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[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

I'm having issues with the battery. I was charging it and it showed 100 percent. I started the phone up at it indicated the battery only had 13 percent - same as last night. I'm using the sammy original charger.

Sometimes it charges up and sometimes it doesn't. I replaced the battery. I haven't noticed an issue while charging it via usb on my computer though. I'm assuming it is just my charging cable at fault here? I hope it isn't my wall outlet.

 

[thenexus6]

only thing I can guess is that it's on auto-brightness but you would probably figure that out. What phone are you using?

Nexus 5, I don't use auto brightness I manually lower and raise it each time.

 

[Elchele]

My Xperia Miro is dying already, I need to buy a new phone. Is there any difference between the Moto G and Moto G LT3 (aside from LTE and SD slot)?

In the amazon page the Moto G LTE shows this:

For extra protection, Moto G has a water-resistant coating protecting your phone inside and out. Now, a little rain won?t stop you from taking a call.

is this new and exclusive for the new one? and if so, there are any other new 'features' I should consider

 

[CronoShot]

My Xperia Miro is dying already, I need to buy a new phone. Is there any difference between the Moto G and Moto G LT3 (aside from LTE and SD slot)?

In the amazon page the Moto G LTE shows this:



is this new and exclusive for the new one? and if so, there are any other new 'features' I should consider

No, the original had the same coating. So does the Moto X I believe.

 

[Elchele]

Thanks!

 

[fluffydelusions]

That rumored nexus 8 sure does look sexy imo
http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/06/21/this-is-volantis-htcs-nine-inch-nexus-tablet/

 

[peteykirch]

I just made the switch from iOS to Android by getting a Nexus 5.

Are there any must have apps?

 

[AndyD]

I just made the switch from iOS to Android by getting a Nexus 5.

Are there any must have apps?

How do you use your phone? Games, media, news, business? I would suggest trying Google apps first as the ecosystem is very well integrated. Then after a week or two, see what you feel you are missing or could be better.

 

[gerg]

Hi all,

I have a question regarding alternatives to Samsung Kies. After starting my computer today and getting an apparently infamous "MASetupCleaner.exe" prompt (following persistent problems with using the app in general), I've decided it needs to go.

What do people suggest for general back-up/recover apps, so that (in theory) I can transfer most of my data to an Android phone if/when I upgrade in the future?

 

[Yaboosh]

Hi all,

I have a question regarding alternatives to Samsung Kies. After starting my computer today and getting an apparently infamous "MASetupCleaner.exe" prompt (following persistent problems with using the app in general), I've decided it needs to go.

What do people suggest for general back-up/recover apps, so that (in theory) I can transfer most of my data to an Android phone if/when I upgrade in the future?

Ideally you would be rooted and then you could use Titanium Backup.

 

[gerg]

Ideally you would be rooted and then you could use Titanium Backup.

Erm, what does it mean to be rooted?

Edit: I Google searched and apparently that's the Android equivalent of jailbreaking.

 

[thespot84]

Hi all,

I have a question regarding alternatives to Samsung Kies. After starting my computer today and getting an apparently infamous "MASetupCleaner.exe" prompt (following persistent problems with using the app in general), I've decided it needs to go.

What do people suggest for general back-up/recover apps, so that (in theory) I can transfer most of my data to an Android phone if/when I upgrade in the future?

google account for most things (apps, app data, pictures/videos)
sms backup and restore for sms
dropbox has nice photo/video backup as well if you'd rather use that

everything else is in the cloud.

I'm factory resetting right now actually. All i did was copy the /internal storage/downloads and screenshots folders to my computer, did an sms backup to google drive, and went to town. Biggest pain in the ass is moving authentication accounts. Authy says it syncs tokens but i don't trust it lol.

EDIT: Titanium backup/rooting will allow you get at app data (like saved games) where the developer hasn't otherwise allowed android to use your google account for backup.

A basic primer for android apps: Apps are split into the executable files called APKs (think .exe) and data. The data is specific to the phone it's on, whereas you can download the APK from the play store whenever you need it. Data includes things like saved games, stored credentials, basically any information specific to you.

most major services are cloud based these days. I used to be a root/nandroid whore make backups almost daily but i've since moved on and haven't really missed it. With the exception of a few saved games I get everything I need with the above mentioned methods.

