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wedgestratos · 6 years ago

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Sailfish OS: One Day

Today’s gonna be a weird and long post, so let’s start slow and give you the choice.

We’ve had, for years, seen the constant back and forth between Google and Apple on their respective phone operating systems. Android, which has dominated the market on basically any device you can pick up here in the states, and iOS, which exclusively powers iPhones, iPods and iPads. Despite the two duking it out, Android does hold the highest market share. As of Q2 2018, Statista claims a whopping 82% market share for Android, and no other competitors really exist.

But, for years, I’ve been enamored by an OS that has been seemingly out of my reach, and has had a lot of drawbacks that prevented me from ever considering using it for more than an hour. An OS that’s been going strong for over 5 years, and might soon see a new breath of fresh air due to recent allegations to Huawei. So, after the break, let me tell you my tale of Sailfish OS.

Now one thing I want to briefly mention is the history of this, but don’t take it as gospel. I’m not an expert on this stuff, but what I’ve gathered is Sailfish OS is built on a foundation of MeeGo and Mer. MeeGo has prospered on its own to Tizen, an alternative OS used widely by Samsung on their watches and fridges (for some reason), while Mer was a fork of MeeGo driven by the community, and became the framework for ex-Nokia employees to start a new project, with the funding of Nokia through their Bridge program. Those ex-Nokia employees would found Jolla, and Sailfish OS would be their creation.

I first heard of Sailfish in 2013, as I was dipping my toes into the world of smartphones at that point. It looked incredible, with vivid, vibrant colors, a gesture-driven UI, a uniform design language, and a promise of privacy and openness that we definitely don’t see from companies today. And at the time, I was especially curious of their hardware.

Credit By Michael Coté - Flickr: Charles' Jolla phone, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31979039

The Jolla phone saw its first pre-orders in April of 2013, and was officially available for purchase by November. It had decent specs for the time. Snapdragon 400, a modest 540x960 resolution (keep in mind, the flagship Samsung Galaxy SIII had a mere 720p resolution), 1GB of RAM, a 2100mAh battery, and most interesting to me, the “Other Half” which powered the system’s Ambiences. You slap a new Other Half on it, and the color changed to match in the OS. Cool in concept.

The later Jolla tablet would be promoted with an Indiegogo campaign, but unfortunately, costs and availability of materials, and the development of Sailfish OS 2.0 led to the tablet ultimately being cancelled, with a handful of units out in the wild.

Since then, Jolla’s gotten back on stable footing. The OS is open for licensing with OEMs, and Jolla’s been able to get official support from places like Russia, and companies like... Sony.

I have the Xperia XA2, released in March 2018 for $300 in the US. I snatched it up on eBay for a mere $170, and I’ve enjoyed its clean design, near-stock OS, and the solid in-house Sony apps like the Gallery and Music apps worked wonders. But then I discovered Jolla was working on Sailfish X for the XA2.

As a way to support the OS, and a way to fund the continued development of an Android compatibility layer for those who need Android apps, Jolla has Sailfish X, a version of their OS that features predictive text input with the keyboard, software updates and customer support, and of course, the Alien Dalvik, which lets you run Android apps on the OS natively. This was important, since I knew I needed apps like Discord, Twitter, Google Maps, and I could see the available open-sourced apps of things like Keepass weren’t gonna cut it.

The process was a bit difficult, and I stayed up until 4am on Saturday, trying to get the phone backed up, flashed, and ready to go with what I needed. First, I had to unlock the bootloader, which Sony and Jolla made it pretty easy. Then I had to buy the OS for the meager $35 USD (which I had done before even being certain my phone would do it, don’t make my mistake), download their software package and just... do it. After an hour, I had the phone running Sailfish, and man, it was a delight from the beginning. Swiping, tapping, sliding, the OS felt smooth, it had this flow about it.

After I got the accounts logged in, I proceeded to grab a few apps... before realizing all too soon that I’d need Google Play services. This is where I’m probably gonna get a lot of flack. For all the effort I put in, I was about to install apps that were at least partially at fault for the slowness of my XA2 on Android, and defeating the point of installing Sailfish.

Let me be forward in saying I don’t care that much about privacy. Do I like Google being involved in every facet of my life? Absolutely not, but they are sadly a necessary evil. And it’s not like you, the reader, would be any different. Tumblr, after all, is owned by Verizon, who has a history of screwing customers in plenty of situations, including firefighters who need constant access to emergency services for contact. And too many things want or need Google Play for me to avoid it. Discord, Telegram, Authy, Youtube, I use all this stuff, and without GP, it gets unhappy. I could remedy some of those by using Amazon or just going open-source with F-Droid, but it won’t fix the issue. And even now, microG, an open-source implementation of Google Play services, isn’t perfect, and would likely cause more headaches than I could handle at 4am on a Saturday.

Fortunately, some good Samaritans on Jolla’s Together forums created a simple Bash script I could run by just SSHing into my phone... Wow, that was a sentence. A fitting one though. After that, and after some headaches with the Google Setup wizard (here’s a tip: use Vision settings to get to your Android settings, and disable permissions on “Android Setup” when you’ve gotten your account logged in), I was finally using my phone, and it runs quite well. Android apps don’t consistently work correctly. Often, I have to close apps like the settings or Keepass because the framework stops updating the frontend, or even fully stop and start Android support, but it works well for just about everything I’m using on it now!

I really like the UI and design, and since the Other Half concept isn’t there for the XA2, ambiences are just a menu away from changing the look and feel of the OS in this pleasing way.

