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Android |OT3| This thread is incompatible with all of your devices.

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kehs

Banned
I don't know why brot was so down on launcher 7, it's actually pretty comparable to the wp experience.

Not out of the box mind you, but if you put a little bit of setup time.
 

RM8

Member
Kingdom Rush Frontiers, another app that is not compatible with my new Xperia SP but is compatible with my old Xperia P. Also, just like with Asphalt 8, I'm pretty sure this is not an issue with all Xperia SP units.

I'm a pretty big Android enthusiast but this phone is making me experience fragmentation for the first time, and I'm hating it :( How on Earth is MY XPERIA SP not compatible with some apps, but other Xperia SP units are? The specs for all 3 models (C5302, C5304, C5306) are identical.
 

Blackhead

Redarse
If you are serious about getting one. I can ask my China contact to get one for you.

I know they have one that used the exact screen the 4s used, I haven't checked recently and don't know if there is one with the real iPhone 5 screen.

You have search taobao.com with "iPhone high quality copy" in Chinese to find them lol.
Thanks I'll check that out

I don't understand your logic...

That's because it isn't understandable.

What's so hard to understand? I want a tiny device with a tiny screen.
 

Futureman

Member
I'm trying to put together a list of all the cool things google is doing.... anyone want to add on?

-self-Driving Cars

-bringing internet to 3rd world countries with "internet balloons"

-Google Fiber Internet expanding across the USA

-Google Books: attempt to digitize all books in the world

-Google Cultural Institute: digitize paintings in museums around the world, view hi-res versions online

-Calico: New Google company established to expand the length of human life
 

njean777

Member
Quick question for all of you guys/girls. I am on the fence of switching to android from the iphone due to the garbage that is called ios 7, but anyways, my question is this, I am having a hard time choosing between the HTC One or the S4. I want one that I can root and put stock android on if possible. I hate the skins on both, but have to trade in my iphone 5 and have no back up phone so I have to buy it from the att store or Bestbuy. Unfortunately neither sell the google play edition. So which one of these can I do that on the easiest?

My next question is since a lot of my music is on itunes I can just use double twist to move my music over to the phone using that app right?

Personally I like the HTC one's look better, but if it is way to confusing to put stock android on it compared to the S4, I am more then willing to sacrifice looks for usability.
 

Horseticuffs

Full werewolf off the buckle
Quick question for all of you guys/girls. I am on the fence of switching to android from the iphone due to the garbage that is called ios 7, but anyways, my question is this, I am having a hard time choosing between the HTC One or the S4. I want one that I can root and put stock android on if possible. I hate the skins on both, but have to trade in my iphone 5 and have no back up phone so I have to buy it from the att store or Bestbuy. Unfortunately neither sell the google play edition. So which one of these can I do that on the easiest?

My next question is since a lot of my music is on itunes I can just use double twist to move my music over to the phone using that app right?

Personally I like the HTC one's look better, but if it is way to confusing to put stock android on it compared to the S4, I am more then willing to sacrifice looks for usability.

As far as transferring music I'm not entirely certain how Google music handles it. I use amazon mp3 because they're cheaper, in my experience. They have a pc program that allows you to upload your music regardless of source to your Amazon mp3 account and it'll treat it may like music you bought there. You have unlimited storage for music you bought from amazon in their cloud . Up to 200 songs for free from other sources . I know that's not a ton, but it worked for me since I didn't have much digital music before I switched over.

I'm sure Google music has a similar system in place! That way you don't need to store everything on your phone.

If you're dead set on local storage the awesome thing is that iTunes music is drm free nowadays so you can just drag and drop that shit. No worries there.
 
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NinjaFridge

Unconfirmed Member
SII is asking for a password and I don't know what it is. Can't do anything except dial emergency numbers. How boned am I?
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
SII is asking for a password and I don't know what it is. Can't do anything except dial emergency numbers. How boned am I?

tumblr_lmokyp4YW31qafrh6.png
 

3phemeral

Member
Quick question for all of you guys/girls. I am on the fence of switching to android from the iphone due to the garbage that is called ios 7, but anyways, my question is this, I am having a hard time choosing between the HTC One or the S4. I want one that I can root and put stock android on if possible. I hate the skins on both, but have to trade in my iphone 5 and have no back up phone so I have to buy it from the att store or Bestbuy. Unfortunately neither sell the google play edition. So which one of these can I do that on the easiest?

