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Smythe
Oct 12, 2003
Messaging on Android is a loving tragedy, and it's the most important part of a cell phone. Insanely hosed up. See: my insane rant a few pages ago about this

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dissss
Nov 10, 2007

I'm a terrible forums poster with terrible opinions.

Here's a cat fucking a squid.

Smythe posted:

Messaging on Android is a loving tragedy, and it's the most important part of a cell phone. Insanely hosed up. See: my insane rant a few pages ago about this

Having been back and forth between Android and iOS a few times the messaging situation is exactly equivalent on both platforms - either way you need half a dozen apps installed if you want to talk to everyone.

bull3964
Nov 18, 2000

DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.


I don't really have any contacts using iPhones so it's not like me switching to iMessage would solve anything for me.

Anyways, my contact list has amongst exclusively switched to chat from hangouts now so we're pretty good for the next 5 years until Google decides to do something else.

Smythe
Oct 12, 2003

bull3964 posted:

I don't really have any contacts using iPhones so it's not like me switching to iMessage would solve anything for me.

how is this possible. id wager 4 out of 5 ppl i know are iphone ppl lol. only iconoclastic misanthropes (me), conspiracy theorists (also me), and 900 year old boomers (soon to be me) have "green bubbles."

bull3964
Nov 18, 2000

DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.


Just is, we're all mid to late 30s and early 40s. Many have had iPhone at one point or another, but pretty much all have switched permanently back to android.

My sister has an iPhone and we have one other flip flopper in our friend group (but she's in our Google Chat room regardless.)

That's it, two contacts. Moving to iMessage would make my life more difficult.

I mean, don't forget, iOS is still the minority mobile OS in the US even if it is higher than other countries.

bull3964 fucked around with this message at 03:38 on Apr 7, 2021

dissss
Nov 10, 2007

I'm a terrible forums poster with terrible opinions.

Here's a cat fucking a squid.

Smythe posted:

how is this possible. id wager 4 out of 5 ppl i know are iphone ppl lol. only iconoclastic misanthropes (me), conspiracy theorists (also me), and 900 year old boomers (soon to be me) have "green bubbles."

In my experience it's only boomers that use SMS/iMessage at all - everyone else moved on years ago.

CLAM DOWN
Feb 13, 2007




dissss posted:

In my experience it's only boomers that use SMS/iMessage at all - everyone else moved on years ago.

SMS is the norm/default here, by far.

cage-free egghead
Mar 8, 2004
Just tell everyone to use Signal always and forever.

Uthor
Jul 9, 2006

Gummy Bear Heaven ... It's where I go when the world is too mean.

Smythe posted:

how is this possible. id wager 4 out of 5 ppl i know are iphone ppl lol. only iconoclastic misanthropes (me), conspiracy theorists (also me), and 900 year old boomers (soon to be me) have "green bubbles."

I feel like it's a nerd/engineering thing, but all my friends and basically everyone I've worked with not in sales ran Android. My sis and her family are Galaxy users, not sure why (I think it started with them being cheaper about ten years ago). I tried getting my mom an iPhone, but she balked at the price and got a Moto. Otherwise, I have a handful of cousins on iOS (we mostly SMS).

I finally got an iPad after 10 years of Android tablets (Asus Eee Pad Transformer!) and it's fairly nice as a tablet for reading comics, but I feel completely lost navigating the OS, making me not really consider switching my phone. I'd love the (supposed) longevity of the hardware and OS updates.

For hosed up communication, most of my friends keep in touch via a private forum we created 10 years ago. :D

a helpful bear
Aug 18, 2004

Slippery Tilde
I am pseudo-regretting not convincing the Google chat support guy to let me mail my Pixel 4 XL (launch, salmon/orange) that had battery issues last Tuesday. He convinced me taking it locally would be faster, which is probably normally true. I left it with the second-closest ubreakifix store (official Google extended warranty shop!) that is 35-40 minutes away on Friday evening and they've had multiple problems getting it into the system and then replacing the battery. That's not to say the issues were their fault at all. First problem was that I have a protection plan on the phone that kept overriding the extended warranty in the system and they finally gave up and just decided to figure it out later while taking my phone and noting on the receipt that it's under warranty. Second issue was that apparently the only battery they had in stock to replace the bad battery was also bad, and so they ordered a new one.

