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Android vs. other I-phone opperating systems

Started by Bibbyman, February 26, 2012, 06:07:35 AM

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Bibbyman

I have a Samsung phone with the android system.  Mary has a phone with some apple system.  I just - fat, dumb, and stupid - as they say, assumed they were all the same.  But I'm finding that's not so.

The other day my son sent me a short video he shot on his i-phone - 1 minute 30 seconds long - through a text message.  It would not not play.  Mary got the same message and it played fine.  I went into the ATT store and jumped the guy about it.  He fiddle farted around for most of an hour and finally told me that text messages on the android system was limited to 600K.  I've also noted that when sending a text message it will "fill up" at some point - maybe something like 200 words.  Apple is unlimited.

Also,  when we got the phone they transferred the contacts list I had on my old phone to the new one.  Ok...  But I've added a couple more people and added e-mail addresses, etc. on the "contacts" list.  When  I'm in some funchtion like photos and want to send a photo by text message or e-mail,  every name on the contacts list comes up twice.  And the e-mail addresses are all shuffled.  I went in and jumped the ATT guy about that.  About an hour of fiddle farting, he finally said it was calling in the contacts list from my memory card and from the memory on my phone.  And that since the list on the card only had phone numbers and the list on the phone memory has numbers and e-mail address, it was mixing the two.  So he coppied the newer list on the phone memory to the card memory and said, "there you go".   That didn't fix that problem.  It's still scrambled eggs.
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Buck

Bibby, I don't have a solution. BUT, you do have company. I too have contacts in dupilcate because the phone is "smarter" than me.  I can't open some messages either and I just assume I don't need to see it or know it. I was told that the android market was growing faster than apple but wonder what is true. I wish the battery would hold up as long as my days are long. It is very peaceful when it is dead though. Friends and family with I-phones seem to be able to do more and faster with their devices. :-\
Respect is earned. Honesty is appreciated. Trust is gained. Loyalty is returned.

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Bibbyman

Mary says to go to the task manager app and close everything down when not using the phone. Says it conserves the battery.

Seems to help.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

clearcut

Video

Your Android phone's inability to receive video text is a software failure. The network can obviously handle the traffic. Sending video using a text message works on the iPhone  because Apple controls both the hardware and software. You may have better luck with a different app for text messaging. Handcent, ChompSMS, and Go SMS are well rated alternatives. I have not tried any of these personally.

Another alternative is for the sender to use a cloud based service like iCloud, DropBox, Box.com, or SugarSync to upload the video, and then send you a text with the link to download the file. In either case you may need to also install an alternative video player to play the iPhone's video format.


Battery Life

The biggest drains on the battery in my Android phone are having WiFi and Cell Data turned on when a WiFi or cell data connection are not available. Both these radios have a low power and high power mode. When they are connected to a strong signal, they settle into a low power mode that conserves battery life. When they are connected to a weak signal, or worse while searching for a signal, they switch to a high power mode that chews through the battery.

At home connected to WiFi, or if I switch the WiFi off when I am out of range, my battery will last 10-12 hours. I often listen to audio books or music for a couple of hours a day and still get decent battery life. If I leave the WiFi on when I leave home them I only get 4-6 hours of battery.

Contacts

I just went through this with my wife's phone when she switched from a feature phone to a smart phone. Contacts are stored in your SIM card, in your phone's memory, or on a cloud service like Google.

The SIM card is a good option for a feature phone because it makes it easy to move contacts to a new phone. However, the contacts are limited in number and format due to SIM card limitations. Essentially you get Name / Number and only one number per name. All additional information is lost. Each contact has a separate entry for Home, Office, Mobile or other. This may be why you are seeing duplicates. For example "Mom" might have several separate contact entries such as:

   Mom (Home)   555-1212
   Mom (Mobile)   555-1213
   Mom (Work)   555-1214
   
With an Android phone, you can suppress the display of the SIM contacts and use only the contacts in the phone's memory. The phone's memory can have multiple numbers per contact and include email and other contact information. In the Contacts app, press the menu key then Display Options. You can then select which groups of contacts to display, turning off the SIM card contacts. Your phone may have a different key sequence for this, but it can do this.

