good" segment but they're not ahead of the whole field like they were in the G4 days. (Even now I'm amazed by how pictures from that phone turned out, and I loved that it had a natively 16:9 sensor.) And while my V30's camera is still very good, I won't claim it's a match for Google or the top-end Samsungs and Huaweis.
But what I'm referring to with the headphone jack is that they go one better than anyone and pair it with a hardware quad DAC, giving them the best audio quality you'll get from any phone. And even better than that if you have a set of fancy high-impedance cans. Seriously, I've seen comments from people with access to thousands of dollars worth of pro studio gear and they've said LG's sound quality was even better. (That referred to the V30 in particular, which I can confirm has absolutely fantastic audio from the jack.)
But still, Samsung still including a headphone jack is a statement in itself; in the Western market they're obviously still the big dog of Android phones and the arch-rivals of Apple, and while so many others are dropping the jack, I think it's great that Samsung still have it. Long may they do so. If they ever drop it that'll be a huge shift even considering what's happened so far with that feature.
Yeah I'd been planning to stay on the S8 for awhile because it still works well but I may need to do an emergency switcharoo here, this honestly feels like an OS you'd find on a tablet designed for babies and/or really, really old people.
If you don't like the new Samsung skin, you won't like Pixel Android either.
If you actually liked the super heavy old-school skins, LG is basically your only option now.
@3clipse have you tried a third party launcher like Nova, and a less-shitty icon pack?
Also for whatever it's worth, I'm enjoying the Pixel launcher, in part because the search bar gets shunted to the swipe-up menu/app swap and isn't an eyesore on the front page
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
The OnePlus launcher doesn't have the search bar by default so it's definitely removable there too.
I'm confused. You said yourself you can just use a different launcher. What's the issue?
It sucks that they'd make it a permanently fixed feature out of such apparent fear that you'd remove it otherwise. That's the issue. It's possible to fix, and I never claimed otherwise, but it's disappointing nonetheless.
Synthesis on
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3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
@3clipse have you tried a third party launcher like Nova, and a less-shitty icon pack?
Also for whatever it's worth, I'm enjoying the Pixel launcher, in part because the search bar gets shunted to the swipe-up menu/app swap and isn't an eyesore on the front page
I'm planning to experiment with that stuff this weekend, yeah.
I'm confused. You said yourself you can just use a different launcher. What's the issue?
It sucks that they'd make it a permanently fixed feature out of such apparent fear that you'd remove it otherwise. That's the issue. It's possible to fix, and I never claimed otherwise, but it's disappointing nonetheless.
Ok I get that. Seemed a little odd to lambast their flexible philosophy when they still give you the option to use anything else.
I ran Lawnchair Launcher for a couple of years but recently switched over to the beta build of Nova Launcher because it allows you to make the Google Now page/screen in dark mode.
I'm confused. You said yourself you can just use a different launcher. What's the issue?
It sucks that they'd make it a permanently fixed feature out of such apparent fear that you'd remove it otherwise. That's the issue. It's possible to fix, and I never claimed otherwise, but it's disappointing nonetheless.
Ok I get that. Seemed a little odd to lambast their flexible philosophy when they still give you the option to use anything else.
If they didn't give you the option to change it, that would, quite frankly, a restricting and asshole move.
Discouraging you from changing it by requiring you use another launcher--a deliberate but not herculean effort--still sucks. If you like other aspects of the default launcher and don't want to change, but would like to remove the search bar, or even just relocate or resize it, too fucking bad. You don't have a choice anymore.
Complaining about Android: it's something that happens in this thread.
Anyone have any suggestions for an alternate email client that has a widget that can display the contents of multiple accounts? Even after setting it to only check every 15 minutes, the default app on my note8 is still draining like 10% an hour, and draining hundreds of megs of data a day. With me only actually opening emails on it a couple times a day!
EDIT: the gmail app is a no-go since the widget only can monitor a single account, and does weird stuff with hiding emails with different tags, even if they're still unread
EDIT 2: also, a text app with a widget, since apparently pie killed that TOO
Anyone have any suggestions for an alternate email client that has a widget that can display the contents of multiple accounts? Even after setting it to only check every 15 minutes, the default app on my note8 is still draining like 10% an hour, and draining hundreds of megs of data a day. With me only actually opening emails on it a couple times a day!
EDIT: the gmail app is a no-go since the widget only can monitor a single account, and does weird stuff with hiding emails with different tags, even if they're still unread
EDIT 2: also, a text app with a widget, since apparently pie killed that TOO
Have you tried the Outlook app? I just checked and the widget can show a combined Inbox
Been doing some post launch software testing on the P30 pro.
I must say the camera on this was the potential to be a real game changer. The night mode and hybrid zoom are incredible additions that Im expecting all other manufacturers to follow suit.
Android Messages is really nice, has a web client, and a widget. I switched to it from Textra and I'm not sure I'll go back.
