Android phones, apps and tablets

I like the new design. Looks clean and current. New keyboard looks great.

fucking giffgaff

whats up with giffgaff?

I just rooted my phone and don't have any signal..
blamed the rom but if its the network down i;ll be pissed.

grrr fucking cyanmod

http://downdetector.co.uk/problems/giffgaff

fucking giffgaff

Seems to be alright now no?

Interesting article at LWN about running Android without proprietary software.

Seems surprisingly possible, especially if you can live without gmaps.

Funny that. I've just rooted my first Android in years and first thing I realised I was doing, was disabling most of the Google apps.

Interesting article at LWN about running Android without proprietary software.

Seems surprisingly possible, especially if you can live without gmaps.

I'm mostly doing without google at the moment - I have Google play services, and Motorola services, frozen, with no ill effects or loss of functionality.

I'm going to play around with Kolab too - I currently use Horde, and I'm not entirely happy with it.

I personally think that the default Google Apps are rather good and there is little implication to privacy about not using those... as apps.

Those last two words are the important bit, if you're using the apps as apps, then hey... they're doing only what you want when you want, to whatever degree you allow them to.

Where I have an issue is with Google Search, the launcher (which is Google Search), Google Now, Google+... and all the things that attempt to be more than an app and shoot for a pervasive lifestyle tool, where your lifestyle had better shift into Google's way of doing things.

I've rooted my phone, and I've gone a bit extreme with blocking adverts, changing the hosts file, installing XPrivacy, replacing the launcher with Nova, disabling Google+ on all my Google for Business accounts, choosing to use Duck Duck Go for search, and Dolphin for the browser, and disabling history everywhere.

But... I still use the Gmail app, the Google Maps app, Hangouts, Drive, Docs, Sheets, QuickOffice, Keep, Camera, Calendar, Calculator and Clock.

I just happen to use them as apps.

I see from XPrivacy when they want to be more than a tool for me, and I prevent that. But by and large... this doesn't happen. Maps isn't doing anything that any other map provider isn't doing. I'm already on Gmail and most of my contacts use Gmail so the extreme privacy view is that I've been betrayed already and I gain nothing by refusing to use something that works so well. This goes on through all the apps in question.

The default Google Apps are fine... it's the Google Now, Google+, Google Search stuff that gets scary. That's when it goes beyond a tool for us, and becomes a modelling tool for advertising.

Bollocks to Kolab - too much like hard work to configure correctly.

^ I guess it's a question of willingness to trust another party with your email / document. Locking your hand held device down is all well and good, but if your email and documents are already being trawled through, it might appear redundant.

With Gmail accounts I agree with you.

With Google for Business accounts I disagree.

Google for Business is basically the paid Gmail, and for that payment you get a different level of service. Namely that you can disable adverts, Google+, and various other things on the business accounts (even turn off YouTube if you like).

And that service includes compliance with various data protection standards, payment provider standards. Such that HR records are secure, the permissions really are effective, and so on. Frankly compliance to this level takes some serious security work and they can't be scanning those docs, files and emails, etc if the business has opted out (via the domain control panel).

Yes, I trust the Google for Business service where I pay and the software is the product.

I don't trust the Gmail service which is free because I am the product being sold to advertisers.

I need to get my S4 mini back to a stock image after flashing to cyanmod effectively killed it as a phone and any other custom rom because it can't seem to find a mobile network.

I've got the stock firmware
9195XXUBML4_I9195O2UBMJ1_I9195XXUBML4_HOME.tar.md5

but after untaring I only see a boot.img, recovery.img and a few .mbn files
I was expecting to see a modem.bin

rpm.mbn system.img.ext4
aboot.mbn sbl1.mbn tz.mbn
boot.img sbl2.mbn
recovery.img sbl3.mbn

You failed to update the radio when you updated other things.

And a file ending in .md5 is not the file you think it is.

Alls I did was load clockwork recovery and flash the ROM with cyanogenmod
but think your right the radio/modem is boned

Was following the instructions below.. and now figured out the problem, my S4 mini is dual sim model, and not supported.. explains why everything works apart from sim detection.
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_serranoltexx

tar.md5 files are how samsung package their firmware.
Its just a tar file with the md5 for verification.

Think samsungs properity bootloader must unpack the files somehow
Will have to load up a windows VM when I get into work tomorrow :(

Got it working.. phew.
Yes I lost an entire weekend but I gained insight into the inner workings of my phone and its (lack of) support community = invaluable.

Got a moto G for my gf lastweek. Out of the box the baatery life is getting a rinsing. I've turned off the obvious wifi, data, bluetooth but it isstill dropping quickly. is there anythong else I should be looking at before I start to install something like Juice Defender?

You warranty?
What does the battery life screen say has been using all the charge?

Phone idle @ 33&%
Screen @ 26%
Mobile Standby @ 26%

I'm probably missing something obvious but my phone is a much older android version so i'm still working this one out.

When you say dropping quickly, will it last a day of normal usage? Modern batteries really haven't kept up with modern phones so you can't expect great things.. but anything less than a day/day and a half seems iffy

Around a day but with minimal usage (i.e. turn on a few times and a couple of texts). GF hasn;t got used to it yet or added any contacts which was why i thought that there might be somehing in the background eating battery life. My old HTC Desire HD does better than that!

My gf has to charge her Moto G up every night... Not sure if that helps...

^^ Sounds a bit short for a brand new phone. This is rather luddite but for me some full cycles with random turning it off and on again can sometimes jolt it into behaving?

Cheers.
Going to see what happens over the next few days and put Juice Defender on and if there is no improvement I'll be popping in to see Virgin.

Similar problems here, sort of, although with a Nexus 4 which is much older.

I bought it in August 2013, so it's 11 months old. Battery life has recently gone to pot - can be dead by 4.30 on a bad day with minimal use, but some days it lasts much longer.

I bought it direct from Google, worth taking up with them while it's less than a year old?