The system flows thanks to its gesture-driven controls. Swiping up from the bezel will bring you your app tray, swiping from the top bezel gives you quick settings. When you’re on the home screen, swiping left or right gives you a sort of agenda view where notifications, weather, and updates from your Twitter, Facebook, XMPP, VK and other accounts stack up. When you’re inside an app, swiping from the left or right bezel should bring you back home. Of all the interface controls on this device, that one is the most inconsistent one, a pain point given the nature of Android’s design language encourages these slide-out menus that you can’t consistently swipe open due to that gesture. The only setting I’ve found on that is to change the left-side bezel swipe to open the agenda instead of going home. I’d personally prefer hot zones on the bezels, so if I wanted to go home, swipe in from the lower half of the screen, but if I want the Android menus, slide from the top half.

Other interesting design cues come from the glowing parts of the UI, where extended menu options usually hide, or places you can slide out to are available.

Sliding down if the top is glowing usually opens this pulley menu, where each option can be selected by just pulling a bit and letting go. It’s an odd one, and due to the inconsistencies of apps and options, the pulley menu isn’t as instantly intuitive as I would hope. If there’s a glowing dot on a page though, you can simply slide to return to a menu from previously, or access another menu if the dot’s on the right side. Again, this is a bit inconsistent, as the unofficial Twitter app, Pingviini, showcases. You can actually just swipe left and right at will to access your notifications, conversations, search and trendings, and timeline. That bottom menu you’re seeing there is hidden so often, it’s basically pointless to have it there. This does make the whole system feel more cohesive, Pingviini looks like it belongs on this phone, but it does hurt usability.

Thus far, I’m still testing and learning about this OS. I had to google screenshotting, which is simply holding the volume rocker together. Doesn’t feel as reliable as the Android alternative of Volume Down and Power / Home, but I’ll take it. I don’t plan on gaming with this. Games are just not what I buy a phone for. It’s nice to have it there, but I’d prefer to just play my 3DS if I’m out and about.

I can’t wait to do more with Sailfish. It feels really nice to use, and I’m honestly draining my phone’s battery just from the amusement of swiping and sliding menus around and admiring the design of this. The last OS I really enjoyed using was Blackberry 10, and this feels like a sort of spiritual successor, with the included agenda feed and the persistent cards for apps you’re using.

#sailfish os #jolla #sony #android #phones #long post

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ladystylestores · 5 years ago

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Realme Band Review – GSMArena.com news

Realme made its debut just two years ago in May 2018 with the Realme 1. In the short time since, the company has launched over two dozen smartphones and expanded its business in over 25 markets across the globe.

Realme offers great value for money smartphones across different segments, but the company is also quickly expanding its ecosystem. It launched its first true wireless earphones last December and in March its first fitness tracker, dubbed Realme Band.

Priced at the super aggresive INR1,499 ($20/18), the Realme Band comes with a decent set of features including 24-hour heart rate monitoring, IP68 dust and water resistance and a USB-A connector for hassle-free charging. I used the Realme Band for more than two months and I’m ready to give you a rundown of its real-life performance.

Realme Band specifications

Display: 0.96″, 160×80 pixel color screen

Straps: Detachable TPU straps, 16 mm width, 152-227 mm adjustable length

Features: Real-time heart rate monitor, IP68 rating, USB-A connector, Sleep Tracking, Sports Tracking, Step Counter, Smart Notifications, Idle Alert, Drink Reminder

Sports Modes: Run, Walk, Bike, Hiking, Fitness, Climbing, Spinning, Yoga and Cricket

Sensors: PPG optical heart rate sensor, 3-axis accelerometer, Rotor Vibration Motor

Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.2, Compatible with Android 5.0+

Battery: 90 mAh

Colors: Black, Green, and Yellow

Dimensions: 19.6 x 11.9 x 240 mm

Weight: 20 grams

Design

The Realme Band has a sleek, clean design. Its body is made of plastic and has subtle curves, which allow it to fit nicely on your wrist. The smartband comes with detachable straps made of TPU, that are 16mm wide and have an adjustable length of 152-227mm.

The TPU straps are soft and feel comfortable. I wore the Realme Band for almost an entire day every day for over two months and it didn’t cause any discomfort. At 20 grams, the Realme Band is very lightweight and it’s easy to forget that you are wearing it. In fact, there were times I didn’t feel the Realme Band on my wrist and had to look to make sure it didn’t fell off.

Removing the strap from the top reveals the USB-A connector on the main module, which comes in a single gray color. But you get three options for the straps – Black, Green, and Yellow.

The main module has a PPG optical heart rate sensor on its back and there’s a circular capacitive button below the display that lets you operate the Realme Band.

Realme Band comes with detachable TPU straps

A single tap on the button lets you navigate through the menu, which includes heart rate monitor, alarm, daily step count, regulatory details about the Realme Band as well as three of the nine sports modes set by default – Yoga, Cricket and Run. A long-press on the button for two seconds lets you check your daily step count data, manually measure heart rate, turn on the sports modes, and enable/disable alarms.

The Realme Band is IP68 certified, meaning it’s protected against dirt, dust and sand, and you don’t have to take it off your wrist when going in the shower. You can also wear it while swimming, but the smartband doesn’t track swimming so you won’t get any data about your performance.

Display

The Realme Band sports a 0.96″ TFT screen of 160×80 pixel resolution, which is capable of displaying 65,000 colors and up to 64 letters on one page. The smartband supports five watch faces and more will be added with future updates. You can choose the watch face you like from the Realme Link app, which we’ll examine in detail in the Software section.

The default watch face displays time, daily step count, and a Bluetooth connection icon. It also shows the battery level of the Realme Band, but I’d have preferred battery percentage instead since I always had to open the Realme Link app to check the exact charge left in the cell.

None of the watch faces display the battery percentage right now, so that’s something Realme can perhaps look to add through a software update.

Moreover, I’d have also liked to have customization options for the watch faces to see different information on the screen, like date or the daily average heart rate.

Realme Band currently supports five watch faces

The Realme Band doesn’t have a touch screen, so you have to use the circular capacitive button placed below the display to operate the smartband.

