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Nexus 5 |OT|

Woo hoo. I got a Nexus 5 for Christmas but just now got around to setting it up. So far so good. Definitely feels a little snappier than the Nexus 4.

I haven't really dug into Google Now but I'm curious to play around with it. However, I'm using Apex Launcher and Google Now seems clunky to access. I was trying to figure out if I can create a shortcut or custom gesture to access it but couldn't figure it out. Any thoughts?
 

Groof

Junior Member
Couple of questions.

Where is the "3G" icon on the screen? It's not showing up and I am in a 3G spot. Does the phone not have these? I assume it does to tell you you're in 3G, 4G etc?

Is there a notification for the lock-screen to show you text messages at a glance? On iPhone it displayed a preview of the text.


cheers!
Get dashclock for your lock screen. There are extensions for it for basically any type of notification.
 

daveo42

Banned
Really debating on getting this. My issue is that I'm on Verizon and I could switch over to T-Mobile, but I'd need to buy their phone to avoid the ETF and they only have the 16GB model online at $400. Might be different in the store, but I'd need to go check. Otherwise I'd wait till April and by then something else might interest me a bit more.

I'd really love to get rid of my old Nexus as the battery life is getting rough and it's starting to show its age.
 
Has anyone had this problem? It's happened about 3 times now. All of a sudden my phones will make a noise out of the speaker. Sometimes it sounds like a person. I get the feeling it's a song, but it's only played for a split second, so I can't even tell what it is. Anyways, it just happened last night and creeped the shit out of me when I heard what sounded like a person from my speakers. I was in bed and hadn't touched my phone for a few minutes. It's very...strange. And has made me think someone is near me before.
 
Couple of questions.

Where is the "3G" icon on the screen? It's not showing up and I am in a 3G spot. Does the phone not have these? I assume it does to tell you you're in 3G, 4G etc?

Is there a notification for the lock-screen to show you text messages at a glance? On iPhone it displayed a preview of the text.


cheers!

Pretty sure you can add a lockscreen widget of the SMS app you're using on your lockscreen for this.
 
How do you add one of the widgets (from holding down on main screen) to the lock screen? Or are they just for the icon home screens?

Also, is there a way to add a blank page so you just get the docked icons and then the entire screen free if icons?
 

Rootbeer

Banned
Please tell me i'm not the only one with this problem...

When I open the Play store and there are multiple apps that need updating, the play store closes/crashes while trying to update the second app. very rarely can i get it to update more than one at a time. something is broken cause it wasn't like that before. i'm on 4.4.2.

I mentioned it before but haven't found a solution, I think it's a play services but but i haven't heard anyone else mention it o_O
 
So, just curious, does anyone have the 16GB Model? Are you happy with it? (I mean as far as having sufficient space for apps) I'm thinking of picking one up to use with Ting (with the 50 bucks I save could go to a more worthwhile tablet), but I'm really hesitant to pull the trigger.
 
So, just curious, does anyone have the 16GB Model? Are you happy with it? (I mean as far as having sufficient space for apps) I'm thinking of picking one up to use with Ting (with the 50 bucks I save could go to a more worthwhile tablet), but I'm really hesitant to pull the trigger.

I just bought the 16gb model because I've never had an issue with storage space regarding apps. I've been pleasantly surprised with Google Music over Sprint's shitty network thusfar.

I wouldn't say I am a power user or anything by any means however. I end up with mostly social networking and photo editing apps. I don't really do games on my phone.
 
Just a guess, Sprint did some weird upgrade to their visual voice mail on the 7th. It made me have to redo my voice mail message. It could be related to that.

I don't think that's it. It prompted me to set up my voice mail box as soon as I activated the phone. I did that, and then the voicemail thing started popping up. It's frustrating.

It's still there even after installing Google Voice and setting up voicemail through that.
 
Couple of questions.

Where is the "3G" icon on the screen? It's not showing up and I am in a 3G spot. Does the phone not have these? I assume it does to tell you you're in 3G, 4G etc?

Is there a notification for the lock-screen to show you text messages at a glance? On iPhone it displayed a preview of the text.


cheers!

Mine shows 3G/4G. It might be carrier dependant.

Get Dashclock for lockscreen notifications.

