Android phones, apps and tablets

Nein,
my association with Essen was very analogue,
'83-'90, working for an Essen-based chemical company,
who routinely booked us into the Assindia.

aside from the fact that spending £600, let alone £850 on a phone is fucking ludicrous

Yep - bonkers all the folk in here just ordering the Google 6 like it ain't no thing. All very golf club.

My phone seems to be playing up more and more so I might treat myself to a 4a (£299) but I think prices might fall further still for everything Pixel which isn't the 6.

I'm quite liking Android 12 as I'm getting used to it after updating about a week ago on my 4a.

Couple of gripes though:

At a glance just does not work. Weather just doesn't appear and very annoying not to be able to hide / format date and time.

Scrolling screenshots don't work with Gmail.

Anyone having the same niggles on other non 4a phones?

Pixel 6 Pro arrived yesterday, good thing I've got big hands because it is an absolute slab of a thing!

Couldn't get eSIM to work but that's probably to do with EE, aside from that pretty happy with the limited use I've had of it so far, screen is lovely, buttery smooth. Shame that there's no face unlock though.

at a glance and weather seems to work ok on my 3.
I've not tried screenshots.
one thing I'm not liking is that the home control shortcuts have moved from the power button, I used that quite a lot.

home control shortcuts have moved from the power button, I used that quite a lot.

This is annoying me but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

ordering the Google 6 like it ain't no thing

Only gets considered on a contract over 2 years as it's the first thing that seems like an actual, decent upgrade over my 3. Can't get it anyway 😢

one thing I'm not liking is that the home control shortcuts have moved from the power button

And GPay. Bloody annoying

Agreed! And having quick access to gpay

The one nuisance from quick settings is Wi-Fi/data, previously one button and it's on or off, now you get taken to another menu

Also don't like the fact you can't change the colour for the quick settings either and you're stuck with just black

What's the issue with Gpay? I don't think I've ever opened it after adding my card - have they made it so you have to do something before paying now?

I just wave my unlocked phone at a thing and it takes all my money, that's not changed.

I assume it's the ability to change cards?

Couldn't get eSIM to work but that's probably to do with EE.

Correct, they're not conforming to GSMA standards by including a trailing $$ which should only be included is optional parameters are set - they're not for EE.

Google are enforcing the correct standards. There are work arounds available, notably using the my EE app to generate which seems to work by generating an eSIM without the $$...

One thing that fucks me off is their 'locking' of devices. It means you can't use the technology as intended until you get the bloody thing unlocked after 6 months. I love carrying a separate work phone.... not.
A eSIM is great as you can just turn it off at weekends and in the evenings or if you're like me and work in the industry I can have unlimited activated connections and switch between them at will for testing. I do not work for a company that enables EE's use of eSIMs..

FYI - EE VoLTE isn't working currently for Pixel 6/Pro. I'm sure a fix will be forthcoming, but it's a pretty poor show all round.

This Pro is one slippery device. I managed to get my phone on 'launch' day... my case is another 2 weeks away apparently.

Gpay works fine, it's just the quick access from the power button that's gone

Interesting, thanks for posting this. I actually tried the generate QR thing from EE app on my old phone and scanned with Pixel, just kept getting 'computer says no' so I gave up and stuck the physical SIM in.

Both my personal and work phones are on EE, and part of the reason for getting this is exactly what you said, stick both on eSIM and then I can deactivate work on when I'm on hols or otherwise offline. Can't be arsed with carrying around a second phone, ain't nobody got pockets for that.

Just pull down from the top of the screen for Gpay, it's next to your torch/auto rotate...

I find this infuriating. I want to turn off WiFi, I don't want to have to go in to a menu and then toggle it off. So annoying.

Just pull down from the top of the screen twice, it's right there...

Its just one swipe down on a Galaxy s20.

What circumstances do you need to turn off Wifi anyway? Long gone are the days that having wifi turned on while not connected consumes battery life. You don't even need to turn wifi off on (most) planes any more.

Phew that's good, I hardly ever take my wallet out any more!

I'm so behind the times, I still manually turn my phone WiFi off every time I leave the house!

It's on the lock screen now, bottom right...

Back in the days when we went to work, my phone would cling on to the weak office wifi signal from the pub over the road. Quite often turned it off and then used loads of data at home without realising.

Also, previous galaxy S10 used to always try to connect to the o2 wifi in sainsburys. Turned it off if I needed to use internet while there. S21 doesn't, thankfully.

Generally when I leave the house (I use Tasker to automate it). I don't want it connecting to the tube wi-fi.