Moto Z Force Questions

[wgragg]

I dropped the hammer on this phone yesterday, coming from my Note 7. Well, I didn't really drop a hammer on it...

Anyway, It is different enough that I have a few questions. I will try to group them by how they relate to each other.

Problem: I synced up my Yahoo account to the stock email app and though it worked, I noticed that when I click on a link in an email, it does nothing. I am used to it opening a browser and going to the site referenced. I have looked and looked for settings to fix this, but can't find any. Does anyone have any ideas about where I can change that?

No Gallery app. I noticed that there is no Gallery app like I had on my Note. I don't really want to use Google. Does the Google app actually look at photos on my phone, or does it move everything to the cloud? Are there any other ideas out there?

Related to that, I bought an SD card and want to move all my photos, videos and documents to there and have them automatically go to the SD card when I take photos, videos or download them. Same for documents. I mostly want apps on the phone itself. How can I accomplish that?

Finally for now, on my Note, when a post from a friend on Facebook comes in, or anything from someone I am following, or one of the pages I manage, the icon on the screen has a red dot with a number denoting that there has been activity. I can't seem to get it to do this on the Z Force. Is that just not possible on this phone?

Thanks in advance for the help. I know I will have more questions, but I don't want to over do it.

Wendell

 

[Golfdriver97]

Does the Google app actually look at photos on my phone, or does it move everything to the cloud?

It backs up to Google servers. You can clean out the device through a setting in Photos to delete the device copies and preserve the cloud ones. You can opt which folders get synced as well. The upside to Google Photos is as long as you choose High Quality, there is unlimited space. Given that benefit, I am not sure what to suggest for your followup question. I have used Box and DropBox, and while both are good, I have already uploaded enough pictures that I would be on a monthly plan with them.

 

[doogald]

Problem: I synced up my Yahoo account to the stock email app and though it worked, I noticed that when I click on a link in an email, it does nothing. I am used to it opening a browser and going to the site referenced. I have looked and looked for settings to fix this, but can't find any. Does anyone have any ideas about where I can change that?

Use the Yahoo mail app from the Play Store instead?

No Gallery app. I noticed that there is no Gallery app like I had on my Note. I don't really want to use Google. Does the Google app actually look at photos on my phone, or does it move everything to the cloud? Are there any other ideas out there?

Yes, Google Photos is the gallery app for the photos on the phone, or both photos on the phone or the cloud. You can set it not to back up to your Google account (though I STRONGLY suggest you back them up to something, whether it's Dropbox, Flickr or Google, so that you have them in case of an issue - lost phone, broken phone, battery explosion, etc. You will be much happier if you have them backed up somewhere, and Google is a great place for that IMO.)

Also, there are plenty of great third party gallery apps in the Play Store. I don't use them anymore, but maybe somebody will recommend their favorite.

 

[anon(631531)]

For the gallery app, i use QuickPic. It works great, and really looks like the old gallery app. As for the stock email app, i use TypeApp instead. I get my gmail & hotmail almost instantly(as push email). For messaging, i use the stock Message+. It's better than the Textra app, that i used in the past. It's a fabulous phone, so good luck with it.

 

[Nyvideo]

I also use QuickPic for my gallery and am very happy with it. I do also run Google photos as a backup, especially since all my old photos are on there.
For e-mail I use Blue Mail which has been great and also instant push mail. I still use extra for messaging but have played with messages+ occasionally. One of the big things I like about extra is if i hit the home button to exit, when I go back in I'm at the conversation list. With messages+ I end up in the previous conversation and have sent to the wrong person occasionally.

 

[anon(631531)]

Textra is a good messaging app, but i never liked where they put the "send" button. Too close to the "back" button for me. With Message+, i can go to My Verizon on my laptop, and see all my messages, and also send messages. Very handy.

 

[Connert]

I did the switch from the Note to the Z Force yesterday. Liking it so far. I'm trying to keep the attitude that I'm keeping this device and not switching back.

