Poll: Which abandoned Android phone features do you miss the most?
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Every damn feature.
But most? Removable flipping batteries. Having a bomb in your pocket computer that you can't remove, and shortens it's effective life without often complex surgery is absolutely criminal.
Removable D batteries have existed since 1898. It was a staples feature of machines. Nobody wanted, needed, or desired the tech brah "disruption" of gluing lithium bombs into phones.
wrote last edited by [email protected]It's because the U.S. Government can make it seem as if your phone is powered down, but it's actually still on and spying on you, sending data to whatever alphabet agency wants it. Removing the battery is the only defense against that attack, so they 'encouraged' manufacturers to stop allowing it.
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Let me guess a Sony smartphone?
Nope, it's a smaller manufacturer called "SHIFT". Kind of like a competitor to Fairphone, in terms of repairability, sustainability, Custom ROM support and being expensive AF.
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don't be evil.
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IR Blaster, Headphone Jack, swappable battery.
Ultimately...
Less thin, I hate this constant race to be the thinnest phone - lighter I would maybe be for - but thinner, fuck off.
Why I didn't buy a Fold7 recently:
- Too thin
- Cameras slightly below other flagships
- No S Pen support, because they wanted to make it thinner
- Bad water resistance
- Awful battery size and life
- Overall, one of the more underpowered and under spec'd foldable on the global market - all because they wanted to be thin
I've been impressed by my Ulefone 27T. It's an armoured brick with a 10,000mAh battery. Waterproof, with IR and headphone jack. It also has a thermal camera.
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Don't forget the notification light.
Isn't having an OLED display and using it as an "always on display" the replacement for this?
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I'd forgotten all about the notification LED. I wonder, could you flash a small part of an OLED display to achieve something similar while still being low power?
Isn't that what the "always on display" is supposed to be? I never use it but every phone I've seen in recent years offers the ability to turn the screen on to show notifications.
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At this time, the 3.5mm jack is top with 27%
It always surprises me that so many people still want this. I know it's representative of the anti-choice homogenisation of phones in general, but something like removable batteries or expandable storage seems so much more important than a dedicated old headphone connector.
I personally hate how annoying headphone wires are, but even if you like them then is it so inconvenient to leave an adapter connected to your headphones? And a splitter as well if you're desperate to charge simultaneously?
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Audio jack 3.5mm!!! I'm sick of buying USBC to audio jack adaptors! Just add a damn audio jack!
IR for remote control.Why do you need to buy more than one?
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A keyboard.
Right? I hate touch screens so much.
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It always surprises me that so many people still want this. I know it's representative of the anti-choice homogenisation of phones in general, but something like removable batteries or expandable storage seems so much more important than a dedicated old headphone connector.
I personally hate how annoying headphone wires are, but even if you like them then is it so inconvenient to leave an adapter connected to your headphones? And a splitter as well if you're desperate to charge simultaneously?
USB-C ports get damaged over time by excessive unplug/replug in that use case
There's a reason it's still the top requested feature in the poll.
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How recently? In May Google changed everything about root detection so it may have changed again.
Plexus has a few people claiming it works from the last months though.
I was playing today
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It’s a Motorola gesture. I don’t have a Motorola anymore, but I think shaking is the best gesture for turning on the flashlight.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Doesn't it activate when it's in your pants and you are moving about in a rough manner?
Holding the power button when the screen is off works pretty great and won't ever activate on accident. It is also a default Android feature I believe.
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It's because the U.S. Government can make it seem as if your phone is powered down, but it's actually still on and spying on you, sending data to whatever alphabet agency wants it. Removing the battery is the only defense against that attack, so they 'encouraged' manufacturers to stop allowing it.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Sounds like a dumb conspiracy. Especially since Fairphone sells in the US.
More likely is that manufacturers want to make more money so they make their phones more difficult to repair so customers have to pay them to get a battery replaced.
I blame Apple
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Ah yes, let me just pull out my phone, unlock, open remote app, switch to 'my tv/air-conditioning manufacturer' profile and press off.
The IR experience on a phone is not convenient for day to day, especially when (love it or hate it) most things can be controlled over WiFi without needing line of sight.Lock screen widgets are a thing now.
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Why do you need to buy more than one?
Since they break
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I might be the only one, but KEYBOARDS!
I even designed my own keyboard attachment to get one back.
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USB-C ports get damaged over time by excessive unplug/replug in that use case
There's a reason it's still the top requested feature in the poll.
More so than they would from charging?
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Since they break
Seems like an issue with buying cheap adapters rather than with the concept of adapters, cheap headphones will presumably break just as easily
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My Motorola Moto Z had a shake shake flashlight feature. Not sure if this was Android or Motorola but it was very useful.
They still have it as a built-in feature. Had Moto Z, g 5g plus and now rocking g85. All of them have it. Too useful.
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Sounds like a dumb conspiracy. Especially since Fairphone sells in the US.
More likely is that manufacturers want to make more money so they make their phones more difficult to repair so customers have to pay them to get a battery replaced.
I blame Apple
wrote last edited by [email protected]You can believe what you want. I didn't hear it from a conspiracy theorist, I heard it from Edward Snowden, and this was actually old news when he mentioned it, but his revelation on national TV made it even more widely known.
"Coincidentally" it was right around the time Snowden blew the whistle that Android manufacturers started switching over to non-replaceable batteries.Yes Apple are greedy fucks and it's obvious that forcing iPhone users to get their phones repaired by a 'genius' was a part of their strategy from the beginning. But Android manufacturers who didn't have a repair store they could force their users to use and wouldn't benefit from that were happy to continue letting users replace their own batteries, because it was a legitimate benefit for the consumer and way to differentiate themselves from Apple.
I'm sure that phone manufactures save a few pennies by forcing users to either buy a new phone or pay an expensive repair bill, but I'm pretty sure that isn't the only reason it's done.
Edit: Even if you ignore their ability to wiretap you when your phone is 'powered off', the fact remains that the government can and does track you by you cell phone and removing the battery is a great way to stop that.
Of course, it's not the only way- If you feel like you don't want to be tracked for any reason a Faraday bag is a decent option. It makes your phone less useful, but so would removing the battery.
