Android phones, apps and tablets

Firefox Focus is a "disposable tab" browser that I run to load stuff and lose it when it closes. If I want to keep doing stuff with a site I might then Open in (normal) Firefox.

There's also Tor

I use Multi-Account Containers plugin on the desktop which silos whatever you want into your own collection of separate instances with multiple tabs but I don't know if it's on Android.

I use duckduckgo browser for that, Firefox generally.

I also have a work profile set up where I have a few apps like Facebook messenger where they can't interact with the majority of apps and are frozen 99% of the time.

looking for a new phone for my mum and found this - seems suspiciously cheap. is there a catch?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorola-G62-5G-Midnight-Grey/dp/B09YJ2PTDY

https://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_moto_g62_5g-11602.php

It's a couple of years old so when does Motorola end support for it?

I can't comment on this phone, but I have a Moto G30 that's a couple of years old. I don't do anything intensive on it. It just does the job. Camera isn't great. Looks like they've ditched the dedicated Google Assistant button, which is a fucking pain and you can't even reprogram the button for another function...

I love the Moto gestures though. Shake to turn on the torch and quick-twist to activate camera is really handy.

thanks both.

edit - i've taken a punt on it. Same phone is £120 as a refurb from GiffGaff or £135 as a refurb on Amazon so £71 does seem oddly cheap.

love the Moto gestures

Yeah. I really miss mine.

They were all genuinely so well thought out and functional.

My review of the Pixel 8a after having a 6a for the last two years.

The buttons are much clickier.

Is that it? To be honest I'm not surprised, I don't see what else I'd want from a phone beyond my 6A. It's still super fast ...

.

Wireless charging?

I always have in my head that two years should see phones getting better just as the battery and performance on the old phone gets worse but TBH I'm not really seeing either.

Suckered in by Google boosted £250 trade in on the 6a too :)

Is the 8a bigger?

Screen size is quoted as same as 6a but it is a bit wider (maybe 1 or 2 mm?) but top to bottom looks identical and has curvier corners

Interesting. You don't sound impressed but is it worth upgrading? I mostly care about battery life and waterproofness - most other features are whatever. Is the 250 trade-in still around?

152.2 x 71.8 x 8.9 mm
152.1 x 72.7 x 8.9 mm

10g heavier

https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=11229&idPhone2=12937

Actually I did notice the weight too. Like I said I've been upgrading pretty much automatically every two years since whenever but definitely not as much difference this time around.

Yes the trade in is still there

I normally only upgrade when one of us has broken something. I don't like disposing of tech for no reason, but what tends to happen is I end up with a "mostly working" device that I can't do anything with. So, it 'could' be better for the planet if I traded in earlier and they could use my unit for warranty? Although typing that now makes me think "no fucking way".

Oh, the curved corners look gross. 8a and Windows 11 I'm looking at you!

Don't think I'll notice the corners once it's in a case; it just fits in the 6a case and looks identical even the speaker holes on the bottom align.

Oh, it has face unlock which is nice.

also did the ehanced trade in with a pixel 6 as batt was getting a bit shitty.

I like the size other than that with everything transferring across and looking the same as I had set up before its hard to notice a difference. Transferring to a new phone and having all the old settings kinda takes off a bit of the new phone glow!

I'm perfectly happy with my Pixel 6 apart from the battery life which was never great but now can't get through a day.

Firstly, any suggestions on seeing what is actually draining the battery? Everything seems very vague when I've tried to do so work it out. Most of the drain seems to be when it isn't being used. All apps have battery optimisation on.

Secondly, battery health seems to be about 85%. Is it worth getting a new battery fitted for about £50? Ismash claim to use genuine Google ones.

Do you use Adaptive Charging? Turn the screen brightness down? Checked for apps running in the background and ignoring battery saver rules? Remove unused apps and widgets?

I still easily get a day out of mine and a couple of days on Aeroplane Mode during events.

The upgraded trade in is nuts, I paid £140 for my 6A last time with the 4A trade in and 20% off the phone and they're giving me like £250 for my 6A now if I buy the 8A

Yeah there's an extra £150 for just using Google's trade-in scheme right now

I've always had decent battery life from my 6, still pretty good. I use it way too much but it'll do a day and a half if I don't use it for too many unplugged GPS duties. I have everything except maps on dark theme so maybe that helps.

I have googled this loads but can't figure it out.

Whenever I edit a contact on my pixel 8, it has 2 identical versions of the same contact. This is for all contacts from my last phone (iPhone). Doesn't affect contacts added since I have had the pixel.

Do I need to edit both? Can I remove the duplicates?

From googling, I think it merged my Google contacts and my iPhone or SIM held contacts when I set the phone up.

Anyone has this? Cheers

Google Contacts has an option to Merge or remove duplicates.