To manage the phone's contacts I sync them with a Google account and use the computer with a real keyboard to manage the entries. The Google Contacts web site has tools for merging duplicate contacts and such. You can set up your phone to automatically sync with your Google Contacts so you have one continuously updated list. When you change phones, you can re-sync your contacts. This works on both the iPhone and Android phones.


Carbon sequestered upon request.

Raider Bill

One thing I use to help save battery is called Advanced Task Killer Free. Basically it goes in every few minutes and shuts down apps that are not essential.
Clearcut, That GOOGLE address suggestion is a good one. I'm going to get that hooked up.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

clearcut

My understanding is that for Android systems 2.2 (Froyo) and above, task killers are no longer necessary. The operating system handles these details automatically. This is also true for iOS.

For example, I leave the GPS active all the time with no impact to the battery. Only when an application specifically calls for GPS data does that receiver actually switch on. On the other hand, the WiFi radio is essentially always on looking for a signal, unless it is turned off by the user.
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Bibbyman

Here is another thing that drives me up the wall.  I can text, text, text and it will send, send, send.  Then the next one will stick at "sending".  Sometimes for a day.  I had one the other day that I sent but didn't go.   I later send another message and then the one "sticking" out there went too.

I can't find a way or a place to force it to send a text message. 
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

johnjbc

I find that the battery on my Android doesn't last nearly as long as on my old phone >:(. Turning off both WiFi and GPS helps a lot 8). I installed a free app called ES Task Manager and used its Power Optimizer, has made a big improvement :D. At first it didn't help but their have been several updates and now I would recommend it.

Another good App is called EasyTether ($10). On our trip to Fl. I picked campsites with WiFi but when we got there I found I had to go to the Community Center to use it  :-X and that was a pain. With EasyTheter you hook your phone to your Laptop with the same cable you use to upload pictures. Gives a download speed of up to 144 kbsc. I have an unlimited data plan and have used 2.5 gig for the Laptop and smart phone this month. Check your plan before using!  8)
Their is a free version that limits https and some apps like EBAY and Facebook

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Bibbyman

We were winded out today so we had time to get some time in town. Took my android phone back to the att store for the third time to get help sorting out the contacts mess. The guy finally delegated the contact list on card. That looks like it's going to work.

He went on to straiting out my Google account. Apparently I created one somehow,someway but now I couldn't remember my password so I couldn't login.  He worked long and hard to reset the password but gave up.  He/we created a new Google account and then I could login and use Google maps.

It still works a little funky as the old account is still out there and the applications are defaulting to it. To delete it, the phone has to be reset to factory default and wipe out everything I have on the phone.

I asked if I could just get another map app. He said he didn't think it was possible as android is a Google system.

If I'd known that, I may have gone Apple.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

clearcut

Google Maps in my opinion is the best GPS app for Android, so it is worth setting it up for a Google account for which you know the password. One free alternative is Waze.

There are a couple of places where accounts are set. For most of them Home / Menu (button) / Settings / Accounts and Sync / Manage Accounts should allow you to add or delete an account for the entire phone.

Individual apps may have an account associated with them usually under Menu / Settings (or Preferences) / Accounts (sometimes under a More menu item). You should be able to delete the old account and set up a new one there.

If that does not work you can always delete the data and cache from an individual app with Home / Menu (button) / Applications  / Manage Applications / All / select the app that has the old account and Clear Data and Clear Cache
Carbon sequestered upon request.

Bibbyman

Well....

Now when I go to the "Market" app to search for apps, a dialog box pops up that to use Google Play I must agree with a bunch of terms and conditions for Google this and that and YouTube video rentals. I don't want to use these things so I decline. When I do, it kicks me out of the app.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

shortlogger

I've had my iPhone for going on three months now my only regret is I didn't get one sooner , it's what  I'm posting this message From got some great woodworking,lumber and  log apps for it to
1 Corinthians 3:7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase . "NKJV"