Android Seems To Be Getting Worse.

[pgc hunter]

I think why people are willing to pay for smart phones is not because they are getting only a phone, but rather a whole entertainment system in their pockets.

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by pgc hunter

I think why people are willing to pay for smart phones is not because they are getting only a phone, but rather a whole entertainment system in their pockets.

20 years ago, the idea of a smart phone existing, much less existing for under $100, would have been science fiction.

It's funny describing to the kids of today the relative technological poverty many of their parents grew up in.

Cheers,
Renato

[AussieTrooper (Ben)]

Originally Posted by pluto

Ah ok.
What about getting a widget like this one?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...c.data.enabler

EDIT:
Ah I see you're right and they've broken that, weird!
There's one that works on a rooted phone, but who can be bothered doing that...
Have a look and see if you can do it from your notification bar, that's almost one click - one swipe plus one click!

Yep. That's the best solution. Still not 'one click' but it's better than before.

[bobson (Bob)]

We had one user that had an iPhone 4 mysteriously have Wifi stop working after an upgrade. Downgraded the iOS and it was still stuffed, seems the FW damaged the Wifi chip, I dunno. Google that one, lot of others had that issue.

This is what happened to my daughter's iPhone 4s after upgrade. Wifi stopped working. After search on google found a lot of people having exactly the same problem.

Bob

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Originally Posted by bobson

This is what happened to my daughter's iPhone 4s after upgrade. Wifi stopped working. After search on google found a lot of people having exactly the same problem.

Bob

Yes, ive had this with ipad. Wifi sort of "degraded" after some time of use, ending with constant resetting of the WIFI modem (not knowing what the problem was) until I randomly upgraded to the next model at which time WIFI was suddenly OK again for a few months until it slowly degraded again. After also googling, it appears Apple is really **** at handling WIFI and simply cant solve it after generations of devices.

[Shano592 (Shane)]

I have a Chinese phone - the Oneplus One. Highly specc'ed and fast as anything out there... faster, in fact! On AnTuTu Benchmark, it scores over 51000. I think the Meizu M4 is faster, but has a very narrow set of bands that it works on, and not good for AU.

It has the basic specs of the Iphone 6+ and LG G3, but came out 6 months earlier. 3GB Ram; Snapdragon 805 (?) processor, the same as the Galaxy S5; 13MPix camera and 5 MPix front camera; crazy big screen; 64GB Storage.

The big difference was that when I bought it in June last year, it cost me $410 landed. My nephew lined up for the iPhone 6+, to pay $1250. Also, OnePlus encouraged every buyer to modify it, with no warranty voiding threats.

I have heavily modified it internally, meaning that it now runs a custom ROM and kernel, which is making it faster, and even more battery efficient (2 days on a charge).

Renato1, when you are talking in your Original Post about not having memory to install things, this is actually referring to the section of memory that is set aside for system applications. Each app that installs, takes a little more of that space each time, and when uninstalled doesn't necessarily delete that data. When I first started with Android, this got me too. It took a little digging to understand why it wouldn't install things, when I still had 10GB of space left.

This is where having Root (system) access comes in handy, especially if your phone is something like a Samsung (or phone company supplied phone - I'm looking at you, Optus). It makes uninstalling bloatware apps a cinch, thereby freeing up the system allocation.

There is a forum called XDA Developers, and has a wealth of information - as long as you can find your phone on there. You say you have a Lenovo ... is any of these yours?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/lenovo

Have a look if you are adventurous. Either way, I recommend reading a lot before rooting/ROMming.

[pluto (Hugh)]

Originally Posted by Shano592

I have a Chinese phone - the Oneplus One.

I would have bought a OnePlus One if it wasn't for their stupid invite system, by the time I got an invite I'd moved on. Kinda glad now as they've had their falling out with CM so who knows what updates they'll get. And I can't be bothered installing custom ROMs on my daily driver, though I do love CM breathing new life into my older no longer supported tablets.

[Shano592 (Shane)]

Yeah, I got a Chinese version, rather than wait for an invite for a US one. I just had my agent buy one locally and ship it. I just removed the ColorOS for CM11s, rooted, kerneled and off I went.

CyanogenMod still have their contract to honour, which still has about another year on it. Also, Oneplus brought out their own version of Android called OxygenOS, which by all accounts is excellent.

I run RobbieL811's UberCM, from XDA, along with AK Kernel. Really solid, compared to the Cyanogen Nightlies.

