Sheikah Posted September 13, 2016 Posted September 13, 2016 (edited) Honestly this is why I hate Android. Fractured device base, third party OS interference, lack of support for specific issues. Sometimes when you have a problem, you're just fucked because some update to the OS has changed things beyond your control. My friend's phone has only about 200MB worth of apps, pictures and other manageable data. She's removed most apps to try and save space, but it still won't let her download and install any more. She's managed to move two or three to the SD card (audible and a couple of similar apps). 5GB+ of the onboard storage is taken up by misc system data. The rest is the OS. It can't be browsed or cleared. You can't even fit on the software needed if you want to root the phone to fix the problem manually. Pretty much her only option is to wipe the phone. I know iPhones are overpriced and too trendy, that a lot of people gravitate towards them for the wrongs reasons. That many things they do in their OS are well behind Android. But this kind of crap just doesn't happen with them.... I think there might be some apps on the store that can help clean up system data (or at least identify what is doing it). It's weird, the reasons you give for not liking android are similar to the ones I have for disliking Apple. Putting aside design, price and generally low spec for the money, I had software problems with my 3GS - apps like Tunein simply stopped working properly after OS updates, not even too long after it had been replaced. Since going Android I've never had any problems like that. Edited September 13, 2016 by Sheikah
Shorty Posted September 13, 2016 Posted September 13, 2016 Probably because you buy good Android devices. I own a Nexus 7 and it's an amazing piece of kit, don't have a problem with it. Convinced my Mum to get a Nexus 4 and later a 5X. All still running swimmingly. But so many friends and family have issues with their mid or low budget Android devices and whenever I go to fix them, it's always a new looking version of the OS with a different menu etc, and often support for their device is outdated or simply non-existent. The 3GS was 7 years ago, from the 5 onwards I think you'll find iPhones are infinitely more futureproof as hardware capability has begun to plateau against software requirements.
Mr_Odwin Posted September 13, 2016 Posted September 13, 2016 (You may have already tried this Shorty.) Often you can tinker more with the onboard storage if you plug it into a computer. Then you'll be able to track down the misc data.
Ike Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 Google seems to have stealth released live cases in the UK, https://store.google.com/product/photos_live_case.
Ike Posted May 13, 2020 Posted May 13, 2020 More of a rant about Google than Android but it turns out they are killing off Google Play Music and pushing people to YouTube Music which requires a sub to be able to play in the background. I upload my own rips so I can play them from the cloud without having to download them all the time. Maybe I'll go back to using an MP3 player... And they are killing off Hangouts and Cloud Print, getting tired of Google killing off services. 3
Julius Posted May 13, 2020 Posted May 13, 2020 3 minutes ago, Ike said: And they are killing off Hangouts and Cloud Print, getting tired of Google killing off services. Don't worry, Stadia will probably be next, if that makes you feel any better
Ike Posted May 13, 2020 Posted May 13, 2020 20 minutes ago, Julius said: Don't worry, Stadia will probably be next, if that makes you feel any better Not really these services were actually useful. Stadia was marked for death the moment it was announced.
Sheikah Posted May 13, 2020 Posted May 13, 2020 More of a rant about Google than Android but it turns out they are killing off Google Play Music and pushing people to YouTube Music which requires a sub to be able to play in the background. I upload my own rips so I can play them from the cloud without having to download them all the time. Maybe I'll go back to using an MP3 player... And they are killing off Hangouts and Cloud Print, getting tired of Google killing off services.Are you talking about the regular YouTube app? Because you can install the unofficial app YouTube Vanced, which has background play and no ads.
Ike Posted May 13, 2020 Posted May 13, 2020 29 minutes ago, Sheikah said: 1 hour ago, Ike said: More of a rant about Google than Android but it turns out they are killing off Google Play Music and pushing people to YouTube Music which requires a sub to be able to play in the background. I upload my own rips so I can play them from the cloud without having to download them all the time. Maybe I'll go back to using an MP3 player... And they are killing off Hangouts and Cloud Print, getting tired of Google killing off services. Are you talking about the regular YouTube app? Because you can install the unofficial app YouTube Vanced, which has background play and no ads. No, there's a separate app for music that will let you upload and play your own files. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.youtube.music Unless there's an unofficial version of that.
bob Posted May 13, 2020 Posted May 13, 2020 Yeah I'm reluctant to use any google apps because of the threat they'll fold them at any point.I think the only one i properly use is Gmail, so fingers crossed they don't get bored of that soon.
