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  • Showing only topics with the tag "phones.smart". Back to normal view
    1. How's the iPhone experience on Google Fi in late 2024?

      I've been a long time Fi user on the Pixel line of phones, so I've always gotten the gold standard of service from Fi. My wife is an adamant iPhone user. We want to port her over to my plan, but I...

      I've been a long time Fi user on the Pixel line of phones, so I've always gotten the gold standard of service from Fi. My wife is an adamant iPhone user. We want to port her over to my plan, but I was hoping to get some recent feedback from anyone using a modern iPhone (just bought her a 16) -- All the things I find on Google are months to years old. If this is you, how well do the iPhone features (Visual voicemail, iMessage, RCS, FaceTime, 5G, etc) work for you on Fi?

      8 votes
    2. Looking for a clean, simple phone

      I was asked to recommend a phone to an older relative that is bad with technology and wanted to ask some advice. It is important that the phone is reliable and clean. That is no bloatware, popups,...

      I was asked to recommend a phone to an older relative that is bad with technology and wanted to ask some advice.

      It is important that the phone is reliable and clean. That is no bloatware, popups, adware, nagware or anything like that. Other than that the requirements are simply as good a camera as is available at the budget and maps.

      The options I can see are:

      • standard Android phone - Personally I have Samsung A34 which would fit the hw and price but the sw is horrible. I also have no current experience with custom ROMs as I went with adb(and Universal Android Debloater for ease of use) to remove the worst of it. From what I have heard the Google Pixel comes with least amount of bloat as Android(single source) but they seemed to have different problems with hw each generation and the price would mean an older one. Maybe something else would be better choice here.

      • iPhone - honestly I have zero experience here as I never had it so I don't even know how much it would fit. The price would also mean an older or used model

      • Dumb or KaiOS phone would fail the camera requirement and the minimal phones mentioned here(eg. Light phone, Minimal phone) are expensive for what they are and I am not convinced a good choice here given the usual problems with niche hw and sw(but maybe I am wrong?)

      I am in EU and the budget is less than 500EUR, preferably less than 350EUR.

      23 votes
    3. Android launchers

      What sort of non stock andriod launchers are people using at the moment? Just moved from iPhone to Android and want to use something better than oneui. Currently using niagara but curious what...

      What sort of non stock andriod launchers are people using at the moment? Just moved from iPhone to Android and want to use something better than oneui. Currently using niagara but curious what people are actually using?

      33 votes
    4. Looking for an Android keyboard app

      Hello friends, and thank you in advance for any help on this topic. I am looking for an android keyboard that does not have emoji, stickers or gifs, but also has long press options for special...

      Hello friends, and thank you in advance for any help on this topic.

      I am looking for an android keyboard that does not have emoji, stickers or gifs, but also has long press options for special characters like dashes, slashes and colons etc.

      Searching online for variants of "no emoji keyboard," only floods my results with the opposite and it's beyond frustrating!

      I realize that the answer is likely right under my nose and I'm just missing it for whatever reason.

      I would glady pay money for such an option if only I could find one.

      I'm sorry if this question is silly or posted in the wrong thread, but I'm at my wits end.

      Again, thank you for any help or redirection to my query!

      Cheers!

      28 votes
    5. Minimalist Android launcher recommendations

      Currently, I'm using the Aero launcher, and I really like having all the names of my apps listed out, but if I could have something with a to do list and then swipe for apps, it would be kind of...

      Currently, I'm using the Aero launcher, and I really like having all the names of my apps listed out, but if I could have something with a to do list and then swipe for apps, it would be kind of neat.

      Other wish list functions:

      • Folders for Apps.
      • Able to add PWA or a URL to a list of apps.
      • Start a search from searching through all apps.
      • Corner widgets/shortcuts
      • A pony!

      Willing to poke around if there is an open source project I can add stuff too.

      24 votes
    6. I just switched to an iPhone, what should I do to make the most of this change?

      Basically the title. I've been an Android user since 2012, but have have an iPad and a Macbook that I really like, especially how well they work together. My pixel 5 was on its way out, so I...

      Basically the title. I've been an Android user since 2012, but have have an iPad and a Macbook that I really like, especially how well they work together. My pixel 5 was on its way out, so I finally took the plunge and bought an iPhone 15 Pro earlier this week. I'm still getting everything set up, and I'm particularly excited to play with the different focus modes and shortcuts. I'm curious what apps and features should I be using to make the most of this switch?

      38 votes
    7. How do you organize your phone's home screens and apps?

      I've noticed that my phone's home screens have become a bit cluttered and figured it's about time to clean it up. So I tried searching online and found tons of recommendations and suggestions, but...

