The comprehensive and all inclusive Android thread

[nekrodev]

Originally Posted by Gnnr

Well, my T699 has been acting funky. I believe its because of the battery not charging properly sometimes it only goes to 40% even though I leave it charging overnight and if it charges to 100% it quickly drains in a few hours on standby with no third party apps running in background. T-Mobile will ship me a battery for just the $7 in shipping, since I believe it was still under 1 year from purchase.

Hopefully the battery takes care of it, but in my experience, if it's dying that quickly, it's probably the phone and not the battery. If you're within the 1 year, they can replace that too, hopefully, but yeah...

[BustedS13]

bump. Just got a Chromecast, and while it's a bit limited at the moment, I'm sure it'll blow wide open once the SDK is out there. I'm enjoying YouTube far more than I have in the past, and these are cheap enough that I could throw one on every screen in the house. I almost never use a PC outside of work anymore, really starting to feel like the future.
Anybody else get one of these little guys? At $35 with $24 worth of Netflix you'd buy anyway, I don't see why anybody wouldn't want one.

[codyace]

Originally Posted by BustedS13

bump. Just got a Chromecast, and while it's a bit limited at the moment, I'm sure it'll blow wide open once the SDK is out there. I'm enjoying YouTube far more than I have in the past, and these are cheap enough that I could throw one on every screen in the house. I almost never use a PC outside of work anymore, really starting to feel like the future.
Anybody else get one of these little guys? At $35 with $24 worth of Netflix you'd buy anyway, I don't see why anybody wouldn't want one.

I just got one last week, love the thing!

Russian Dash Cam videos got *so* much better in true HD on the big streen ahah.

Seriously though, I really do like that ability alone. I don't mind watching stuff on my PC or on a laptop, but to sit on the couch, watching on the TV and a good stereo system....much better.

[BustedS13]

Originally Posted by codyace

I just got one last week, love the thing!

Russian Dash Cam videos got *so* much better in true HD on the big streen ahah.

Seriously though, I really do like that ability alone. I don't mind watching stuff on my PC or on a laptop, but to sit on the couch, watching on the TV and a good stereo system....much better.

Absolutely. Everything just feels so much more intertwined now, lines are blurring... Can't wait to see what other apps offer. Just being able to use any tv as a second monitor is such a nice feature. I know you could do it before, but not this easily, and at this price point.

How'd you get yours? I lurked Best Buy's site for about a week, went to the store ten minutes before they opened today and there was a line of about a dozen people. They received 15 in this shipment. Thought about buying two, and in retrospect, definitely should have... I'm going to wind up with three or four of these little guys.

[codyace]

Originally Posted by BustedS13

Absolutely. Everything just feels so much more intertwined now, lines are blurring... Can't wait to see what other apps offer. Just being able to use any tv as a second monitor is such a nice feature. I know you could do it before, but not this easily, and at this price point.

How'd you get yours? I lurked Best Buy's site for about a week, went to the store ten minutes before they opened today and there was a line of about a dozen people. They received 15 in this shipment. Thought about buying two, and in retrospect, definitely should have... I'm going to wind up with three or four of these little guys.

I did a similar thing, but was able to buy a friend at best buy some beers for holding it for me so I didn't have to wait in line (even thought that wasn't really allowed).

Like you, I should have gotten more but I wasn't sure how easy it would work. Truck shows up 'late' to my store, which happens to be 15 mins before I get off work. Good timing...and being that I life in a commuter type town (aside from the locals) it's easy to find stuff.

[Dutchmalmiss]

How would one wirelessly display their laptop display on a TV using the Chromecast? That's basically what'll get me to buy one or two or three.

[BustedS13]

Originally Posted by Dutchmalmiss

How would one wirelessly display their laptop display on a TV using the Chromecast? That's basically what'll get me to buy one or two or three.

currently displays tabs in Chrome, once the SDK is out expect much more

[simmode1]

Not really an Android specific question, but I figure you guys can still help answer probably...

