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Your phone is an entire computer

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Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#321

Post by joemi »

Zak wrote: post #247
joemi wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they did that, every influencer would make youtube videos and tik toks telling people how they should enable that setting to make their phone better or more powerful "for free", and everyone would just do it, especially the people who really shouldn't because they don't know any better.

No they wouldn't. We don't have to speculate about that; Android already has a toggle to allow direct installation of apps, and most people don't turn it on. Many Android devices allow unlocking the bootloader and gaining root or installing an alternate OS without exploits, and there are quite a few third-party Android builds for supported devices. The process is not beyond what a person of average intelligence and m…

Perhaps we're making different assumptions, but a process that "is not beyond what a person of average intelligence and modest computer skills could pull off with some patience and a video guide" sounds quite a bit more complex than a mere Unlock option in iPhone settings. Also, the results are different too. The process you've described results in an Android desktop, whereas the proposed iphone unlock process would result in a full macOS desktop, which sounds (to me at least) much more desirable to have.

I stand by my speculation that if it were possible to do that on an iphone, it'd definitely be something loads of people would do, including a large amount of people who shouldn't open their device that way but do just because they watched someone on social media telling them to.

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#322

Post by darenr »

ActorNightly wrote: post #203
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.

thanks for the tip - I googled for a review and found one that's very unflattering https://www.reddit.com/r/SamsungDex/comments/1g4tpi8/i_used_... - you like it? It works well for you? I can give it a try, but the problem remains that the price of these dock type devices are creeping up to the Apple Neo price with significantly less quality. I wish Google would make something just for this space, but I'm not sure there's enough of us out there who want it.

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#323

Post by WorldPeas »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #283
BLKNSLVR wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Maybe GP choses to not use it? What about your "relationsip with the PC"? For me, time I have in front of my PC is quality time I'd rather not waste on bullshit like banking, or worse, rearrange my life to make activities in that quality time that I could've made on the go in the "time holes" during the day. Fuck apps, alright, but phones are finally getting useful (despite vendors' attempts to undo that). I switched…

Right, I agree on that, I usually do my banking on the subway or in idle moments in a lobby somewhere. It is frustrating to me the juvenile interface provided by many a banking app but perhaps phones like your fold 7 have ways to bypass this for the "first-class" interfaces a computer grants you? I do understand where the reply to my posts' point is coming from, but I don't know many people now who aren't in the "laptop class" or "gamers" that have a computer anymore, it's a shame to me that something as homogeneous as banking is not yet more abstract and like SMS(not that it's a good role model) rather than the archaic mess with a colorful interface that it is now

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#324

Post by pancsta »

hotpotatoes wrote: post #6

The problem is Mac. They've always locked things down citing safety or user experience, but it is profit and walled garden. Samsung Dex has been doing this for years. In before someone explains it's not "exactly" the same. Dex has shown this phone/computer ability in practice long before.

Not DEX but android containers (termux, proot, chroot) and soon android Terminal. DEX is just an alt android UI, and the discussion is about desktop OSes, sooo…

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#325

Post by Hoodedcrow »

Rohansi wrote: post #256
Hoodedcrow wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's generational at all, doing things on a phone is pretty objectively less comfortable.

It's generational in the sense that younger generations are far more accustomed to using phones than computers. They might not even be exposed to a computer until they need to use one for school. It's objectively less comfortable for them to use a computer when they never (or barely) used a mouse, physical keyboard, or any of that software before. You can even see the same with games. All these kids growing up playin…

If true, then it's just unfamiliarity, not comfort. A bigger screen and bigger buttons are a pretty objective upgrade. "Why switch if you're already good at using touch controls" - because you assume it could be better? It not obstructing vision and being more precise is a good enough argument to try it out.

Although personally still not used to controllers. I mostly play FPS so that's only KB+M.

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#326

Post by Rohansi »

Hoodedcrow wrote: post #325
Rohansi wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's generational in the sense that younger generations are far more accustomed to using phones than computers. They might not even be exposed to a computer until they need to use one for school. It's objectively less comfortable for them to use a computer when they never (or barely) used a mouse, physical keyboard, or any of that software before. You can even see the same with games. All these kids growing up playin…

If true, then it's just unfamiliarity, not comfort. A bigger screen and bigger buttons are a pretty objective upgrade. "Why switch if you're already good at using touch controls" - because you assume it could be better? It not obstructing vision and being more precise is a good enough argument to try it out. Although personally still not used to controllers. I mostly play FPS so that's only KB+M.

> It not obstructing vision and being more precise is a good enough argument to try it out.

An iPad has a big enough screen to not really obstruct anything important. It should be no less precise than a controller since it typically mimics the same joystick and buttons you'd have on a controller.

Having to carry a controller around is going to have a big impact on comfort.

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#327

Post by Hoodedcrow »

Rohansi wrote: post #326
Hoodedcrow wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If true, then it's just unfamiliarity, not comfort. A bigger screen and bigger buttons are a pretty objective upgrade. "Why switch if you're already good at using touch controls" - because you assume it could be better? It not obstructing vision and being more precise is a good enough argument to try it out. Although personally still not used to controllers. I mostly play FPS so that's only KB+M.

> It not obstructing vision and being more precise is a good enough argument to try it out. An iPad has a big enough screen to not really obstruct anything important. It should be no less precise than a controller since it typically mimics the same joystick and buttons you'd have on a controller. Having to carry a controller around is going to have a big impact on comfort.

First - why are you singling out Apple devices? Most kids who do have tablets are probably using something cheaper, it's not like a tween can be trusted with a device this expensive. And second - a lot more kids have phones than tablets, so the difference for a lot of people is still there.

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#328

Post by [deleted] »

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?

[deleted]

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#329

Post by jcul »

wolvoleo wrote: post #295
jcul wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you able to actually work with the VR glasses? I bought a pair of viture pro glasses thinking I could use them with my (linux) laptop / (android) phone when travelling as a large external monitor. But they were usable for coding, too difficult to read the text, too shakey. Would just give you a headache. It's a cool idea but I decided the technology wasn't there yet and ended up returning them.

They're not really VR. The Xreals I have are just "a screen stuck to your eyes". No tracking or anything. I don't really mind that. But no the quality is great, I can totally work on it. The resolution isn't perfect as they are OLED and only 2 subpixels per pixel (RGBG) so it looks a bit "brittle" but not "shakey". Shakey sounds like they do have tracking but not working well. The display isn't huge either, the vitur…

Thanks, that sounds really good.

Yeah it just wasn't possible to get the text sharp enough to be usable with the vitures.

It is a while back so my memory is hazy. But I feel like the edges in particular were bad or you could focus one part of the screen but others would be distorted.

For coding, reading docs, etc you kind of need the whole screen to be in sharp focus. For watching a movie it's probably less important.

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