A touch display would’ve made operating the Realme Band far easier since its button doesn’t support swipe gestures which makes navigation quite a chore. And it’s more annoying because there’s no way to go back to the previous page without having to cycle through all the pages again, which is time-consuming.

The screen itself looks good indoors, but outside, it has very poor visibility. Even after covering the display with the hand and setting the brightness to the maximum level, it was quite difficult to see the on-screen content. This might be a deal-breaker since the Realme Band is a fitness tracker meant to be worn outdoors when exercising, and a screen with poor outdoor visibility defeats its purpose.

Adjust display brightness from the Realme Link app

All the information on the screen is displayed in portrait mode but you can also switch to landscape using the Screen Rotation option in the Realme Link app. I wonder why would someone want to use the landscape mode since it makes for very weird experience and the notifications get trimmed sometimes so you don’t get to see all the information.

Speaking of notifications, the Realme Band comes with a feature called Smart Notifications which alerts you of incoming calls, SMS, and notifications from other apps installed on your smartphone with a vibration. We’ll get into its details in the Features and Performance section.

There’s also a Raise To Wake Up feature, which uses the 3-axis accelerometer to let you turn on the screen of the Realme Band by lifting your wrist to check the time, daily steps, and notifications. It also works when the Sports Mode is enabled.

You can enable and disable the Raise To Wake Up feature or set it to automatically turn on at a set time everyday through the Realme Link app.

Raise To Wake Up worked reliably, but the screen took longer at times to turn on.

You can customize the start and end time for Raise To Wake Up from Realme Link app

Software

The Realme Band relies on the Realme Link app which is currently only available for Android devices. To control the Realme Band using the app, you need to create an account first. You can sign up either with your mobile phone number or email address.

You can sign up with the Realme Link app using either mobile phone number or email

After creating the account, follow the instructions on the Realme Link app to pair the Realme Band with your device. Once connected, you’ll see the Realme Band photo on the homescreen, clicking on which will sync the data from the smartband and you’ll see the smartband’s battery level and an overview of your daily steps, sleep, heart rate, and sports records. You can sync the smartband manually as well with a swipe down gesture.

Realme Band pairing process

Up top is the gear icon that lets you access all the settings for the Realme Band, which include watch face, notifications for calls, SMS and apps, alarm, DND mode, daily goals, and more. You can check out the screenshots below to get a better idea.

Realme Band settings in Realme Link app

The Realme Link app has a clean and simple UI, but the data synchronization isn’t consistent. Sometimes it syncs in a jiffy and sometimes it takes a lot of time. The app picked up a few updates since launch, but it still needs some polishing.

Moreover, when you pair the smartband with a new device, the settings from your previous device aren’t carried over, meaning you’ll have to set up alarms, DND and drink reminder on the new device again. We hope Realme fixes this soon.

Plus, allowing the Realme Band to sync with the connected device automatically at a regular interval will be a good idea since you won’t have to open the Realme Link app just to sync the data.

The company rolled out a software update for the Realme Band last month which brought along the weather function and the ability to make the phone connected to the smartband ring so you can find it if you misplace it. Yet our unit didn’t receive it at the time of writing this.

Features and Performance

The Realme Band comes with heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, step counter and nine sports modes, which include Run, Walk, Bike, Hiking, Fitness, Climbing, Spinning, Yoga and Cricket – the last one developed specially for India.

Other highlights include Idle Alert, Drink Reminder, and Smart Notifications.

Heart Rate Monitoring

Let’s talk about heart-rate monitoring first. The Realme Band uses a PPG optical heart rate sensor that flashes a green-colored light on your skin, which is reflected and read by the sensor to measure the heartbeats.

PPG optical heart rate sensor on Realme Band

The Realme Band measures heart rate automatically every five minutes, which is taxing on the battery, but you have the option to disable it and only manually check your pulse when you want. What is missing is a third option with a custom interval, so that the smartband only measures heart rate automatically during a specific period to help save battery.

Realme Band has two heart rate monitoring options – Auto and Manual

To manually check your heart rate, you’ll have to navigate to the Heart rate page on the Realme Band and long-press the capacitive button. The smartband takes longer than usual to measure the heartbeat sometimes, but not long enough to be a deal-breaker.

It’s also worth mentioning that Realme Band comes with wear detection, meaning the smartband will not measure the heart rate if you aren’t wearing it and will flash a message saying “Put band on”. Nice.

You can find all your heart rate data in the Realme Link app. You can also set a maximum heart rate value from the app, exceeding which while doing sports will trigger an alarm.

Heart Rate data and maximum heart rate value

Sleep Tracking

The Realme Band comes with automatic Sleep Tracking which is commonplace on fitness trackers and smartwatches. The sleep data is presented in a graphical form in the Realme Link app and it tells you when you fell asleep and when you woke up. The total sleep hours are then broken down to Deep Sleep and Light Sleep. The bar graph also tells you if you were awake at night, but it doesn’t reveal at what time and for how long.

Sleep data along with sleep heart rate

The Realme Band measures the heart rate as well when you are sleeping. Surprisingly, it also tracked daytime sleep, but that only happened a couple of times.

That said, sleep tracking on Realme Band is buggy. Instead of recording the time when you actually woke up, it records the time when you get up from the bed.

Besides, the smartband also recorded sleep data when I wasn’t wearing it. Perhaps Realme should use wear detection for sleep monitoring which it clearly isn’t right now.

Moreover, there were several instances of Realme Band thinking I was asleep when I was actually awake and moving.

Sports Tracking

The Realme Band has nine sports modes – Run, Walk, Bike, Hiking, Fitness, Climbing, Spinning, Yoga and Cricket, which is developed specially for India.

