 Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me. |
Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : It's not just Windoze, Android is a pain in the arse too....
| Author | Message | ||||
Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9755 |
Hi all.  This post is a bit of a rant - prepare yourself. I thought Windoze was bad, till I started playing with an Android phone with all the apps on it and Google store. What a pain in the arse modern phones are. I can't comprehend how the young 'uns deal with apps that are INFESTED with ads. And I do mean infested. Most of the apps you can install from Google Play Store, are ad-supported - and that's fair enough - but the number of ads and how persistently they keep popping up over what you are actually trying to do, has caused me to now go get the good scotch for a few doubles.  What a freakin' mess. How does anyone use Android apps and NOT go insane or be driven to hardcore drinkin' - or both? (rhetorical)  I have a new smart-phone now, but I never bothered with connecting it(or the old one) to WiFi or using apps at all, as all I wanted from my cellphone - oddly enough - was just the phone features and texting. Nothing else. My cheap phone has started to suffer from buttons on the side that are really hard to make work now, so I had an idea on how to re-purpose this old phone for another task - streaming iHeartRadio into a local FM transmitter for a station at the village complex that is only available on AM at the moment, and the reception is terrible on AM. So, I connect my old phone to my home WiFi, setup and Google account for it, and then Mr. Google said: "OH! Hey! A phone that has not been updated for about four years, I'll just FORCE a huge package of updates to this phone, so that it will now run like a snail, and constantly complain about not having any space left." I did not want the updates, but you have no choice - they just do it a-la Windoze Ten's forced automatic updates. So, the phone used to have about 65% or so free space, now it has about 15%, moans all the time about being low on space, and has slowed to a snail speed. This was NOT what I planned. As they are system updates, you CANNOT remove them. SOME of them you can force-stop and then disable, but that just stops them running in the background, to recoup the space they take up, you have to uninstall them, but Android won't let you do that with system apps, so you're F---ed. (self-censored) Looking around on the net, I see that there IS a way to do it(usually) by installing another app that will "Root your phone"!!!!   To us Kiwi's and Aussies, 'Root' means to....well, the F word. 'Man, that chick gave me a great root last night!' So, they are essentially telling you how you can f--k your phone! But I digress....  Back to the problem at hand, I then went looking for an app that could give me that root access on the phone, and with that in place, apparently you CAN then get rid of apps that came bundled with the phone - apps that I have never used anyway - and that will free up the space. At this point, I am ALMOST ready to just buy a cheap-ish new phone or tablet - which will have more storage and a faster processor in it anyway - but I was kinda keen on giving the old phone a new life as an audio streaming thing. It may not actually be worth all the hassle of having to root the phone(hahahah! ) to be able to do this.Do any of the members here, know of or can recommend a way to root access on the old phone? One that does not require my installing and uninstalling any more apps that say they can do this - when they can't, and all they do is pump ads at you faster then you can dismiss the bastards. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
||||
CaptainBoing Guru  Joined: 07/09/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2171 |
so how do you guys get on with *nix? "root" is the superuser. With Android, think Linux - hence gaining root is the way to get rid of anything (here be dragons) on your android phone. Beware of apps that claim to do this - it is unlikely they can and this is a definite hook for a phishing attack - coz everyone is in the same boat as you and wants to root their phone - perfect bait. A rooted device is also the crown jewels for hackers etc. because the built-in protections for malware, bot-net clients etc... are blown away. Despite common impressions, Android/Google is actually pretty good for clearing out dodgy apps. Still won't protect you until some poor sod has been stung and it gets reported - trick is not to be among the first. With a rooted phone, all the fluffy, group-hug BS that makes it fairly safe for the IT illerati to be online is gone - you are master of your own destiny just as with a self-build PC. I like it. I rooted an ancient Nexus 7 (that got effectively bricked by Kit-Kat) with a custom ROM years ago. Don't remember much about it other than it was a fast little blighter when I'd done. XDA-Developers is the TBS for folks who have the same problems as you and you can grab yourself a custom rom and flash your phone (a lot of "depends" here). It is not for the feint-hearted but if you are close to writing off the old moby you have nothing to lose. Have a browse and see if that helps. https://www.xda-developers.com/what-is-custom-rom-android/ hth h Edited 2020-07-19 19:24 by CaptainBoing |
||||
| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3472 |
Or, considering the value of your time, you can buy a new android phone from Banggood or the like for ~$100USD give/take, minimum 2 gigabytes (mine is Asus Zenphone), and not phaff about. I don't do much on social networks, so don't see that many ads. I expect it will last me for years. It works for music, weather, news, calendar, calculator, timer when cooking, photos, directions/maps, notes like grocery list, texting my wife or gardener lad, in a pinch viewing TBS, connecting via a terminal to my little linux devices, turning on the heater in my barn with a browser, Youtube, wikipedia, viewing my remote cameras--I've even used it as a phone. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
||||
| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 4139 |
I think the offending phone make etc must be unusual, at least IME, for I've never had such mad ads or forced mega update occur and I've a fairly daft number of apps installed. Not a new phone, or particularly high spec, by a long way. I've "rooted" other devices (mainly tablets, but not my current phone as had no need) running Android using an "su" type of program and not had the grief warned about in this thread but I suppose YMMV. I don't know how far back "root" goes with UNIX but it already had it in 1974 and that was something like 6th Edition (we'd nowadays probably say Version 6). John |
||||
| Tinine Guru Joined: 30/03/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1646 |
@Grogster For me, your "rants" have become a forum feature which I find entertaining I think that you would have a pleasant surprise with even a cheap Chinese Octacore device. A few years ago, I purchased a BluBoo S1 from Bangood as a backup phone. What a blazer and tons of memory/storage. It's a bit plasticky but that's not an issue because I "always use protection" A fair number of Android tablets pass through these hands as I use them for HMIs for my Micromites. I grabbed a couple of Huaweis last year because I was impressed with the solid construction...very snappy indeed. I decided to do a comparison with a Samsung Tab2, running a similar benchmark to what we have for MMBASIC. In terms of machine spec's, the Huawei has approximately double the processor speed and double the RAM. Imagine the shock when I found a 10 X speed increase with the Huawei. This is using RFO BASIC (interpreter). Does Octacore make a difference? I would defer to @JohnS for that question but I don't see it being the case...more like faster memory, I guess. Old Android devices make great programmer's calculators  As far as app-ads go; I have found that any app worth having has a paid version. I think that my most expensive app is one of the office-suites and it's well worth it. Were it not for having to program MCUs, I would ditch the PC altogether. Cheers! Craig |
||||
| abraxas Regular Member  Joined: 16/06/2020 Location: CanadaPosts: 99 |
Mobile “experience” is a dumpster fire. All these gadgets are good for is as pocket email devices and to send SMS. Advertising ruined everything. Don’t even try to install any mobile “games”. Between the ads, the spyware the malware and the in-app purchases it’s guaranteed to give you cancer. |
||||
| Tinine Guru Joined: 30/03/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1646 |
Really? My devices are responsible for making car components for Ford, GM, Chrysler, Jaguar, Fiat and all of the Yellow "Bluebird" School buses in North America. If a screen gets damaged, they no longer need to wait for a Siemens or Beckhoff replacement and pay out the nose for it. They simply pair another device and a production line is back in business. I shake my head at proprietary HMIs that can potentially cripple a company. Android devices are the ultimate HMI. |
||||
hitsware2 Guru Joined: 03/08/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 734 |
> If a screen gets damaged, they no longer need to wait for a > Siemens or Beckhoff replacement and pay out the nose for it. > They simply pair another device and a production line is back > in business. You must mean a 'silk screen' as opposed to a 'monitor screen' ...... ? my site |
||||
| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3472 |
Not my experience at all, though I don't have any games installed, and I try to be careful where I go. In 1969 I said "I don't want to go to the library, I want the library to come to me". Now it does, and so much more, and all in my shirt pocket. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
||||
| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9755 |
Hi folks.  I'm still alive after the good scotch, and still have some of my hair left. I spoke to the management this morning, and they authorised my simply buying a brand-new cheaper-end phone, which will be able to handle this application fine. Even the cheaper ones these days are still more powerful then my old one was, but it would have been nice to re-purpose the old one rather then just binning it. Sorry that this thread was a bit of a rant, but I find Google Play Store to be a complete nightmare UNLESS you know SPECIFICALLY what app you want to install. As for trying this app and that app to try to root the phone(hahahahha! - can't help it, it sounds so funny!) or various file managers that say they can get rid of bundled apps etc, the one single night I spent playing around with that idea, just about drive me completely insane, and I won't be ever using the Play store thing, for anything BUT specific apps I know I want - such as iHeartRadio.Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
||||
| Tinine Guru Joined: 30/03/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1646 |
Monitor screen or an integrated membrane keyboard. Control system electronics failures are very rare but the operator interface is subject to physical abuse. It's amazing how many Siemens, Beckhoff and other control systems are currently running with a desktop monitor and keyboard sitting off to the side due to a failed touch screen or keypad. Program editing becomes slower and they look like hell. Another advantage of the tablet is portability. In the event of a problem, the maintenance tech doesn't need to recruit help to watch for screen activity while he's on the far side of the machine, manually triggering a sensor. They simply detach the tablet from the pedestal and take it to the point of interest (Bluetooth comms). Part of my sales presentation is to factory-reset the unit as if I were replacing a failed unit. Including the Android set-up song-and-dance routine, the equipment is ready to run in under 15mins. This is the important bit. Downtime can be costly when you have hourly employees standing around, waiting for parts. Edited 2020-07-20 14:56 by Tinine |
||||
 Print this page |
 |
The Back Shed's forum code is written, and hosted, in Australia. | © JAQ Software 2025 |