I called yesterday and today to check in to see if it's nearing completion, (only because they said it would "definitely be ready" each of those days) and it looks like I'll finally have it back. It looks like I'll be able to get it tomorrow, which is great. In the mean time I would've not had any phone except my Pixel 2 XL that has been sitting in a drawer since October 2019 had a 78% charge remaining and has been a reliable little workhorse. I do miss face unlock and wireless charging!

I'm giving Google until Black Friday after they announce the P6 to see if it's worth upgrading, then I may have to just go P5 to get away from the power/battery issues of the 4.

Smythe
Oct 12, 2003

cage-free egghead posted:

Just tell everyone to use Signal always and forever.

yea bro i agree but try getting normies to install a, uh, *checks notes* like 100 mb app that takes 3 seconds to install. its loving impossible. no problem of course with my Gamer Friends, attorneys, and internet psychos but outside that?

deong
Jun 13, 2001

I'll see you in heck!

Smythe posted:

yea bro i agree but try getting normies to install a, uh, *checks notes* like 100 mb app that takes 3 seconds to install. its loving impossible. no problem of course with my Gamer Friends, attorneys, and internet psychos but outside that?

Who else do you even know?!
I use like 10 chat apps. I don't much mind. Hangouts is my main but gently caress it.

codo27
Apr 21, 2008

Tragic is the loving samsung app that has far too little personalization options. I mean how hard is it to let you change the color of the chat bubbles. You used to be able to do that in their older app. Thats all I want really, let me customize everything how I like. But nope. Its no wonder though on samsung because they just wanna be apple so of course they dont want to let you change anything.

cage-free egghead
Mar 8, 2004
Just use Textra?

codo27
Apr 21, 2008

Of course, certain things will stop working if I move away from the samsung app.

cage-free egghead
Mar 8, 2004

codo27 posted:

Of course, certain things will stop working if I move away from the samsung app.

What certain things does it do that any other messaging app couldn’t? Other than let you use comic sans for the font.

ThermoPhysical
Dec 26, 2007



I finally got my SO to switch to Telegram after literally 6 years of SMS and 4 months of RCS. Instant messaging is superior by far.

My mother quickly learned how to use Duo on my old Pixel 2 XL. She still doesn't get texting but she prefers video calls now.

bull3964 posted:

My sister has an iPhone and we have one other flip flopper in our friend group (but she's in our Google Chat room regardless.)

I misinterpreted this as one of your friends still had a flip phone but still used Google Chat anyway.

I was very confused.

Computer viking
May 30, 2011
Now with less breakage.

Somehow I don't regularly talk to any iPhone users. It's not a country thing either, there seems to be a fair number of Norwegian iPhone buyers.

As is, I have set signal as my default sms app, so that does at least merge those two streams. Most of the rest are WhatsApp.

Of course, there are outliers, like the one guy I have on hangouts text (who I assume will have to sms me now), the one group at work that uses Slack, the gaming discord we only use a weekend every year, and steam chat.

Maybe I should just try to move everyone to Steam chat. I wonder if the android app lets you voice chat?

CoolRanch
Apr 5, 2019
Is whatsapp telegram etc just for chatting with people in different countries? Outside of fb messenger and sms I've never needed to change it up.

aparmenideanmonad
Jan 28, 2004
Balls to you and your way of mortal opinions - you don't exist anyway!
Fun Shoe

CoolRanch posted:

Is whatsapp telegram etc just for chatting with people in different countries? Outside of fb messenger and sms I've never needed to change it up.
I got turned on to WhatsApp by international friends in grad school, then ditched it for Signal when it got bought by Facebook.

