Android Help Daily Superthread (Jun 05 2022) - Your daily thread for questions, device recommendations and general discussions!

Daily Superthread (Jun 05 2022) - Your daily thread for questions, device recommendations and general discussions!
How the Pixel tablet will replace your Google Nest Hub
Using an Android phone outside of its sales region is still an issue for travelers
PSA: If you love QuickPic, Check out QP Gallery Mod which receives constant updates via XDA developer and is based on the last good version
SimpleToolsMobile 6th Anniversary Sale! - You can download all 6 paid pro apps free, get it while you can and spread the word.
Sunday Rant/Rage (Jun 05 2022) - Your weekly complaint thread!
NetGuard firewall has had an update with "small fixes"
Honor Magic 4 Pro Review: Like A Huawei Flagship But With Google
Google Pixel 6a - Early Retail Box Unboxing 😱

Daily Superthread (Jun 05 2022) - Your daily thread for questions, device recommendations and general discussions!

Posted: 05 Jun 2022 05:15 AM PDT

Note 1. Check MoronicMondayAndroid, which serves as a repository for our retired weekly threads. Just pick any thread and Ctrl-F your way to wisdom!

Note 2. Join our IRC and Telegram chat-rooms! Please see our wiki for instructions.

Please post your questions here. Feel free to use this thread for general questions/discussion as well.

The /r/Android wiki now has a list of recommended phones and covers most areas, the links have been added below. Any suggestions or changes are welcome. Please contact us if you would like to help maintain this section.

Entry level (most affordable devices costing under $250 (US)/ $325 (Canada)/ €200 (Europe)/ £200/ ₹12,500 (India)

Midrange section, covering the $250-500(US)/$300-700(Canada)/€200-500/£200-450/₹12,500-30,000 segment

Flagship section, containing the most expensive devices with the highest end specifications

submitted by /u/curated_android
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How the Pixel tablet will replace your Google Nest Hub

Posted: 05 Jun 2022 06:54 AM PDT

submitted by /u/howling92
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Using an Android phone outside of its sales region is still an issue for travelers

Posted: 05 Jun 2022 09:37 AM PDT

I'll get right to it - I've started traveling again post-COVID. Right now I'm in Turkey. I'm from NYC in the US, and I use a Galaxy S22 Ultra (American model, Unlocked).

This doesn't strictly apply to Samsung devices, but in the US, Samsung devices are dominant on the Android side of things. Even though they are physically capable, Samsung devices will limit what 2G/3G/LTE/5G bands you can connect to when using the device outside of its sales region.

For example, in the US, my phone will aggregate LTE Bands 2 + 5 + 29 +30, providing me with great speeds even in congested areas. However, here in Turkey, the phone will not aggregate multiple LTE bands even though the device is physically capable.

Why? Samsung has a setting/file in the phone called "LTE Prune Cap" (and also one for NR 5G). What this does is tell the modem/firmware what it is allowed to do as far as capabilities. Why am I complaining?

Wifi here sucks, but data is cheap. I bought a Turkish SIM card and sometimes the speed is great, while other times it's crap; it depends on where you are
This is my device. MSRP was like $1500 (I didn't pay this much, but still), but the principle remains the same regardless of the cost
Not all devices/OEMs do this. The easy example is Apple's iPhone

I also have to mention that you used to be able to use dialer codes to enter a debug menu and remove the restriction. But with every major Android update, Samsung alters or disables the codes. For example, here is the code that shows you what bands your device has enabled / is capable of (*#2263#):

https://i.imgur.com/PMxaQsQ.jpg

As you can see, the phone supports a lot of bands (more than even the international models). But it's wasted because the phone will only aggregate US bands by default. So here in Turkey, my phone is using one LTE band at a time, whereas with a US SIM, it'll aggregate 5 or even 6. My friends with iPhones are pulling double or triple digit speeds, just like the locals, while my S22 Ultra is pulling single digit speeds. The phone actually knows when you're using a foreign SIM and will enable ALL supported bands, but will still restrict you to one at a time.

This has really made me think twice about getting another Android phone as my primary device. I travel a lot and rely on my phone as my primary device posting my content online and also things like video calls when abroad. As I mentioned, iPhones don't do this, regardless of where they're purchased and used.

I don't like iOS itself, but I find it ironic that the more restrictive device is open in terms of connectivity. This is 100% an artificial restriction, and is controlled by nothing more than a text file/software switch. And I understand why Samsung does it -- they don't want grey market imports and exports of their devices. But it's completely ridiculous to screw customers over like this. Samsung could easily push a software update to stop this from happening.

To further illustrate this, VoLTE and Wifi Calling now work even with a foreign SIM even though this is a US device. But they want you to have bare minimum functionality otherwise:

https://i.imgur.com/dHlztlZ.jpg

We need to talk about this; it's not a niche issue or "nerd problem". For example, I'm a content creator and rely on mobile data when abroad.

Tl;Dr: OEMs are actively restricting your phone's data capabilities based on where it's sold. It's not new, but it needs to be put in the spotlight given it's now 2022.

submitted by /u/productfred
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PSA: If you love QuickPic, Check out QP Gallery Mod which receives constant updates via XDA developer and is based on the last good version

Posted: 05 Jun 2022 09:11 AM PDT

submitted by /u/UnusualMedico
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SimpleToolsMobile 6th Anniversary Sale! - You can download all 6 paid pro apps free, get it while you can and spread the word.

Posted: 04 Jun 2022 05:20 PM PDT

https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=9070296388022589266

SimpleMobileTools correction.

June 5th marks the 6th anniversary since the first 8 apps have been published on Google Play.

r/SimpleMobileTools

submitted by /u/NXGZ
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Sunday Rant/Rage (Jun 05 2022) - Your weekly complaint thread!

Posted: 05 Jun 2022 05:00 AM PDT

Note 1. Join our IRC and Telegram chat-rooms![Please see our wiki for instructions.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/wiki/index#wiki_.2Fr.2Fandroid_chat_rooms)

This weekly Sunday thread is for you to let off some steam and speak out about whatever complaint you might have about:

Your device.
Your carrier.
Your device's manufacturer.
An app
Any other company

Rules

1) Please do not target any individuals or try to name/shame any individual. If you hate Google/Samsung/HTC etc. for one thing that is fine, but do not be rude to an individual app developer.

2) If you have a suggestion to solve another user's issue, please leave a comment but be sure it's constructive! We do not want any flame-wars.

3) Be respectful of other's opinions. Even if you feel that somebody is "wrong" you don't have to go out of your way to prove them wrong. Disagree politely, and move on.

submitted by /u/curated_android
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NetGuard firewall has had an update with "small fixes"

Posted: 05 Jun 2022 10:48 AM PDT