Android

[Deckard]

So now as a fully fledged (was only part with my GPD) Droider (Hello Fire TV) - Is there anything else to be aware of / download - I have been side loading via ES File Explorer which seems easier than faffing with SD cards and have downloaded Kodi which is pretty amazing, Plex and the usual plethora of emulators - Anything else ? Is it worth rooting it ? Worth adding the Settings apk for bluetooth mouse or keyboard ? I will add the Firestarter one so I can change my "home" page. So far worth the price of admission for just streaming 1080p using Kodi or Plex to my 8 years old but fully 1080p Sony TV (my Gen 2 Apple TV tops out at 720p)

[Misfit]

Not sure the Fire TV counts as a fully fledged Droider as it's Amazon's own fork which seems to be drifting away from the main branch over time.

I thought Firestarter stopped working with the latest update (although I believe there is Firestopper now) ? I only used to to help launch Kodi but since the last update Kodi appears in your recently used apps and thus is no longer needed for me.

I only use mine for Kodi, Netflix, Amazon Video and iPlayer. Haven't tried anything else. Depending on your morals you need Exodus for Kodi and all your TV needs are done. (And couple Exodus with a trakt.tv account to mange viewing easier and something like realdebrid to increase HD sources available)

[Deckard]

Silly question perhaps but now I have a FireTV which is android based do side loaded apps automatically update ?

[Deckard]

I have to say it - Kodi is just a thing of wonder - both on my handheld gaming android console and my fire tv

[Deckard]

Partners mum wanted a 5" smartphone - So just ordered this and amazing how cheap the android ones are now....68 quid for this.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/cubot-ra ... ersion.asp



(55 quid if you had the black one)

Must be fuck all money in these sort of price phones...

[Daniel]

Partners mum wanted a 5" smartphone - So just ordered this and amazing how cheap the android ones are now....68 quid for this.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/cubot-ra ... ersion.asp



(55 quid if you had the black one)

Must be fuck all money in these sort of price phones...

If the price is too good to be true...
https://arstechnica.com/security/2016/1 ... of-phones/

[Deckard]

Ah well they are welcome to peruse her Sudoku and knitting patterns...

[toxibunny]

Is there such a thing as a 'professional grade' android device? Good power handling with no electrical noise, solid build quality, good audio inputs/outputs, USB/Ethernet/whatever ports, vanilla OS with all the options enabled, etc. know what I mean? Just curious...

[Firefox]

Are you talking about installing Android on a Raspberry Pi or a PC or something? Because you can do that.

[Baggypants]

I've been running Android-x86 on my netbook, the install was a pain because I don't have Windows, but it's been doing the required work ever since.

[Deckard]

Bump - Partner was wandering around Jollys in Bath earlier this week and suddenly,randomly bought a Michael Kors gold android smartwatch at half price cause he "liked the colour" (big old gayyer) - I kept my gob shut as he really liked the look of it and he said you'll enjoy setting it up. Christ I didn't realise how shit Android Wear is. The lag on this thing is off the scale and none of the gestures on it seem to be working on it in any form of real time. I couldnt hate it more if it had just killed the baby Jesus. Everything on it is painful but I have bit my lip and not said every 5 mins "you should have bought an Apple Watch as you have an iPhone 6 and it would just WORK" - It now keeps losing BT connection with the phone and not displaying text messages correctly - I am hoping after a week of this he might refund it and get a "REAL" smartwatch as for an extra 60 quid he could have an AW Series 2. Oh and as a quick aside it takes 5 hours to charge its tiny tiny battery !!!! It even has has the "flat tyre" look at the bottom of the screen FFS !!! HATE HATE HATE



FFS the winding button doesn't even wind (scroll) its just a push button - AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH !!

[skab]

Now that kind of display has already trickled down to el cheapo China Android smartwatches, so it's probably not worth the money for that reason alone...

[carolen]

Well, my dabble in the Windows Phone experience had a not entirely unexpected result and now the old Nokia Lumia 625 I had which was due to reach its EOL soon had to be replaced. Decided I still liked the Nokia brand and with some money I had stashed went for the Nokia 7 Plus. Lovely phone, absolutely huge compared to what I had and running stock Android. With the Android One connection, am guaranteed to get at least 2 years of regular updates too. Still getting used to the new infrastructure (why does a Solitaire app need to use the camera???) but liking this a lot. Wish me luck...

[Deckard]

Not great for US android owners...

New Xiaomi US privacy policy will collect users' personal info, financial details and more
Debashis Sarkar
Chinese internet startup Xiaomi has recently announced an update to its privacy policy in the US. The company's new privacy policy is already available on its official US website and will come into effect from May 25. As per the new privacy policy, Xiaomi will collect personal information including driving license and passport details along with financial information like bank account and credit card number. Note that so far there is no change indicated in the company's privacy policy for its India users (which was last updated on May 6, 2016 as per the website).

The new privacy policy will also let Xiaomi collect social information like current employer, current job title and education background in addition to device or SIM-related information like IMEI number, location, log and app information.

The company defines personal information as “information that can be used to directly or indirectly identify an individual, either from that information alone or from that information combined with other information Xiaomi has access about that individual.” The new policy further adds, that “such personal information may include but not limit to the information you provide to us or upload, the information specific to you that may be assigned by us.” In addition to this, the company might also collect other types of information which are not directly or indirectly linked to an individual and “which is aggregated, anonymized or de-identified.”

[Daniel]

Interesting blog post about the technical challenges of bringing Fortnite to Android.
https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-U ... nical-blog