I know Google has all my data at this point but, rationally or irrationally, I'm way more OK with them having it than Facebook. I dumped my account last year (lovely Trumpist relatives are finally good for something) and have never had any of their apps installed on any of my phones. I just have a visceral reaction to how gross and shameless they are about data usage and user manipulation.

Computer viking
May 30, 2011
Now with less breakage.

Facebook messenger is not equally popular everywhere. I'm one of the weird tech nerds who has never had a Facebook account, and there are a few others who don't use Facebook among the people I talk to.

WhatsApp is owned by FB now, but it is still entirely independent of their account system, so you can just install the app, and it will automatically match your contacts list against their servers, and then you can immediately talk to anyone you know who uses it. It's quite popular in some random selections of countries, sort of like how iMessage is disproportionally popular in the US. I'm not entirely comfortable with the Facebook link, but they claim to share much less data between the two sides in Europe than in the US. I don't entirely believe them, but it'd be really expensive for them to get caught lying about it. Also, I don't really want to try moving my family off of it if I don't have to.

I use Signal as a nice alternative to the stock sms app - much like iMessage, it automatically upgrades if the person you talk to also uses it, while the sms/mms fallback is no better or worse than any other messenger. There is also a desktop client that I haven't tried, but it sounds like it could be nice. (I wonder if they're planning to support RCS?)

Computer viking fucked around with this message at 01:03 on Apr 8, 2021

repiv
Aug 13, 2009

Good news Signal lovers, they're pivoting to cryptocurrency and it's definitely not a cash grab by the founders

https://www.stephendiehl.com/blog/signal.html

Mister Speaker
May 8, 2007

WE WILL CONTROL
ALL THAT YOU SEE
AND HEAR
Anyone here use AirDroid for transferring photos and stuff wirelessly between phone/computer? It's stopped working for me; my phone shows up as 'Offline' now and I can't figure out why. Is there a better app or solution for this? I don't want to go back to using Drive to send myself memes like a loving neanderthal. Cheers!

FunOne
Aug 20, 2000
I am a slimey vat of concentrated stupidity

Fun Shoe

repiv posted:

Good news Signal lovers, they're pivoting to cryptocurrency and it's definitely not a cash grab by the founders

https://www.stephendiehl.com/blog/signal.html

Yeah, this is weird. Tons of people want a stories clone, which is trivial to implement, but let's roll out a crypto system first.

As I've mentioned last time this came up, I burned my political capital a while back to switch my groups to WhatsApp. I don't like the FB ownership, but the app is fine and works equally well on iOS and Android. And more of my friends already had it than I expected.

ClassActionFursuit
Mar 15, 2006

aparmenideanmonad posted:

I just have a visceral reaction to how gross and shameless they are about data usage and user manipulation.

I swear you commit one genocide and people hold it against you forever.

Mister Speaker posted:

Anyone here use AirDroid for transferring photos and stuff wirelessly between phone/computer? It's stopped working for me; my phone shows up as 'Offline' now and I can't figure out why. Is there a better app or solution for this? I don't want to go back to using Drive to send myself memes like a loving neanderthal. Cheers!

Join? Pushbullet?

codo27
Apr 21, 2008

cage-free egghead posted:

What certain things does it do that any other messaging app couldn’t? Other than let you use comic sans for the font.

Auto filling 2FA codes via sms is one off the top of my head, I feel like maybe Your Phone on computer stops working right as well if I change text apps? There were a couple of things that made me go back to it.

ilmucche
Mar 16, 2016

Don't know if this is an android question so much as a general phone question but would an upgrade in towers lead to a phone not being able to connect to 4g bands?

