The new home of /r/Android on Lemmy and the Fediverse!
Android news, reviews, tips, and discussions about rooting, tutorials, and apps.
πUniversal Link: !android@lemdro.id
π‘Content Philosophy:
Content which benefits the community (news, rumours, and discussions) is generally allowed and is valued over content which benefits only the individual (technical questions, help buying/selling, rants, self-promotion, etc.) which will be removed if it's in violation of the rules.
Support, technical, or app related questions belong in: !askandroid@lemdro.id
For fresh communities, lemmy apps, and instance updates: !lemdroid@lemdro.id
π¬Matrix Chat
π°Our communities below
Stay on topic: All posts should be related to the Android OS or ecosystem.
No support questions, recommendation requests, rants, or bug reports: Posts must benefit the community rather than the individual. Please post to !askandroid@lemdro.id.
Describe images/videos, no memes: Please include a text description when sharing images or videos. Post memes to !androidmemes@lemdro.id.
No self-promotion spam: Active community members can post their apps if they answer any questions in the comments. Please do not post links to your own website, YouTube, blog content, or communities.
No reposts or rehosted content: Share only the original source of an article, unless it's not available in English or requires logging in (like Twitter). Avoid reposting the same topic from other sources.
No editorializing titles: You can add the author or website's name if helpful, but keep article titles unchanged.
No piracy or unverified APKs: Do not share links or direct people to pirated content or unverified APKs, which may contain malicious code.
No unauthorized polls, bots, or giveaways: Do not create polls, use bots, or organize giveaways without first contacting mods for approval.
No offensive or low-effort content: Don't post offensive or unhelpful content. Keep it civil and friendly!
No affiliate links: Posting affiliate links is not allowed.
Our Communities
Lemmy App List
Chat and More
You know what I want? I know it's a pretty hot take. I want manufacturers to give me what I want.
Yet they "don't have room" for a fucking headphone jack or clips for a removable back/battery.
Well, they'll soon have room for a removable battery β¨
I don't know if I even want a damn screen anymore lol.
It's time for the iPhone shuffle
I'm starting to head this direction, at least mobile-wise. I haven't yet because trying to live life without a cell phone is just not pleasant, But the only thing I really use my cell phone for is Discord, Firefox, and the camera
Mobile gaming, which I primarily had got a phone in the first place for has gone down the tube, It seems like every mobile game can fit into one of 4 categories.
Used to be able to find puzzlers or simulation games that were outside of that genre, but you can't really anymore. I'm still circulating the same 4 games from when I had an s9 8ish years ago.
Social media is thoroughly screwed. You can't go on there without some sort of ideology being pushed at you or toxicity.
Voice-mails and messaging is hit or miss of whether or not it's someone trying to scam you.
every application out there wants to harvest every bit of data about your life because almost no country has any type of actual regulation against the collection of personal data.
Every once in a while, I look back to see how feasible it would be to go without, but far too many services require a phone number. Any platform worth its salt uses some form of two-factor authentication, which generally is either text message or an app-based two-factor.
Hell, It's hard enough finding a bank that doesn't require a cell phone. I just dumped my last bank due to that reason. They reconsolidated into a slightly larger company, and when they did, that parent company decided that consumers shouldn't have the ability to write their own checks. So if I wanted to write a check, I had to log into the phone app, and then select Send a check, wait four to six business days for the bank to actually send the check themselves, and then wait for the three to four days on top of that to actually receive payments. I closed the account as soon as I got confirmation my funds transfered
Indeed, they should have to figure something out though because I don't see a future where people are carrying around such large devices all the time, who really wants to lug these things around? It's miserable. I wanted the small, cool, well designed tech future, instead we got the future headed by a bunch of small minded dumbasses who just want you to have the most ad space available on your mobile device.
I suppose that I've never been big on mobile gaming to begin with makes it easier for me, and I prefer to do most of my browsing on an actual computer at home. I guess that is pretty old fashioned now though, but I honestly think it is so much healthier. No one is really engaged with the present anymore, everyone talks about what their device told them about what is going to happen tomorrow or whatever. I'm sure that's by design as well because if people are all disengaged from the present they will not notice they are being totally robbed.
I got kinda conned into a Pixel 10 Pro XL. It's huge and it's heavy, and it doesn't really feel that much more useful than the S10e it replaced.
What I want it for is basically a media player, quick internet look-upper, and maybe instant messenger. The ability to get "Hey I'm at the front entrance" and reply "Cool I'll let you in". My Galaxy S4 Mini did every piece of that.
It's getting uncomfortably difficult to do without a cell phone. Everything wants to be an app. Like, it's one thing when a restaurant allows you to order via app because then they can be making your order while you're on your way to get it. But when they won't print a menu, they'll ONLY allow customers to order via an app, like a waiter comes up to your table and tells you you have to scan a QR code. Parking, public transit, starting into goddamn government functions, now require an app. Which is a problem if you VISIT a city rather than live there.
When I was a teenager, I would have been excited to have a powerful, capable computer with a fantastic screen and constant high speed internet access that fit in my pocket. But damn if they didn't go and ruin it.
6 inches is not small. Small would be like 4 inches or less.
