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Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

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Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#241

Post by stavros »

elashri wrote: post #230
stavros wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you using an iPhone? iOS keyboards are terrible, to the point where I'm considering switching back to Android. SwiftKey on Android is magical, I just randomly punch keys in the vicinity of the letter I want and it figures out what I mean. I might type faster on Android than on my desktop PC.

Have you tried SwiftKey on iOS? I use it mainly because it is the only keyboard app that supports arabic well and because it has better themes. I don't know how much better or worse it is compared to the android version though.

I have (I'm typing on it now). It's abysmal, and it's stupid things missing, like configurable long-press duration, a comma key, or a symbols layer.

They could have easily made it the same as on Android, but they didn't, and I have no idea why. Android is orders of magnitudes faster to type on, it's baffling why they wouldn't just add the features to their iOS one.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#242

Post by p2hari »

mkonecny wrote: post #17
ddejohn wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't remember what the project was called, but many years ago I remember seeing a concept for a Linux phone that also doubled as your desktop when plugged into a hub.

All Samsung Galaxy phones have a built in desktop OS called Dex. I remember plugging my monitor usb-c cable to charge my phone and being blown away when a desktop UI appeared on the monitor

I used to love Dex, but later they removed the support for macOS. It used to work elegantly and android to mac connection was so easy. Being able to take calls, see messages and also file transfer. :)

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#243

Post by stavros »

buro9 wrote: post #234
stavros wrote: post #226

But I do want performance :( Every phone I've owned becomes a dog after a few months, with apps taking tens of seconds to launch cold. I don't know if iOS does better in that regard, but it has other issues that make it painful to use as a daily driver.

I agree on not using iOS, because Firefox + Adblock + NoScript is incredible on Android. but... Android sucks because the default permissions and business model on Android all veer towards advertising, and this is heavy on network and bandwidth as well as background processing across lots of apps... and that drains battery and performance. I switched to GrapheneOS and just disable network on many things like Camera,…

Yeah, that's my experience as well, regarding apps being bloaty. Xiaomi phones also let me disable the network, which I do, and I've found one more thing that made a big difference: Setting the background process count to 1 or 2 from the developer options.

And yes, agreed, I can't live without mobile browser extensions. Tubular for YouTube is similarly indispensable.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#244

Post by hilbert42 »

orf wrote: post #122
hilbert42 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Because the population of people that would actually use that functionality rounds to approximately 0." How can you say that, where are your figures/stats/evidence? For starters I'm 1 person, so the market is not O. And I know of others, and I know I'm not alone. Clearly you don't work in test and measurement. Moreover, this article alone has raised the matter of additional features. Anyway, it's only a matter of ti…

> For starters I'm 1 person, so the market is not O. And I know of others, and I know I'm not alone Of all the people you interacted with in any way, shape or form this year, what percentage of those would benefit from this? It rounds to 0, assuming you’re not a shut-in

The point you are making is irrelevant as it has nothing to do with my point which is what I want as features on my phone. Whether manufacturers make them or how many other people may want the same as I do is a separate issue.

What phone do you use now and are you satisfied with it?

Tell me that and I may be able to then figure where you are coming from. BTW, read my comment to f6v.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#245

Post by close04 »

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #229
close04 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Generally it's a commercial failure because it turns out that isn't something most people want. What the people definitely didn't want was the performance of 2011 smartphone for desktop. The use case didn't fail, that device failed because the limits at the time made the phone desktop impractical. And I remember it not being a stellar smartphone either. But every smartphone also failed until they didn't fail anymor…

I don't think performance is the only problem. The software is at least as much of an issue. What kind of software environment do you expect when you connect your mouse, keyboard and 22" screen to a device where everything is geared toward touch input on a 6" screen? It's not an unsolvable problem and I do think there is demand for it if done right. But it's not a solved problem either.

The iPad is a perfectly usable machine with keyboard and mouse, and it's quite popular so that's a good general model to aim for. Even running some remote desktop (thin client mode) could be a great feature and productivity boost.

> it's not a solved problem either

Never said it is. But we can't use one experience from the baby years of the smartphone to proclaim what won't work or won't have demand today. If we never try to solve a problem, especially because "it didn't work on the first attempt ages ago", then we'll never solve a problem.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#246

Post by lucumo »

atoav wrote: post #171

What astounds most ist that we have now ~16 years of Android and there is still no all around decent keyboard for power users. It seems like everybody has accepted to use Android just as a consumer OS. When I started using Unexpected Keyboard the realization that I can just shift + arrow select text and ctrl + x cut it hit me like a bag of bricks. This is such a simple thing, but the existing story for marking and ed…

I'm mostly fine with the default keyboard as it is, but I keep getting tripped up on the location of the backspace key. The key you use to correct erroneous input was somehow put right next to the key to confirm correct input.

Because of this I've sent way too many badly worded, typo-riddled and incomplete messages.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#247

Post by lupusreal »

stavros wrote: post #226

But I do want performance :( Every phone I've owned becomes a dog after a few months, with apps taking tens of seconds to launch cold. I don't know if iOS does better in that regard, but it has other issues that make it painful to use as a daily driver.

It's got to be something relating to usage patterns. I've been buying the cheapest android phones my carrier supports and only upgrading them when my carrier forces me, and I never experience any slowdowns. On the other hand, I use almost no commercial apps, banking and finance being the exceptions. I use a few apps from F-Droid but the rest is just browser and basic phone functions.

The phone I have now is a Nokia branded something, can't remember the model name but it's about two years old. As fast as the day I bought it.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#248

Post by spurgu »

mmaniac wrote: post #224

The first smartphone I owned was a ZTE Blade 13 years ago. As a budget phone, that definitely had compromised performance. It's been years and years since I ever felt like my phone's performance was holding back its usefulness to me. I have only ever replaced my phone because the battery could no longer hold a charge or the charging port was damaged beyond use. It has a camera, web browser, chat apps, and receives em…

Indeed. I'm using a $150 Moto since three years back when the charger port broke on my previous phone.

I can't imagine what people "need" high-performance phones for, other than gaming, and for that as well there are much better alternatives.

If I could hook it up to a docking station and use it as a full-fledged computer that would change things I suppose.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#249

Post by wruza »

mckirk wrote: post #228
onion2k wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You just need to replace the battery every three years or so. If you used it as a PC, presumably in a dock attached to a monitor, keyboard, etc, then it's be plugged in most of the time and battery wouldn't get much use.

Provided you limit the charge level to something like 80% (ideally even 60%). Keeping these batteries at 100% constantly also leads to degradation, even if you don't really 'use' them.

Keeping them at 100% is prone to explosion, actually. When we built a farm at the company I worked at, the more experienced guys advised on specific models that survive all-time on cable.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#250

Post by ethernot »

stavros wrote: post #226

But I do want performance :( Every phone I've owned becomes a dog after a few months, with apps taking tens of seconds to launch cold. I don't know if iOS does better in that regard, but it has other issues that make it painful to use as a daily driver.

Got a 9 year old iPhone 6s here. Actually still perfectly usable and annoyingly fast compared to my 15 Pro. Was getting patches until July 2024 as well.

When one phone falls off the bottom of the stack another one goes on the top of the family stack. In service we have a 15 Pro, 13 Pro, 12, XR, 8 and the 6s. I'll push Pro phones down every two years now. Occasionally something needs a new battery and that's about it.

As for usability, there are a couple of problems but once you get used to it and why, meh. Safari+AdGuard (free) is excellent and a lot less dicky than Firefox on Android.

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