I've only toyed with them at a Kiosk but the S4's screen is absolutely crisp coming from a Galaxy Nexus. I would love to read ebooks on that screen. If you want build quality similar to iPhone, HTC One is what you want. Plus, the camera shots I took in lowlight looked great compared to the Note II it was next to.

My next question is since a lot of my music is on itunes I can just use double twist to move my music over to the phone using that app right?

Aren't the songs on iTunes DRM free now? The stuff I've purchased on iTunes just goes into a folder where my Google Music Desktop app scans for music. It's automatically added to my account. Just go to your Google Music page, download the app and then set your default music location to your iTunes music folder. Wait for it to sync.

Personally I like the HTC one's look better, but if it is way to confusing to put stock android on it compared to the S4, I am more then willing to sacrifice looks for usability.
I'm not familiar enough with either to give you a recommendation, but I think Samsung has the better record in terms of supported phones by the ROM community, which in turn means better support from unlocking bootloaders and rooting. I could be wrong about this. [edit] If you mean you want to immediately move copies over too your phone, you should be able to transfer them to an MSD card or connect your phone via USB and drag it into there, right? Or, you can use an app like Wifi File Explorer, connect to your phone via browser IP address and then transfer the music to your phone. Google Music should be able to pick up your local music files. I prefer the syncing to Google Music method better though. Then I pin the tracks or the playlists so that I have only my most listened to or favorite tracks downloaded to my device.
 

Firebrand

Member
Got my first Android tablet as a gift.

Is there any way to use the Play Store without having it log into every Google service in existence? I didn't even find an option to not use my account for the browser, like you can on the Chrome desktop browser.
 

Husker86

Member
Got my first Android tablet as a gift.

Is there any way to use the Play Store without having it log into every Google service in existence? I didn't even find an option to not use my account for the browser, like you can on the Chrome desktop browser.
You need to login to one google account for the play store. It needs an account to keep track of history and such. The browser I don't believe forces you to login.
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Got my first Android tablet as a gift.

Is there any way to use the Play Store without having it log into every Google service in existence? I didn't even find an option to not use my account for the browser, like you can on the Chrome desktop browser.

You can just use private browsing if you are worried abour pron ending up in your history.
 

Firebrand

Member
You need to login to one google account for the play store. It needs an account to keep track of history and such. The browser I don't believe forces you to login.
Hmm, the browser automatically signed into the Google account for me as soon as I had signed into Google Play, but I'm not sure if it's the vanilla Chrome/Android thingy or something custom for Samsung.

You can just use private browsing if you are worried abour pron ending up in your history.
Nothing particularly secret about by browsing habits, and the web history is already turned off the Google account itself. I just think it's a bit unnecessary to have all that junk running and possibly collecting personal information just because I want to install an app. Maybe it's as simple as logging out afterwards though?
 

gcubed

Member
Quick question for all of you guys/girls. I am on the fence of switching to android from the iphone due to the garbage that is called ios 7, but anyways, my question is this, I am having a hard time choosing between the HTC One or the S4. I want one that I can root and put stock android on if possible. I hate the skins on both, but have to trade in my iphone 5 and have no back up phone so I have to buy it from the att store or Bestbuy. Unfortunately neither sell the google play edition. So which one of these can I do that on the easiest?

My next question is since a lot of my music is on itunes I can just use double twist to move my music over to the phone using that app right?

Personally I like the HTC one's look better, but if it is way to confusing to put stock android on it compared to the S4, I am more then willing to sacrifice looks for usability.

Google music will handle your library and which carrier are you using?

Both phones have an easy path back to stock since they can be converted to Google pay edition versions if you are using a gsm carrier, but you can't unlock the boot loader on an HTC one that has 4.2+
 

Horseticuffs

Full werewolf off the buckle
Hmm, the browser automatically signed into the Google account for me as soon as I had signed into Google Play, but I'm not sure if it's the vanilla Chrome/Android thingy or something custom for Samsung.

Nothing particularly secret about by browsing habits, and the web history is already turned off the Google account itself. I just think it's a bit unnecessary to have all that junk running and possibly collecting personal information just because I want to install an app. Maybe it's as simple as logging out afterwards though?

Well, at the end of the day your best course of action is perhaps making a dummy Gmail account specifically for cases where you are forced to be logged in.