Is that the google one? I'm not seeing a widget after setting it up
apparently the Messages widget I have is for Samsung Messages, sorry about that
EDIT: You can respond to messages from the pull down menu though, not sure if every text app lets you do that and its probably no substitution for a widget
Android thread I come to bargain. Well, seek advice more like.
Long story short, I have a 16 GB Samsung Galaxy Halo. I like it, it's served me well, and it handles most programs just fine with only occasional slowdown. However, about two weeks ago it received a nasty fall to asphalt and now I am faced with the prospect of repair or upgrade.
I am not knowledgeable about phones at all beyond their features. My primary usage is to play mobile games, use Google maps, and stream some music. So I am looking at an affordable phone in the $300 range maximum that would constitute an upgrade to this device. Preferably Samsung but I'm open and so is my carrier because I have Cricket.
I've done some research of my own, but most of these lists assumes a deeper level of understanding for the phone's tech than i possess, so any suggestions that could point me in the general direction would be greatly appreciated.
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
In that price range I'd say either the Moto G7 or the Nokia 7.1. The Moto is a lot bigger which can be nice, the Nokia has a better camera. The Nokia also has NFC if you care about such things.
firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
Looks like there will be a class action payout for the 6p bootloop / battery drain issue, up to $400 in cases of both issues. I'm sure it will take ages to pay out (then again that ps3 one eventually did...) but I can't say I'm upset, having struggled with my 6p on and off for the last year or so. Guess this is a pretty good reason to finally upgrade.
Silly question that my Google-fu is apparently too weak for. When you've shared something direct from Chrome, it leaves a shortcut icon next to Share... in the three-dot menu, as a quick way to use it again:
Is there any way to remove that? Long pressing on it does nothing.
Silly question that my Google-fu is apparently too weak for. When you've shared something direct from Chrome, it leaves a shortcut icon next to Share... in the three-dot menu, as a quick way to use it again:
Is there any way to remove that? Long pressing on it does nothing.
Hit share again and select print. Then back out. All it does is show the last type of sharing you did, but for whatever reason it doesn't show a printer icon.
Silly question that my Google-fu is apparently too weak for. When you've shared something direct from Chrome, it leaves a shortcut icon next to Share... in the three-dot menu, as a quick way to use it again:
Is there any way to remove that? Long pressing on it does nothing.
Hit share again and select print. Then back out. All it does is show the last type of sharing you did, but for whatever reason it doesn't show a printer icon.
Honestly, I'm stoked for it. I really want to live in the world where I can have a phone and a small tablet on me at all times. I use a Note 9 right now because I want a bigger screen when I'm actively using it, but If I could have a device that's say a Nexus 7 size screen that I can fold in half to use as a phone when I'm moving around, that'd be the best.
But yes, the first couple generations of these will not be smart purchases. If I won the lottery today I'd be buying a Fold tomorrow. But otherwise, It's going to be a few years.
In that price range I'd say either the Moto G7 or the Nokia 7.1. The Moto is a lot bigger which can be nice, the Nokia has a better camera. The Nokia also has NFC if you care about such things.
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll look into the Moto G7, see if I can get some hands on testing with it
Madican on
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
Looks like some of the review Folds are breaking. That's cool.
A couple are because of the weird polymer layer Samsung is obsessed with lately. It looks like a screen protector that is meant to be removed after shipping. I can confirm this issue because we've had two Q900 TVs destroyed recently because the film looks like it's supposed to be taken off so people took it off and now the panels are broken.
Posts
If you don't like the new Samsung skin, you won't like Pixel Android either.
If you actually liked the super heavy old-school skins, LG is basically your only option now.
I use the Pixel launcher on my note 8 because I want that search bar. Makes it easy to create reminders and calendar entries.
I also really prefer the unified widget for the calendar and weather.
I would be completely on board with the search bar if it wasn't a permanent feature. In other words, the way the search bar already was.
Samsung and LG, I know, let you remove the search bar in Android 8.0 normally. I don't think that's true for 9.0 because So-Sayeth-Google-From-The-Mountain. I know my mother's Nokia 6.1 runs Android One, which says "Fuck you," to that kind of flexibility. "If you didn't want a Google search bar taking up permanent real estate, why did you buy an Android phone?"
The particular irony is because my mother is the sort of person who couldn't even use the search bar if she wanted to. She'd insist on opening Chrome, and even then, she'd almost certainly do it on her PC. Her phone is exclusively for messaging apps (Facebook and Line), photographs, and actual phone calls. I doubt she'll ever search for something on her phone, because there's so little on it, and what there is comes as photos she took, not apps or searchable results.
At least Google isn't so evil as to remove the ability of other launchers to make it optional.
EDIT: And putting it at the bottom...is just kind of weird. Almost worse than if it were a permanent feature on the top of you screen.
1) Samsung most definitely lets you remove the search bar in their Android 9 UI. I don't know about LG.