I went looking for a photo gallery also, QickPic seems to be the favorite and also has a private folder setting you can password protect like the Note.

As I keep putting my stuff (Nova Prime, swiftkey, and other apps) on the phone the better it gets. At this point I'm very likely to keep this and skip the Note this year.

I'm really enjoying the battery mod and also have the SoundBoost mod.

 

[anon(631531)]

I did the same thing. Went from the Note 4, with AT&T, to the Moto Z Force Droid, and Verizon. Call quality, inside the house, and outside is much better. It's the best phone i've had in years. I do miss the 5.7" size, but i can live with the 5.5".

 

[Revolutionary]

You don't have to back anything up to Google using Photos, and if you do, you dont have to automatically delete the device copy.

Photos is a good gallery app, you should give it a try. I like Moto's Gallery app that they put on almost all their phones, just not the Zs for some reason. I downloaded the apk for the Gallery app from the Moto G4 and it works great. I like because it has a built in editor with the ability to export a different image size, unlike most gallery apps and even editing apps like Snapseed.

To move photos to an SD card, install the card (I recommend NOT to use Adoptable Storage), then use the preinstalled "My Files" app to move the photos from the phone to the SD card. You can then also set the camera app to automatically save photos to the SD card.

For email, the absolute best email apps out there are 9Folders and, yes, Outlook. Both are killer. I'd use either over the standard email app.

 

[kssooner]

I did the switch from the Note to the Z Force yesterday. Liking it so far. I'm trying to keep the attitude that I'm keeping this device and not switching back.

I went looking for a photo gallery also, QickPic seems to be the favorite and also has a private folder setting you can password protect like the Note.

As I keep putting my stuff (Nova Prime, swiftkey, and other apps) on the phone the better it gets. At this point I'm very likely to keep this and skip the Note this year.

I'm really enjoying the battery mod and also have the SoundBoost mod.

I switched from the Note7 to the Z Force last night as well and I'm liking it better than the Note7 so far. Absolutely no lag (didn't realize how much lag I had on the Note7), fingerprint reader is the fastest I've ever used and I've had iPhones. I got the battery mod and SoundBoost mod as well and think they great. The Z Force is a great phone.

 

[anon(631531)]

You don't have to back anything up to Google using Photos, and if you do, you dont have to automatically delete the device copy.

Photos is a good gallery app, you should give it a try. I like Moto's Gallery app that they put on almost all their phones, just not the Zs for some reason. I downloaded the apk for the Gallery app from the Moto G4 and it works great. I like because it has a built in editor with the ability to export a different image size, unlike most gallery apps and even editing apps like Snapseed.

To move photos to an SD card, install the card (I recommend NOT to use Adoptable Storage), then use the preinstalled "My Files" app to move the photos from the phone to the SD card. You can then also set the camera app to automatically save photos to the SD card.

For email, the absolute best email apps out there are 9Folders and, yes, Outlook. Both are killer. I'd use either over the standard email app.

I use TypeApp for my gmail & hotmail. 9Folders doesn't do gmail, so i'd rather have one email app for both.

 

[Revolutionary]

OP, FWIW, you can also use the Gmail app to access your Yahoo Mail account. The GMail app supports Yahoo, Outlook/Hotmail, and Exchange.

 

[ASD Dad]

OP, FWIW, you can also use the Gmail app to access your Yahoo Mail account. The GMail app supports Yahoo, Outlook/Hotmail, and Exchange.

That's what I am doing. Gmail for all! I got lazy when I got my new phone and am just using Gmail for Yahoo, Gmail and my IMAP work account (GoDaddy servers). Works fine.

If I keep it I may go back to K9 mail just for my work account. It's much faster than Gmail with push email setup. I had both setup on my old phones for work and K9 would alert me minutes ahead of Gmail's app. K9 is just an old school interface a little clunky.