Should be simple enough, just some random address that you'll remember. You could even use a temporary email account like Mailinator to set it up if you're that concerned about privacy. Not much they can gather from you if you follow this route.
 

jokkir

Member
Quick question for all of you guys/girls. I am on the fence of switching to android from the iphone due to the garbage that is called ios 7, but anyways, my question is this, I am having a hard time choosing between the HTC One or the S4. I want one that I can root and put stock android on if possible. I hate the skins on both, but have to trade in my iphone 5 and have no back up phone so I have to buy it from the att store or Bestbuy. Unfortunately neither sell the google play edition. So which one of these can I do that on the easiest?

If you plan on flashing a different ROM, make sure the bootloader is unlockable and not locked by encryption. And if it is locked with an encryption, make sure it's been broken. This allows for a custom recovery to be installed and a custom ROM & kernels to be installed. Sometimes there are other bypasses that people find to install a custom ROM but it's much better with a non-encrypted unlocked bootloader.

As for rooting, you can do that with a locked bootloader IIRC. It's the flashing that you have to worry about.

And with that said, last time I checked the Verizon Galaxy S4 and the AT&T Galaxy S4 both had a locked, encrypted bootloader. I'm not sure if it's been unlocked since then because of the huge bounty to unlock it. There was a way to bypass and install custom ROMs but there were compromises and a worry that Verizon/AT&T might fix the vulnerability that made possible the installation of custom roms on a locked bootloader. I know Verizon did an update that fixed it but not sure if there has been a fix for it yet.

I'm not sure about the HTC One. You can look on the XDA forums for that specific device and see if there's ROMs or bounties or whatever to see if the bootloader is unlocked. Make sure you look at the specific device model as they sometimes differ from carrier to carrier.


Personally I like the HTC one's look better, but if it is way to confusing to put stock android on it compared to the S4, I am more then willing to sacrifice looks for usability.

An unlocked bootloader + a popular development community will almost always make your device easier to install a custom rom (and last in the long run). Just look at the XDA forums and see the Android Development section to get a general sense of how popular the device is with developers. Also, look for if it has an official Cyanogenmod build as you might end up using that in the future.
 

3phemeral

Member
Hmm, the browser automatically signed into the Google account for me as soon as I had signed into Google Play, but I'm not sure if it's the vanilla Chrome/Android thingy or something custom for Samsung.

Nothing particularly secret about by browsing habits, and the web history is already turned off the Google account itself. I just think it's a bit unnecessary to have all that junk running and possibly collecting personal information just because I want to install an app. Maybe it's as simple as logging out afterwards though?

As far as I'm aware, every single Google service I've ever installed will ask me to verify if I want to link it to my account, including Chrome. If you've somehow linked them without knowing it, you can just go into your settings > accounts > and then turn off all account sync options. That doesn't decouple your account links, though. But like I said earlier, I've never had a Google service auto log into my account with asking me to verify account association first.
 

Firebrand

Member
Well, at the end of the day your best course of action is perhaps making a dummy Gmail account specifically for cases where you are forced to be logged in.

Should be simple enough, just some random address that you'll remember. You could even use a temporary email account like Mailinator to set it up if you're that concerned about privacy. Not much they can gather from you if you follow this route.
As far as I'm aware, every single Google service I've ever installed will ask me to verify if I want to link it to my account, including Chrome. If you've somehow linked them without knowing it, you can just go into your settings > accounts > and then turn off all account sync options. That doesn't decouple your account links, though. But like I said earlier, I've never had a Google service auto log into my account with asking me to verify account association first.
I created a dummy account, logging into the dashboard on the web it shows I have an Android device, Gmail, and Google Talk (I'm guessing that's the chat thing that is/was built into Gmail earlier). Interestingly enough, web history was disabled by default.

Thanks for the advice guys, appreciated, this should do fine.
 
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NinjaFridge

Unconfirmed Member
What does the screen look like?

Looks like my lock screen. Has my wallpaper in the background and is showing the time. The phone is still connecting to my WiFi and has received a message. There is a text entry field in the middle of the screen and when I tap it the keyboard pops up. There is an 'Emergency Call' button at the bottom with my provider just above that.
 

gcubed

Member
Looks like my lock screen. Has my wallpaper in the background and is showing the time. The phone is still connecting to my WiFi and has received a message. There is a text entry field in the middle of the screen and when I tap it the keyboard pops up. There is an 'Emergency Call' button at the bottom with my provider just above that.

Does android device manager let you change your lock screen password?
 
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NinjaFridge

Unconfirmed Member
Does android device manager let you change your lock screen password?

