Category: Google

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Damn you Android

I have been rocking my Nexus 5X for a couple of months now, and so far I have been pretty satisfied with the experience overall. However, I have run into a new a very annoying problem. The damn thing freezes on my at least once a day. Now I know that we are not talking about a high end phone, but I don’t think it’s too much to ask that the damn phone is actually running. In all honesty I a doubly disappointed, since I am running stock Android, which is supposedly the greatest experience Google has to offer. I think not.

Now that he snarky remarks are out of the way, I am somehow reminded of the good old Windows ME days, where things seemed to become quite unstable, unless you reinstalled the operating system every other month. I used to love that crap for some odd reason. I was young and in college, so I wasn’t really thinking straight I guess. However, these days I am not all that interested in resetting my phone all the time just to make it work.

That being said, I will try to turn lemons into lemonade. Before I reset my phone, I will try out some of the skinning options that are possible on Android. Therefore, I will give Arrow Launcher and Next lock screen a go just to see if those apps will make the user experience better.

 

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Pixel rumors heat up

http://www.androidpolice.com/2016/10/02/pixel-phone-listings-at-carphone-warehouse-offering-new-shots-more-info/

There’s not a ton of new stuff in this apparent error, but I did notice one thing. SD card support. Android Police seems to think that is not necessarily true, but I for one would really, really like that.

So far the Pixel XL looks pretty appealing, but let’s see what Google has to say tomorrow.

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Adventures with Android part 2

s-l300I have been using my Nexus 5X for around two months now, and even though I swore I would not blog about it I feel compelled to do just that.

So far it the experience has been pretty good. I am really enjoying the plethora of apps. Although I never considered myself an “app person” there seems to be some apps like HBONordic that I am using a lot more than I would have imagined.

However, it seems to me that the phone is starting to slow down, which is way too early for that to happen. I think more ram would have helped out a lot, but that’s what I get for not getting the high end version. It could ned up being a problem, but for now I’ll just have to waut and see.

Android itself is ok. It seems to me that it lacks a lot polish and it doesn’t handle 3rd party email terribly well, which is very disappointing. Luckily I can mitigate that by installing Outlook.

All in all I am pretty satisfied with my purchase. However, I really miss Windows mobile for it’s great performance and more polished look. The app selection on Android seems to negate that feeling so I don’t see myself returning. Perhaps my next phone should be an iPhone. 

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Getting help with my Nexus

I reached out to Google on Twitter to get some assistance with the charging issues I experienced with my Nexus 5x. They actually got back to me pretty quickly and even though it didn’t help they still deserve a hat tip.

https://twitter.com/googlenexus/status/736542074510643200

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Adventures with Android

a217I have finally left Windows Mobile. It took a little while but eventually I started to feel a little left out because of the app gap and because of the limited develoment put into the OS. I chose Android because it came highly recommended and because I am not too comfortable investing my pension saving in Apple products. They are nice and all, but I don’t want to be tied down to one platform and I don’t want devices that are so expensive I am afraid to use them.

Moving to Android has been an experience alright. I have had some seous issues with the charging capabilities as documented in another blog post  ut I have also experienced some grievances with the software. We’re talking bugs for the most part, but there some things that work a little weird as far as I am concerned.

Office365: I am a heavy Office365 user because of my work. My company recentl moved to O365 and it has been really great in my opinion. However, I have had issues with it after moving to Android.

The Gmail app cannot add my Outlook account for some reason. It was supposed to after the update but I don’t get the option. It could me be not paying full attention but the user experience has been lackluster. I have installed Outlook for Android, which works very well with my Outlook.com account, expect it doesn’t pick up my aliases this time. However, I cannot add my O365 account. What gives? It appears to be a company setting that prevents this, so I have to get a hold of support, which in itself is scary. It would be nice if I could integrate O365 better with Android.

Gmail: The app itself works well with my Gmail account, but does not handle my Outlook account well. I don’t get to change the swipe options, which is a big deal to me as I like inbox zero – or as close to zero as possible. It’s nice that it detects my pop3 account from Gmail, so I can use my domain email without having to add another email account.

Since I cannot add y work account to Outlook, I have been trying to add it to Gmail instead. However, the option does not show up when I try to add a new account. Apparently you have to re-enable Exchange services as described here. I must admit this is getting a little frustrating.

Calendar: The calendar doesn’t let me change the colors of of my non Google accounts, which is a little weird. I guess Google is hell bent on making their own services a first class citizen while demoting others’. I am not sure if this is also true for Yahoo accounts.

Apps: One thing that trips me out though is all the apps. Coming from Windows Mobile I am not used to making frequent trips to the app store but on Android that is a different story all together. Good stuff.

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My new Nexus 5X won’t charge

So, I finally got my Nexus 5X on Friday. Being a happy camper I get started right away and everything looks and works great. Battery is at 74% so I plug in that bad boy using the USB-C cable in the box. In no time the battery goes to 82% and the phone even displays a little notification about rapid charging. Great.

Then Google tells me there’s a software update to Android 6.0.1. I happily accept and the phones updates. Great, I am now running the latest and greates Android has to offer.

Imagine my surpise though when I realize that the battery is now down to 72%, despite being plugged into the wall socket. As the battery keeps draining out of my brand new phone I go on the hunt and try to figure out how to deal with this. So far nothing at all has worked, but here’s what I have tried so far:

  • Factory reset – no dice
  • Clear system cach – no dice
  • Charge the  – no dice. Yes, somebody actually recommended that charging the phone would help!
  • Let the battery run down to 0 and recharge – no dice

So now I am stuck with a new phone that has no juice left and won’t accept the charge.

Update 1: I just did the unthinkable and bought a USB-C to USB adaptor from Humac. It cost me my entire savings but now I will try to charge the damn phone via my laptop as suggested.

Update 2: I have tried using the charging cable with another Nexus 5X and guess what – no charge. I am starting to think the cable is dead.

Update 3: Now we are getting somewhere. I used the new converter with an old USB cable and guess what, the phone is charging! Right now it charges 10% pr. hour which really sucks but at least we have power.

Update 4: The Force is strong with me, but I am not a Jedi yet! My Nexus charged over night but only reached 40%, which is pretty disappointing. I am going to get a new USB-C charger and see if that works. Google suggest a lather-rinse-repeat approach to this, so I am going to let the battery run very low before charging again. Who knows it might work.

That being said, I have to admit that I am pretty disappointed in this Google product right now. It doesn’t work as intended if at all.

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Google Bank?

Google won’t launch a traditional bank because of the associated costs and regulation, but these hurdles won’t stop the firm from redefining the future of financial services, according to a new Forrester report.

The report, written by Forrester analyst Oliwia Berdak, postulates that Google will likely become a financial services hub that facilitates the relationship between the consumers and providers of financial services, causing disruption in four areas: payments, money management, product comparisons, and financial advice.
“Google’s reputation as one of the most disruptive firms in the market, have left many digital financial services executives worried about a potential new rival: Google Bank,” writes Berdak, in a blog post. “Unfortunately, they’re asking the wrong questions.”

Source: Finextra

No so much it would seem.