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 Android An open source (sort of) operating system designed by Google to run on a a myriad of products that range from phones and tablets to set-top boxes and refrigerators. Android, its competition and stuff you want Right now there are three major players in the mobile space; Google's Android, Apple's iOS and Microsoft's Windows somethingorother. Android allows for greater customization that tailors to the user's preferences but comes at a cost of the OS or apps being unintuitive or just being wonky. Apple's approach is much more structured which leads to high stability and predictability but at a less personal experience. Both have their pros and cons. Windows has squares. One of the biggest draws to Android is its ability to tie directly into all of your favorite Google services like GMail, GCal, Drive, etc for a much more integrated experience. Android also has a fantastic set of sharing API's allowing you to use content however you like; sharing data between apps, sharing content to social media services and sharing content to cloud services all seamlessly. Version history Google names Android releases after things that make you fat in alphabetical order. - 1.0 & 1.1: Android's initial release. - 1.5: Cupcake - 1.6: Donut - 2.0 & 2.1: Eclair - 2.2.x: FroYo - 2.3.x: Gingerbread - 3.x: Honeycomb (Tablet only, what later versions of Android are based on, abandoned) - 4.0.x: Ice Cream Sandwich - 4.1.x / 4.2.x / 4.3.x: Jellybean - 4.4: Kitkat Android and hardware OEM's and the Nexus line Hardware OEM's put their own spin on Android for devices that they sell to consumers. This changes the core Android user experience by generally adding features or changing the overall aesthetic. Sometimes these are good changes with awesome features and sometimes they're poo poo. We complain about them here but don't let that deter you because we're just a bunch of nerds that cry about a pure Android experience. Samsung's spin on Android is TouchWhiz, HTC has Sense, LG failed GUI Design 101, and Motorola tends to leave the majority of things alone. Are these OS changes worse than base Android? Not necessary, you might like the added features. Just use one to see if you like it. In rare instances these OS changes can cause weirdness with apps you find on the Play Store but for the most part it's a non issue. One of the largest downsides to OEM/carrier devices are their slower uptake on Android updates. When Google pushes a new version of Android both the OEM and carrier go through a modification and approval process that can sometimes take a significant amount of time (6+ months). It's worth noting, however, that this matters less and less. As Android evolves Google has divorced many of its services and apps from the core OS and made them available on the Play Store. Nexus devices are phones and tablets sold by Google that has directly partnered with an OEM for this particular device. They are generally refreshed once a year and introduce Google's newest version of Android. They tend to be close in specs to other flagship devices on the market, sold completely unlocked and generally at half the cost of a top tier device from a carrier. Additionally, updates come directly from the horse's mouth, Google, without having to wait around for the OEM or your carrier to approve it. Downsides? Google cut's corners to keep the cost down so flagship devices will generally edge out a Nexus device in terms of camera, battery life or expandable storage/battery. Root and ROM's Root and ROM's allow users to do neat things like ad block at the OS level and dig deeper into the core OS to make system level changes. This involves a fair amount of hackery and nerd talk. You also run the risk of damaging your device and voiding your device's warranty. Play at your own risk. The root/ROM community outside of SA is also horribly infantile and generally insufferable. You can talk about this in SA's own root thread. Addition resources would be XDA and Rootzwiki. Horrible poo poo everyone loves to complain about
Latest and Greatest: KitKat
Misc Resources - SA Tablet Thread - SA Forum Viewer - SA homescreen thread - SA app thread - SA Android games thread - Previous Android phone thread - Google Play Devices you should consider HTC One  Moto X  Droid Maxx  Galaxy S4  Nexus 5  LG G2  Galaxy Note 3  OP note: I don't know why I switch form list to hyphens and don't care enough to fix it. Mod note: If you aren't willing to unroot and un-custom-ROM your phone before asking for help, your question should go to the rooted thread. If you're positive your issue has nothing to do with rooting or your custom ROM, go ahead and post it here. God help you if you're wrong about your custom ROM (or rooting or whatever) not being the issue. Somebody fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Mar 13, 2014 |
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Nov 9, 2013 19:10
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Phones forum poster Doctor rear end in a top hat hates - Currently the LG G2, Galaxy S4 and Note 3. 
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kitten smoothie posted:You've got the right picture there but your link points at last year's model. This is the one you want. Corrected, thanks.
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Nov 9, 2013 21:02
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myron cope posted:And my last question, I see "swipe left" a lot, and it confuses me. Does it mean "swipe from right to left", which would go to the screen to the right? Or "swipe left to right", which would go to the screen to the left? To me, "swipe left" means go right to left, but for some reason I thought the Now screen was to the left of the home screen. On the GE launcher you swipe to the screen to the left of the homescreen to find Google Now. Google Now <-> Homescreen <-> Additional User Created Screens.
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Nov 9, 2013 21:15
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Don't get the Nokia if you have a Nexus 4. It works great on the Nexus 5 and 7 though.