You can turn on these sports modes manually from the Realme Band. It can store a minimum of one and a maximum of three sports modes. Out of the box, you get Yoga, Cricket and Run, but you can select your favorite modes as well as the order in which they appear on the smartband by heading to the Sport Mode menu in the Realme Link app. There’s also a Sport Record section in the Realme Link app where you get an overview of your sports activities.

Default Sports Modes Total available Sports Modes Sports Records

The Run, Walk and Hiking modes count the number of steps, pace, distance, duration, heart rate and calories burned, whereas Bike, Fitness, Spinning, Yoga and Cricket skip the steps, pace and distance. The Climbing mode, on the other hand, only skips distance recording.

The Realme Band is probably the first fitness band to feature a dedicated Cricket mode and since it was hyped a lot by Realme, I was quite curious to see how Realme provided data for the three main activities in the game of Cricket – Batting, Bowling, and Fielding. But there’s nothing special about the Cricket Mode since it only tells you about the heart rate and calories burned while playing cricket; similar to Bike, Fitness, Spinning, and Yoga modes.

Run Walk Bike Hiking Fitness Climbing Spinning Yoga Cricket

Maybe Realme can add support for steps, pace, and distance recording to the Cricket Mode to make it more useful.

Steps data

Talking about the step counter’s accuracy, it’s not entirely perfect, like many other fitness bands. The smartband counted some extra steps, but it should still give you a fair idea of how much you walked and can work for monitoring progress.

Idle Alert and Drink Reminder

The Realme Band comes with Idle Alert and Drink Reminder – the former reminds you to move and take a walk if you sit for too long in one place, and the latter reminds you to drink water at regular intervals.

You can turn on both features from the Realme Link app. Idle Alert will ask you to “Do some exercise!” between 9 AM to 6 PM if you sit too long, but the Drink Reminder feature offers more granular control.

Idle Alert can be enabled from the Realme Link app

It lets you select the Get up Time and Bed Time and the days of the week when you want to be reminded to drink water. You get to select the notification interval as well, which includes six options – 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 1.5 hours, 2 hours, and 2.5 hours.

Drink Reminder settings

The Drink Reminder works well, but Realme could have made the Idle Alert more useful by gathering sedentary data about the users and presenting it in a way the heart rate and sleep information is shown in the Realme Link app.

Smart Notifications

Smart Notifications alerts you of incoming calls, SMS, and notifications from other apps installed on their smartphones with a vibration. You can head over to the Settings menu of the Realme Band in the Realme Link app and click on the toggle button in front of the Incoming Call option to enable/disable incoming call notifications.

You can reject the incoming calls from the Realme Band with a long-press on the capacitive button.

To turn on SMS and app notifications, you can head to the Message Notification menu in the Realme Link app and enable notifications on a per-app basis.

Incoming Call alert App Notification alerts

The Realme Band displays notifications on the screen along with the icons of the corresponding apps, but this doesn’t work with many apps – even popular ones like Gmail and Instagram. This sometimes makes it difficult to ascertain which app sent the notification.

Besides, the notification content is often truncated and when you receive multiple notifications, you can only see the latest one with no way to check the previous ones.

Realme really needs to improve the Smart Notifications feature, and in its current state, the Realme Band constanly makes you reach for your phone, without letting you screen notifications and only taking care of important ones.

Battery life

The Realme Band packs a 90 mAh battery which Realme says can offer six days of autonomy with heart rate monitoring turned on, and nine days without it.

In my testing, the Realme Band lasted seven days on an average with 24×7 heart rate monitoring and a barrage of notifications throughout the day (read: 100+), which consume additional power because the smartband vibrates when you receive them.

However, the usage didn’t include any workouts, so those who’ll use the Realme Band for activity tracking with 24×7 heart rate monitoring will get less endurance.

That said, the sports modes don’t work when the battery drops below 20%, but step counter and heart rate monitor do. And once the battery dips below 10%, the Realme Band only shows the time on the screen and you have to charge the smartband to use other functions.

The Realme Band comes with a USB-A connector for hassle-free charging. This is easily one of the best features of the smartband since you don’t need any additional cables to juice up the battery – simply remove the strap from the top side of the display and insert the USB-A connector into a USB-A port.

This is very convenient because you can not only charge the Realme Band using your phone’s adapter but also through your laptop or power bank. And if your smartphone supports reverse wired charging, you can use a USB OTG adapter to charge the Realme Band with your smartphone. I wish more smartbands come with USB-A or USB-C connectors.

The Realme Band took around 1 hour 30 minutes to charge from 10% to 100%, and when it’s charging, the red-colored indicator above the screen lights up but you don’t get any notification from the Realme Link app when the battery is fully charged.

Competition

With a price tag of INR1,499 ($20/18) in India, the Realme Band competes directly with the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 and Mi Band 3i priced at INR1,599 ($21/20) and INR1,299 ($17/16), respectively.

Both smartbands promise up to 20-day battery endurance and are water-resistant up to 50 meters. The Mi Band 3 and 3i also pack touch-based OLED displays, but unlike the Realme Band that sports a color screen, these have monochrome panels.

Xiaomi Mi Band 3 Xiaomi Mi Band 3i

The Mi Band 3i doesn’t come with a heart rate sensor, but the Mi Band 3 does. Neither of them has a USB-A connector like the Realme Band, meaning you have to deal with a proprietary adaptor.

However, if you are willing to spend a little more, you can buy the Honor Band 5i priced at INR1,799 ($24/22), the Huawei Band 4 priced at INR1,999 ($26/24), or Xiaomi’s Mi Smart Band 4 that costs INR2,299 ($30/28).

Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 4 Huawei Band 4 Honor Band 5i

The Huawei Band 4 is water-resistant up to 50 meters and comes with a color touch display, heart rate sensor, music control, and a USB-A connector. The Honor Band 5i also packs these features, but for INR200 less you get SpO2 monitor that measures blood oxygen saturation levels.