 

[gerg]

Thanks. My main concern is my contacts, photos and SMS. I did a manual backup of my photos not too long ago, my contacts seem synced already, and I'll look into SMS backup for when Kies somehow fails to recognise them on my phone.

The pre-installed apps are a major pain in the arse, but given that I don't really push my phone to do much I don't think I'll look into rooting it at the moment. Perhaps I'll look into rooting my phone in order to transfer game data across - I didn't transfer Triple Town from my S2 because I'd have had to rebuy unlimited turns in the app.

 

[Yaboosh]

Thanks. My main concern is my contacts, photos and SMS. I did a manual backup of my photos not too long ago, my contacts seem synced already, and I'll look into SMS backup for when Kies somehow fails to recognise them on my phone.

The pre-installed apps are a major pain in the arse, but given that I don't really push my phone to do much I don't think I'll look into rooting it at the moment. Perhaps I'll look into rooting my phone in order to transfer game data across - I didn't transfer Triple Town from my S2 because I'd have had to rebuy unlimited turns in the app.

Contacts and photos is all handled by Google if you have the settings properly set.

SMS backup works great for that.

 

[thespot84]

Contacts and photos is all handled by Google if you have the settings properly set.

SMS backup works great for that.

If you're using samsung contacts, it should have a little google logo (blue square white 'g') if the contact is synced with google servers. Another option to double check is go to contacts.google.com, log in with your phone's google account and see if all your contacts are there. You can do the same thing with calendar.google.com to see which 'cloud' your data is in.

 

[Jigolo]

Early build hopefully. CHANGE THOSE UGLY SOFTWARE KEYS, GOOGLE

Android Legos

 

[vdlow]

Android Lumia

 

[thespot84]

lego's makes a lot of sense, especially if you view the activity stuff their doing as 'building blocks'

 

[Bboy AJ]

Android L and still doing nothing with the software key area. Waste. I hope L fixes tablets to allow multitasking. Web browsing with Hangouts or YouTube would be beast.

 

[Zeppu]

I hope it's not Lego solely so I don't have to see the abominations that are Legos or Lego's all day, every day.

 

[Doopliss]

What in that screenshot has anything to do with Lego? I saw people talking about it in the reddit thread too.

 

[PriitV]

The upcoming letter for Android versions is "L"

 

[pronk420]

i really hope its not Q4 like android police are saying. it seemed like everyone was assuming 5 would be released at I/O and now they are suddenly saying it won't be til Q4 :'(

also calling it android legos would be awesome.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Android L and still doing nothing with the software key area. Waste. I hope L fixes tablets to allow multitasking. Web browsing with Hangouts or YouTube would be beast.

Samsung tablets have multiview apps and Sony tablets have small-apps which has a browser extension and others, I would like a YouTube viewer for my Tab Z. The mini-browser is pretty good though, and you can keep it in the foreground when doing pretty much anything except games.

 

[thenexus6]

Question,

I have got a small black mark on all my photos. The lens seems clear but there is definitely something on there. Someone on google plus suggested, and I quote:

1 Get a piece of Toilet paper, fold it over twice.
2 Place over lens.
3 Spray a bit of WD-40 or Olive oil on a Q Tip. till it is saturated.
4 Leave on it overnight and wipe off in the morning.

Is that a good idea. Some people called Google and got their phones replaced, but I didn't buy the phone new so I can't do that.

 

[Banjotanooki]

Hey guys, my S3's been acting weird for almost a week and I'm thinking of doing a factory reset on it.

What's the best way to backup all my apps/messages/etc. before I reset the phone?

 

[kudoboi]

edit: nvm

 

[HawkeyeIC]

Android L and still doing nothing with the software key area. Waste. I hope L fixes tablets to allow multitasking. Web browsing with Hangouts or YouTube would be beast.

Hopefully just an early build. Didn't android police have a 'google button' rumor a while back?

 

[RoadHazard]

Android L and still doing nothing with the software key area. Waste.

What do you want them to do with it, exactly? I think it's pretty much perfect as it is, the three available keys are all very useful. That rumored "Google button" just sounds weird to me. You can already get to Search/Now very quickly by just swiping up from Home, don't need a dedicated key for it. Or rather, I don't WANT one. A dedicated Home key is much more important, not having that would be shit IMO. Or would one of the other keys be replaced...? Either way, if they do make such a change, I really, really hope they make it customizable. Not that they have ever done that before with the software keys, but this would just be too drastic a change. One that would seemingly massively sacrifice usability in favor of driving people towards Search even more. Maybe that would be sort of fine in the US, where you can actually do useful stuff with voice commands, but here in Sweden that shit does nothing. You just get a regular Google search, it has zero intelligence. So I want nothing to do with any of that until they start "understanding" other languages.