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Nov 12, 2013 00:06
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Aineris posted:Why not for the Nexus 4? All three devices are Qi-compatible aren't they? Yes but the DT900 and N4 just don't play nice with each other. Placing the phone on that particular charger requires pin point precision of a sniper or the phone will just cycle between charging and not eventually running itself out due to awake time. With the 5 and 7 I just slap it on there.
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Nov 12, 2013 00:13
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Mr. Powers posted:Did you end up adding magnets to it? I have 3 on the way and I'd like to try adding them to hold it in my desk while tilted. No but I've been considering it. After a weekend of cats knocking my phone off the charger god drat constantly I figure it would probably help.
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Nov 12, 2013 00:33
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TheBuilder posted:Nostalgia phone chat I still regret selling mine. Loved that thing.
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Nov 12, 2013 16:25
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Vin BioEthanol posted:I pulled out my HTC Wizard last week, unfortunately it still works, What a piece of poo poo phone that was. Sup WinMo slider buddy Had an HTC Herald for awhile. Out of the box you had to kill processes to free up enough RAM to launch the camera. Thankfully it died a horrible death. Closed a car hood on it by accident.
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Nov 12, 2013 17:07
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Tora Tora Torrents posted:So no one else's Nexus 5 is reporting 100% awake? I posted a screenshot earlier. It either says Exchange Services or Mediaserver is keeping the phone awake all of the time. But the battery drain I'm seeing doesn't seem as bad as you would expect 100% awake to be, in fact it's quite good more often than not. Not really, no. Awake time matches up for me. I don't have Exchange on my phone though.  *excuse the terrible battery life. I get 1-2 bars of service at work with no WiFi. Everything I bring here dies in 8-10 hours. Maker Of Shoes fucked around with this message at 20:05 on Nov 12, 2013 |
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Nov 12, 2013 19:45
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CloFan posted:Nice huge battery image! Link that poo poo or resize Sorry, I had it in 'timg' tags instead of using l.jpg. Fixed. Old habits die hard.
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Nov 12, 2013 20:06
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spog posted:
Long press it in the notification shade to find out.
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Nov 12, 2013 21:08
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Civil posted:I'm not sure how anyone could recommend anything but yellow accents. This. Carbon back, black front, yellow accents. Because I  the hell out of anything.
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Nov 13, 2013 20:14
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google.com/contacts Make sure you have him in there with associated contact information. Then when you're on the phone open up the google contact for him and hit Menu -> Join to combine straggler information that may be present.
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Nov 13, 2013 20:17
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Internet Explorer posted:This is driving me crazy as well. I don't like that Google Now is always the first thing to the left. Use Nova
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Nov 14, 2013 04:30
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Damiya posted:I have no idea how you take something as core as SMS and completely gently caress it up from a UX experience but well done Google. Ugh. Why not just install a different SMS app if you're having such an issue with Hangouts? Takes like five seconds.
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Nov 14, 2013 06:03
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Don Lapre posted:So google+ new auto awesome videos, loving crazy. That is really drat cool. I need to start taking more pictures and video. I've never really bothered because I'm less than creative when it comes to editing but if Google is going to do it for me than it's win win.
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Nov 14, 2013 18:49
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ThermoPhysical posted:https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images Just a reminder for people not wanting to wait for the OTA and don't mind getting their hands dirty; You can no-wipe flash bits of these for the same effect as an OTA. (assuming you unlocked your bootloader already) - unpack the next thing I don't remember the file extension of -- this should leave you with various .img files, put them in your adb/fastboot folder on your computer -- put the phone into bootloader mode -- using fastboot flash each image except userdata. --- eg 'fastboot flash [partition] [filename] --- eg 'fastboot flash system system.img' Holy poo poo that's the long way around. Just use the -w flag in the flash-all bat. Read me for nerd poo poo. Or you could wait for the OTA like a non crazy person. edit: vvvvvv fuckin 
Maker Of Shoes fucked around with this message at 21:45 on Nov 14, 2013 |
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Nov 14, 2013 21:40
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Jerk McJerkface posted:Here's my auto-awesome, my two year old doing dinosaur walk. Look at it and do not feel mirth, I dare you. This is awesome. The border is kind of in the way a bit but for the most part it looks like a human edited that.
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Nov 15, 2013 02:00
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FogHelmut posted:Why does Hangouts want my phone number if it's not really using it? I mean, I noticed because I am on Google Voice, which I know is not integrated. It's going to eventually use Voice which is why it needs your number. Currently it doesn't actually need your number but it's part of the set up process at the moment.
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Nov 15, 2013 16:49
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api call girl posted:So my N4 bumper just cracked (that little area around the USB socket). What's a good low profile thing I can get for the N4 for a few months before I finally crack myself and get a N5? Diztronic
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Nov 16, 2013 22:35
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Sony doesn't really market much in the US. The xperia line is half way decent these days.