So I have an old ass Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant from T-Mobile. I pay the $7/mnth handheld device replacement insurance. If I lose my phone, apparently, T-Mobile will farm me out to some contractor to handle the replacement stuff once I pay my deductible.

What I'm trying to figure out is will they replacement my lost old ass Vibrant Galaxy S with another old ass Vibrant Galaxy S or give me something newer like a Galaxy S3 or S4?

When I talked to them last, they said it would be something comparable to the lost phone... But are they talking comparable to 3.5yo tech? Am I gonna end up with some junk phone T-Mobile would just give away for free anyways, but I just paid a $150 deductible for? They were being really coy and didn't want to say precisely what the replacement might be...

Anybody know how this works?

[S14DB]

Originally Posted by BustedS13

bump. Just got a Chromecast, and while it's a bit limited at the moment, I'm sure it'll blow wide open once the SDK is out there. I'm enjoying YouTube far more than I have in the past, and these are cheap enough that I could throw one on every screen in the house. I almost never use a PC outside of work anymore, really starting to feel like the future.
Anybody else get one of these little guys? At $35 with $24 worth of Netflix you'd buy anyway, I don't see why anybody wouldn't want one.

I gave some of these as gifts. After having to install some all I can say is bad ass.
Netflix, Hulu and youtube are so much easier to use in browser or tablet/phone than the interfaces on most smart Tvs, blurays or game systems.

2nd is because the Cast is doing all the work I can do something else while it's playing. Also like the queue system. Nice for loading up some videos that you want to show a friend and not have to have them wait between videos while you find each one.

Best quote. "This thing is picking some good videos to play" not knowing i'm on my phone picking videos.

Originally Posted by simmode1

Not really an Android specific question, but I figure you guys can still help answer probably...

So I have an old ass Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant from T-Mobile. I pay the $7/mnth handheld device replacement insurance. If I lose my phone, apparently, T-Mobile will farm me out to some contractor to handle the replacement stuff once I pay my deductible.

What I'm trying to figure out is will they replacement my lost old ass Vibrant Galaxy S with another old ass Vibrant Galaxy S or give me something newer like a Galaxy S3 or S4?

When I talked to them last, they said it would be something comparable to the lost phone... But are they talking comparable to 3.5yo tech? Am I gonna end up with some junk phone T-Mobile would just give away for free anyways, but I just paid a $150 deductible for? They were being really coy and didn't want to say precisely what the replacement might be...

Anybody know how this works?

It will probably be a S3 or whatever the cheapest Galaxy on the market is now(Exhibit?) because your phone isn't in production or available on refurb.
They may just give you a $199 tmobile credit.

You can reject their offer and get the $150 and the phone back usually if they don't have your phone in refurb anymore.

But, Most likely they will offer you a current gen refurb or a credit on a new phone.

[SimpleS14]

This is just a guess...

They are talking about something comparable to the value of the phone. Since this phone is no longer in production and refurb units are unlikely, you're going to get a cheap (i.e. crappy) phone valued at $150.

Too bad you just paid that deductible, you would have been better off getting a Moto G for $200.

[simmode1]

Ok, question for you wizards... I just signed up for Ting to cut T-mobile loose & trim my phone bill. Ting requires that you use a Sprint capable device, so I picked up a refurbished HTC Evo 4g for a nice price.

Here's my question: How can I update this thing to run 4.4.2 Kitkat? I keep seeing tutorials for the 4g LTE model, but not mine, despite seeing posts that the Kitkat update does exist for my model. I don't really understand this 'rooting' stuff, so is there a place you'd recommend reading up on basics? Anyone ever done this? Is it worth it? Pros? Cons?

Trying to maximize the $45 I paid for this old clunker of a phone...lol... Still, its a lot better than my trusty but prehistoric Vibrant Galaxy S.

[S14DB]

Originally Posted by simmode1

Ok, question for you wizards... I just signed up for Ting to cut T-mobile loose & trim my phone bill. Ting requires that you use a Sprint capable device, so I picked up a refurbished HTC Evo 4g for a nice price.

