This reminds me of the time I got a text message from T-Mobile informed me that my payment for the month had processed, which was notable because it was my 24th such payment to them, concluding my financing plan for my Galaxy Note 4. About two hours later, the phone entered an unrecoverable bootloop and I had to go buy (finance) a new phone.
That is pretty funny. Wonder what may have been hidden in that text? Execute Order 66, indeed.
I actually had an unusual “Tap to Update” button that appeared on top of my home screen that morning that I don’t recall seeing before. Perhaps Google sent a special message of its own…
To quickly follow up, I’ve been using the Moto X4 for a little over a week now, and it seems fine. In almost every way, the experience is pretty comparable to my 5x. On the plus side, the battery so far does seem to last longer, and although I haven’t timed it, it also seems to charge faster.
On the downside, it’s also a bit heavier. My 5x was around 160g with a simple TPU case. The X4 is that weight without any case. I did end up getting this case, which adds another 60g to the weight, putting it around 220g. I wouldn’t think it would matter much, but it definitely feels significantly heavier.
I haven’t taken a ton of pictures, but I also think the ones on my 5x were better, although I have come to really like the wide angle lens more than I thought I would.
The Moto gestures are a mixed bag. The camera one is pretty straightforward, but I cannot get the “karate chop” flashlight gesture to work reliably.
Final thought for now, when doing the initial setup of the phone, neither the cloud restore or device transfer worked, meaning I had to reinstall everything from scratch and set it up. Not fun.
I’ve been using Republic Wireless for a year or so - $15 unlimited calls and texts. Most months I don’t use any data. Occasionally I buy 1 GB data for $5.The problem is that it would only work over WiFi when we go to Europe in June for 7 months. So, I started looking into Project Fi and it looks like it will fit the bill as it should work in Europe and is only a little more expensive than Republic Wireless.
So I start signing up and I put in my zip code and it says service isn’t available even though I am covered by their map pretty solidly. Apparently Fi uses T-Mobile for the number provisioning and we don’t have great TMobile coverage. I also heard that whatever company handles TMobile in our area may have some kind of protection so Fi can’t poach in their area (not sure if this is true)
From doing some research it looks like I can enter another zip code to get past the check and the service will work once I get the phone activated. I can even enter my real address after that initial zip code check. Can anyone think of why this might be a bad idea? Looks like I have 15 days to return the phones if it doesn’t work.
This part makes it sound like less of a risk. It sounds like a risk worth taking if you’re going overseas though.
I’ve had two colleagues and acquaintances use Project Fi internationally, and they were very happy with it.
But hey, if the service doesn’t work well where you live, then use that 15 day return policy.
I would contact their support and ask about it. They’ve always been quick to respond and helpful with these types of things when I needed to ask. They might have a preferred method for handling something like your case.
Fi uses T-Mobile and Sprint (mostly - also US Cellular). At home, it does everything over wifi. So you’ll certainly have service at home, but if your neighborhood does not have decent T-Mobile or Sprint you would lose data and drop calls as soon as you get out of wifi range.
edit - Republic also uses T-Mobile and Sprint, so Fi should behave similarly, no?
I’m pretty sure my Republic Wireless phone uses Sprint. It doesn’t even switch between them. When you sign up they assign you to a network that is best for your home area.
You’re probably right, you would get either a Sprint or T-Mobile SIM card. Fi does switch back and forth (even within a call), based on signal strength.
I’ve had Fi for a couple of years, used it in Mexico, Argentina, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, and China with no problems. I went to Vietnam in March and found out two weeks prior that Fi doesn’t work there, which was a bit of a pain, but only a little bit–it took 10 minutes at a kiosk in the airport and $9 to buy a SIM that worked there (benefit of an unlocked phone–if you get a Pixel 2, it has eSim, which means you don’t even need a physical SIM card.) When you arrive at a new international location, it can take 5-10 minutes for the phone to connect to the local network, and then when it does, you’re golden. It is really, really useful to have a data connection overseas, particularly for taxis, which can usually be called up and paid for with a ridesharing app. (“Grab” is the app used all over Asia.) No flagging down a cab, negotiating fare, trying to explain your destination in broken-whatever-language-is-spoken-in-that-country.
Have you guys noticed Gmail / SMS has been getting slower and slower? :( Takes like 10 seconds to refresh.
Nope. And I have an old phone, too.
Oh, I mean under Windows 10 Chrome browser. Just timed it, takes 6 seconds to load all the Hangouts/SMS conversations.
Try disabling your AdBlock for mail.google.com, and restart Chrome (real restart, not just minimize to systray). Made a difference for me. Terrible, I know, but Google already has my data so it wasn’t doing me any real good anyhow.
Since you mention it I had some privacy badger interactions with Docs, and disabling it for the Docs pages fixed them. That could be true of gmail too under some combinations of browser and platform.
Hallelujah!
That is great news. More choices, woooo!
Yesssssss , glad to have more choices when my Nexus 5x bites the dust.
I didn’t upgrade too far, but one of the benefits of working at an Android development shop is that dev phones often end up up for grabs. I retired my 5X in favor of a Pixel this week.
Email came in today saying I could upgrade my Nexus 5x to a Moto G6, for $100. Seems a pretty good deal, and I’ll have double the RAM, a bit faster cpu, a bit larger screen. Anyone else get this offer? What do you think?