 

[tzare]

agree, i hope they do not screw Android by putting a google button instead of a home one. it is fine now, back, home and multitasking. Just perfect, plus g now just a swipe left, or ok Google in some languages.
I also hope app drawer stays as it is an that ios style rumor is not true.
I think we are at that point that only minor changes are needed, or different theme/icons/look, but any major change has a high chance to make things worse.
Android is really mature right now.

 

[Futureman]

well here I go to the Verizon store to buy a Moto X on 2-year contract! haha

really wish I could have held out longer (my Galaxy Nexus broke 2 weeks ago), but it is what it is. I don't care at ALL if the processor/graphics feel a little slow 2 years from now, I just want the battery, USB port and headphone port to hold up and I'll be happy.

hopefully the X+1 gets delayed a bit so I don't feel so bad! Though I truly feel 4.7" is the perfect size, the rumors of a larger screen turned me off.

Got an iPhone 5C.... bye bye guys and girls!

 

[unpopularblargh]

So Samsung made a replacement launcher app for Android called Terrain.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/17/terrain-android-launcher/

 

[Slayven]

So Samsung made a replacement launcher app for Android called Terrain.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/17/terrain-android-launcher/

going to try this out

 

[3phemeral]

Question,

I have got a small black mark on all my photos. The lens seems clear but there is definitely something on there. Someone on google plus suggested, and I quote:

1 Get a piece of Toilet paper, fold it over twice.
2 Place over lens.
3 Spray a bit of WD-40 or Olive oil on a Q Tip. till it is saturated.
4 Leave on it overnight and wipe off in the morning.

Is that a good idea. Some people called Google and got their phones replaced, but I didn't buy the phone new so I can't do that.

Eek, I hate those. I had one of those pop up on my Sony Cybershot. Whenever I'd zoom in really close, I'd get that same splotch all over my photos. Turns out all I need to do was use a vacuum and constantly zoom in and out into the suction tube until it was sucked right out. Not sure how you'd be able to do that on a phone without a manual optical zoom.

 

[Bob Dobalina]

What do you want them to do with it, exactly? I think it's pretty much perfect as it is, the three available keys are all very useful. That rumored "Google button" just sounds weird to me. You can already get to Search/Now very quickly by just swiping up from Home, don't need a dedicated key for it. Or rather, I don't WANT one. A dedicated Home key is much more important, not having that would be shit IMO. Or would one of the other keys be replaced...? Either way, if they do make such a change, I really, really hope they make it customizable. Not that they have ever done that before with the software keys, but this would just be too drastic a change. One that would seemingly massively sacrifice usability in favor of driving people towards Search even more. Maybe that would be sort of fine in the US, where you can actually do useful stuff with voice commands, but here in Sweden that shit does nothing. You just get a regular Google search, it has zero intelligence. So I want nothing to do with any of that until they start "understanding" other languages.

I really hate how the transparency fade for the status bar and softkeys looks in 4.4, it looks silly on tablets especially. Hope they do something with that.

 

[RoadHazard]

So Samsung made a replacement launcher app for Android called Terrain.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/17/terrain-android-launcher/

That actually looks somewhat decent. Might try it out.

EDIT: Guess not, not compatible with my Nexus 5. Is this only for Samsung phones?

EDIT 2: Or maybe it's just region locked? Which is also stupid.

I really hate how the transparency fade for the status bar and softkeys looks in 4.4, it looks silly on tablets especially. Hope they do something with that.

I like the transparency (two thick black bars aren't all that attractive), but I agree that the gradient isn't awesome. If they could somehow make it fully transparent while still having it work over any background that would be great.

 

[thespot84]

I hope it's not Lego solely so I don't have to see the abominations that are Legos or Lego's all day, every day.

And I thought the Danes were supposed to be so friendly, not passive aggressive. How ill informed I am.

