All things related to Android phones & tablets

Yeah, it's more whatsapp & SMS that I need. I know google bring bring contacts etc.. will it automatically do apps?
 
technics100 said:
Yeah, it's more whatsapp & SMS that I need. I know google bring bring contacts etc.. will it automatically do apps?
Click to expand...
Speaking of Whatsapp, which I only use for a couple of people, I mostly use Telegram messenger. It has over 100 million users. And has many advantages. Continue your chats across PC (win/mac/linux) and mobile devices, and see the full chat history everywhere. In a browser too. So you don't exclude friends because they don't have a smartphone. As well as private groups, you can have public groups and broadcast groups. You can have self destruct messages and secret chats. And you can politely invite people to join a group rather than thrusting a person directly into a group. Useful as people are quite sensitive about where they suddenly appear. Telegram is free and open source with no adverts.

telegram-logo.png
FAQ

Messengers: One of the good thing about most messenger programs is that you don't have to join. And with Telegram you don't even have to install anything if you use it via a web browser. You just need a mobile number from any provider. This means you can include anyone, on any network, in any country. This is worlds apart from some social networks that limit messages to a single network. Forcing people to join that network, thus exposing themselves to that network if they just want to join in a conversation. If those social networks made mobile phones, you'd only be able to call people on that one network.
 
Last edited:
I'm pleased that you started this thread @stupar and have mentioned tablets as well as 'phones.
I have just persuaded the wife to buy me the el-cheapo Amazon Fire 7" @29.99 for Christmas.
I didn't want to spend too much on an android tablet as it's likely that I'll brick it.
So far so good and I've loaded a different flash image and only the applications that I want or will use.
I'm sure that I will have android related questions that you "old-hands" will be able to answer as I only have one day's
experience with this o/S and there's much I don't yet understand.
 
mbscad said:
I'm pleased that you started this thread @stupar and have mentioned tablets as well as 'phones.
I have just persuaded the wife to buy me the el-cheapo Amazon Fire 7" @29.99 for Christmas.
I didn't want to spend too much on an android tablet as it's likely that I'll brick it.
So far so good and I've loaded a different flash image and only the applications that I want or will use.
I'm sure that I will have android related questions that you "old-hands" will be able to answer as I only have one day's
experience with this o/S and there's much I don't yet understand.
Click to expand...
Amazing what you get for 29.99!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fire-Table...1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480319630&sr=8-1&keywords=fire
 
Can this be modified so that itn is able to be used by a 7yr individual safely. My lad wants a fekin hatchimol, but that ain't happening, so perhaps his own tablet might be a worthy alternative.
 
Amazon do a special Kids setting that lets parents control what's allowed on any Fire.
And there is a robuster tablet designed for kids:
61Ir8%2BkuyHL._SL1000_.jpg
 
Last edited:
ianp5a said:
You could probably put a super sized rubber bumper on the cheap one, and save a lot of money.
Click to expand...
I gave my son my old Samsung Note 3 which was wrapped in a big, chunky case I bought for £3. It's about a 6" screen so good for him watching cartoons and stuff on in the car, has been launched across rooms and down stairs and effectively is in the same condition that I gave it to him.

It probably cost me more than £30 in what I could have sold the phone for, but goes to show that a cheap case can make a fairly flimsy phone hard enough for wee hands [emoji39]
 
michael23 said:
the fire would be great. but you wouldnt be able to put the wireless apps on from canon would you?
Click to expand...
I have not done it on the Tablet, just the Fire TV, but you can install Android apps once you have activated "Apps from Unknown Sources“ in the security setting. And then download the Canon Camera Connect APK and install it. There is also a way to install the Google Play store if you want it.
 
Last edited:
ianp5a said:
I have not done it on the Tablet, just the Fire TV, but you can install Android apps once you have activated "Apps from Unknown Sources“ in the security setting. And then download the Canon Camera Connect APK and install it. There is also a way to install the Google Play store if you want it.
Click to expand...