2) the search bar at the bottom looked weird at first, but in practice I found it to be super useful, because it's within reach of your fingers. UI elements at the top of these super tall phones are really hard for a lot of people to reach. Moving things you'll interact with to where your fingers can actually reach is actually good UX.
That's good to hear that it's still an option for Samsung.
And making it permanent, regardless of location, still sucks.
LG is the bestest for headphone jacks. For now.
Steam | XBL
It is also a really convenient button to activate the assistant if you don't want to have to talk to your phone.
Fair enough. I'm sticking with Samsung mostly because the headphone jack and camera. Having a kid makes me want to have the best camera I can get on hand at all times.
Samsung are probably ahead of LG on the camera front, although LG are still in the "very good" segment but they're not ahead of the whole field like they were in the G4 days. (Even now I'm amazed by how pictures from that phone turned out, and I loved that it had a natively 16:9 sensor.) And while my V30's camera is still very good, I won't claim it's a match for Google or the top-end Samsungs and Huaweis.
But what I'm referring to with the headphone jack is that they go one better than anyone and pair it with a hardware quad DAC, giving them the best audio quality you'll get from any phone. And even better than that if you have a set of fancy high-impedance cans. Seriously, I've seen comments from people with access to thousands of dollars worth of pro studio gear and they've said LG's sound quality was even better. (That referred to the V30 in particular, which I can confirm has absolutely fantastic audio from the jack.)
But still, Samsung still including a headphone jack is a statement in itself; in the Western market they're obviously still the big dog of Android phones and the arch-rivals of Apple, and while so many others are dropping the jack, I think it's great that Samsung still have it. Long may they do so. If they ever drop it that'll be a huge shift even considering what's happened so far with that feature.
Steam | XBL
RIP me. Thanks.
Also for whatever it's worth, I'm enjoying the Pixel launcher, in part because the search bar gets shunted to the swipe-up menu/app swap and isn't an eyesore on the front page
It sucks that they'd make it a permanently fixed feature out of such apparent fear that you'd remove it otherwise. That's the issue. It's possible to fix, and I never claimed otherwise, but it's disappointing nonetheless.
I'm planning to experiment with that stuff this weekend, yeah.
Ok I get that. Seemed a little odd to lambast their flexible philosophy when they still give you the option to use anything else.
If they didn't give you the option to change it, that would, quite frankly, a restricting and asshole move.
Discouraging you from changing it by requiring you use another launcher--a deliberate but not herculean effort--still sucks. If you like other aspects of the default launcher and don't want to change, but would like to remove the search bar, or even just relocate or resize it, too fucking bad. You don't have a choice anymore.
Complaining about Android: it's something that happens in this thread.
EDIT: the gmail app is a no-go since the widget only can monitor a single account, and does weird stuff with hiding emails with different tags, even if they're still unread
EDIT 2: also, a text app with a widget, since apparently pie killed that TOO
Have you tried the Outlook app? I just checked and the widget can show a combined Inbox
SteamID: edgruberman GOG Galaxy: EdGruberman
Texting: Textra or Pulse
I must say the camera on this was the potential to be a real game changer. The night mode and hybrid zoom are incredible additions that Im expecting all other manufacturers to follow suit.
I did too. I was die hard for Textra but Messages has really come a long way.
Is that the google one? I'm not seeing a widget after setting it up
EDIT: You can respond to messages from the pull down menu though, not sure if every text app lets you do that and its probably no substitution for a widget
Long story short, I have a 16 GB Samsung Galaxy Halo. I like it, it's served me well, and it handles most programs just fine with only occasional slowdown. However, about two weeks ago it received a nasty fall to asphalt and now I am faced with the prospect of repair or upgrade.
I am not knowledgeable about phones at all beyond their features. My primary usage is to play mobile games, use Google maps, and stream some music. So I am looking at an affordable phone in the $300 range maximum that would constitute an upgrade to this device. Preferably Samsung but I'm open and so is my carrier because I have Cricket.
I've done some research of my own, but most of these lists assumes a deeper level of understanding for the phone's tech than i possess, so any suggestions that could point me in the general direction would be greatly appreciated.
Is there any way to remove that? Long pressing on it does nothing.
Steam | XBL
Hit share again and select print. Then back out. All it does is show the last type of sharing you did, but for whatever reason it doesn't show a printer icon.
Just the job, worked a treat. Thanks!
Steam | XBL
https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/15/18311109/samsung-galaxy-fold-photos-video-foldable-screen-phone-hands-on-impressions
But yes, the first couple generations of these will not be smart purchases. If I won the lottery today I'd be buying a Fold tomorrow. But otherwise, It's going to be a few years.
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll look into the Moto G7, see if I can get some hands on testing with it
A couple are because of the weird polymer layer Samsung is obsessed with lately. It looks like a screen protector that is meant to be removed after shipping. I can confirm this issue because we've had two Q900 TVs destroyed recently because the film looks like it's supposed to be taken off so people took it off and now the panels are broken.
Come on Samsung...