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by Shano592

Renato1, when you are talking in your Original Post about not having memory to install things, this is actually referring to the section of memory that is set aside for system applications. Each app that installs, takes a little more of that space each time, and when uninstalled doesn't necessarily delete that data. When I first started with Android, this got me too. It took a little digging to understand why it wouldn't install things, when I still had 10GB of space left.

This is where having Root (system) access comes in handy, especially if your phone is something like a Samsung (or phone company supplied phone - I'm looking at you, Optus). It makes uninstalling bloatware apps a cinch, thereby freeing up the system allocation.

There is a forum called XDA Developers, and has a wealth of information - as long as you can find your phone on there. You say you have a Lenovo ... is any of these yours?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/lenovo

Have a look if you are adventurous. Either way, I recommend reading a lot before rooting/ROMming.

Thanks. Unfortunately that site doesn't list my A916, but I've bookmarked it in case it shows up one day.

Yes, I know about that bit of memory being used up. With Android 2.3 if it got filled up and couldn't install anymore, one would just uninstall some apps and then start installing again.

In my phone, after uninstalling, it was showing that bit of RAM memory having gotten smaller - but still not installing. I suspect some flag hadn't been reset after the uninstall.

But my original point remains - older versions of Android didn't have this issue, while Google is full of people with newer versions of Android having the problem. It may well be that the issue is what the apps do while uninstalling, but it's a common enough issue that should have been addressed by now.

You seem to have a great phone!
Cheers,
Renato

[Shano592 (Shane)]

Thanks, Renato. The Oneplus Two sounds like it will be an even bigger killer, when it is announced next month. I think my phone has a good year or 2 left on it though.

I do recall having some issues with Gingerbread (2.3) with the memory issue. My Galaxy S at the time had a relatively small system block, though.

The biggest issue that I have with Lollipop (5.1.1) is whenever I do a backup (full system) overnight, it trips out the Wifi connection, and I have to manually reconnect every morning.


If you are interested in Root access, I found an easy tutorial for you:

http://playfuldroid.com/how-to-root-...-than-an-hour/

If you do this, then you can go to the Play Store and install a root app remover application, and free up some space.

**Important Disclaimer** - Whenever you do something like this, there is always the possibility that you may brick your phone. If you cannot afford to be without your phone, then it is not recommended to do. Proceeding is done at your own risk (as it is with all of us).

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by Shano592

Thanks, Renato. The Oneplus Two sounds like it will be an even bigger killer, when it is announced next month. I think my phone has a good year or 2 left on it though.

I do recall having some issues with Gingerbread (2.3) with the memory issue. My Galaxy S at the time had a relatively small system block, though.

The biggest issue that I have with Lollipop (5.1.1) is whenever I do a backup (full system) overnight, it trips out the Wifi connection, and I have to manually reconnect every morning.


If you are interested in Root access, I found an easy tutorial for you:

http://playfuldroid.com/how-to-root-...-than-an-hour/

If you do this, then you can go to the Play Store and install a root app remover application, and free up some space.

**Important Disclaimer** - Whenever you do something like this, there is always the possibility that you may brick your phone. If you cannot afford to be without your phone, then it is not recommended to do. Proceeding is done at your own risk (as it is with all of us).

Thanks - I might give it a go when I return from my overseas trip, as I only bought the phone so that I don't go bleary eyed using one over there, as I did two years ago with a 4" phone.

My greatest annoyance at the moment is how most of the dual SIM phones out there are now not two full SIMs, but a full SIM and a MicroSIM. This makes things fairly awkward when one wants to juggle SIM cards locally and overseas. If not for this new weird dual SIM system, I'd have just bought a phone at Aldis rather than have gone for a Lenovo from China.
Cheers,
Renato

[Shano592 (Shane)]

I hear you on that.

When I was upgrading, that was one of my search 'wants'. But I found that unless it is a Phablet or even a Tablet, to include a second sim would require removing something else that I would need more in the phone, like a 4G antenna, or storage capacity ...

If you do have any questions about gaining root access once you get back from your trip, feel free to PM me if you like.

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by Shano592

I hear you on that.

When I was upgrading, that was one of my search 'wants'. But I found that unless it is a Phablet or even a Tablet, to include a second sim would require removing something else that I would need more in the phone, like a 4G antenna, or storage capacity ...

If you do have any questions about gaining root access once you get back from your trip, feel free to PM me if you like.

Thanks. Much appreciated.
Cheers,
Renato