[CWinkler]

Update: called US Cellular and talked to their Tech Support and Roaming people (phone ended up roaming yesterday). Advised them that there were issues down here with signal strength since mid-April, and they said they'd escalate the issue to engineering since it's gone on for some time (nobody had reported it ... so I'd advise others to be sure to speak up to your carrier). Hopefully they'll find something that they can fix to improve our service. In the meantime, making sure that my phone has what I think is enough charge to get through the night. So far so good, if 3 nights can tell you anything.

Thanks go out to @LineKill and @SpookDroid for their help with my issues.

[teslas]

Hey, your last set of screen shots showed your system in a dark mode of sorts. How did you do that? Was it an app?

[CWinkler]

Hey, your last set of screen shots showed your system in a dark mode of sorts. How did you do that? Was it an app?

@teslas, changed my theme to "metallic dark touchwiz" ... free Samsung theme. Like it much better, and fonts and colors are much easier to read than with the other theme I had been using

[SpookDroid]

Just be careful with older themes, though. They might look good...until you hit certain elements of the UI that were changed from dark to light on the Nougat update and that text/elements will 'disappear'.

[CWinkler]

Just be careful with older themes, though. They might look good...until you hit certain elements of the UI that were changed from dark to light on the Nougat update and that text/elements will 'disappear'.

@SpookDroid, this theme was available after updating to Nougat ... are you saying it might have issues I don't know about? I know the Sunset theme I selected after my update (from the phone not Play Store, same as this metallic dark) had issues with font disappearing into the background. For now this is working OK for me. Figured it was Nougat compatible

[SpookDroid]

@SpookDroid, this theme was available after updating to Nougat ... are you saying it might have issues I don't know about? I know the Sunset theme I selected after my update (from the phone not Play Store, same as this metallic dark) had issues with font disappearing into the background. For now this is working OK for me. Figured it was Nougat compatible

Most themes are available, but if they were created BEFORE the update and haven't been, well, updated, there MIGHT be elements that used to be a dark color but now are light and might be 'lost' in light background elements.

[teslas]

@CWinkler thanks the theme works. Is it possible to select my own wallpaper in this theme? I lost it after activation of the theme.

[CWinkler]

@CWinkler thanks the theme works. Is it possible to select my own wallpaper in this theme? I lost it after activation of the theme.

@teslas, not sure to be honest - I just use the theme as is. Maybe others will be able to answer your question. Might want to start another thread to ask, so you get better responses.

[CWinkler]

Update: 'new' phone has been working pretty well. Last night decided to not charge it up to 100% before bed, so it was at 60% when I called it a night. 48% this morning. Battery doesn't get hot like in the previous phone (knock wood). Still have pretty spotty reception, and need to call US Cellular today to see if they've learned anything about signal strength down here. Had the roaming signal again yesterday.

[SpookDroid]

@CWinkler thanks the theme works. Is it possible to select my own wallpaper in this theme? I lost it after activation of the theme.

You should be able to, but since the theme comes with wallpapers and everything, once you apply it, the wallpaper included will 'take over'. Simply find the wallpaper you want back and re-apply it as your wallpaper. Note that every time you apply a theme, if it includes a wallpaper, the included one will be applied, but once it's been applied to your phone, you're free to change wallpapers and icon themes.

[teslas]

Thank you spookdroid

[CWinkler]

Update: US Cellular still working on signal strength issues but after talking with tech yesterday, not too hopeful that it'll get better. The tech did have me check on my phone's MIN, and he found an issue there, so did an update. I'm to keep an eye on the roaming issue and let them know if I continue to see my phone go into roam mode. I also learned that 4G capable phones are designed to automatically update their tower / roaming information, so there's no need to do the *228 update, which I had been doing every month. He did suggest maybe a weekly, or at least monthly, power down using volume down and power (said it's like removing the battery and putting it back in). Hadn't been doing that. So I keep learning, which is a good thing.

There's one tower servicing our area, with 3 'cones / beacons / whatever they're called' pointed in different directions to broadcast the signal. They are supposed to reach up to 5 miles. My boat is on the far side of that range, as noted in the attachment with the blue circle. Found this website, didn't know it existed: Oriental, NC Cell Towers, Signal Map & Lease Rates | CellReception

US Cellular isn't even shown as one of their "top 4", not surprising. From reading some of the reviews, thinking I shouldn't feel too bad about my service

[CWinkler]

Woke up this morning to a dead phone ... and it had been working so well! Got the debug chart from GSam, hoping that it means something to you either @LineKill or @SpookDroid. Also attaching the chart from the built in battery monitor since it shows the nosedive. No temperature information unless it's hidden in the GSam information. I know US Cellular is still working on the signal strength issue. Do you see anything else in here that tells us anything?