Interesting, so how would you install google play on it? The canon app would have to be downloaded from there wouldn't it?
 
My first question to you Android "old hands". Is there an alternative to Google Play store to download APKs from as I find Google's data
mining to be very intrusive (same reason I don't use Amazon).
 
Thanks for the heads-up, @ianp5a I'll give it a go.
Just loaded VLC player for android to take care of my streaming from NAS box -works very well.
So far, this cheapo box is meeting my expectations.
 
Finally got an android device to replace my iPad mini *but not my phone yet

Got the super well known ;) PPTV King 7 from Gearbest, £20 refund because they sent me the non 3D version when I paid for the S.

So far so good. The camera is even less useful than I expected but the phone is fast, considering it cost me £70 in the end!

Not sure how to do the gestures I switched on... C and O seem to have no effect and I can't find a tutorial. Normal gestures like swipes I got no issue with :)

Should be getting the OTG adapter, but as I mainly shoot fuji I don't think I can use the device as a monitor. Anybody achieved this? Thanks! (Yes I can do the wifi app but it refuses to record the external mic when I record via the app)
 
db247 said:
Got the super well known ;) PPTV King 7 from Gearbest, £20 refund because they sent me the non 3D version when I paid for the S.

Should be getting the OTG adapter, but as I mainly shoot fuji I don't think I can use the device as a monitor. Anybody achieved this? Thanks! (Yes I can do the wifi app but it refuses to record the external mic when I record via the app)
Click to expand...


Like a lot of the cheaper Chinese phones it doesn't support OTG.

Specs here: https://www.coolicool.com/pptv-king...-gorilla-glass-2k-screen-android-51-4-g-41818

It's also a pity it isn't fully UK compatible as it looks like a nice phone.
 
michael23 said:
Has anyone had any experience of the Amazon fire tablets? Looking at one for my son, maybe the kids edition with Amazon fire for kids subscription. Does anyone know if the apps are the same as Android?
Click to expand...
Fire is a version of Android. It doesn't have Google Play store but you can still install apps other than the Amazon app store
 
RPR said:
Fire is a version of Android. It doesn't have Google Play store but you can still install apps other than the Amazon app store
Click to expand...
If you go back a page in the thread, there is information on installing the Play store and F-Droid store on the Fire tablet.
 
I have a quick question / issue.. I bought a Huawei P9 Lite a few months back.. it's very slow over wifi fro browsing, streaming etc. fine when on 4G.. Wifi is fine as it's VM 75mb and works dead on with computer, other phones etc.. Anyone any ideas?
 
Just bought a ZTE Blade L110 4" smartphone for the GF for just £45. (no contract)
She wanted a small and cheap phone.
Specs are OK: Quad core 1.3Ghz, 8Gb, 4" 800x480. Lollipop. 3G.
It all works well and looks and feels nice.

2942_zte-blade-l110.jpg
 
Last edited:
Finally found a cure to stop mediaserver using up the battery in doublequick time on my Galaxy Tab S

Disabled Chrome and started using the Samsung browser instead, battery now lasts twice as long

Tried everything including factory reset, still it came back to get me, but sorted now
 
So I installed the app "Bands in Town" to notify me of upcoming concerts of my favourite bands I have entered. As I always find out too late.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bandsintown

I picked the app blindly, so if anyone can recommend and good concert app, please let me know. I'll be internally grateful.

I guess I'm a bit late to the scene now that everyone from my favourite bands have all died last year.
 
Last edited:
ianp5a said:
Just bought a ZTE Blade L110 4" smartphone for the GF for just £45. (no contract)
She wanted a small and cheap phone.
Specs are OK: Quad core 1.3Ghz, 8Gb, 4" 800x480. Lollipop. 3G.
It all works well and looks and feels nice.
Click to expand...

