Google Android catch-all

Anyone have suggestions for Pixel XL car mounts?
Minnesota is going hands free in a month so I better finally get one.

lunchbox12682 wrote:

Anyone have suggestions for Pixel XL car mounts?
Minnesota is going hands free in a month so I better finally get one.

What kind of car? I use one that you stick a magnet to the back of the phone and it sticks to your AC/heating vent. Not sure if this is the one but it looks very close.

https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-WizG...

kazar wrote:
lunchbox12682 wrote:

Anyone have suggestions for Pixel XL car mounts?
Minnesota is going hands free in a month so I better finally get one.

What kind of car? I use one that you stick a magnet to the back of the phone and it sticks to your AC/heating vent. Not sure if this is the one but it looks very close.

https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-WizG...

Toyota Sienna.
I've seen those magnet ones. Just looking if there are any I should be weary of.

Taharka wrote:

I'm not sure how long ago that was, but this phone and my last are/were Samsung with Nova launcher, with no issues. Maybe they've ironed out the bugs?

My only problem with Nova on my S8+ is that the app drawer menu at the top right's font will consistently go from black to light enough that you can't really read it against the background. Probably just a setting for me, but SOMETIMES it looks correct. (the menu that includes the Play Store Link, Search, and Nova Settings in my configuration).

Otherwise, it's rock solid, and has been for years. As it was on my LG G4 before.

lunchbox12682 wrote:

Anyone have suggestions for Pixel XL car mounts?
Minnesota is going hands free in a month so I better finally get one.

This one. I have it hanging off of my windshield and supporting my iPhone XS Max.

It's very possible Nova Launcher was fine then and it was just that my phone was bad.

Because phones are bad.

Remember when user replaceable batteries were the norm? Remember that?

It's cool how as soon as we got to the point where a phone can be good enough to outlast its battery they stopped giving us that option on the vast majority of phones. Super cool.

You can probably find a V30 at a good price and it has a micro SD card slot and a headphone jack.

I got a CD slot magnet phone holder from BestBuy, I think it is Uber branded, and it has been great.

Kurrelgyre wrote:
lunchbox12682 wrote:

Anyone have suggestions for Pixel XL car mounts?
Minnesota is going hands free in a month so I better finally get one.

This one. I have it hanging off of my windshield and supporting my iPhone XS Max.

I highly recommend all the iOttie mounts. I've bought several over the years. The suction mounts are great, and if they start to have trouble sticking after long use, you can refresh them by just washing them off with water, then they stick like new.

I also have one of their CD slot mounts in my current car, and it's OK, too. I prefer the three sided mounts, but this does well just holding the sides.

The one touch lock and release mechanism is the real reason to get these, though.

Edit: I prefer to have my phones mounted lower in the car, and I've had good luck with these sticking to the dash or console. I don't like my windshield blocked, or others seeing my phone from outside the car more than necessary. Also helps keep my night vision better without the phone display light bothering me.

There's only one car mount that I've never not hated: this guy.

It's a vent-based mount, it's nice and low profile, and it's very easy for me to put my phone in it without having to fuss with the mount itself (one of the two edges extends as I shove the phone in, then maintains a tight grip).

Everything else I've ever used just sticks out too dang far and I hate it. I tried to switch to some mounts with wireless charging, so that I wouldn't have to plug my phone itself in, but the mounts protruded far too much.

If a vent mount would work for you (and that certainly varies depending on each car's vent arrangements), I cannot recommend this guy strongly enough. Certainly to at least try out as a cheap, simple, and reliable option.

kazar wrote:

TL;DR: because god forbid a phone be 2mm thicker than the absolute minimum a manufacturer can achieve.

*Legion* wrote:
kazar wrote:

TL;DR

That is why I gave it to you in video form. Save you from reading it. If you did watch it, you would realize that the points made only mentioned thickness in passing. There are much bigger reasons why, and all of them valid.

All of his reasons are things I don't care about so the video meant a whole lot of nothing to me.

All I heard was "phones were bad before and now they're worse because people are stupid and have messed up priorities"

That was the point. Phone companies make money by selling phones that people want.

Thin_J wrote:

All of his reasons are things I don't care about so the video meant a whole lot of nothing to me.

Yeah that's pretty much where I went with it. "We stopped using plastic and went all glass and metal because SHINY so now the phone is too fragile for a battery door."

*Legion* wrote:
Thin_J wrote:

All of his reasons are things I don't care about so the video meant a whole lot of nothing to me.

Yeah that's pretty much where I went with it. "We stopped using plastic and went all glass and metal because SHINY so now the phone is too fragile for a battery door."

*And if the phone is fragile and the batteries wear out in 2 years, we sell more phones when they have to be replaced.

I paid $50 to get a new battery in my S8+ by an authorized repair center, not sure it's that big a deal.

Chairman_Mao wrote:

I paid $50 to get a new battery in my S8+ by an authorized repair center, not sure it's that big a deal.

When I bought multiple batteries for my LG G4 for under $10 each...

I'd still prefer to have the option at the expense of some thickness.