I'm trying this but everytime I enter and then confirm the new password the popup box appears on screen telling me

Your new password was not strong enough
.



Try this, because I'm supposing it's not the SIM card lock?

Contacted my provider. They said everything looks OK on their end but gave me my PUK code anyway. I tried it earlier with no luck.
 
N

NinjaFridge

Unconfirmed Member
Update: I'm an idiot. I forgot I had prey installed and that was what was asking me for the password. Logged into prey from my laptop and got it sorted. Thanks for the help guys!
 
Samsung Galaxy S4
coulda been written better, and more thought out, but whatever I'm tired
Mini Review

Hardware

Alright, so after using a GS4 for a few weeks, I can confidently say phones with 5" displays are not as huge as people make it seem. I really think a lot of people are over-exaggerating the size of some of these phones. I came from using a Nexus S, and the very first thought I had when holding the S4 was, "This is actually pretty small." I now find myself wanting something Note sized (hopefully there will one day be a big ass Nexus with a stylus).

The only complaint I have about the size is the thinness. It needs to be a tad bit thicker (I want a bigger battery). It would also be a lot better if the back was as rounded as the Nexus S, or more preferably, the Moto X. Other than that, the hardware's great, aside from the terrible feeling, flimsy, glossy plastic (I really hate glossy materials).

Also, while I still dislike physical buttons, the home button is pretty aight, but fuck Samsung for putting the back button on the right. It's throwing me off when using other devices. Fuck them for still using a menu button too. I wish there was a way to force apps that have an overflow menu button to show it.

The camera is really, really great. All that needs to be said about that.

Oh yeah, the screen is friggin amazing. Serisouly, that shit's awesome. The black levels are insane, as to be expected with OLED. The highest res TV in my house is 720p/1080i, and it's crazy having a phone with a 1080p display; absolutely bonkers.

Software

TouchWiz is still extremely ugly, and very bad. The choice of colors, the Android 2.x style tabs and other UI elements -- just awful. The vast majority of Samsung's added features (the S-craps) don't improve the user experience in any way, and don't need to exist. They're taking up very precious space. That goes for all the bloatware too. It's insane how much of that crap is pre-installed on the phone. There are also way too many popups and dialogs, that get quite annoying, and the Notification panel, while not quite as hideous and space-consuming as LG's, still takes up way more space than I like.

I think a lot of Samsung's apps are really bad (like the contacts and phone apps), but there are far too many of them, and I'm not gonna dedicate much time to them since it'd mostly be complaining, and I'm already doing enough of that. :)

I do recognize that some people quite like all the additions Samsung adds, and that's perfectly fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinions.

Not all of Samsung's software is bad though. Samsung's email app is, for the most part, good, and better than I expected. Multi-window is great, though I rarely have a need to use it. The camera app is pretty good as well. There's also little things like being able to set a timeout for the the capacitive button LEDs (you can even turn them off completely, which I do). That's the type of thing you usually only see in custom ROMs.

Performance is really good. This phone is very fast. I've always thought complaints of Android lag and stutter were overblown, and I still do. I own an iPhone as well, and I'll take the speed and efficiency of Android over the slower but slightly more smooth iOS (and Windows Phone) any day. The phone can get very warm though when doing certain things, though.

Honestly, as much as I hate the glossy plastic, TouchWiz, the bloatware, and various other things, the community support is the biggest disappointment. It's not the dev community's fault at all. Samsung, and probably the carriers more so, are to blame. I really want to run a custom ROM on this thing, but the at&t (and Verizon?) version is super locked down. I don't see why they don't just offer an official bootloader unlock tool like HTC and Moto do for some devices. I'll likely never get another non-Nexus Android device again because of this. I do at least have root, and that's better than nothing.

To wrap things up, I don't hate the device, I don't even dislike it. I quite like the GS4. It's just that the negatives far outweigh the positives.

If I were to grade the GS4, I'd give it something like a C+ or B-.
 

Groof

Junior Member
Update: I'm an idiot. I forgot I had prey installed and that was what was asking me for the password. Logged into prey from my laptop and got it sorted. Thanks for the help guys!
Glad you got it sorted, things like that can be the scariest shit ever.

Samsung Galaxy S4
coulda been written better, and more thought out, but whatever I'm tired
Mini Review

Good write up, and I think it mirrors what most people here think of the device. At least my thoughts, even though I haven't used an S4 for a prolonged period of time (mostly borrowed from my dad).

