Smart phone apps

[mihit]

Kasa for my TP-link smart switches, Amazon Alexa for bridging Alexa to all of my smart home features, Bond for setting up all my ceiling fans to be "smart", Nest for my Nest thermostat, Google Maps, Google Translate because I travel the world against my will, calculator, QPython3 to run a script I made to do the fuel check on a 747, MyFitness Pal for counting my calories, exercise, to ensure I don't die an early death, Mcmaster Carr, Fusion360 to show people what I do in CAD, Amazon, Ebay, Banggood to buy Chinese Lego's, etc.
My phone is an Android Samsung S8, and have the S3 Gear watch for monitoring heart rate and exercise tracking, and I have one of those Samsung QLED TV's. Yes, Alexa can turn my TV on and off via voice.
My wife hates it all!

Holy hell, you're a cyborg!

[Michael Edwards]

You left out Windows based smart phones.

RIP Windows phones

https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/11/1...end-of-support

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

My experience with Apple products has not been good, so I would avoid getting an iPhone or iPad.

What problem(s) have you had with Apple products?

[RB211]

My issue with Apple is that they want you to use their products their way. Why don't iPhones support OTG? I can plug a USB stick into my S8, and it also has a microSD slot *gasp*

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

My issue with Apple is that they want you to use their products their way. Why don't iPhones support OTG? I can plug a USB stick into my S8, and it also has a microSD slot *gasp*

That is definitely a limitation by design, but Apple designs their devices with deterministic performance in mind. MicroSD, MiniSD, USB storage devices, etc. They all can easily fail or perform poorly so not supporting them at all limits the amount of failure modes and also guarantees that the internal storage is known to perform at deterministic rates.

Apple wants to control the user's experience at the cost of flexibility. I too wish the iPhone would support MicroSD for expansion, but when you have a 4K camera recording video, and allow people to record to their own devices, the only guarantee you actually have is it's going to fail for some folks due to external device performance issues for some storage media. Write rates are non-deterministic. If you want 4K video recording to always work without any issues, only recording to known deterministic "high performance" local NVRAM/MRAM/Flash/etc is one way.

I don't agree with everything Apple does and the lack of MicroSD is one issue I have myself, but not supporting volatile storage is something I can understand.

[lakeside53]

I guess none of the other manfs understand so they do it.

[Dan Dubeau]

I won't go back to Apple either. I just don't like IOS and Itunes and the way they interface with my life, and my other devices. Some people love it, to each their own, but I just never gelled with it. The hardware side of it was fine, I actually like the phone (6s). IMO it was a PERFECT size and well made, and I hate how all the phones are so big now. Looking to replace my S7 now as my contract is up and the battery doesn't last more than a couple hours anymore so it's time for something new. I was kinda hoping the recent dunk in the creek would have forced my hand, but it's still working. I will definitely stick with android, probably Samsung again. Bell gives me a free phone every 3 years as long as I stay with them. They are the only carrier that gets reliable service at our house, so It a win, win, loss for me. The loss is because no matter how much I win, I still have to deal with Bell. Any Canadians on here who've dealt with their "tech support" (have you tried turning it off, then turning it back on again?) will understand.

I've downloaded many machinist and mechanical apps over the years and have never really found much use for them. I prefer to look things up on the computer, or books and do my calculations with CAD or on a $0.99 calculator. When I'm in the shop, or at work my hands are usually too dirty and greasy to be touch my phone. It's stays in my pocket, or on my desk. The only apps beyond banking and amazon etc that I use regularly are GPS apps for fishing, and OBD reader (bluedriver) and a free one I've had for years called SKYView. It's pretty neat to sit out at the fire at night and look around the sky at all the stars and constellations. I'd forgot all about those usb endoscopes, and will probably go buy one now. Many times over the years one would have come in handy, and they're cheap.

I'd love to get one of the CAT phones with the FLIR camera, but they don't work on the Bell network. I checked back when they came out, but it might have changed now? I'm not very knowledgeable when it come to all this techy stuff so I really have no idea. Plus I'd have to buy it, and there's not a chance I'm paying $1000 for a phone.

[Mcgyver]

I won't go back to Apple either. I just don't like IOS and Itunes and the way they interface with my life,

agreed. if I can't drag and drop with a pc hooked up to it, not happening

[gellfex]

Heres what's on the main page of my Moto G6:
Mortplayer audiobook: I use this for playing playlists of randomized podcasts
Pi Music Player: for music
Smart Audiobook Player: best audiobook player I've found. Keeps a log of events, so if you screw up, you can get back where you were.
WNYC: public radio shows
FM radio: you have to have a headphone or a 6" pigtail plugged in as antenna
Keep Notes: Best thing that's happened to me in years! It's notes, pics and lists, and syncs with the app your desktop PC.
NYTimes
Windalert: marine wind & weather conditions and forecasts, critical for kayak fishing.
1Weather: a cool widget that takes up half the page with current weather, but also a clock that links to all clock & timer functions, and a google search field.

The rest is mostly shopping and banking apps.

I'll again pitch my $10/mo service from Redpocket. 500 each of talk/text/mb data. I never exceed the 1st 2, and run out the last only when working offsite a lot or traveling. You can buy another 250 megs for $5 and still be way ahead of most "plans".

[PStechPaul]

I have not been a fan of Apple products ever since using a MAC in 1987 or so, where to close or save a file, I had to drag and drop it into a trash can. A couple old friends (70 and 87 years old) have iPads that were given to them by wives or friends, and I have been frustrated trying to figure out how to do simple things like email or videos or using a USB thumb drive. I found this video might help me be able to get a little further:



I sometimes wonder if there are differences in the ways people think and act, between Apple fans and those who prefer Windows (or perhaps Android and Linux). Maybe Apple users like to have things always work in a familiar way without having much of a choice among alternate methods. And Windows/Android/Linux fans may be more adventurous and "maverick" and like to have almost complete control over their computing machines, hardware and software.

My computer experience began around 1966 with the IBM 7094 at Hopkins, which was programmed in FORTRAN and AFBIC (All FORTRAN BASIC Interpretive Compiler) using punch cards submitted in batches and returned with wide format line printer output. By 1980 or so I learned CP/M and I did programming on 8080, 8085, and Z80 embedded processors. I also got a Sinclair ZX80 for simple BASIC programming. By 1982 I was using IBM PCs and ATs, and I did a lot of programming using BASIC as well as some 8086/8088 assembly. By 1987 I learned Turbo Pascal and then Turbo C, for MSDOS, and then by 1998 or so I started using Windows and Borland Delphi for GUI applications. Since then I've also done some stuff with batch files, Visual Basic (VBA), JavaScript, JScript, WScript, PHP for Windows and web apps, as well as assembly and C for microcontrollers.

It may be possible to do some low level stuff with Apple's IOS, and maybe purchase a few different software apps to do what I want to do, but it seems the Apple philosophy is authoritarian and limiting, while the PC platform and MSDOS, Windows, and Linux offer a great deal of freedom and variety. Perhaps some people are afraid of such adventure, and just want to do certain things in an "approved" and familiar way, even if it disallows some things that might be useful, or even "fun" in a techie sense.