Sheikah Posted May 13, 2020 Posted May 13, 2020 1 hour ago, bob said: Yeah I'm reluctant to use any google apps because of the threat they'll fold them at any point. I think the only one i properly use is Gmail, so fingers crossed they don't get bored of that soon. I think Gmail is probably pretty safe, as is Sheets, Drive, Play Store, Maps and YouTube, just because of their popularity. Anything else though feels like fair game.
bob Posted May 13, 2020 Posted May 13, 2020 I think Gmail is probably pretty safe, as is Sheets, Drive, Play Store, Maps and YouTube, just because of their popularity. Anything else though feels like fair game.I use Maps, YouTube and Drive occasionally to transfer files, but i Gmail is the only one where i would lose a lot of stuff if they stopped it. I don't have anything stored in any of the others. I agree though, those aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
killthenet Posted May 13, 2020 Posted May 13, 2020 I've used Google Play Music daily since its launch in 2011 so I've been dreading its demise since they launched Youtube Music. Didn't even occur to me that you lose a lot of the functionality by virtue of not having a premium subscription, seems absurd that you can't multitask unless you're paying for the privilege. I am a subscriber myself so that issue won't affect me but I'll be clinging on to Play Music until the very end. I would be crippled if they ever got rid of Drive, I should probably look for alternatives to all the Google services I use to be honest its starting to really bother me how much data they have on me.
Ashley Posted May 13, 2020 Posted May 13, 2020 3 hours ago, bob said: Yeah I'm reluctant to use any google apps because of the threat they'll fold them at any point. I think the only one i properly use is Gmail, so fingers crossed they don't get bored of that soon. No, down with Gmail and up with Inbox!
Ike Posted May 17, 2020 Posted May 17, 2020 Did some digging and apparently you can play your uploads in the background. https://support.google.com/youtubemusic/answer/9716522 Quote You can play uploaded songs in the background, ad-free and offline - even if you are not currently a YouTube Music Premium subscriber. You can also cast uploaded content, or play it from smart speakers and Sonos. Guess I got caught up in people's knee jerk reactions who didn't actually know this. Still, I'll wait until I can transfer my library until making any further judgement. Although I was eyeing up getting a Sony NW-A55L https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07X3XD1BW/ MP3 player which seems quite nice.
Charlie Posted May 19, 2020 Posted May 19, 2020 On 5/13/2020 at 12:55 PM, Julius said: Don't worry, Stadia will probably be next, if that makes you feel any better Stadia will be supported for years to come. Developers simply wouldn't have got on-board with it without an agreement from Google that it wouldn't be discontinued if it didn't do well in the first few years. There's a huge difference between Stadia and other services that got canned in the past. Stadia was/is a huge project team with a huge infrastructure behind it. A lot of the services that were cancelled were very small teams and didn't drive any revenue or any meaningful advertising capabilities.
Happenstance Posted May 19, 2020 Posted May 19, 2020 I think Google will support Stadia in the weakest way possible, just to fulfill whatever promises they have made. You already hear next to nothing about it and it just had it’s full launch.
Julius Posted May 20, 2020 Posted May 20, 2020 23 hours ago, Charlie said: Stadia will be supported for years to come. Developers simply wouldn't have got on-board with it without an agreement from Google that it wouldn't be discontinued if it didn't do well in the first few years. There's a huge difference between Stadia and other services that got canned in the past. Stadia was/is a huge project team with a huge infrastructure behind it. A lot of the services that were cancelled were very small teams and didn't drive any revenue or any meaningful advertising capabilities. Yeah...that was a totally tongue in cheek jest based on how we've seen them support it so far. In all seriousness, though, I do agree with @Happenstance. They're already showing minimal support for it. Stadia is a front for them to get things in place for the future, but the tech and support clearly isn't there (yet) from them. I expect a major relaunch, and probably even a rebrand, in 5-10 years when streaming games (as well as advertised) becomes an achievable reality. Google can then also turn around and give us the whole "from our decade of experience in streaming games, blah blah blah" marketing speak.