The Mi Smart Band 4, on the other hand, packs a full-touch color AMOLED display and can track swimming, which is something the Realme Band cannot do. Besides, it comes with music and volume controls and you can use a picture from your phone’s gallery as the smartband’s watch face.

However, it doesn’t come with the USB-A connector for direct charging. You can head this way to read our Mi Smart Band 4 review to learn more about it.

The Realme Band currently only works with Android devices, but the fitness trackers from Xiaomi, Huawei and Honor mentioned above are also compatible with iOS devices, so that’s another thing to consider before making a purchase decision.

Verdict

The Realme Band comes with enticing features like IP68 dust and water resistance, heart rate monitoring, and a USB-A connector. But the smartband’s display has poor outdoor visibility and sleep tracking and step counting functions are also less than stellar at the moment. The much-hyped Cricket Mode isn’t anything special either.

So is the Realme Band worth buying? Well, the Realme Band is a first-gen product and the Chinese phone maker has done a decent job with it. Of course, the sleep tracking and step counting features are buggy right now, but that’s something Realme can fix with a software update.

If you are looking for an affordable fitness tracker and want the convenience of charging through the USB-A connector, then go for the Realme Band. But if you can let go of that convenience and are willing to extend your budget, then there are other options.

Pros

IP68 rating

Heart rate monitoring

USB-A connector

Lightweight

Cons

Display has poor outdoor visibility

Sleep Tracker and Step Counter are buggy

Notifications need improvement

Realme Link app needs polishing

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sifiwiki · 8 years ago

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Galaxy S4 problems Recent facts & reviews: Workarounds & Solutions how to galaxy s4 problems fix

New Post has been published on http://mywikispace.com/galaxy-s4-problems-recent-facts/

Galaxy S4 problems Recent facts & reviews: Workarounds & Solutions how to galaxy s4 problems fix

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Samsung galaxy s4 problems : By now most of you must’ve gotten word that Samsung has rolled out updates 4.3 Jelly bean for Galaxy S4 around end of October given or take a week depending on the region and carrier you are in. Soon after the S3 had received the same 4.3 Jellybean update in some countries US, Finland, UK, Korea…etc. that was in early November. Yet, news confirms that all carriers weather in the US AT&T, Sprint & Verizon or even other carrier in different regions have stopped the update days after its release for the S4 and even S3 as many bugs, issues, abnormal response, freeze, and a general weird or unexpected issues showing up Understanding the problem.

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Galaxy S4 problems Recent facts & reviews

So before we go into summarizing some of the most issues reported and potential solutions, let’s spend a couple of minutes just clarifying the root issue. The S4 originally was launched with the 4.2 Jelly bean Android version which is comparatively very stable and reliable, yet that was not the case for S3, which originally came with 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 and both version are quite stable and reliable. So there is nothing wrong with the S3 and S4, in fact the S4 is a great phone equipped with state of the art and edge hardware technology, not to mention the endless features presented in it. However it is far than obvious that Samsung took a hasten step into releasing the 4.3 Jellybean updates before it ensures customization of the software with Touch Wiz which is the brand customization of Samsung over stock Android versions is tested and bug-free.

how to fix Galaxy S4 problems Recent facts & reviews: Workarounds & Solutions :

read more : htc one problems and solution

The problem of all problems

Now that we dig the real problem source, I would advise in general that for those who updated their phone, roll back to original software by performing a simple reset; Go to Settings, Backup and restore, and simply restore your phone to Factory settings. Or do the hard button reset by pressing the Vol Up button + Home Button + Power Button/lock button, keep pressing all three buttons until you see menu screen after your phone restart, scroll down using vol down and select “Wipe all data and reset to original settings” to select use power button. I personally recommend this solution to end-up all issues once and for all, until a proven bug-free update is released which will happen eventually. Not to mention the 4.4 Kitkat Android version is released and news has it that Samsung might jump directly to that “especially for the S4” phones rather than fixing the bugs for the 4.3 Jellybean update.

Yet, if some of you prefer to continue using your phone(s) with the current updated 4.3 software then below you will find popular reported problems and solution to overcome these issues.

Problem: Lag or stutter

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Many people have found that the S4 stutters out of the box. There are reports of stuttering on entering and exiting apps, some lag on unlocking, and also lag when pressing the Home button. You can reasonably expect a smartphone this powerful to be as smooth as silk. If it isn’t then you can try the following:

Possible solutions:

Go to Settings > Developer options and scroll down. Try changing Window animation scale, Transition animation scale, and Animator duration scale to Animation is off. If you don’t see Developer options then you can unlock it by going to Settings > More > About device and tapping the Build number several times (you should get a pop-up message when developer options is unlocked)

-Go to Settings >My device > Lock screen and then tap Unlock effect and change it to None.

Fire up S-Voice and go into Settings and then uncheck the box next to Open via the home key. Be aware that this will disable the double tap activation for S-Voice, but it will also eliminate the Home button lag.

Problem: Lack of storage

If you bought a 16GB Galaxy S4, you might be disappointed to find that you only have around 8.5GB free. The operating system and the preloaded apps are taking up over 6GB of the available space.

Possible solutions:

You can buy a microSD card, up to 64GB, and you can use cloud storage solutions like Google Drive and Dropbox.

The problem is that some apps can’t be installed to a microSD card, and they obviously can’t be run from the cloud. Your other option is to root your S4 and get rid of some of the bloatware. Problem: Overheating

A lot of people have reported that the S4 is getting very warm or even hot at times. Most people are experiencing this during movie playback or while gaming. Some had a problem with random apps, during calls, while browsing the web, or while using the camera. A few have experienced an issue while charging. Any smartphone is going to heat up with extensive use and hot weather will have an impact too.