Here's my question: How can I update this thing to run 4.4.2 Kitkat? I keep seeing tutorials for the 4g LTE model, but not mine, despite seeing posts that the Kitkat update does exist for my model. I don't really understand this 'rooting' stuff, so is there a place you'd recommend reading up on basics? Anyone ever done this? Is it worth it? Pros? Cons?

Trying to maximize the $45 I paid for this old clunker of a phone...lol... Still, its a lot better than my trusty but prehistoric Vibrant Galaxy S.

How to Root, install a recovery, install a rom, install a kernel is what you need to learn how to do first.

What is your software number?

[simmode1]

It's 4.67.651.3. What does this tell you?

Any place in particular you'd recommend I read up on those basics?

[SimpleS14]

Originally Posted by simmode1

Ok, question for you wizards... I just signed up for Ting to cut T-mobile loose & trim my phone bill. Ting requires that you use a Sprint capable device, so I picked up a refurbished HTC Evo 4g for a nice price.

Here's my question: How can I update this thing to run 4.4.2 Kitkat? I keep seeing tutorials for the 4g LTE model, but not mine, despite seeing posts that the Kitkat update does exist for my model. I don't really understand this 'rooting' stuff, so is there a place you'd recommend reading up on basics? Anyone ever done this? Is it worth it? Pros? Cons?

Trying to maximize the $45 I paid for this old clunker of a phone...lol... Still, its a lot better than my trusty but prehistoric Vibrant Galaxy S.

Originally Posted by simmode1

It's 4.67.651.3. What does this tell you?

Any place in particular you'd recommend I read up on those basics?

That version number is for the HTC factory image, not the Android version install on the phone.

The best place to start is XDA forums: http://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-evo-4g


It's only worth it if you want to install a custom ROM that gives you an updated codebase and additional features you've never see from the OEM. There are also a few apps that exclusively require root to enhance their capabilities (such as tether apps). The only cons I can think of is that if there's no factory image or recovery process you can follow, then you risk permitting bricking your phone. Also don't sideload apps from sketchy sites, as they might try to gain root access and cause havoc on your phone.

[simmode1]

Originally Posted by SimpleS14

It's only worth it if you want to install a custom ROM that gives you an updated codebase and additional features you've never see from the OEM.

Yeahhhhh... I dont know what the hell this means, so maybe I don't need it. I just wanna be able to access Google Play & this phone came with the old App Market, like my Vibrant Galaxy S had...

But I found a way to upgrade from the App Market to Google Play without doing all this other stuff.

Cool. Now I can finally join the rest of the 21st Century on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, blah blah blah..

[SimpleS14]

Oh yea, if all you want are updated services then no need to root the phone. Google has been pulling more and more of their apps to the play store for folks stuck on older versions of Android.

[S14kouki_10]

Kinda android based..
My mom isn't using her cricket galaxy s4. I have sprint, anyone have some insight of what i would need to do to the s4 to use it on sprint? Both are cdma.. so i figured it may be possible.

[S14DB]

Originally Posted by S14kouki_10

Kinda android based..
My mom isn't using her cricket galaxy s4. I have sprint, anyone have some insight of what i would need to do to the s4 to use it on sprint? Both are cdma.. so i figured it may be possible.

I thought cricket was GSM?

[h2v7]

Got a galaxy tab pro 10.1 yeaaa

[S14kouki_10]

Originally Posted by S14DB

I thought cricket was GSM?

It's converting to gsm after att's purchase

[SimpleS14]

Originally Posted by S14kouki_10

Kinda android based..
My mom isn't using her cricket galaxy s4. I have sprint, anyone have some insight of what i would need to do to the s4 to use it on sprint? Both are cdma.. so i figured it may be possible.

You can go to a Sprint store or call customer service and see if they can active the phone on the network. They would need the ESN and MEID numbers, which are usually located on the back of the phone when you remove the battery cover.