 

[Bboy AJ]

What do you want them to do with it, exactly? I think it's pretty much perfect as it is, the three available keys are all very useful. That rumored "Google button" just sounds weird to me. You can already get to Search/Now very quickly by just swiping up from Home, don't need a dedicated key for it. Or rather, I don't WANT one. A dedicated Home key is much more important, not having that would be shit IMO. Or would one of the other keys be replaced...? Either way, if they do make such a change, I really, really hope they make it customizable. Not that they have ever done that before with the software keys, but this would just be too drastic a change. One that would seemingly massively sacrifice usability in favor of driving people towards Search even more. Maybe that would be sort of fine in the US, where you can actually do useful stuff with voice commands, but here in Sweden that shit does nothing. You just get a regular Google search, it has zero intelligence. So I want nothing to do with any of that until they start "understanding" other languages.

Do you use Android on a Tablet? It's a ridiculously huge bar on my Nexus 10 that does nothing. What would be cool is if the multitasking button had a notification number icon. Or the back button being indicative of what's actually back. Or something. It's a start. I'm just baffled at how static these buttons are.

 

[PriitV]

New kind of misery, hope they do betas.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/0...pple-style-preview-at-io-release-in-the-fall/

 

[kehs]

Do you use Android on a Tablet? It's a ridiculously huge bar on my Nexus 10 that does nothing. What would be cool is if the multitasking button had a notification number icon. Or the back button being indicative of what's actually back. Or something. It's a start. I'm just baffled at how static these buttons are.

Yup, even on the nexus 7 it's a huge waste.

 

[Jayayess1190]

I really hope the new version of Android gets privacy controls like iOS. To be able to turn off location use for certain apps that have no need for it ever would be so great.

 

[RoadHazard]

Do you use Android on a Tablet? It's a ridiculously huge bar on my Nexus 10 that does nothing. What would be cool is if the multitasking button had a notification number icon. Or the back button being indicative of what's actually back. Or something. It's a start. I'm just baffled at how static these buttons are.

Ok, yeah, I certainly agree that they could do more interesting dynamic things with the keys. Like how the back key changes into a down caret when a keyboard is open, to show that the key will close the keyboard rather than go back a screen. That sort of stuff is great, and I'd like to see more of it. Not that I have any particularly good ideas though... Putting a notification number on the recents key wouldn't really make much sense, IMO. The two aren't connected, you don't see your notifications when pressing that key. And you already see that info in the notification bar anyway, which is where they live. The recents key could show the number of recent apps, although I'm not sure how useful that would really be.

New kind of misery, hope they do betas.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/0...pple-style-preview-at-io-release-in-the-fall/

Agreed. I really want to see the new version, but I don't want to have to wait half a year until I can try it out.

 

[Fatalah]

Fall is merely a few months away. I'd rather have it this way, than have manufacturers launching new phones with old versions of Android.

 

[RoadHazard]

Fall is merely a few months away. I'd rather have it this way, than have manufacturers launching new phones with old versions of Android.

Sure, but they should still let us Nexus owners try the new release out before then!

 

[Fatalah]

Sure, but they should still let us Nexus owners try the new release out before then!

Don't you get it? You're not special anymore!

 

[Htown]

So I don't pay a whole lot of attention to this stuff, but I was thinking of getting rid of my old and busted Inspire 4G to get a Moto X, but I might be switching to T-Mobile soon and I don't have 400 extra bucks to drop on an unsubsidized T-Mobile version from the Motorola store.

What's a good alternative to Moto X?

 

[Bboy AJ]

Sure, but they should still let us Nexus owners try the new release out before then!

That would be ideal. The Apple way.

 

[CronoShot]

So I don't pay a whole lot of attention to this stuff, but I was thinking of getting rid of my old and busted Inspire 4G to get a Moto X, but I might be switching to T-Mobile soon and I don't have 400 extra bucks to drop on an unsubsidized T-Mobile version from the Motorola store.

What's a good alternative to Moto X?

Moto G?

 

[BoboBrazil]

New kind of misery, hope they do betas.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/0...pple-style-preview-at-io-release-in-the-fall/

This is great. I took his words to mean they are releasing the version earlier starting this year, so phone makers can have it on phones in time for Christmas. Hopefully they add some cool stuff.

 

[Cudder]

I'm out of the Android loop. Is there a new Android version coming this year? And when I mean new, I mean an actual significant jump forward for Android. The last complete rehaul we got was Ice Cream Sandwich.