Possible solutions:

It could be a rogue app. Make sure you have the latest updates for all your apps. Fire up the Play Store, tap Menu then My apps, and you should see available Updates at the top right. If you have an up to date app that always seems to cause the problem, then try to find an alternative.

Some people report that media server could be the culprit. Try removing the microSD card and backing up all the files onto your computer. Reinsert the card into your S4 and format it. This might solve the problem.

If it is a software problem then an update might solve it. There are reports that Sprint S4 handsets have already received an OTA (over the air) update, but we don’t know what it was for. In any case this solution means waiting.

If your S4 continues to heat up,and you aren’t using it heavily, then it’s possible you have a hardware problem. Contact your retailer, carrier, or Samsung to report the problem and see if you can get a replacement.

Samsung Galaxy S4 problem battery drain

Is your battery draining faster than expected? Any smartphone is going to eat up a lot of juice if you use it a lot, but if you’re experiencing heavy battery drain it could be linked to the overheating problem discussed above. The hotter your battery gets, the faster it’s going to drain. You could use an app to check the temperature and make sure that’s not the real reason for the excessive battery drain.

If you find that your battery juice is draining fast under light usage, and the phone isn’t overheating, then there are a couple of things you could try. Start by going to Settings > More > Battery and find out what is eating the power.

Workarounds:

Disable feature you aren’t using: Wi-Fi, GPS, Mobile data, Air view, NFC, etc.

Turn on Power saving mode via the extra Quick settings in the Notifications bar.

Reduce your screen brightness and timeout.

Use a dark wallpaper.

Watch out for apps that are constantly syncing. You’ll find options to set the sync duration in the Settings menu of most apps like Facebook, which can be a drain on power.

Problem: Display smearing or ghosting

A number of S4 owners have experienced a smearing or ghosting issue when they are scrolling in menus with a black background. Some report a purple haze on the grey bits of the menu and elsewhere. The effect is more noticeable when the brightness is turned down. Some people have also reported a red tint on black.

Possible solution:

Samsung has reportedly already released an OTA update that fixes the red tint on black, but the smearing issue has not been solved. Some people argue that it’s a limitation of the hardware; others are claiming it will be fixed via a software update.

Workaround: It might be worth trying the free Screen Adjuster app, as it allows you to calibrate colors and contrast.

samsung Galaxy S4 problem Wi-Fi

Can’t connect to Wi-Fi, it’s very slow, or keeps dropping connection : A lot of people run into issues with their smartphones and routers. Quite a few S4 owners have reported their Wi-Fi connection dropping frequently, and a few are unable to connect at all. The problem with Wi-Fi issues is that they could be down to the hardware (mobile device or router), or they could be caused by the software (on the mobile device or the router), or they could be caused by settings (on the smartphone or the router). To complicate things further, software problems could be down to Google’s Android or Samsung’s Touch Wiz overlay.

If you find that other devices are connecting to your router without a problem then it looks like you have an issue. Try the following:

Workarounds: Most people report that toggling the Wi-Fi switch in quick settings, or turning your smartphone and/or router off and on again, temporarily solves the issue.

Potential solutions:

Go into Settings > Connections and tap Wi-Fi. Then tap Menu and make sure Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep is set to Always.

You can try turning off Wi-Fi power save mode on your S4. On the phone dialer type *#0011# then Menu > Wi-Fi and turn Wi-Fi power save mode to Off.

Make sure that your router firmware is up to date.

Change your router settings, maybe change the 802.11 mode or channel. You should refer to troubleshooting documentation for your specific router, or contact your ISP to find out how.

Problem: Smart stay, pause, scroll, rotation doesn’t work

Some of the exclusive features on the S4 are what tempted people to buy it over the major competitors, so it can be a disappointment for people when they can’t get a feature to work as advertised. A lot of people complain that the Smart Stay, Pause, Rotation, and Scroll features aren’t working for them.

Potential solution:

Assuming you’ve checked that they’re turned on in Settings > My device > Smart screen. You should also make sure that the lighting is sufficiently bright for your S4 to see you. The phone has to be able to see your face using the front-facing camera. If you’re obscuring that camera, or the environment is too dark, then it simply won’t work.

That’s it for samsung galaxy s4 problems right now, but stay tuned because we’ll update this article in time. If you’ve encountered any of these problems, or something else entirely, then post a comment. If you have another solution to suggest we’d also love to hear from you, so please share

I hope this helps many of you who are facing problems with Galaxy S4. Your comments will be a compensation for this work 🙂

#Galaxy S4 problems issues #how to fix galaxy s4 problems #samsung galaxy s4 problems

