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    1. Should I bother installing another OS on my Pixel 4a?

      I have a Pixel 4a which has just reached end of support for Android. However, I love this phone and the only hardware issue is that the battery doesn't last me scrolling social media all day, so I...

      I have a Pixel 4a which has just reached end of support for Android. However, I love this phone and the only hardware issue is that the battery doesn't last me scrolling social media all day, so I am not looking to upgrade to a newer handheld just yet.

      I've been looking into Graphene OS and Lineage OS as perhaps alternatives I should consider, at least just so I can keep getting security updates. However, looking through GOS, they say that their 4a build is an "extended support" build different from the main OS which is described as a "stopgap" before upgrading phones. LOS says it's supported but through an automatically generated page which doesn't leave me with much confidence about the attention and stability of the build on my particular phone.

      I'm asking y'all's opinion on whether I should even bother. Security upgrades are important, but my phone is a secondary device at best, one which I always use with the same apps and websites and honestly not really that much of a security risk. Watch hubris get me.

      23 votes
    2. Physical keyboard for android phone?

      I have a quandary. Even with a decent android keyboard (Typewise offline keyboard), I still find myself hampered by gettingnanstringnofnwordsnwhereni miss the space bar. Sometimes I miss n "A"...

      I have a quandary. Even with a decent android keyboard (Typewise offline keyboard), I still find myself hampered by gettingnanstringnofnwordsnwhereni miss the space bar. Sometimes I miss n "A" key. I am very out put by my likelihood of getting "out" when I meant "put" and vice versa.

      I am becoming a part time worker / primary parent while my wife goes back to a full time job, which means I do a lot of waiting in places where I'm typing extended sections of text (like this one) in places where its not really practical or appropriate to pull out a laptop.

      What I really want is a physical keyboard for my phone. It seems like there are a lot of folding and non-folding options that are meant to work on a table with the phone as a screen. But if I could do that, I could pull out my laptop.

      If I had a wish that could get me anything, I'd like a split thumb keyboard where the two halves sandwich (and grip) the phone the way the joycons go on a Nintendo switch.

      The best thing I have found so far is this keyboard puck. I have bought a similar device for HTPC, and it is surprisingly easy to use. This still has the downside of requiring the use of with hands and not having a way to hold the phone. Maybe I could 3D print some kind of mount, but something with a built-in mount would be much better.

      I'm wondering how others have solved this problem? I'm open to almost anything that makes me a faster /more accurate typist on the go.

      20 votes
    3. Request - Suggestions of a laptop brand or style for someone who is clumsy

      I don't want to pay an extra thousand dollars for 'rugged' design suitable for military deployment, but the user in this case is not well coordinated at all and it should be able to survive being...

      I don't want to pay an extra thousand dollars for 'rugged' design suitable for military deployment, but the user in this case is not well coordinated at all and it should be able to survive being dropped.

      I otherwise need sufficient memory and speed to boot reasonably quickly and to run standard text, spreadsheet and database programs without annoying lag.

      9 votes
    4. Getting back into running and looking for a simple tracker app (android)

      my old regular app has been dead since it got underwent featurecreep and got bought out by underarmour. lots of apps now have way too many features.. social this, calorie burning that. i know its...

      my old regular app has been dead since it got underwent featurecreep and got bought out by underarmour.

      lots of apps now have way too many features.. social this, calorie burning that. i know its probably a good thing for them to branch out but i'm one of those luddites that prefer simple and to-the-point apps with no social features, no account needed, etc.

      all i really need from the app is gps distance tracking and a clean interface with some basic readouts for pace and whatnot. having audio readouts for pace every kilometer was a nice feature but ideally the app would be simpler than that.

      if all else fails i know i can just fallback on one of those 'full featured' apps like strava but i figured i'd ask here before i got too tied into any particular app (creature of habit)

      7 votes
    5. Are you using WiFi 6E in a home/home office setting? Have you seen any benefit to the 6GHz channel?

      I'm curious if anyone here is currently using the 6GHz channel with WiFi 6E devices and whether you're seeing a benefit in your experience. Do you feel it was worth purchasing a router/access...

      I'm curious if anyone here is currently using the 6GHz channel with WiFi 6E devices and whether you're seeing a benefit in your experience. Do you feel it was worth purchasing a router/access point with WiFi 6E over WiFi 6? I've been following the rollout of WiFi 6E for a while but I haven't heard much real world feedback.

      Context: I have 3 access points at home all at the WiFi 5 standard and I'm considering updating each to WiFi 6/6E. I have few (if any) 6E devices at the minute but would plan to keep the access points for at least 5 years or more.

      P.S. this is my first post so apologies if it's in the wrong location or a duplicate. I searched and found no other WiFi 6E discussions ✌️

      33 votes
    6. What online subscriptions do you pay for?

