5 ms·

It occurs to me today how sad it is that we only have two viable mobile ecosystems these days. I have an iPhone SE, which Apple has opted not to update. That's

by untog 8y ago

It occurs to me today how sad it is that we only have two viable mobile ecosystems these days. I have an iPhone SE, which Apple has opted not to update. That's their decision to make, I suppose, but no-one else can make iOS devices and I really don't want to switch to Android (it isn't ignorance, I've used it since the Nexus One, I've just grown to dislike it for privacy and UI performance reasons over time, and it doesn't have great hardware in the size I want either)... and there aren't really any other choices. Sigh. It's enough to make me nostalgic for Windows Phone.

GFischer 8y ago
UI performance in Androids is decent these days. Privacy, well... no. Even within the Android ecosystem, it's very sad that innovation is stymied. The only ones that even try are LG and they always fall flat. There's a long list of different Android phones I'd like to see: - Keyboard / Accessible phones. My mother in law has some disabilities that prevent her from using a touch-phone and she's using an Android phone with keyboard for messaging. Once it breaks, I'll be hard pressed to find a replacement - Small size phones with decent specs. Lots of people are very vocal about that, a current coworker spent a lot of time searching and got frustrated, the only small phones available were basically dumbphones - Specialist phones, I can't believe we still don't have phones with physical camera button and better swappable lenses (I think Sony tried that one, and there are some add-ons). Sure there are a lot more undeserved niches.
- ppseafield 8y ago
  I miss the camera button on my Nokia 928. All of the Windows phones were required to have it. Now my Nexus 5X occasionally opens the camera when I don't want it to (It thinks or is accidentally triggered for a double power button press.) I looked into phones with physical keyboards a couple years ago for my mother, and I couldn't find anything except an old LG feature phone that hadn't been manufactured in years. I had a Samsung S3 mini that was a bit slow but worked alright. Battery was a problem, but the phone was old when I got it. It worked well for most things except extensive reading. I had an Alcatel Idol 3, and the display was pretty low resolution for its screen size, but I would get almost two days of battery out of it between charges. Unfortunately the physical power button broke.
- ascii_only 8y ago
  -keyboard Blackberry key2 -small size Sony xz2 compact
  - lucb1e 8y ago
    My mom has one of those compact Sonys, it's laden with crapware that pop up notifications day and night and cannot be uninstalled. Her being her, she doesn't know what to do with it all. I am going to take a good look at the phone again soon, but I honestly can't recommend Sony to anyone who isn't tech savvy and/or doesn't intend to root it (I guess I should have after all -- by now many hours went into configuring it, and since you can't back an Android phone up properly, I'd have to redo all of that).
  - GFischer 8y ago
    Cool, I'll have to hunt for a Blackberry key2 then. Thanks for the tip!
- oxplot 8y ago
  On Android, you can assign volume buttons to be there shutter button. You can also open the camera at anytime even when locked, by double clicking part button.
  - GFischer 8y ago
    Yeah, and none of those options work as well as the camera button in the old Nokias (I was a happy Nokia user as well, but they missed the boat with their software, even though their hardware was top notch)
    - oxplot 8y ago
      This is a matter of taste. It works better for me. I have used phones, Sony's specifically, that do sport a dedicated button. I never used them because I'm not used to the location of the button I use once in a while. The power button however I use multiple times an hour so I can put the phone into camera mode and take a photo with my eyes closed.
  - megy 8y ago
    I think every single phone in the last 10 years uses a volume button as a shutter.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
scrooched_moose 8y ago
Same. I'm clinging to my 6S (and possibly doubling up on cases for protection) because I truly don't want anything on the market now. I imagine in a year or two I'll be forced into something else but this is disappointing.
- standerman 8y ago
  If you haven't yet, it might be a good idea to have Apple replace the battery at the $29 rate before the end of the year, to extend it's useful life.
pjmlp 8y ago
I still use my Lumia 650 DS as 2nd phone, and as usual on the Android world my LG is stuck on Android 6 patch level April 2018, while the Lumia keeps getting regular updates.

by untog 8y ago

GFischer 8y ago

UI performance in Androids is decent these days. Privacy, well... no. Even within the Android ecosystem, it's very sad that innovation is stymied. The only ones that even try are LG and they always fall flat. There's a long list of different Android phones I'd like to see: - Keyboard / Accessible phones. My mother in law has some disabilities that prevent her from using a touch-phone and she's using an Android phone with keyboard for messaging. Once it breaks, I'll be hard pressed to find a replacement - Small size phones with decent specs. Lots of people are very vocal about that, a current coworker spent a lot of time searching and got frustrated, the only small phones available were basically dumbphones - Specialist phones, I can't believe we still don't have phones with physical camera button and better swappable lenses (I think Sony tried that one, and there are some add-ons). Sure there are a lot more undeserved niches.

ppseafield 8y ago
I miss the camera button on my Nokia 928. All of the Windows phones were required to have it. Now my Nexus 5X occasionally opens the camera when I don't want it to (It thinks or is accidentally triggered for a double power button press.) I looked into phones with physical keyboards a couple years ago for my mother, and I couldn't find anything except an old LG feature phone that hadn't been manufactured in years. I had a Samsung S3 mini that was a bit slow but worked alright. Battery was a problem, but the phone was old when I got it. It worked well for most things except extensive reading. I had an Alcatel Idol 3, and the display was pretty low resolution for its screen size, but I would get almost two days of battery out of it between charges. Unfortunately the physical power button broke.
ascii_only 8y ago
-keyboard Blackberry key2 -small size Sony xz2 compact
- lucb1e 8y ago
  My mom has one of those compact Sonys, it's laden with crapware that pop up notifications day and night and cannot be uninstalled. Her being her, she doesn't know what to do with it all. I am going to take a good look at the phone again soon, but I honestly can't recommend Sony to anyone who isn't tech savvy and/or doesn't intend to root it (I guess I should have after all -- by now many hours went into configuring it, and since you can't back an Android phone up properly, I'd have to redo all of that).
- GFischer 8y ago
  Cool, I'll have to hunt for a Blackberry key2 then. Thanks for the tip!
oxplot 8y ago
On Android, you can assign volume buttons to be there shutter button. You can also open the camera at anytime even when locked, by double clicking part button.
- GFischer 8y ago
  Yeah, and none of those options work as well as the camera button in the old Nokias (I was a happy Nokia user as well, but they missed the boat with their software, even though their hardware was top notch)
  - oxplot 8y ago
    This is a matter of taste. It works better for me. I have used phones, Sony's specifically, that do sport a dedicated button. I never used them because I'm not used to the location of the button I use once in a while. The power button however I use multiple times an hour so I can put the phone into camera mode and take a photo with my eyes closed.
- megy 8y ago
  I think every single phone in the last 10 years uses a volume button as a shutter.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

scrooched_moose 8y ago

Same. I'm clinging to my 6S (and possibly doubling up on cases for protection) because I truly don't want anything on the market now. I imagine in a year or two I'll be forced into something else but this is disappointing.

standerman 8y ago
If you haven't yet, it might be a good idea to have Apple replace the battery at the $29 rate before the end of the year, to extend it's useful life.

pjmlp 8y ago

I still use my Lumia 650 DS as 2nd phone, and as usual on the Android world my LG is stuck on Android 6 patch level April 2018, while the Lumia keeps getting regular updates.