0 notes

itviconsultants · 8 years ago

Text

5 reasons the Galaxy S8 will make you ditch your iPhone

The Samsung Galaxy S8 has taken the tech industry by storm as the best Android smartphone you can buy. The display is gorgeous, the design is unmatched and the performance is top notch. The Galaxy S8 finally delivered everything I needed to cut the Apple cord and jump ship to an Android smartphone. I do miss iMessage, but there's enough about the Galaxy S8 to soothe the loss of Apple's simple and seamless messaging app. Here are five reasons why I made the switch from iOS to Android and I'm not looking back. Subtle notifications Coming from iOS, notifications included floating pop-ups and angry red badges that judgmentally showcased my growing pile of unread emails. These notifications overwhelmed and annoyed. I'd turn the badges off, or shuffle the app to another page so I wouldn't have to stare at it anymore. My lock screen became a jumbled mix of stacked notifications -- something to ignore as I unlocked the display. It's safe to say my iPhone never became a cornerstone of productivity. But the Galaxy S8 finally makes my smartphone a productive device -- one that I can customize to my preference. And I've finally stopped ignoring notifications. The traditional notifications are clean and minimal, but the Edge notifications are the real treat. With Edge notifications, you'll see a thin, unobtrusive bubble at the top of the display while a blue light that gracefully dances around the edges of the display. It's enough to notice you have a new alert, but not so much that I'm forced to turn on "Do Not Disturb" just to get through a YouTube video. Meanwhile, I can avoid clutter on my lock screen and "always on display" by relying on simple icons that expand with a tap to show all notifications for that one app. On the home screen, I can include widgets and sticky notes that make it impossible for me to avoid my to-do list or reminders. I spent years carrying around two-inch Sticky Notes that I'd tack on to my iPhone display if I needed to remember something important. At least on my S8, the sticky notes won't fall off. In the past, Apple offered enough in hardware and software to let me overlook the absurdity of applying physical sticky notes to a digital device, but not anymore. [ Related story: How to switch from an iPhone to a Samsung Galaxy S8 ] Touchwiz TouchWiz, the notorious Samsung Android skin, died in late 2016, and emerged from the ashes as Samsung Experience. That might sound dramatic, but it's fitting for the dramatic change to Samsung's UI. In the past, TouchWiz was consistently one of the worst features on any Samsung Galaxy device -- each passing year saw incremental gains to the UI, but most users turned to launchers. The Galaxy S8 is the first Samsung device that won't have you running to the Google Play store to download Nova Launcher right out of the box. Gone are the complex menus, cartoon-like app icons, obnoxious notifications and a confusing mess of duplicate Samsung apps you couldn't delete. You can uninstall most of Samsung's apps, and for certain apps -- like reminders and weather -- you won't even find an icon in your app drawer unless you enable it within the app. And don't be surprised if you find yourself turning to Samsung's native apps, which now have simple, minimalist designs. They're all aesthetically pleasing and I prefer the Samsung email and calendar apps over the Google counterparts. In fact, I like a lot about Samsung Experience over stock Android -- something I never thought I'd say. [ Related story: Enterprise showdown: 5 ways the iPhone beats the Galaxy S8 ] Wireless and fast charging The battery on the S8 isn't anything spectacular. It's about the same as the Galaxy S7, but software improvements and a more efficient processor make it slightly more resilient. I've used the S8 as my main device for a few weeks and I've made peace with the battery. I can get through most of the day on a full charge, but need to top it off if I plan to go out at night. I use typical battery draining apps like Facebook Messenger and Snapchat and I keep my Bluetooth on for most of the day so I can easily connect to a Bluetooth speaker to stream Spotify. The battery manager on my device averages about 10 hours of use every day, and that feels about right. What's most surprising about the battery is how fast it charges. You can get a full charge on a nearly drained battery in under two hours. I try to remember to always charge my phone about 30 minutes before I need to leave the house. With the Galaxy S8, that's more than enough to get a solid charge. Not only is the fast charge incredibly convenient, but with wireless charging, it's easier than ever to find a spot to juice up out in the wild -- whether at a Starbucks or an Airport. The battery doesn't need to do more than it does, because it's easier to gas up on the go. The iPhone still doesn't have either of these features, which made my decision to switch even easier. [ Related story: A deeper look at Samsung's Galaxy S8 ] Headphone jack Jason Cross/IDG I'll never understand how Apple got away with removing the headphone jack on the iPhone 7, but it was the final nail in the coffin for me. I use headphones when I travel and I like to keep my phone charged while I kill time in airports, train stations and bus stops. Bluetooth and audio streaming are notorious battery drainers, and when you're on the road, every percent counts when you're not sure when you'll get your next charge. I'm not a fan of adapters because I always forget them, which is probably easy to imagine for someone who needs physical sticky notes on a mobile device. Also, quality Bluetooth headphones are expensive, and Apple's Air Pods are comically easy to lose -- they look like a case of dental floss. I'd give myself two weeks before accidentally tossing them into the trash. Even in a world where I am organized enough to hang on to $150 ear buds, I'd still be faced with Bluetooth. I don't think Bluetooth is where it needs to be to completely replace wired headphones. I'm sure as Bluetooth 5.0 becomes the standard it will become a non-issue and compatible ear buds will be more affordable and replaceable. But for now, I prefer to plug in via the 3.5mm stereo jack. Refreshing design I like iOS, but it's getting boring, Every year it's the same icons, layout and general functionality. Add that to tired, repetitive designs and Android looks better and better. I looked at the iPhone 7 Plus and the Galaxy S8 side by side, and knew I wouldn't be able to stand not having something close to the S8's OLED Infinity Display for two years. Some people might not care about this, which I understand. Not everyone cares about technology the same way not everyone cares about sports or fashion. You might watch the playoffs or buy a few trendy pieces for your closet, but that's where the fascination ends. There's nothing wrong with buying a reliable, well-known and highly regarded device like the iPhone, especially if you want to turn it on and never worry about it again. But that's not me. I remember every cellphone I've had since my first Nokia in 2003. I've always been fascinated by cellphone and smartphone design. Every new release brought improvements in hardware, software and new features like color displays and physical keyboards. And then I got my iPhone 4. Since then, each year has brought incremental changes in hardware and software, always dependable and reliable updates, but never anything as exciting as the Galaxy S8. My smartphone feels fun again. Samsung set a new standard and I'm excited to see how other manufacturers -- especially Apple -- respond. Technology is always at its best when there's healthy competition pushing both sides, and Samsung has finally upped the ante. Related Video To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here http://dlvr.it/P3cPW1 #CIO #ITStrategy

0 notes

brianlichtig · 8 years ago

Text

5 reasons the Galaxy S8 will make you ditch your iPhone

I do miss iMessage, but there's enough about the Galaxy S8 to soothe the loss of Apple's simple and seamless messaging app. Here are five reasons why I made the switch from iOS to Android and I'm not looking back.

Subtle notifications

Coming from iOS, notifications included floating pop-ups and angry red badges that judgmentally showcased my growing pile of unread emails. These notifications overwhelmed and annoyed. I'd turn the badges off, or shuffle the app to another page so I wouldn't have to stare at it anymore. My lock screen became a jumbled mix of stacked notifications -- something to ignore as I unlocked the display. It's safe to say my iPhone never became a cornerstone of productivity.