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Nov 16, 2013 23:20
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dissss posted:Eh I thought the Diztronic on the N4 kind of sucked Sounds like yours had a poor. It should be fairly tight.
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Nov 16, 2013 23:59
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Soooooo ART seems to break the gently caress out of GPS on my Nexus 5. The phone is currently rooted with a settings.db fix to address tethering. With ART actual GPS is dead and the phone bounces around trying to lock on aGPS. Switch to Dalvik, reboot and BAM instant GPS lock with 10+ satellites. Switch back to ART, back to aGPS bouncing. I really really doubt the settings.db line item I added is loving with ART and GPS but I don't have much on the phone right now and am going to try and flash the factory image and try GPS on ART again. A few of my nerd buddies with N5's aren't having the issue. Can anyone here confirm?
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Nov 17, 2013 18:45
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Mr. Powers posted:I can confirm that ART is experimental at this point and caused odd problems for me. I don't think it's expected to be usable for daily use yet and was in the ROM as a developer option. Which is what I'm thinking as well, just curious if the problem was common with ART.
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Nov 17, 2013 19:23
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Ashex posted:Is anyone having an issue with Share going straight to Hangouts instead of giving you a selection of apps? This keeps happening when I want to share something from G+ Photos or Youtube. This is on the Nexus 5. I'm having the exact same problem except it always goes to G+. I had to wipe to do some root fuckery and the problem went away but I have a feeling it will come back in some weird way.
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Nov 18, 2013 03:15
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Ashex posted:Well poo poo, it's happening in pretty much all apps now. Tried resetting default for G+ and Hangouts with no change. Well ain't that cute.
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Nov 18, 2013 07:46
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Scipio Africanus posted:My Nexus 4 has been perpetually crashing since I did the Google Search and Keyboard updates that came out a few days ago. Fine for about half a day, then everything crashes, including System UI and the crash handler. I first noticed it when I overslept because the Clock app crashed overnight. A reboot fixes it for about twelve hours, I think I'll tough it out until 4.4 is officially released and do a full wipe then. If you're going to do a full wipe than just fastboot flash the 4.4 N4 image. It's official and out. https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images
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Nov 18, 2013 22:48
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Wow, an argument so stupid it's listed in the OP.
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Nov 19, 2013 15:46
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Kreeblah posted:So, apparently Kitkat is rolling out for the Moto X starting today. Not just soaking, but the full rollout. On Verizon. The four horsemen are nigh. 
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Nov 19, 2013 18:47
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Wow, that user title was fast.
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Nov 19, 2013 19:55
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Hadlock posted:Is there a way to side load the 4.3 SMS app and 4.x Google Talk app on to the Nexus 5 (or insert best Hangouts workaround here) Install a different SMS app (Textra,Slide,whatever). Go to your phone settings, click more then change the default texting app. Done.
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Nov 19, 2013 23:03
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nm
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Nov 19, 2013 23:15
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ThermoPhysical posted:Wonder if the N4 will get the ota if you just did it via factory images... Depends on when you grabbed the image. The images were pushed to AOSP and the images a few hours ago.
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Nov 20, 2013 06:17
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:That's a pretty big drawback for a phone. That's daily driver material around these parts, mister.
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Nov 26, 2013 07:24
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$150 dollar discount on any off contract Moto X this Monday. https://plus.google.com/+Motorola/posts/7pBuo1GaxKu
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Nov 27, 2013 18:41
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Doctor rear end in a top hat posted:Anand and Brian of AnandTech wrote an article about some of our favorite things to argue about. I think it would be nice if the OP linked to it. Done.
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Nov 27, 2013 21:03
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LastInLine posted:I just got a notice in the mail for a class action settlement for the LG G2x. That's how bad that phone was. loving
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Nov 27, 2013 22:17
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Slimchandi posted:I'm fed up of the problems with bluetooth with 4.4, is there a simple way to downgrade my Nexus 4 back to 4.3? https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images Flash 4.3 directly. You will have a constant notification to update. Alternatively, you can do a full ROM install of something like CyanogenMod and use a 10.2 build (which is Android 4.3) and just not update it ever.
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Nov 28, 2013 00:07
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api call girl posted:When I got my N5 it put quite literally everything back on, including games I didn't have on my N4 but did have on my N7. This is something I run into frequently and it's never consistent. Sometimes restores work great, sometimes it restores apps from a different device, sometimes it just doesn't do it at all.
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Nov 30, 2013 19:12
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| # ¿ May 2, 2024 10:49 |
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Decius posted:Anyone know what "sensors.qcom" is, which some days takes up to 15 % of my battery power (especially if I don't use my phone much over the day) on my Nexus 5? I'd guess something to do with Qualcomm from the name, but googling doesn't bring up much either: Are you running a live wallpaper? I've seen LWP's that use the gyroscope/compass pop that in the battery graph before.
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Dec 2, 2013 17:16
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