Rummy Posted September 26, 2020 Posted September 26, 2020 Here to show my absolute LACK of appreciate for Android and hackers helping root/custom ROM them(trying to freshen up an old galaxy tab). Had about 10-20 diff tutorials and this constantly sticking point - til finally found someone with the same problem as me - all the fucking tutorials don't always tell you the right buttons to press and they do different bloody things! I am gonna be so satisfied if I manage to actually get this working- already bricked once because I got overexcited and did the wrong thing too early now I'm on a whole other page flashing a whole other stock ROM! You'd think with computers so able and capable to do stuff at the clock of a button these days and connected to tinternets it could all just zip it through for you...-.-
killthenet Posted December 16, 2020 Posted December 16, 2020 I've been dreading the day all year but I have finally lost access to Google Play Music. I had been holding on to the vain hope that the app would still function, allowing me to just play the music I had saved on my phone, but that was not the case - the app just deleted my downloaded playlists and ceased functioning so I will have to start using YouTube Music from now on. Not happy about it at all but at least they've patched it so that your activity on YouTube Music doesn't clog up your watch history on YouTube, who on earth thought it was ever a good idea to combine the two?
Mr_Odwin Posted December 17, 2020 Posted December 17, 2020 16 hours ago, killthenet said: I've been dreading the day all year but I have finally lost access to Google Play Music. I had been holding on to the vain hope that the app would still function, allowing me to just play the music I had saved on my phone, but that was not the case - the app just deleted my downloaded playlists and ceased functioning so I will have to start using YouTube Music from now on. Not happy about it at all but at least they've patched it so that your activity on YouTube Music doesn't clog up your watch history on YouTube, who on earth thought it was ever a good idea to combine the two? I just want an option/tab for YT Music & Uploads combined, then it'd be bearable. That was the original draw to me for google music. Kinda baffling that after all of the negative feedback they've had for this that they've not added that simple option. Typical google though, they'll probably release another alternative app in a couple of months.
Cube Posted December 17, 2020 Posted December 17, 2020 Mine also completely stopped the other day. An option to combine Streaming & Uploaded music (for searches, auto lists and stuff) would be the main thing for me as well @Mr_Odwin Oh, and having an interface that doesn't hurt my eyes (dark mode is pure evil) would be nice.
nightwolf Posted March 1, 2021 Posted March 1, 2021 Resurrection! I am finally in for a new mobile, but honestly, I'm fairly clueless and my needs are superficial. If anyone fancies indulging me to give me some pointers. For perspective I've been rocking the Samsung S8 for well over a year now. From less superficial to the stupidly so: It has to be android. Hence why I'm in here I need it to be fairly up to date security wise (so ideally after buying second hand for a while I'd like fairly new!) I have fairly small hands, whilst I use a popsocket, phones that are practically a tablet are out I'd like a decent camera, I document a fair amount. Honestly if I could get a phone that has easy access to "pretty" phone cases, that'll help too. It doesn't need to have a huge amount of space, I find it very rare that I reach the limit on most phones nowadays. I also am not overly picky where its sold from as long as its easy to get a hold of. Anyone fancy helping a complete noob out?
Ashley Posted March 1, 2021 Posted March 1, 2021 7 minutes ago, nightwolf said: Resurrection! I am finally in for a new mobile, but honestly, I'm fairly clueless and my needs are superficial. If anyone fancies indulging me to give me some pointers. For perspective I've been rocking the Samsung S8 for well over a year now. From less superficial to the stupidly so: It has to be android. Hence why I'm in here I need it to be fairly up to date security wise (so ideally after buying second hand for a while I'd like fairly new!) I have fairly small hands, whilst I use a popsocket, phones that are practically a tablet are out I'd like a decent camera, I document a fair amount. Honestly if I could get a phone that has easy access to "pretty" phone cases, that'll help too. It doesn't need to have a huge amount of space, I find it very rare that I reach the limit on most phones nowadays. I also am not overly picky where its sold from as long as its easy to get a hold of. Anyone fancy helping a complete noob out? I'm slightly biased as its all I've used for years but Googles Pixel line perhaps? The ones that end with A are generally smaller and cheaper to buy outright. Plus Google guarantee at least 2 years of updates and I think maybe slightly longer for security updates? The newest one is the Pixel 4A and a new Pixel 5A is likely to be released in about 3 months time if you're not in a huge rush (although last year's model got delayed a fair bit because of Covid so who knows if the usual schedule is out of whack now). I quite like the fabric cases they do too, feels nice and also makes the phone feel more secure in your hand. 1
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