New to Android from iOS, I have a few gripes... And a lot of questions...

[UglyStuff]

Hi boys and girls,

First time here, so please be nice!

Like it says in the title, I've owned (or, recently, leased) iPhones for a great number of years, and as I was about to return my leased iPhone 6 to my carrier, I decided to turn to an Android budget phone from Leagoo, the latest T5C.

So far, I'm neither impressed nor disappointed by the device itself: it cost me all of 126 euros (that's about 140 USD, I guess), has a bright 5,5-inch Sharp screen, fingerprint reader, 32 Gb of disk space, 3 Gb of RAM and, generally speaking, performs up to my (somewhat lowered) expectations, coming from an iPhone 6.

The thing is... Android... Aah...

OK, hodge-podge:

- I keep receiving this warning stating that "Downloading in GPRS will consume data" (duh), even after placing the data threshold at a whopping 190 Gb (of which I've consumed about 9 Gb as we speak); I suspect a background process such as the AccuWeather outside temperature display in the task bar is the reason why I get those warnings, but every time I go to the Play Store, I still get it, and it irks me no end...

- When the screen is dimming, but isn't dark yet, it's IMPOSSIBLE to just gently tap it to keep it awake: every single time, and however soft the tap is, I end up triggering the application whose icon happened to be under my finger...

- There doesn't seem to be a way to enable USB tethering (mobile hotspot via USB) once and for all, the way you can on an iPhone: I plug the phone into a USB slot on my PC, activate it, but if I unplug the phone, presto, the button goes to the Off position and is greyed out.

- Whenever I uninstall an application, or simply move it from one panel to the next, its emplacement stays vacant: the other apps don't move up or down to fill that empty slot, the way they do in, yes, iOS...

If you've got any ideas about those few salient points, I'd be really happy to hear them!

Meanwhile, I'm going to work on my never-ending list of gripes agains Android...

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! It's important to keep in mind that you chose a relatively obscure budget phone as your first Android phone -- this is definitely not going to be a good representation of Android's potential. Budget phones will usually be underpowered and less reliable, and a company like Leagoo is certainly not on the forefront of quality devices.

That being said ...

- I keep receiving this warning stating that "Downloading in GPRS will consume data" (duh), even after placing the data threshold at a whopping 190 Gb (of which I've consumed about 9 Gb as we speak); I suspect a background process such as the AccuWeather outside temperature display in the task bar is the reason why I get those warnings, but every time I go to the Play Store, I still get it, and it irks me no end...

This is likely a system message, and is due to the manufacturer, not Google. Not sure if you can stop that from happening. If it shows up as a notification in the status bar (as opposed to in a "toast" window in the middle of the screen), then swipe down the notification panel and long-press the notification, then tap App Info. This can tell you which app is serving up that notification, and then you can see if it's possible to turn off notifications from that app.

When the screen is dimming, but isn't dark yet, it's IMPOSSIBLE to just gently tap it to keep it awake: every single time, and however soft the tap is, I end up triggering the application whose icon happened to be under my finger...

What I do is hold my finger on the screen for about a half-second, doing a slight scroll up and down. This shouldn't be interpreted as a tap, but as a scroll or swipe.

There doesn't seem to be a way to enable USB tethering (mobile hotspot via USB) once and for all, the way you can on an iPhone: I plug the phone into a USB slot on my PC, activate it, but if I unplug the phone, presto, the button goes to the Off position and is greyed out.

That option is greyed out on my Pixel 2 XL as well -- it may be that the option is greyed out unless the phone is connected via USB. Does the option become active when you plug the phone back in?

- Whenever I uninstall an application, or simply move it from one panel to the next, its emplacement stays vacant: the other apps don't move up or down to fill that empty slot, the way they do in, yes, iOS...

This is in part a matter of preference, but it also has to do with the difference in customization philosphy. iPhones limit the user's ability to customize their homescreens -- all installed apps must show up on the homescreens (since there is no app drawer), and so they figured that if you move an app somewhere else, everything else should move over to fill in the spot. Android allows more customizability -- you can put icons almost anywhere you want, and have 5 different homescreens each with one icon, if that makes you happy.

 

[UglyStuff]

Hi,

Well, first off, thanks for taking the time!

