Android Thread

[OhioG]

Google has been doing no SD card for years.

But the headphone jack is  disappointment. Its irritating if you want to charge and listen to music but with fast charging that is minimized to a degree. 

[Pad Level]

I'm thinking of going back to android after 4 years with iPhone.  The only thing holding me back is iMessage.   Has google come out with something similar or is it still Hangouts or something terrible like that?

[Pats#1]

1 hour ago, Pad Level said:

I'm thinking of going back to android after 4 years with iPhone.  The only thing holding me back is iMessage.   Has google come out with something similar or is it still Hangouts or something terrible like that?

Do you have verizon? Their Messages+ app sort of works like iMessage, you just need to download the app on your pc as well.

[UKTexans]

15 hours ago, Pad Level said:

I'm thinking of going back to android after 4 years with iPhone.  The only thing holding me back is iMessage.   Has google come out with something similar or is it still Hangouts or something terrible like that?

What's the difference between iMessage and Whatsapp or something?  (non iPhone user here) 

[Mossburg]

^Basically iMessage has the widest user base for MMS (all iPhone users), and also defaults as your SMS in case you text someone without an iPhone, and you can use it on iPad and Macs too, on top of having the latest and greatest features. WhatsApp just allows communication with other WhatsApp users.

I must be the only iPhone user who doesn't use iMessages, I literally have it filed away with the useless iOS apps.

Edited October 16, 2017 by Mossburg

[pwny]

So... how is the Android operating system going to handle this WiFi security issue? Their typical fragmented release structure leaves basically every user at risk. Will there be a universal patch put out?

[Mossburg]

^Google will address it in the October security patch is my guess, other companies that are on board with it will probably too, maybe not as soon. The rest? Good luck sirs.

[Mossburg]

Also feel like people should be more worried about their routers. I bet vast majority never update their firmware because there's a bit of effort and manual work involved.

[showtime]

17 hours ago, Pad Level said:

I'm thinking of going back to android after 4 years with iPhone.  The only thing holding me back is iMessage.   Has google come out with something similar or is it still Hangouts or something terrible like that?

iMessage is one of the main reasons to stick with Apple, in my opinion.  The default messaging apps on Android are just inferior and you will notice the difference.  I have done extensive amounts of research on phones over the last month and unless you are going to get the iPhone X, I would not recommend an iPhone this year.  If you're going to go with an Android device, I would recommend the Samsung Note 8.  If not the Note 8 then the Pixel 2 XL - although if you get the Pixel 2, you need to understand you are going to be without several standard features which may or may not be important to you.

[Mossburg]

Apparently only 6.0 and above Android devices are affected. If you grandma is rocking Gingerbread, tell her to relax, but still watchout for stragefright.

[Mossburg]

I guess this underlines again why you want devices with the longest and quickest patch releases. Basically why I'd never consider any device other than Google's. You can debate features all you want, but if your devices is a year old or so and these's a massive exploit and not patch commitment from the manufacturer, you're basically walking with a vulnerability until you buy something new.

[showtime]

3 minutes ago, Mossburg said:

I guess this underlines again why you want devices with the longest and quickest patch releases. Basically why I'd never consider any device other than Google's. You can debate features all you want, but if your devices is a year old or so and these's a massive exploit and not patch commitment from the manufacturer, you're basically walking with a vulnerability until you buy something new.

I read an article that Microsoft pushed out a update for the wifi issue back on October 10th.  Google phones will not get the update until approximately sometime in November.  I would assume other current flagship devices get the update soon after.  This isn't a OS update where non-Google phones might get updated seven months later.  For example, Google devices have been running Oreo, whereas other devices have not gotten Oreo.  The realistic timeframe for Oreo on Samsung devices is probably March.  I highly doubt this security update works like OS updates.

[Mossburg]

^Yea, this would be part of the monthly security patches that Google has been releasing for a couple years now, not an OS update, so it should be sooner for all devices who receive these patches. The problem is the tons of devices that never will.

[showtime]

1 minute ago, Mossburg said:

^Yea, this would be part of the monthly security patches that Google has been releasing for a couple years now, not an OS update, so it should be sooner for all devices who receive these patches. The problem is the tons of devices that never will.

I agree.  If you're using the Samsung Note 5, for example, you might be out of luck.  However, you did say that devices running 6.0 and above will be impacted by the wifi issue.  There are probably a decent amount of devices that will be stuck in limbo, but probably not too many.  The biggest flagship Android phone right now - The Note 8 is running 7.1, I believe.  So there are a pretty good amount of Android devices that will receive the update.  If you don't receive the update, then it's probably time to upgrade phones anyway.

You have to pay to play.

[Mossburg]

Just now, showtime said:

I agree.  If you're using the Samsung Note 5, for example, you might be out of luck.  However, you did say that devices running 6.0 and above will be impacted by the wifi issue.  There are probably a decent amount of devices that will be stuck in limbo, but probably not too many.  The biggest flagship Android phone right now - The Note 8 is running 7.1, I believe.  So there are a pretty good amount of Android devices that will receive the update.  If you don't receive the update, then it's probably time to upgrade phones anyway.

You have to pay to play.

Well by comparison, the iPhone 5S still gets updates to this day. Google stopped supporting the Nexus 5 (came out around the same time) with security patches last October and it's been stuck on 6.0 since the year before that. And that's a best case scenario with a Google device. Your only option from there is custom roms, which you can get with the Nexus, but not with Samsung and other devices with locked down bootloaders.

So basically if you value security (most people don't take it seriously otherwise Samsung and others would have to do more), you can see that the scales are tipped heavy in Apple's favor. I think the Android OS is superior, but you do have to pay a tax to use it, just like you kinda have to pay an Apple tax (actual money tax lol) to use Apple's devices.