Google Android catch-all

Heh, you run IRC on your phone? That's pretty funny.

Me thinks he's addicted.

Maybe when he has a kid that'll stop.

When the baby is born my phone is probably the ONLY place I'll be using IRC.

Interestingly, you get an IPv6 address on 3G now as well as 4G.

I have $25 credit burning a hole in my pocket from a nexus 7 purchase. What apps should I get?

Random mentions: SwiftKey, Electric Sheep, Star Chart, Minecraft.

SwiftKey +1

I'm checking out Swiftkey now. So it far I don't like ike it. Well maybe not since that second sentence took forever. I keep hitting the predictive keys by mistake. Going to have to play around with it I will be able to get the best.

Wow this isn't going well at all. Wait I think I got it now. The space bar filling words in was screwing with me. I was trying to type that so far I like it but maybe not now since I keep hitting predictions keys. The cursor was jumping around also but that seems to have stopped.

Some cool apps I installed are
Dice Player = much better media player than the default one
ACV = use to view comics in cbr or cbz format.
DS File = so I can stream media from my synology server

You'll get use to SwiftKey and then have problems typing on a normal computer like I do. "What's this? I have to put in apostrophes for contractions? Dammit.

Trying out SwiftKey right now. I can tell it's going to take some getting used to but I think I'll end up really liking it after some use. The prediction doesn't screw things up the way both of the two keyboards that came on my tablet do constantly.

Thanks for bringing it up guys. I've been kinda fighting with the keyboard on this thing for a while now.

I was thinking about getting a Nexus 7 tablet when it would hit the Belgian market. But now my favorite Belgian newspaper decided to give away a free Samsung Galaxy 2 7.0 tablet with each new subscription

Price of the subscription: 319 euro for one year. Tablet worth: 250 euro. That's like getting a Honda for free with the purchase of a Mercedes

It's not often that I buy something for the extra gadget they throw in...

One question: can I use the apps I bought for my SIII phone on the tablet as well, or do I have to purchase them again?

I can use the apps I bought on by droid phone on nexus 7. I had to reinstall them but I didn't have to pay for them again.

Everybody talking about Swiftkey, it's on sale today for $1, along with other stuff.

The only thing I don't like about SwiftKey is that it uses up a fair amount of memory on my phone from time to time.

I enjoy FlexT9. Probably mentioned before in this thread. Swype-like keyboard, plus handwriting, plus voice recognition. It's got me covered.

Stele wrote:

I enjoy FlexT9. Probably mentioned before in this thread. Swype-like keyboard, plus handwriting, plus voice recognition. It's got me covered.

Swype's now got all of that, too.

I tried FlexT9 after it was free on Amazon. Wasn't bad. Fact is there are several excellent options these days.

MannishBoy wrote:

Fact is there are several excellent options these days.

True enough.

I wasn't too fond of Swiftkey either, honestly. I've been using Thumb Keyboard for about a year now and likely won't/can't go back to anything else. It's just too awesome.

Okay, the new iphone's screen is smaller than I want, so I'm probably staying on the Android bandwagon.

I'm upgrading from a Droid Incredible on Verizon. Main things that are bugging me:
-Battery life kinda stinks. I can get about a day of average use on it, less if I'm actively doing stuff, and forget it if navigating.
-There's an annoying "Low space warning" error that constantly comes up. Apparently this is a long-standing bug that HTC never bothered to fix. I also keep getting notified about a system update that never installs. A buddy with the same phone has these same problems. Basically, I'd like the ability to not rely on the manufacturer/carrier to allow me upgrades.

I'm looking for something with a huge screen (I got big paws), ideally either support from the manufacturer or the ability to update the OS on my own, and a decent amount of built-in memory. SD card support is nice, but my Incredible has issues with my car not recognizing the SD memory, so internal is better.

I'm thinking the Galaxy S3. What say you?

I've said so a few times, but I'm really happy with my S3. Now that the bootloader is unlocked for Verizon I can't make any complaints about it. For casual use I'm getting over two days, sometimes three, of battery life now.

Love my S3 and the screen is perfect though I don't have large hams. Comparing it to most phones out there yields most people to comment "It's so big!" to which you say "That's what she said".
So you have that going for you.

LiquidMantis wrote:

I've said so a few times, but I'm really happy with my S3. Now that the bootloader is unlocked for Verizon I can't make any complaints about it. For casual use I'm getting over two days, sometimes three, of battery life now.

I'm semi-phone illiterate. Does this mean that if/when a new version of Android comes out, I can install it? How much jiggery-pokery is involved?

And has anyone done a phone upgrade/contract extension through Amazon Wireless? It looks like they're beating the Verizon price by $50 on the 32gb version.

Chaz wrote:

And has anyone done a phone upgrade/contract extension through Amazon Wireless? It looks like they're beating the Verizon price by $50 on the 32gb version.

Yep. Just did my GNex upgrade in June there, with Verizon. No problems.

I did my previous one 2 years before through Newegg, also an upgrade. They all seem to use the same interface, powered by Simplexity. And I think Simplexity actually runs wirefly.com.

Still it seems Amazon generally had the best prices when I looked, with wirefly 2nd and maybe newegg tied with them. Then other places like Sears, Best Buy, Radio Shack, and so on, all using the same interface, but not as good prices.

Chaz wrote:

I'm semi-phone illiterate. Does this mean that if/when a new version of Android comes out, I can install it? How much jiggery-pokery is involved?

Samsung has said the S3 is getting Jelly Bean, the most recent version of Android, in October. With some simple steps you can unlock your S3 and install custom ROMs to remove all the carrier bloat and stay current for much longer than the carrier or Samsung support the phone.

How complicated is it to root and install stock android?

I shouldn't be considering the Galaxy Nexus, right?

Simple tool to root and unlock the bootloader on a Verizon S3.
Then install ROM Manager and use it to install Clockwork Recovery (a simple button press in the app).
Download your choice of ROM to the phone, then use ROM Manager to flash the ROM and clear cache and data.

These steps might sound complicated but they're literally just button presses. Your involvement is is about 3 mouseclicks and a few screen presses. It's harder to decide which ROM to run than it is to actually install it. If you want a nice stock Jelly Bean, check out CM10.

Chaz wrote:

I shouldn't be considering the Galaxy Nexus, right?

You should be (at least if you're willing to leave Verizon), since it comes unlocked and without carrier obstructions. Just remember to disable the automatic screen brightness, it never seems to pick something bright enough.

Kurrelgyre wrote:
Chaz wrote:

I shouldn't be considering the Galaxy Nexus, right?

You should be (at least if you're willing to leave Verizon), since it comes unlocked and without carrier obstructions. Just remember to disable the automatic screen brightness, it never seems to pick something bright enough.

And it's not that far behind the S3 in terms of hardware, but it's way ahead of it in updates. And it's cheaper.

Of course if you're willing to root, then almost any phone can be up to date.

Stele wrote:
Kurrelgyre wrote:
Chaz wrote:

I shouldn't be considering the Galaxy Nexus, right?

You should be (at least if you're willing to leave Verizon), since it comes unlocked and without carrier obstructions. Just remember to disable the automatic screen brightness, it never seems to pick something bright enough.

And it's not that far behind the S3 in terms of hardware, but it's way ahead of it in updates. And it's cheaper.

Of course if you're willing to root, then almost any phone can be up to date.

It's not far behind on hardware? I thought I remembered reading that it was kind of a slouch on hardware. I'm willing to root, but I'm also lazy, so if not rooting is an option, I'd rather do that.

Somewhat unrelated, but enjoy next-gen LTE speeds while we can?