4 inches is definitely above average...
I'm a folder not a shower!
What ? I have a Huawei P30 (6.1in screen) and it's considered small ? it's the biggest phone I've owned by far
Miss proper small phones with 6-inch screens or less?
No, my phone has a screen size of ~4 inches.
There haven't been any small phones for about 10 years.
unihertz titan pocket. love mine
I'm keeping an eye on the Titan 2 Elite, seems like a promising device
For me the iPhone 6s is the perfect size phone.
If you compare the newer iPhone physical size with the 6s itβs about the same. Which I think is best.
Now that phones abandoned the idea of a stable aspect ratio screen size has become irrelevant to me. So I look at the phones dimension. And there is still small phones on the market, they just try their best to pretend to be bigger than they are.
That said I do wish the Mini IPhones lived long enough to get USB C. Was the perfect size for it to be one handed.
Ok, I won't buy a new phone then :)
Then said manufacturers can get fucked.
I guess I'm running my pixel 5 into the ground then... Tbh I miss my 5 inch pixel 2. That felt ideal to me.
I still have a working pixel 3, two of them actually, and they're a perfect size phone
My p5 died and I got a p8a which isn't much bigger. I miss my Nexus 5.
Pixel 4a was such a nice phone in terms of form factor.
My pixel 6 is just a touch bigger than I'd like, running it til no more security updates then looking at dumb phones. Miss my old flip phone
My iPhone 12 mini is the perfect size. I don't want to carry a damn tablet in my pocket. Maybe if I spent all day staring at it, I would, IDK.
Why do we call them smartphones? They are phablets.
Because phablet is a stupid word.
and smartphone isn't?
Maybe a bit redundant these days. They're effectively just "phones".
Used to be that the label was needed to differentiate from earlier feature phones, but even the "dumb phones" of today primarily run some slimmed down flavor of Android. No one can escape the data harvest.
Dumb phones mostly run java or a lightweight OS like Firefox OS. Android is bloated.
Remember the term "PDA" "Personal Digital Assistant?" From like the PalmOS days?
At this point a smart phone is a PDA that ate a cell phone to gain its power. I never hear the term PDA in the real world anymore, but video games use it for in-universe gadgets often used to justify the inventory menu or whatever. Subnautica does it.
My dad used a Palm from the late 90s to roughly 2007-8 when he got one of the early HTC Androids, the ones with a trackball. Then he got a Palm Pre and that shit was good... even though the devices today are vastly more powerful I feel that the market regressed in many ways
There's unihertz, but their quality is unfortunately questionable. I've ordered a Clicks Communicator. It's actually a similar size to a phablet, but using that space for a physical keyboard feels like I'm sending a message to the establishment.
I'm writing this on a King Kong Mini 2 and it's sick, plus it only cost $100
Could work as a banking device....
I want that minus the "rugged tech" aethetic, current gen wireless, micro sd slot, degoogled os options, at least that much bezel, and user swappable battery.
It's got some of those β the camera is shit but it's literally got screws on the back so you can replace the battery, plus it's got 2 SIM and 1 microSD slot. Idk about the wireless or roms
oh neat that all of it is accessible by opening the back. wireless is just because my network provider has dead spots if you don't have 5g because some of the previously dead zones they just put up new 5g towers without the older support.
Oh I see, I didn't know that was a problem that existed :/
If the Aiphor Bluefox NX1 had 5G and wasn't prone to have the screen come loose I would probably try it. I prefer that one's form to the rounded back of the Unihertz Jelly.
But with google working on making android their own walled garden I'm more interested in trying something like Jolla.
https://commerce.jolla.com/products/jolla-phone-sep-ii-2026
I'll continue with my Nokia C2-01 then.
I love my Unihertz Jelly Star with its 3" screen! So small, its not easy to use so it stays in my pocket
I got a Jelly Star to use as a music player and I very seriously considered using it as my full-time phone for that exact reason. The only thing that held me back is I take a lot of pictures and the camera wasn't quite up to snuff, and I'm not prepared to commit to also carrying a decent camera around all the time.
I mean a S26 just weighs 167g. Thats still 30g more than the Z1 Compact i had back in the day. But overall its like 20mm taller and 5mm wider. Its alright. For the modern day i think its a perfectly fine small phone. Its sadly Samsung though and they can fuck themselves. I will never buy anything from them again after past experiences with different products. But i wouldnt say the small phone is dead. Sure you cant buy a 3,5"- 5" screen phone anymore. But my eyesight gets worse by the minute and i dont want a that small smartphone anymore. Rather i would get myself a shitty feature phone where the display doesnt matter at all.
Handlingwise i would be really happy about 16:9 screens again. My thumbs arent tall enough for the upper third of most phones since the last 7 years or so. 19:9 up to 21:9 is IMHO such a stupid format. But i also really want my headphone jack and sd card reader back... It is what it is.
Manufacturers killed compact phones because the same display panel costs the same whether it is 6.1 or 6.7 inches, so bigger screens unlock higher price tiers. The Xiaomi 17 and vivo X300 proving 7,500mAh batteries fit inside 6.3-inch bodies demolishes every excuse these brands hide behind.