But the Galaxy S8 finally makes my smartphone a productive device -- one that I can customize to my preference. And I've finally stopped ignoring notifications. The traditional notifications are clean and minimal, but the Edge notifications are the real treat. With Edge notifications, you'll see a thin, unobtrusive bubble at the top of the display while a blue light that gracefully dances around the edges of the display. It's enough to notice you have a new alert, but not so much that I'm forced to turn on "Do Not Disturb" just to get through a YouTube video.

Meanwhile, I can avoid clutter on my lock screen and "always on display" by relying on simple icons that expand with a tap to show all notifications for that one app. On the home screen, I can include widgets and sticky notes that make it impossible for me to avoid my to-do list or reminders.

I spent years carrying around two-inch Sticky Notes that I'd tack on to my iPhone display if I needed to remember something important. At least on my S8, the sticky notes won't fall off. In the past, Apple offered enough in hardware and software to let me overlook the absurdity of applying physical sticky notes to a digital device, but not anymore.

[ Related story: How to switch from an iPhone to a Samsung Galaxy S8 ]

Touchwiz

TouchWiz, the notorious Samsung Android skin, died in late 2016, and emerged from the ashes as Samsung Experience. That might sound dramatic, but it's fitting for the dramatic change to Samsung's UI. In the past, TouchWiz was consistently one of the worst features on any Samsung Galaxy device -- each passing year saw incremental gains to the UI, but most users turned to launchers.

The Galaxy S8 is the first Samsung device that won't have you running to the Google Play store to download Nova Launcher right out of the box. Gone are the complex menus, cartoon-like app icons, obnoxious notifications and a confusing mess of duplicate Samsung apps you couldn't delete.

You can uninstall most of Samsung's apps, and for certain apps -- like reminders and weather -- you won't even find an icon in your app drawer unless you enable it within the app. And don't be surprised if you find yourself turning to Samsung's native apps, which now have simple, minimalist designs. They're all aesthetically pleasing and I prefer the Samsung email and calendar apps over the Google counterparts. In fact, I like a lot about Samsung Experience over stock Android -- something I never thought I'd say.

[ Related story: Enterprise showdown: 5 ways the iPhone beats the Galaxy S8 ]

Wireless and fast charging

The battery on the S8 isn't anything spectacular. It's about the same as the Galaxy S7, but software improvements and a more efficient processor make it slightly more resilient. I've used the S8 as my main device for a few weeks and I've made peace with the battery. I can get through most of the day on a full charge, but need to top it off if I plan to go out at night.

I use typical battery draining apps like Facebook Messenger and Snapchat and I keep my Bluetooth on for most of the day so I can easily connect to a Bluetooth speaker to stream Spotify. The battery manager on my device averages about 10 hours of use every day, and that feels about right.

What's most surprising about the battery is how fast it charges. You can get a full charge on a nearly drained battery in under two hours. I try to remember to always charge my phone about 30 minutes before I need to leave the house. With the Galaxy S8, that's more than enough to get a solid charge.

Not only is the fast charge incredibly convenient, but with wireless charging, it's easier than ever to find a spot to juice up out in the wild -- whether at a Starbucks or an Airport. The battery doesn't need to do more than it does, because it's easier to gas up on the go. The iPhone still doesn't have either of these features, which made my decision to switch even easier.

[ Related story: A deeper look at Samsung's Galaxy S8 ]

Headphone jack

Jason Cross/IDG

I'll never understand how Apple got away with removing the headphone jack on the iPhone 7, but it was the final nail in the coffin for me. I use headphones when I travel and I like to keep my phone charged while I kill time in airports, train stations and bus stops. Bluetooth and audio streaming are notorious battery drainers, and when you're on the road, every percent counts when you're not sure when you'll get your next charge.

I'm not a fan of adapters because I always forget them, which is probably easy to imagine for someone who needs physical sticky notes on a mobile device. Also, quality Bluetooth headphones are expensive, and Apple's Air Pods are comically easy to lose -- they look like a case of dental floss. I'd give myself two weeks before accidentally tossing them into the trash.

Even in a world where I am organized enough to hang on to $150 ear buds, I'd still be faced with Bluetooth. I don't think Bluetooth is where it needs to be to completely replace wired headphones. I'm sure as Bluetooth 5.0 becomes the standard it will become a non-issue and compatible ear buds will be more affordable and replaceable. But for now, I prefer to plug in via the 3.5mm stereo jack.

Refreshing design

I like iOS, but it's getting boring, Every year it's the same icons, layout and general functionality. Add that to tired, repetitive designs and Android looks better and better. I looked at the iPhone 7 Plus and the Galaxy S8 side by side, and knew I wouldn't be able to stand not having something close to the S8's OLED Infinity Display for two years.

Some people might not care about this, which I understand. Not everyone cares about technology the same way not everyone cares about sports or fashion. You might watch the playoffs or buy a few trendy pieces for your closet, but that's where the fascination ends. There's nothing wrong with buying a reliable, well-known and highly regarded device like the iPhone, especially if you want to turn it on and never worry about it again. But that's not me.

I remember every cellphone I've had since my first Nokia in 2003. I've always been fascinated by cellphone and smartphone design. Every new release brought improvements in hardware, software and new features like color displays and physical keyboards. And then I got my iPhone 4. Since then, each year has brought incremental changes in hardware and software, always dependable and reliable updates, but never anything as exciting as the Galaxy S8.

My smartphone feels fun again. Samsung set a new standard and I'm excited to see how other manufacturers -- especially Apple -- respond. Technology is always at its best when there's healthy competition pushing both sides, and Samsung has finally upped the ante.