Third Party Apps

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Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
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When you get a new phone, what do you immediately dive into Google Play or iStore and grab?

Or to put it a different way, where do the iPhone and Android default apps fall short? What do you need to go get to make your new phone complete?

Me, I need a bible app of course. And Open Camera is soooo much better than the default camera app. Firefox is a necessity. ASR sound recorder too. WhatsApp to keep in touch with my friends.

And... That's about it. For a nerd I sure don't trick my phone out much.
 
When you get a new phone, what do you immediately dive into Google Play or iStore and grab?

Or to put it a different way, where do the iPhone and Android default apps fall short? What do you need to go get to make your new phone complete?

Me, I need a bible app of course. And Open Camera is soooo much better than the default camera app. Firefox is a necessity. ASR sound recorder too. WhatsApp to keep in touch with my friends.

And... That's about it. For a nerd I sure don't trick my phone out much.
I can barely send a text let alone worrying about what apps to install. Rarely use my phone except to pay a few monthly bills. As I was getting constant spam calls and texts, I usually just turn it off until I need it, then turn it off again.
 
One of my favorite things is and extension AdBlock+VPN. For $4/mo it handles ads on YT & other sites too. Also, ok.ru has many movies that have been sold out here to corps and I couldn't watch such as 'It's A Beautiful Life & White Christmas'. Another place I found, not an app, is on Amazon. If you go there and tap the 'Live TV' tab across the top, it will list a variety of old shows, Travel and Food channels and so on. It does come with commercials but they're not too bad.
 
I thought I was doing pretty well (and being pretty thrifty) by holding on to the phone I've had since 2019 -- until my brother looked at it and told me my version of Android, and all its security updates, expired 2 years ago. :oops:

Being a non-techy person, I always put off upgrading anything because of how much of a pain it is to set up something new (at least to me) -- not to mention the cost.

So... I finally bit the byte and got myself a new phone -- and have been wrestling through getting it personalized the way I want it for the past week.

My immediate essentials seemed to be:

* Weather app (a specific one that forecasts 45 days into the future)

* Calculator, clock with alarms and stopwatch, the settings control board and files for pictures (all needing their own shortcuts on my home screen)

* Spotify, YouTube, GPS app

* Shortcuts to CC (of course!,) email, texts, and a chat app to keep up with friends. Some might wish I'd forget about that so I can't go off on tangents at random times during the day. :cool: But they knew what they signed up for! :p

As for a Bible app, I have two of them -- and they're called @Lynx and @cinder.

Anytime I need to look up a passage (often with historical context,) I just message those two and it's just a matter of who has time to answer back first. :LOL:
 
For the record: A lot of phones come with upgrade guarantees. Like "This phone is guaranteed to receive updates through Android 18!"

Uh... My current two phones come with no such guarantees, and the company that made them has a history of not doing anything except security updates for the android version the phone came with when I bought it. But I bought these phones for other reasons. :cool:

I've heard HMD goes out of its way to guarantee long-play updates for their phones. I might get an HMD next time.
 
Samsung has gone from 2 years of updates to 6-7 years of updates, depending on the phone.
I bought an A56 today. It replaces an S8 that still works fine. It's so old that the software won't work with Australia's phone network after January next year. Each to his own, but I've never felt the need to update my phone every time a new one comes out.
 
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When you get a new phone, what do you immediately dive into Google Play or iStore and grab?

Or to put it a different way, where do the iPhone and Android default apps fall short? What do you need to go get to make your new phone complete?

Me, I need a bible app of course. And Open Camera is soooo much better than the default camera app. Firefox is a necessity. ASR sound recorder too. WhatsApp to keep in touch with my friends.

And... That's about it. For a nerd I sure don't trick my phone out much.
I've been pestered for a QR code update app. I don't use QR much. What bothers me is that it wouldn't let me skip the update. So I refuse to download it on principle.
 
I bought an A56 today. It replaces an S8 that still works fine. It's so old that the software won't work with Australia's phone network after January next year. Each to his own, but I've never felt the need to update my phone every time a new one comes out.
What is Australia shutting down? 3g? 4g?

In the United States they shut down 3G back in 2022, and oh the hue and cry. Much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. And then everyone realized that the world was still spinning and we got on with life.

I usually advocate keeping older phones, to serve as emergency backups or to act as a router or something. But if the phone won't work with the local network anymore, I'm not sure what you can use it for. Aside from the obvious, like flashlight or sound recorder or music player or something.
 
When you get a new phone, what do you immediately dive into Google Play or iStore and grab?

Or to put it a different way, where do the iPhone and Android default apps fall short? What do you need to go get to make your new phone complete?

I close all apps and only use the camera and text. rarely will i use email. I'm trying to get away from using that. the only reason hubby and i have cell phones is for when either of us is away. Otherwise give me landline any day!!!
 
What is Australia shutting down? 3g? 4g?

In the United States they shut down 3G back in 2022, and oh the hue and cry. Much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. And then everyone realized that the world was still spinning and we got on with life.

I usually advocate keeping older phones, to serve as emergency backups or to act as a router or something. But if the phone won't work with the local network anymore, I'm not sure what you can use it for. Aside from the obvious, like flashlight or sound recorder or music player or something.
3 G shut down some time ago. I can make emergency calls with my old phone. I'll keep it until I'm sure that the everything transferred OK to the new one. I was offered a $10 trade in. Not worth the bother. It will end up as e-waste and be recycled some day.

Another reason for me to get a new phone was the 5G capability. The 5G network is immature so I don't see a lot of difference. I'll know its improved when I see people wandering around with 7 heads because of the 5G transmitters.
 
I've resisted having to sign up to Samsung's account. I don't use my phone for payments, for example. So far, the landline has been sufficient. But thanks for the suggestion. I can see how it would help if I lost it down the street or beach.
It's Find Hub on Google, it took me a couple minutes to locate my phone a few wks ago. It was under a stack of towels, lol.
 
I just keep my phone in my pocket or on the desk. If it's not in my pocket, it's on the desk. If it's not on the desk...

I use a unihertz jelly star though, so it might be a little bit harder if my phone was bigger.
 
When you get a new phone, what do you immediately dive into Google Play or iStore and grab?

Or to put it a different way, where do the iPhone and Android default apps fall short? What do you need to go get to make your new phone complete?

Me, I need a bible app of course. And Open Camera is soooo much better than the default camera app. Firefox is a necessity. ASR sound recorder too. WhatsApp to keep in touch with my friends.

And... That's about it. For a nerd nick para ff masculino I sure don't trick my phone out much.
These applications, developed by independent companies or individuals rather than the original platform provider, can enhance productivity, entertainment, and convenience. For instance, third-party apps can provide advanced photo editing tools, specialized fitness tracking, or innovative finance management features that may not be available in default apps.