How is going with your phone? Cos I'm looking for new one and its price is very nice! :)
 
The phone looks nice and feels good! My girlfriend is thrilled with it. (But she has never owned a top of the range phone.)
The screen image is good, but visibly slightly lower resolution than a much more expensive phone. I checked it in the shop and could tell it was more than good enough. Take a look in a shop yourself.
It has 3G and not 4G mobile data. Which is all she needs. If you need the best internet speed on the move, then that might be an issue. Seems fine to me though.
The phone got a bit hot when we charged it the very first time. But since then it's been normal.
And that's it! The rest is no different to an expensive phone. It even works with 2 SIM cards.

I set her up with Sat Nav (Here Navigation). And added my old 16Gb microSD card. And that all works as you'd expect.

Pros: Price. Dual SIM cards. Feels well made.
Cons: Not the best screen resolution. Not the best data speed.
 
Last edited:
The ultimate verdict. My 12 yr old just saw the ZTE phone for the first time, and gave me Ärger for getting the "white" version. Ärger is not good! Imagine the look that only a 12 year old can do when daddy doesn't know what he's buying, yet he still brazenly goes ahead spending money willy nilly. That's Ärger!
 
Last edited:
Question for you guys... my daughter had a Samsung G5 that was damaged, and claimed on her insurance who agreed to replace it with a LG G4. She doesn't have a computer, but has been backing her phone up on our PC using Samsung Smart Switch. Apparently the replacement phone arrived at her work today, and she had to give the old phone back. She thought she had backed up her contacts to the SIM, but apparently that didn't work. No doubt there are other things on the phone memory that also need transferring. I think she had her photos and videos on a microSD card that I expect she did transfer.

I've read you can get Samsung Smart Switch app for other Android phones; is it likely she can restore from our backup using that?

If not, are there other ways of doing it? As far as the backed up photos are concerned, they are just folders full of JPEGs, so would be easy to just copy down if needed. I'm wondering what format the Contacts would be in, and how to get them into the G4...
 
It's usually possible to choose where to save photos (card or phone memory) and stuff like text messages can also be saved using backup apps. Stuff like contact info should be backed up by google, and when she registeres the phone, should be downloaded automatically. Personally I'd suggest she connected her old phone to a computer & copied the entire contents of the internal memory & card across, then picked through the stuff she wanted afterwards.
 
ancient_mariner said:
It's usually possible to choose where to save photos (card or phone memory) and stuff like text messages can also be saved using backup apps. Stuff like contact info should be backed up by google, and when she registeres the phone, should be downloaded automatically. Personally I'd suggest she connected her old phone to a computer & copied the entire contents of the internal memory & card across, then picked through the stuff she wanted afterwards.
Click to expand...

The old phone has gone back to the insurance company, so we're left with what we've got, ie the old SIM card and microSD, plus the Smart Switch backups on our PC. I guess we'll just have to try putting Smart Switch on the LG (supposed to work on "some" other Android phones though it is a Samsun app) and attempt the restore...

EDIT: The backup does contain folders for Contacts, Messages, Settings, Photos and Videos among other thongs I don't remember (I'm not using that PC at the moment).
 
Last edited:
She might also want SMS history. There are apps for SMS and MMS transfer.

For contacts and calendar, be sure they are connected with a Google account in the old phone. Then, on a PC, log in to the web with that same account just to reassure you that they are all there. They'll then be automatically restored to the new phone if you enter the same id.

Photos will similarly be backed up if you had that switched on in Google Photos. Some versions of Photos didn't back up though.

What'sApp messenger can now do a back up of chat history including media, to Google drive or Dropbox. Do it just before changing phones. Telegram Messenger history is automatically backed up as you go along.

Emails might need considering if they are deleted off the server.

Apps should come over with the account too. Some might not though. And would need reinstalling. Make a list of the must have ones before changing.
 
Last edited:
I don't think she has a Google account, she uses Hotmail rather than Gmail, and I've never heard her talking about G+...
 
You don't need G+. Just a normal Google account. Without it you can't use the Play Store for apps.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top