Smartphones - it isn't just me!

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andya700

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A few weeks ago my wife upgraded her Samsung J3 to an A12. The first one died, so she got a replacement, which touch wood seems to charge and work. On Saturday, I took the plunge and bought an A12, took the SIMI out of my trusty Nokia 106 and my wife set me up on my first android smartphone. Yesterday, with her looking on I answered calls, even had a few video calls using IMO.
This morning, she got to work and called me - four times, I was totally unable to answer the calls, no matter that I pressed, touched or swiped the green call icon, so she had to call me on the landline. Is this really progress, where the simple act of answering the phone becomes a very stressful experience? This is not just annoying, it is potentially very dangerous.
The other major problem with this phone, is that it doesn't seem to have a screen icon for "Settings".
Anyway, I found this video - four and a half minutes long to instruct people how to pick up an incoming call, proves that even this isn't enough, judging by the comments section.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDqMsrH3U0o
 
Somewhere there should be a setting which enables you to answer a call by lifting it it your ear , it might also be able to use a voice command to answer and end the call.
Probably in motions and gestures
 
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We had a work issue smart phone that im sure was purchased from fisher price.
to answer a call you had to swipe upwards from the on screen button. Every other phone I have seen is a press or clearly directed swipe of an on screen button.
If you didnt swipe directly up, i,e you try to swipe with your thumb while holding the phone in the same hand which causes a slight curve to the swipe it wouldnt answer.
 
AgentOrange76 said:
We had a work issue smart phone that im sure was purchased from fisher price.
to answer a call you had to swipe upwards from the on screen button. Every other phone I have seen is a press or clearly directed swipe of an on screen button.
If you didnt swipe directly up, i,e you try to swipe with your thumb while holding the phone in the same hand which causes a slight curve to the swipe it wouldnt answer.
Click to expand...
Exactly that with this phone. On my wife's old Samsung J3, you just need to press the green button lightly, on this one, it requires a full swipe from the button to the top of the screen.
Talk about re-inventing the wheel!
 
andya700 said:
A few weeks ago my wife upgraded her Samsung J3 to an A12.
Click to expand...

There's your problem. The way it works is that various manufacturers take the base android and implement their own version, with their own particular slant on the way things should be done. Samsung have substantial previous in this respect. While there are plenty of people who get on with it, there are those who don't, big time.

My own personal antipathy was developed oh-so-many years ago. I used to run a photoblog that would be termed "Influencer" today (I was regularly in top 5 google hits for a large range of topics) and companies used to throw stuff my way liberally, especially phones. This was the earliest stage of smartphone development, where android was not yet dominant. Samsung sent me their Shiny ! New!! Phone !!! which had their own OS, so they couldn't blame anyone else. The usability of it (except, possibly as a makeup mirror) was so idiosyncratic and unpleasant, I was put off them for life. Every time I've looked at Samsung since I see elements of that heritage, and stick with my chosen poison: Google pixel phones, with the "purest" Android experience. Having sold my soul to Mr Google, I might as well get something for my bargain even if I have to pay for the privilege..
 
Ham said:
There's your problem. The way it works is that various manufacturers take the base android and implement their own version, with their own particular slant on the way things should be done. Samsung have substantial previous in this respect. While there are plenty of people who get on with it, there are those who don't, big time.

My own personal antipathy was developed oh-so-many years ago. I used to run a photoblog that would be termed "Influencer" today (I was regularly in top 5 google hits for a large range of topics) and companies used to throw stuff my way liberally, especially phones. This was the earliest stage of smartphone development, where android was not yet dominant. Samsung sent me their Shiny ! New!! Phone !!! which had their own OS, so they couldn't blame anyone else. The usability of it (except, possibly as a makeup mirror) was so idiosyncratic and unpleasant, I was put off them for life. Every time I've looked at Samsung since I see elements of that heritage, and stick with my chosen poison: Google pixel phones, with the "purest" Android experience. Having sold my soul to Mr Google, I might as well get something for my bargain even if I have to pay for the privilege..
Click to expand...

I find Motorola or should it be Lenovo now have a pretty decent take on Android.
Not too much bloatware and work well or at least all the Moto phones I have owned over the years seemed to.
 
There is no "one fits all" and clearly, any mass market phone has its benefits, none are perfect. Moto have generally been good value over the years, iPhone have always performed well (as they have always had too-notch hardware, selling on brand where others have competed on price) but I have always shunned the apple eco-system. Pixel cameras have been consistently good and are a large factor in my adherence, the clean android with fast updates is also attractive.

Going back to that Samsung I had, I've looked back and I was surprised to see that it was only 11 years ago. It was the flagship at the time ( "Wave II") and had a 5Mp camera which performed well in good conditions


Photo0007.jpg

Less well in others

Photo0087.jpg

We've come a long way in that 11 years. Or, have we?
 
Ham said:
View attachment 346949

We've come a long way in that 11 years. Or, have we?
Click to expand...
Nothing changed there, Stratford International where international trains still don't stop.

Changed a bit since I was a kid going on the little diesel from Stratford Low Level through the docks to North Woolwich.
Didn't even have a phone at home then let alone a mobile, shopping centre was the Co-Op department store in the Broadway.
 
That's actually Stratford station, not the international, "International" is down the road a bit, and as you say, not exactly International.
 
out of all the android phones i have owned I find the Xiaomi experience spot on, not to much guff and quite slick.
Won't go back to the big names not a chance :-)
 
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