My old phone can pick up 4g when I'm out in less developed areas but in the middle of my city I can't pick it up. In my house as well a friend can pick up 4g on the same network while I can barely scrape 3g

codo27
Apr 21, 2008

GSMArena will tell you the bands your phone supports, carriers website will say what it requires, the site I use to find towers and what they do is Canadian so just google tower locator or whatever and find what frequency the tower in question operates at

bull3964
Nov 18, 2000

DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.


Yeah, depends on carrier and phone.

If you previously had LTE access in a location before, it's possible that they moved to a different band to free up spectrum for 5g and maybe your phone doesn't support that band.

If you never had connectivity at that spot, then LTE was likely on a band that your phone didn't support from the start.

ilmucche
Mar 16, 2016

Ok looks like the LTE bands my phone likes aren't here, but my 2 previous networks used HSPA+ or something which makes it like 4G but my new operator doesn't do that.

Still weird as the new operator looks like they use the same bands in town as where I work but I pull 4G at work.

Probably just going to buy a new phone rather than try and figure it out.

CLAM DOWN
Feb 13, 2007




CoolRanch posted:

Is whatsapp telegram etc just for chatting with people in different countries? Outside of fb messenger and sms I've never needed to change it up.

Nothing to do with different countries. WhatsApp is the primary messaging tool for people here. SMS is secondary. No one here uses Telegram, and I have a single friend who uses Signal. No one uses FB messenger.

ClassActionFursuit
Mar 15, 2006

codo27 posted:

Auto filling 2FA codes via sms is one off the top of my head, I feel like maybe Your Phone on computer stops working right as well if I change text apps? There were a couple of things that made me go back to it.

Google Messages does the 2FA thing, though obviously 2FA over SMS should be avoided. I don't know exactly what Your Phone is as I don't use Windows but of course the Messages for Web PWA works just fine.

UnfortunateSexFart
May 18, 2008

𒃻 𒌓ð’‰𒋫 𒆷ð’€𒅅𒆷
𒆠𒂖 𒌉 𒌫 ð’®𒈠𒈾𒅗 𒂉 𒉡𒌒𒂉𒊑


Just wanted to share this photo from my s21 ultra, because I took it at night and it somehow looks like this

Sir Sidney Poitier
Aug 14, 2006

My favourite actor


Occasionally when I'm listening to something via bluetooth, my phone decides it's time to reset the volume and reinstate the warning about listening at more than a certain percentage. The effect being I'm driving along and suddenly my music goes very quiet. Does anyone know of a way to stop this? I'm on a Oneplus 6T on 10.3.9.

fourwood
Sep 9, 2001

Damn I'll bring them to their knees.

UnfortunateSexFart posted:

Just wanted to share this photo from my s21 ultra, because I took it at night and it somehow looks like this


Sydney?

Also wtf Samsung, at least try to make it look like it’s night mode or whatever.

ClassActionFursuit
Mar 15, 2006

Sir Sidney Poitier posted:

Occasionally when I'm listening to something via bluetooth, my phone decides it's time to reset the volume and reinstate the warning about listening at more than a certain percentage. The effect being I'm driving along and suddenly my music goes very quiet. Does anyone know of a way to stop this? I'm on a Oneplus 6T on 10.3.9.

Leave Europe?

BurritoJustice
Oct 9, 2012

UnfortunateSexFart posted:

Just wanted to share this photo from my s21 ultra, because I took it at night and it somehow looks like this



Hello fellow Aussie s21u owner, lovely pic

Have you had any issues with heat/perf with the Exynos s21u? I've had mine overheat twice now and it's getting annoying

Sir Bobert Fishbone
Jan 16, 2006

Beebort
Pixel 5A has apparently been cancelled

FistEnergy
Nov 3, 2000

DAY CREW: WORKING HARD

Fun Shoe
Ooof that really sucks. Would have been a great sequel to the best Pixel phone ever.

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blunt
Jul 7, 2005


Well there goes my upgrade plan.

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