Also, can we talk about the Moto X2? What do you guys think it will be?
 
So I have a dilemma in my hands now. I am with sprint, have been with them for about 10 years now. I'm grandfathered into the SERO plan and pay about 30 (35 with tax) bucks a month now. My plan includes unlimited data, unlimited text, 500 day time minutes, nights starting at 7PM. I have an LG Rumor phone, which is pretty crappy and not a smartphone. On top of that, my job allows me to have a phone where I could pay about 6-10 bucks a month if I use my work phone as my personal phone as well. I would rather keep it separate, especially because you never know when you might leave and go to a new job. The problem is, I went to Sprint to see my upgrade options and I would have to change from SERO basic to SERO premium (extra $10/month) and add a 4G plan ($10/month), that would bring the total to $50.

I want to keep both my work phone (iphone) and get a droid for my personal one, but man, I don't know if I want to go from $35/month to about $58/month. I looked and $50 for unlimited everything seems to be as good as it gets in the US, so it's either that or cancelling the contract (which would then mean I wouldn't be eligible for it if I tried to sign up again).
 

mturco

Member
That would piss Samsung off pretty hardcore, and TBH I'm surprised they were even able to convince them to make Google Play Editions.

Well the reason they agreed to do Google Play Editions is that it costs them nothing. They're already making the hardware so all they have to do is load a "stock" rom and sell it. It doesn't negatively affect the sales of their non-GPE devices either.

Actually, what would be really cool is if Google could convince every manufacturer to make a GPE rom for every flagship they have and allow people to convert their phones if they wanted. Not saying it will happen but it's not that out there.
 
So I have a dilemma in my hands now. I am with sprint, have been with them for about 10 years now. I'm grandfathered into the SERO plan and pay about 30 (35 with tax) bucks a month now. My plan includes unlimited data, unlimited text, 500 day time minutes, nights starting at 7PM. I have an LG Rumor phone, which is pretty crappy and not a smartphone. On top of that, my job allows me to have a phone where I could pay about 6-10 bucks a month if I use my work phone as my personal phone as well. I would rather keep it separate, especially because you never know when you might leave and go to a new job. The problem is, I went to Sprint to see my upgrade options and I would have to change from SERO basic to SERO premium (extra $10/month) and add a 4G plan ($10/month), that would bring the total to $50.

I want to keep both my work phone (iphone) and get a droid for my personal one, but man, I don't know if I want to go from $35/month to about $58/month. I looked and $50 for unlimited everything seems to be as good as it gets in the US, so it's either that or cancelling the contract (which would then mean I wouldn't be eligible for it if I tried to sign up again).
i switched from SERO to SERO P years ago, it was definitely worth it.
 

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
I'm late to this party, but is Amazon Kindle Fire HDX #SHOTSFIRED on other Android tablets? 2560x1600 resolution and quad-core Snapdragon 800 for $379?

Nah, it's still Amazon software and the build quality is probably still a step down from the Nexus line. What's the battery life like?
 

Cipherr

Member
Meh, Bootloader unlocking IMO absolutely should void your warranty. If I want to tinker with my shit, let me, at the expense of not having it covered if I fuck it up.

My only issue is when I'm not allowed to trade my warranty for the freedom to do whatever I want with my hardware. I'm not out to screw anyone over by unlocking my phone, busting it, then expecting the manufacturer to cover the costs of my screwups. That's not their fault its mine. I don't think I'm entitled to fuck up flashing a ROM then having the carrier or OEM foot the bill for that.

why should bootloader unlocking get them out of repairing faulty headphone jacks, charge ports, defective panrels, batteries, etc, especially now with sealed batteries on so many handsets...

plus that detects ROOT, not even bootloader unlocking!


The same way it would do the same for any other product. AFAIK it works that way for all packaged products. If I open my PS2 and do something that voids the warranty, Sony doesn't pay for the fix if a controller port goes bad after the fact, even if its unrelated to the action that voided the warranty. That's just how this has worked for all things as far as I know.

But yeah you are right in that it detects root instead of unlocking. I just stand by the unlocking thing. If you are going to take that risk of voiding the warranty for an bootloader unlock, then take it. But I don't think its reasonable to want to have it both ways. There are plenty of issues that can happen when using apps that only work when rooted/unlocked like blowing speakers out with Volume control apps that allow you to pump volume waaaaaay past the devices normal thresholds.
 
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