      I've noticed that my phone's home screens have become a bit cluttered and figured it's about time to clean it up. So I tried searching online and found tons of recommendations and suggestions, but figured I would ask users here if anyone has any tips for productivity or efficiency, or just something that works for you. Might give me some good ideas to try out, and hopefully can benefit anyone else reading this thread.

      Do you have tons of home screens or just one with a ton of folders? Do you use many widgets or not at all? Do you organize apps by how frequently you use them? Or how similar the apps are to each other? By color of the app icon? Or something else entirely?

      Seriously, any help/suggestions/ideas would be appreciated.

      39 votes
    8. Help: Dual sim mobile phone replacement

      I bought a Pixel 6 Pro unlocked a couple of years ago as my long term phone. It's what I like to do, buy a phone for 5+ years of use and get a cheap sim card. It's fine. If I could choose again I...

      I bought a Pixel 6 Pro unlocked a couple of years ago as my long term phone. It's what I like to do, buy a phone for 5+ years of use and get a cheap sim card. It's fine. If I could choose again I would have got the Samsung flagship instead.
      I've since moved country and I'm in need of a dual sim phone (because I don't want 2 phones) for my home country and new one. But guess what, Pixel 6 pro is a single sim phone.
      So that puts me in an uncomfortable position where I don't want to get a new phone yet (I'm 3 years out what I wanted to run this phone to) but I'd hate to get a second, crap phone just for a new number.

      If I need to replace the Pixem, I would like to get another flagship (or close to) if possible. I like the bells and whistles. I simply wanted to avoid rebuying so early and see if there were options I had not yet considered.

      It was suggested to try and recycle the Pixel, I'd get maybe €200 for it if I'm lucky, and it would help taking the cost out of a replacement flagship, but would still be expensive.

      Any other suggestions for how I could navigate this?

      Edit: thanks to @thecakeisalime for the esim suggestion. I've contacted my home network and got transfered to an esim in genuinely 15 minutes. That's opened the sim slot for the new number. Pretty much perfect solution!

      9 votes
    9. Decent Android mobile phones with good audio (and has a 3.5mm jack) recently released?

      Hi all, Been looking for a new mobile lately to replace my V20 (still havent found one but my criteria has changed). Looking for (im trying to avoid buying an mp player - not as if there are many...

      Hi all,
      Been looking for a new mobile lately to replace my V20 (still havent found one but my criteria has changed). Looking for (im trying to avoid buying an mp player - not as if there are many options left)

      3.5mm headphone jack
      good/great audio (has good internal dac -- not looking for great speaker output)
      good battery life
      5G
      dual sim
      has to be something that lasts (had V20 for 7 years)
      Not going to be used for gaming. Mainly scrolling, forums etc
      Any suggestions ?
      Or am i stuck with something in Sony range (i know bit overpriced but oh well..)
      or getting an older V60 (not keen as the battery life wont be good now imho).
      thanks
      N

      28 votes
    10. Help: iPhone SE (2020) home button not working; “Unable to Activate Touch ID”

      Really hoping there’s an easy fix for this, because it’s making using my phone a pain. Relevant info: I never actually set up a fingerprint, and have only used passwords. phone memory is almost...

      Really hoping there’s an easy fix for this, because it’s making using my phone a pain. Relevant info:

      • I never actually set up a fingerprint, and have only used passwords.
      • phone memory is almost full (I have too many photos I still haven’t offloaded, I don’t use iCloud)
      • I did drop the phone earlier today, but there was no visible external damage
      • case does not cover the home button
      • I’ve tried force restart, it didn’t work
      7 votes
    11. Custom phone OS - long term opinions?

      I am and have been on a bit of a quest to make my computing devices suck less. Over the last few years I have migrated all of my laptops and desktops over to various Linux flavors. My experience...

      I am and have been on a bit of a quest to make my computing devices suck less.

      Over the last few years I have migrated all of my laptops and desktops over to various Linux flavors. My experience with this process is that each flavor has their own quirks that need to be ironed out, but after getting things running there is little in the way of maintenance. Things kind of just work nowadays.

      I have been looking into getting something like (but not necessarily) LineageOS on my phone. As I am looking into this and reading forums on the subject, it seems like a perpetual arms race between application developers and application users. One puts in a way to check for root, then there are root hiders, then there are root hider checkers, then there are root hiders that you build with custom names, etc.

      I want my device to not suck.

      I don’t want to be going in and fighting with my banking applications every time there is an update. I am totally willing to fight a painful setup once.

      Is a custom phone OS something that is essentially only viable to use if you are driven by spite? Am I reading too much into the struggles that are posted in various forums? I am looking for any input for anyone that has used a custom OS short or long term.

      26 votes