For me having a waterproof phone is more important, and the original battery was still lasting almost all day after 2 years. I only replaced it because they do that for some reason when they fixed my screen.

MannishBoy wrote:

I prefer to have my phones mounted lower in the car, and I've had good luck with these sticking to the dash or console. I don't like my windshield blocked, or others seeing my phone from outside the car more than necessary. Also helps keep my night vision better without the phone display light bothering me.

I only use the mount when running navigation; the rest of the time the phone is fine sitting in the dashboard's cubby hole.

Kurrelgyre wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:

I prefer to have my phones mounted lower in the car, and I've had good luck with these sticking to the dash or console. I don't like my windshield blocked, or others seeing my phone from outside the car more than necessary. Also helps keep my night vision better without the phone display light bothering me.

I only use the mount when running navigation; the rest of the time the phone is fine sitting in the dashboard's cubby hole.

I always put it in the mount and plug it in to charge. Plus, I don't have a forward cubby in my car.

I got my first new phone in a great long while, a Pixel 3A, and figured I'd ask to see if there's any Android software in the last few years that I shouldn't miss. I haven't even looked at the market in years.

Not looking for anything in particular. I'd honestly be fine with a feature phone, except that I needed the ability to deposit checks with it, so a smartphone was required. Normally, I just use phones as phones, and if I want to web browse, I'll tether a laptop. But it occurs to me that I might not know about some marvelous, life-changing software invention that everyone else knows about.

So: is there anything out there so good that my life is incomplete without having a copy?

Malor wrote:

I got my first new phone in a great long while, a Pixel 3A, and figured I'd ask to see if there's any Android software in the last few years that I shouldn't miss. I haven't even looked at the market in years.

Not looking for anything in particular. I'd honestly be fine with a feature phone, except that I needed the ability to deposit checks with it, so a smartphone was required. Normally, I just use phones as phones, and if I want to web browse, I'll tether a laptop. But it occurs to me that I might not know about some marvelous, life-changing software invention that everyone else knows about.

So: is there anything out there so good that my life is incomplete without having a copy?

How little do you actually use software on your phone? Trying to figure out how basic to get.

- You should check out podcasts and audiobooks, notably Audible.
- I love Libby, an app that allows you to use your library card to check out audiobooks and e-books
- Depending on the size of the phone Comixology can be a fun way to read comics instead of killing time with social media
- Same with Kindle
- There are a couple of Professor Layton games out for Android, I believe
- I live by Paprika, an app that lets you store recipes and then use those recipes to generate a grocery list
- Similarly I use a couple apps for reminders and tasks and find them invaluable
- Headspace has been a useful entry into meditation

How little do you actually use software on your phone?

I really got out of the habit; I had an old phone, but it was still (almost) up to date because it was running Lineage. Because it was so old, I really didn't download or run software, I just ran the basic gapps and used it as a phone and as a tether. The second battery finally got to the point of unusability, and I figured it was smarter to just replace the phone at this point. (it was a Galaxy Nexus, and it was like, I dunno, seven years old?)

So this is a pretty decent upgrade, and it should be getting security updates for at least three years, since it's a new Google model. The new screen is lovely. I wouldn't actually have minded a slightly smaller phone, but this will work okay.

Trying to figure out how basic to get.

You should probably assume I know nothing. One thing I'd like would be a good streaming-audio app; if that could also handle onboard MP3s, that would be even better. An Android equivalent to Foobar2000 (aka a swiss army knife program) would be perfect. Truly free is best, single-purchase payware is second-best. I'd rather avoid adware or subscription software.

I've never really gotten into comics, but I'll check out Comixology. Libby also sounds interesting. Thanks!

The built in Google Assistant is pretty good for reminders, alarms, etc

Okay. Other stuff.

Soma FM is a really fun way to listen to independent and electronic music. They have an app on iOS, but I think on Android you can use TuneIn.

When I was on Android I paid the $10 a month or whatever for Google Play Music. They allow you to upload your MP3s to their cloud, so you can make your music (and their music through the subscription) available online or offline.

I'm not sure about what the best MP3 player is otherwise. I gave in to subscriptions a while ago, because I was still actively buying music.

My essential app buys were Phonograph for music (Google Play sucks) and Pocket Casts for podcasts. Also, download Snapseed for photo editing. I think it's owned by google, but it's free and quite powerful. You can do most of the things you'd do in Adobe Lightroom. The Pixel 2 camera is so amazing, and I imagine the 3A is better. Enjoy!

Just got a pixel 3a xl to replace the old nexus 6p since that was probably going to explode anytime now. Need to buy a case for it. I wasn't going to but I already dropped it because it was so slippery.

Since y'all mentioned comics, I'll just point out the GWJ comics thread:

https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/...

Tons of discussion on both superhero books and other stuff. Much like TV, we've been in a great age of comics for quite a while now.

I don't read comics on my phone, but I do read digital comics - exclusively. They're a big reason I have the largest-sized iPad.

If anyone is in the market for a tablet for comics the samsung galaxy tab a seems to be a nice budget tablet. Also if you have amazon prime they have free comics on there, not many but the few they have are good.