I've read your reply, and I agree with you on the fact that my new device may not be the best to explore the breadth and width of Android, but I didn't want to break the bank, and since I use my devices for the most basic tasks anyway (I don't play games, for example), I didn't see the need to invest any more money than I had to.

The GPRS warning comes in the form of the "toast" you mention, not something out of the task bar, and it's just annoying, not a showstopper in and of itself; I've tried evasive maneuvers, as I said in my OP, but it keeps coming back, and for some reason, I don't see the manufacturer putting that kind of limitation in its own hardware: after all, it's up to the customer to check his/her data usage. The phone is just there to be used. It being dual-SIM, dual-standby could be a factor here, but I doubt it.

For the rest, I agree with you: different platforms call for different philosophies, and I'm slowly wrapping my head around Android's. In due time, I'm sure I'll get to fully appreciate what Android has to offer, and since the device itself brings me all the satisfaction you can expect from such a low price tag, I won't complain about its possible shortcomings.

The option for USB tethering (I know, it's Apple's name for it, sorry...) does show up as available in Preferences when I plug the USB cable in; I'd rather it stayed on by default, so that I could just plug the phone into the PC and get direct access to the Internet, same as I can with the iPhone, but maybe there's a widget that does that (I found a great one to toggle Bluetooth on and off straight from the home screen, with exactly one tap).

If you know one, please point me to it!

The other points (the screen's been excessively touchy and the icons not rearranging themselves automatically) are minor, I'll give you that, but to me, it shows attention to detail (or lack thereof), and to offer (or not) the possibility to change that without resorting to third-party applications leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste, but I can live with it.

In fact, I'm more interested in process and system management, what can be stopped or suspended without making the system unstable, that sort of thing.

As you pointed out, Apple doesn't let you do much in this regard with iOS; if Android allows you more elbow room, so much the better. I'm a tinkerer at heart, anyway...

 

[hallux]

The other points (the screen's been excessively touchy and the icons not rearranging themselves automatically) are minor, I'll give you that, but to me, it shows attention to detail (or lack thereof), and to offer (or not) the possibility to change that without resorting to third-party applications leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste, but I can live with it.

Keep in mind that due to the nature of Android Leagoo may well have installed a launcher (the "app" that gives you the home screen) of it's own. As with everything else, this is not always a representation of Android as a whole but of the device manufacturer. The launcher can impact what you're seeing.

The option for USB tethering (I know, it's Apple's name for it, sorry...) does show up as available in Preferences when I plug the USB cable in; I'd rather it stayed on by default, so that I could just plug the phone into the PC and get direct access to the Internet, same as I can with the iPhone, but maybe there's a widget that does that (I found a great one to toggle Bluetooth on and off straight from the home screen, with exactly one tap).

The closest I can get (with a Pixel, using Google's launcher so this may not be available) is a homescreen shortcut to the hotspot and tethering options. Long-press a blank area of the homescreen, select widgets, find settings (this may not be available to you), long-press and drag that to your homescreen, on the pop-up select the settings section you want the shortcut to.

 

[UglyStuff]

Hi,

On my device, those widgets are called gadgets (don't ask), and Settings isn't one of them: it's already on the second menu page.

Remember that, like many Chinese manufacturers, Leagoo opted for a drawerless display, à la iOS (I rather like it that way, for what it's worth).

One other problem, there's limited space on the home page: I already got a clock (digital), a Bluetooth gadget, and the space that's left isn't easy to fill, since it's on one side of the screen.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Welcome to the forums.

The other points (the screen's been excessively touchy and the icons not rearranging themselves automatically) are minor, I'll give you that, but to me, it shows attention to detail (or lack thereof), and to offer (or not) the possibility to change that without resorting to third-party applications leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste, but I can live with it.

Actually, you could almost argue this is the opposite of a lack of attention to detail. Think of it this way: In Android, you have the home screen and the app drawer, very similar to Windows and it's desktop and Start menu. This is a segregation of all your apps and your commonly used ones. Android does automatically rearrange apps after removal, but in the app drawer. iPhones, on the other hand, you have no desktop/home screen. You are constantly in what Android calls the app drawer.

Not sure how to help with the toast warning about GPRS. Toast messages usually need root access to remove, and even then, it's sketchy (may not work, or something else breaks while trying to disable that).

