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Your phone is an entire computer

medhir.com

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Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#201

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

Nervhq wrote: post #160
mholt wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet, try getting a full backup of your Google phone onto your own computer. (Without rooting/wiping the whole thing.) Heck, try getting just your text messages off (without a separate app)! You can't. (Last time I checked.) The backup is encrypted in the cloud, and the only way to download it is to restore it to a phone. Whereas I can just plug in my iPhone and get a full backup, complete with sqlite manifest, co…

Google takeout. Done, nice try though to make some totally irrelevant comparison to excuse apple behavior.

Can you restore it to your phone?

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#202

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

wds wrote: post #16

A few days ago I cracked the edge of my smartphone's screen at just the right spot to shut its display off entirely, though it still works . Using the USB-C dongle meant for my laptop, the phone pops into a desktop view which basically is the same experience as a Chromebook (for better or worse). In the meantime before its repair, I shoved my SIM card into an old flipphone I had in the tech graveyard drawer. I've act…

You know any iPhone with USB C you can just plug into a monitor right?

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#203

Post by ActorNightly »

darenr wrote: post #38

I use the Pixel, but the point is the same. Recently Google added the "Dex" like feature where I can plug in the phone to a monitor and use it as my "entire computer" - at first I was excited, I can go to a coffee shop and leave my laptop behind, but then I looked at getting a bluetooth keyboard, mouse, monitor - with battery, and it's now a worse experience. There are monitor/battery/trackpad combination products fo…

Nexdock 360.

Granted, its not as good of a "feel" as a laptop. But for the price and the features its great. You can get a good aftermarket track-pad and use that. I use a wireless mouse, because it lets me also use it as a monitor+mouse+keyboard for my Steam deck so I can play FPS games.

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#204

Post by georgyo »

purplehat_ wrote: post #91

I really don't understand the argument here. That the product is locked down by design is a feature, not a limitation. Yes, this has the side effect of making them more money and allowing a walled garden to form, but given that the vast majority of users wouldn't do anything different with their phones if a shell was present, this is in my opinion not that large of an effect. The snide around "clicking on links is da…

Reading your comment made me segfault a little.

You don't understand the argument of why people might want to install their own OS on a device they own. And then say you won't buy another iPhone because you don't like their software... It sounds like you _do_ understand the argument.

I greatly dislike Apple software, but I think their hardware is quite nice. I would buy apple hardware if it wasn't handy-caped by their OS.

It used to be said that Apple was a hardware company that happens to make an OS. This argument never made sense to me, because while they make good hardware they very clearly don't want people to use it.

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#205

Post by BLKNSLVR »

WorldPeas wrote: post #140
wds wrote: post #16

A few days ago I cracked the edge of my smartphone's screen at just the right spot to shut its display off entirely, though it still works . Using the USB-C dongle meant for my laptop, the phone pops into a desktop view which basically is the same experience as a Chromebook (for better or worse). In the meantime before its repair, I shoved my SIM card into an old flipphone I had in the tech graveyard drawer. I've act…

as someone who did this for a week, it's nice until you need to install an app to check your bank statements or manage your insurance. Maybe that will get better as agents do, however

You don't have a laptop or desktop for those things?

Whilst I may not represent the average person, I have no need to check bank statements or manage insurance immediately, so I can wait until I'm at a 'real' computer to do it more conveniently and easily and with a bigger screen and keyboard and mouse.

GPs point about the 'relationship with the smart phone' seems to be pertinent. "need to install an app" to do these things only makes the point stronger.

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#206

Post by fragmede »

bottlepalm wrote: post #141
medhir wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No exactly, Apple is playing in our faces, all while people continue to defend the “differences” of device categories and the subsequent justification of shipping iPhones and iPads with locked bootloaders.

Unless you work for Apple or hold significant stock then I don’t see the logic in defending this choice to hamstring the iPhone. But even as an investor, I think Apple could bring a lot of people/money to the Mac ecosystem by getting them in with an iPhone lapdock.

The belief that people only hold opposing opinions to yours because they have money on the line is such conspiracy theory nonsense. Some random teenage in middle America couldn't just really like Apple products? It's gotta be some grand conspiracy against you?

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#207

Post by xkxdnzbzb »

raw_anon_1111 wrote: post #202
wds wrote: post #16

A few days ago I cracked the edge of my smartphone's screen at just the right spot to shut its display off entirely, though it still works . Using the USB-C dongle meant for my laptop, the phone pops into a desktop view which basically is the same experience as a Chromebook (for better or worse). In the meantime before its repair, I shoved my SIM card into an old flipphone I had in the tech graveyard drawer. I've act…

You know any iPhone with USB C you can just plug into a monitor right?

and?

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#208

Post by fragmede »

alephnerd wrote: post #57
bottlepalm wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The entire Mac line is a teeny tiny slice of revenue compared to iPhone. Allowing OSX on iPhone would increase the utility of iPhone, leading to more sales.

> Allowing OSX on iPhone would increase the utility of iPhone, leading to more sales That assumption is not necessarily true. What this implies is that there is a market of existing consumers that would not buy an iPhone because it lacks OSX support. The iPhone portion of Apple's business generates around $144B in YoY revenue in Q1FY27 [0]. Whenever an organization contemplates building a net new capability like the…

Consumers haven't been told they can do that though. It's not ergonomic to do that. There's not a Belkin plastic dock to support that use case, so I don't find that is a good proxy for it.

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#209

Post by BLKNSLVR »

droidjj wrote: post #113
tomComb wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The pixels all ship with unlocked bootloaders.

I recently turned my unused Google Pixel 8 into a server for my personal site and various side projects. It's super satisfying to spin things up in a couple hours, point a cloudflare tunnel at it, and share it with the world.

Do you have a write up of the software you used to do this?

Was it just using Android apps or did you flash GrapheneOS or PostmarketOS onto it first?

Is it permanently plugged into power (risking spicy pillow scenarios)?

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