      In the corners of Tildes that I read on, I’ve noticed that a lot of us on here subscribe to online services like - Netflix, Kagi, Spotify, Dropbox, Mailbox.org, Patreon, Twitch, Bandcamp, etc. I,...

      In the corners of Tildes that I read on, I’ve noticed that a lot of us on here subscribe to online services like - Netflix, Kagi, Spotify, Dropbox, Mailbox.org, Patreon, Twitch, Bandcamp, etc.

      I, myself, am kind of stingy about subscriptions but lately I’ve been considering subscribing to some online services.

      So I’d like to know which online services (like those with monthly and annual fees) have you subscribed to (which tier if applicable) and which ones do you think is worth it and which ones are not?

      To get the ball rolling, the only regularly recurring monthly payments I have right now are with Namecheap for the domain and IONOS for my server (the cheapest tier).

      I’ve managed to avoid subscribing for entertainment like Disney+ or YouTube Premium or even music streaming platforms. Though I’m considering Deezer for the hifi option.

      I’ve at some point subscribed to Patreon, Bandcamp and Twitch for artists I really liked.

      And I’m currently looking into productivity apps that might be worth it to me.

      —-

      PS: It’s my first time posting and if this post would be better elsewhere, don’t hesitate to move it. Thank you!

      86 votes
    7. Weird video playback issue

      Specifications: Computer: Framework 13" DIY Edition. 32GB RAM 11th Gen i7-1185G7 Windows 11 Pro Browser: Brave Browser Current Version Displays: Samsung LC27JG50QQNZA Series Curved 27in HP VH240a...

      Specifications:

      Computer: Framework 13" DIY Edition.

      • 32GB RAM
      • 11th Gen i7-1185G7
      • Windows 11 Pro

      Browser: Brave Browser

      • Current Version

      Displays:

      Dock:


      Issue:

      Regardless of the website that I am on (I.e. Youtube, Twitch, Rumble, Netflix, etc.) my video stream will at random and only on my Samsung display will start to slide repeatedly to the left. The best way that I can describe it is to imagine taping a picture to a treadmill and setting to a highspeed setting. The image will move along with the treadmill. That's what the video feed does at random for some reason.
      • If I move it to the HP display it stops.
        • sometimes when I move it back it continues and sometimes it doesn't.
      • If I try and capture it via the built in screen recorder in windows it doesn't show up in the recording.

      Have any of you had this experience or know what is causing this?


      P.S. Thank you in advance for whoever corrects my tags and title which seams to happen evetime I post. I'm still trying to learn the correct way to post here on Tildes.


      ***EDIT***

      All sorts of stuff is going on now...
      • My monitor also blinks now and then video starts to slide
      • I've only gotten it to reproduce on Brave Browser.
      • I put Firefox and Brave side by side when it started happening. When I clicked on the Firefox browser it stopped. Then when I clicked on to Brave browser it started again... Like WHAT!?
      • With the browsers side by side the video on the brave browser started to slide again but now slid across both browsers...
      • Every time I try to record it stops... It's mocking me at this point.
      13 votes
    8. Raspberry pi zero w for running pihole (or home web server) - anything good/necessary accessories?

      Hey, I thought folks on tildes might have some personal experience here. For context - I'm not stuck on the raspberry pi zero, and I'm open to alternatives. I'm looking at it because it's...

      Hey, I thought folks on tildes might have some personal experience here. For context - I'm not stuck on the raspberry pi zero, and I'm open to alternatives. I'm looking at it because it's inexpensive ($15), which is my limiting factor right now.

      I am curious to play around with pihole to block ads network wide. I'd also love to be able to run a web server to host my website. After some precursory research, I learned that raspberry pi zero w is a good option.

      My question is - are there any other things that are good (or necessary) to purchase to go along with it? Asking because I am going to have to buy it online (one of the authorized sellers), and since I'm going to pay for shipping, I only want to make one purchase. So, if there's other things I need to get, I'd love to know.

      Alternatively, if you have personal experience with an alternative device, I'm all ears. (P.S. I realize I could just run pihole on my laptop, but I don't want to do that, as I'd need to keep it running 24/7...) I did see some alternative devices (orange pi, for example). But they were all much more expensive ($40 + rather than $15 for raspberry pi zero w)

      16 votes
    9. How do you keep track of your subscriptions?

      We recently had a big thread about all of the subscriptions we find valuable. This is a follow-up to that: how do you keep track of and manage your subscriptions (if you do at all)? I’d love to...

      We recently had a big thread about all of the subscriptions we find valuable.

      This is a follow-up to that: how do you keep track of and manage your subscriptions (if you do at all)?

      I’d love to have a sort of one-stop subscription management tracker where I can toggle things on and off and it can email me when something is coming due soon, but I’ve yet to find something like that I love.

      If anyone has any tips, tricks, or pointers, I’d love to hear them!

      20 votes