Alternatively, you can add the hangouts/messaging widget to the lockscreen.

How do you add one of the widgets (from holding down on main screen) to the lock screen? Or are they just for the icon home screens?

Also, is there a way to add a blank page so you just get the docked icons and then the entire screen free if icons?

At the lockscreen, swipe from left edge of the screen to the right. You will get a new lockscreen space with the "+" icon where you can add widget(s).

I don't think you can have the empty screen, you will need minimum one icon/widget for the screen to remain active.

So, just curious, does anyone have the 16GB Model? Are you happy with it? (I mean as far as having sufficient space for apps) I'm thinking of picking one up to use with Ting (with the 50 bucks I save could go to a more worthwhile tablet), but I'm really hesitant to pull the trigger.

I had the 16GB Nexus 4 and initially the storage was good enough, but once I started loading up heaps of music and games, I was running out of space. 16GB should be fine if you're just going to install apps and selective music.
 

tr4656

Member
So, just curious, does anyone have the 16GB Model? Are you happy with it? (I mean as far as having sufficient space for apps) I'm thinking of picking one up to use with Ting (with the 50 bucks I save could go to a more worthwhile tablet), but I'm really hesitant to pull the trigger.

I have it and its fine. Its not good enough for FLACs so I just listen to music off of Google Music.
 

thespot84

Member
I figured that, problem is i didnt plan ahead and i get my phone today and want to start it up. Can i buy the sim at walmart or tmobile store and then activate it online?

i have a nano and a micro starter kit that I never used (on sale at tmo for $1 way back). Let me know if you want em. would just need to pay shipping - if it's cheaper than walmart
 
My mini-N5 Review

Had the phone for close to a month now. So far so good. Build quality is legit; sure there's no aluminium trim or anything fancy like that, but it's sleek and feels good. Screen size is massive and I can browser comfortably on it. The speed of this phone is insane. Compared to my 2012 N7, this thing blows it away. Never once had any lag. Everything is buttery smooth. Battery life is definitely not for the power user. For the average user it's more than enough. I average about 24 hours of battery life (give or take a few hours) with 4 hours of on screen time. This is with Google Now and NFC off. No issues with the call quality or the speaker. In fact, I think the speaker is surprisingly good. Probably from the fact that it fires downward. On my other Android devices, the speaker always fires from the back, which made no sense to me.

Sorry for the wall of text.

TL:DR - A great phone; especially if you're in the US.

P.S. The $50 cost to upgrade to the 32gb version is well worth it. Some of you may say its not necessary, but if you plan on using this phone for at least a year or more, it's good to have down the line in case your usage changes and you need more storage.
 
Mine shows 3G/4G. It might be carrier dependant.

Get Dashclock for lockscreen notifications.

Alternatively, you can add the hangouts/messaging widget to the lockscreen.



At the lockscreen, swipe from left edge of the screen to the right. You will get a new lockscreen space with the "+" icon where you can add widget(s).

If I swipe from left edge to the right on the lock-screen I get the clock highlighted but there is no + icon. Does it need to be enabled somewhere in a setting first?

EDIT: Ah, its disabled by default. You need to go to Settings > Security and enable it. There is no Hangouts option though, but I can add Timely, which is nice.
 
Can anyone point to a "do not disturb" app that also disables the notification LED? I'm currently using "I'm Sleeping" but that only blocks texts, calls and so on, but not the LED.
 
Can anyone point to a "do not disturb" app that also disables the notification LED? I'm currently using "I'm Sleeping" but that only blocks texts, calls and so on, but not the LED.

Ohh is it like the one built-in to iPhone? So you can set a time From and To where it won't ring etc? Handy as I leave the phone by the bed side at night.
 

Alpende

Member
I've had it for a day or two now and It's lightning fast compared to my three year old Desire HD. I love it. The screen size somewhat bigger and I need to get used to that a bit more.
 
I have a question. I'll be going to France in about a month. I have the new T-mobile Simple Choice Plan with free international data roaming and texting. Do I have to enable the Data Roaming option in the android settings when I get to France?

Edit: I realize it's probablly a "duh" obvious yes, but I'm new to smart phones and I've never traveled internationally with one.
 
I just worked out a couple of cool things (you'll probably all know this but hey!)