I'm a tinkerer at heart, anyway...

When you get comfortable with the OS, try a new launcher, like Nova.

 

[UglyStuff]

I actually tested Nova, and loved the look and feel of it, but I had the feeling it was slowing my device down (maybe it gives some extra-work to the GPU?).

I'm going to install it again, just because I'm kinda stubborn that way...

 

[B. Diddy]

The GPRS warning comes in the form of the "toast" you mention, not something out of the task bar, and it's just annoying, not a showstopper in and of itself; I've tried evasive maneuvers, as I said in my OP, but it keeps coming back, and for some reason, I don't see the manufacturer putting that kind of limitation in its own hardware: after all, it's up to the customer to check his/her data usage. The phone is just there to be used. It being dual-SIM, dual-standby could be a factor here, but I doubt it.

The reason I think this is a manufacturer decision is that I've never seen that notification on any of my other devices (most of which are Nexus/Pixel products -- in other words, as stock Android as you can get). It doesn't seem like an actual limitation per se. It's only a warning (although granted, a pretty useless warning).

The option for USB tethering (I know, it's Apple's name for it, sorry...) does show up as available in Preferences when I plug the USB cable in; I'd rather it stayed on by default, so that I could just plug the phone into the PC and get direct access to the Internet, same as I can with the iPhone, but maybe there's a widget that does that (I found a great one to toggle Bluetooth on and off straight from the home screen, with exactly one tap).

See this thread: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/162299/default-mode-with-usb-charging-usb-tethering. You'd probably have to root the phone. You can also try this app, but from the description, it sounds like it doesn't keep USB tethering on, but rather just makes it easier for you to access that toggle: USB Tethering

One other problem, there's limited space on the home page: I already got a clock (digital), a Bluetooth gadget, and the space that's left isn't easy to fill, since it's on one side of the screen.

Are you having difficulty creating a new homescreen? Usually, if you drag and drop an icon, it will create a new homescreen if you drag it to the extreme right of the screen and hold it there for a second or so.

Nova Launcher really shouldn't cause any noticeable slowdown. In fact, I've seen it speed up the interface on an older device.

 

[UglyStuff]

I've reinstalled Nova, and made different esthetic choices than the first time, that seem to play nice with my phone (not top-of-the-range by any spec, remember), so I'm going to stay with it. That way, I have everything I need on my home screen (clock, weather, BT).

One thing it lacks (or does it?) is the ability to arrange the other applications by any other order than alphabetical (haven't fully checked, though), so that, say, Twitter.app is easier to find...

 

[Golfdriver97]

I've reinstalled Nova, and made different esthetic choices than the first time, that seem to play nice with my phone (not top-of-the-range by any spec, remember), so I'm going to stay with it. That way, I have everything I need on my home screen (clock, weather, BT).

One thing it lacks (or does it?) is the ability to arrange the other applications by any other order than alphabetical (haven't fully checked, though), so that, say, Twitter.app is easier to find...

In Nova Settings, under app and widget, you can toggle a frequently used feature. That creates a top row of 4 of your most commonly used apps. As for breaking from alphabetical, I don't think that can be done on the end user side.

 

[Golfdriver97]

a homescreen shortcut to the hotspot and tethering options

I think Nova can by creating s custom widget with Nova activities. It's one of the few things about Nova that aren't really user friendly, but after a few runs of trial and error, I'm sure something can be done.

One other problem, there's limited space on the home page: I already got a clock (digital), a Bluetooth gadget, and the space that's left isn't easy to fill, since it's on one side of the screen.

Nova should allow for resizing of the widget (long press on it). Something to keep in mind though, doing this might cause the widget to look terrible. Doing some slight changes may not be bad, but trimming the size by more than half probably won't be worth it.

 

[Golfdriver97]

the ability to arrange the other applications by any other order than alphabetical

Let's look at this a different way...I know you said your clock widget takes up a lot of space, but let's set that aside for a moment. What I do is I have all of my more commonly used apps on my homescreen. I'll post a screenshot in a minute. This way, I only have to dive into my app drawer for an app I don't open often.

 

[UglyStuff]

I'll try that, I guess, though to be honest, I don't have that many applications installed. Thanks for the input, all of you guys!