[exitspeed]

Originally Posted by Dutchmalmiss

How would one wirelessly display their laptop display on a TV using the Chromecast? That's basically what'll get me to buy one or two or three.

Originally Posted by BustedS13

currently displays tabs in Chrome, once the SDK is out expect much more

What more do you need it to do in that sense? I was pumped when it got the update and can finally mirror anything from a tablet and smartphone. I got the Chromecast the day it came out and used it a fair amount for Pandora and such, but it became so much more useful with that last update.

Hey, who's looking forward the new Android Wear watches? I was set on the Moto 360 until this new LG Watch R one was announced. Being an old fucker the thing I'm looking forward to the most is grocery lists in Keep available on my fucking wrist! Ok, there's other stuff, but that was the thing I thought of first.

[LEG1T]

The Note 4 better deliver. In 1 day we shall see.

[SimpleS14]

Originally Posted by exitspeed

Hey, who's looking forward the new Android Wear watches? I was set on the Moto 360 until this new LG Watch R one was announced. Being an old fucker the thing I'm looking forward to the most is grocery lists in Keep available on my fucking wrist! Ok, there's other stuff, but that was the thing I thought of first.

Moto 360 all day for me

The LG is OK, but I need to see some IRL pics. For now it just reminds me of a simplified Casio G-shock.

[S14DB]

Originally Posted by SimpleS14

Moto 360 all day for me

The LG is OK, but I need to see some IRL pics. For now it just reminds me of a simplified Casio G-shock.

G-shocks now have Bluetooth.
http://world.g-shock.com/us/en/ble/


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[exitspeed]

Originally Posted by SimpleS14

Moto 360 all day for me

The LG is OK, but I need to see some IRL pics. For now it just reminds me of a simplified Casio G-shock.

I need to see both in person first. I'm a smaller mother fucker so I don't like big chunky watches. I like the look the 360 a tad more, but if its too big I'll pass.

[Dutchmalmiss]

After the reveal of the iPhone 6/6-Plus, all these flagship phones are basically the same now. 64-bit CPU doesn't impress me until devs make use of it. It's now not about the tech-specs, it's more about your preference.

GS5 has water-resistence
One (M8) has the camera
iPhone 6 has the user-friendliness I guess?

It's now hard for me what stands out. Who has the best battery life?

[SimpleS14]

I have my eyes set on the Moto X (2nd Gen). Really liking what I see and the color/material combinations are too nice to pass up.

[joeapple8]

Any one got their hands on a note 4? I'm on a note 3 with 4.3 rooted but no special roms, it gets the job done but recently I dropped it and broke the screen, i'm getting quoted for 160 bucks total to replace the LCD digitizer and plastic bumper it's a really good deal considering LCD DIGITIZER and glass go for 180 new. My question is, is the note 4 worth it to upgrade to now? no one even produces content for 2k screen res yet.

This is what I had on my note 3 and I love it, it basically replaced a lot of things like laptop and tablet for me

adaway ( requires root )
localcast ( to stream any file to your chromecast via wifi lan)
showbox ( netflix but for free and up to date with recent episodes )
peel ( samsung tv remote IR )
videoder ( download videos and mp3 right from youtube )
supersu ( for granting permissions on your phone after root )
root file browser
mxplayer (best video player for android)

any other cool apps any one can recommend for 4.3?

[joeapple8]

Originally Posted by Dutchmalmiss

GS5 has water-resistence
One (M8) has the camera
iPhone 6 has the user-friendliness I guess?

It's now hard for me what stands out. Who has the best battery life?

iphone 6 for sure, there is so many background applications and processes in the background of android it consumes like a beast, don't mention all the bloatware your carrier and or samsung will add onto the gs5.

I feel like nowadays tech specs go out the window because without the OS being optimized properly with the hardware its useless, I really feel like APPLE is pushing the limits with IOS because all of their phones are underpowered compared to what is out on the market, yet they are able to keep up or some times outperform.