1. You can easily add a ringtone to the phone by mounting it on your computer (Mac requires an Android Mac program) and there is a Ringtone and Notifications folder. Add the MP3, change the file name to .ogg and you're done. SO MUCH EASIER than on iPhone, which requires farting about in iTunes.

2. To bring down the quick settings, drag with a finger from the top of the phone then tap the bottom in the top right to get to settings. BUT if you drag with TWO fingers it takes you to that straight away! That's cool :)


So in return for these two amazing discoveries, does anyone know how to turn off the sound that the phone makes when pressing the volume keys? I am not talking about silencing the phone, its the beep beep beep noise it makes when adjusting volume.

Cheers.

Loving this phone, it's really great and Android feels awesome to use to. Dat 5" 1080p kicks ass.
 

Remyzero

Member
Some you may have known but if you swipe the bottom of the notification bar it changes to the statusbar. I find this fun to play with.
 

Halcyon

Member
So I think I want to get a Nexus 5. I just got a nexus 7 and I love it.

My question is that how do I go about doing this with a prepaid service? Can I just buy the phone from the Play Store then find a pre-paid plan for it?
 
So I think I want to get a Nexus 5. I just got a nexus 7 and I love it.

My question is that how do I go about doing this with a prepaid service? Can I just buy the phone from the Play Store then find a pre-paid plan for it?

Well where are you? In the UK you can buy it SIM free from the Google Store and get a SIM plan/pre-paid from any operator.
 

Halcyon

Member
Well where are you? In the UK you can buy it SIM free from the Google Store and get a SIM plan/pre-paid from any operator.

I'm in the US. I just kinda sorta looked into it. The phone seems to be like 360ish then I could get a plan with T-Mobile. The thing is that I don't really want to spend a ton of money on a plan. I would most likely not need many minutes so they have a 30 dollar a month for 100 minutes and unlimited text/data.

I guess i've just never done a prepaid plan and have no idea how to go to them and say "hey i have this here nexus 5, take my money what do I do now" without feeling like a moron.
 
I'm in the US. I just kinda sorta looked into it. The phone seems to be like 360ish then I could get a plan with T-Mobile. The thing is that I don't really want to spend a ton of money on a plan. I would most likely not need many minutes so they have a 30 dollar a month for 100 minutes and unlimited text/data.

I guess i've just never done a prepaid plan and have no idea how to go to them and say "hey i have this here nexus 5, take my money what do I do now" without feeling like a moron.

It's pretty straightforward to do. I'm on at&t gophone and I literally walked into the store with no ID or anything, handed them the phone and paid for my first month. They gave me a sim on the spot, and I was using the phone the minute I walked out of their store. I hadn't even got my Florida driver's license or green card at that point, they seemed perfectly relaxed about giving a sim to someone who was persona non grata so you'd be fine and dandy.

I assume T-Mobile are the same, no need to feel apprehension.
 

Remyzero

Member
5QvkhyG.jpg


Drag down and swipe across the bottom.
 

Remyzero

Member
I do. I never enabled anything that does that but it might be just implemented in GB. Sorry for the confusion but I was pretty surprised when I discovered it.
 

Syriel

Member
I'm in the US. I just kinda sorta looked into it. The phone seems to be like 360ish then I could get a plan with T-Mobile. The thing is that I don't really want to spend a ton of money on a plan. I would most likely not need many minutes so they have a 30 dollar a month for 100 minutes and unlimited text/data.

I guess i've just never done a prepaid plan and have no idea how to go to them and say "hey i have this here nexus 5, take my money what do I do now" without feeling like a moron.

It's stupid simple so long as you stay on the GSM side.

1) Buy unlocked phone (Nexus 5 is that).
2) Buy SIM chip from pre-paid carrier.
3) Activate plan on SIM (semi obvious).
4) Put SIM in phone.
5) Turn it on and you're in business. :)

The $30 plan you reference is pretty awesome, esp since you can do VOIP over the data line and not burn minutes.
 
2. To bring down the quick settings, drag with a finger from the top of the phone then tap the bottom in the top right to get to settings. BUT if you drag with TWO fingers it takes you to that straight away! That's cool :)

Sheeeit, I didn't know about swiping with two fingers, thanks brother!
 
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