Author Topic: Answer my dumb smartphone questions....  (Read 1177 times)

ObviouslyNotAGolfer

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Answer my dumb smartphone questions....
« on: July 26, 2021, 03:18:45 PM »
I am no luddite. I am pretty much constantly learning new software for work and my hobbies (latest one is a beast called RawTherapee) and I have built a career using extremely expensive scientific instruments (various microscopes, mass spectrometers). I own a bunch of dSLRs, digital cameras, audio equipment, scanners, digital audio players (three Fiio!!), etc.

However, the one device I have very little interest in is phones. I do not like phones--never have. I own an LG K-7 phone which I bought new from T-mobile five years ago for 50 bucks! For my purposes, it works great! Aside from one or two things, the only apps I have on the phone are ones that came with it.

Hence, I know zip about phones. This has caused some problems lately because there was one app I wanted for work that required Android 9 or greater, and my old phone only has Android 6 (5?). I tried updating, but it kept failing. (I found a work-around) Also, my wife wants a Garmin fitness tracker watch, and she has no more room for apps on her old Asus ZenPhone II (also five years old).

The main (dumb) question is--If we get a larger capacity card for her phone, will this allow her more room for apps?

The guy at the T-mobile store told me that the apps are stored on the internal memory, and that removing the card will not affect the apps? Is this true? A new card is a whole lot cheaper than buying another phone, but I am not sure whether apps can be installed on the card. If so, if this is a bad idea?

Is it time to start looking at new phones for her?


ALSO: Can you refer me to an article or website that explains cellphone basics for someone like me ? ? ?

Thanks!



« Last Edit: July 26, 2021, 03:23:55 PM by ObviouslyNotAGolfer »

skuzuker28

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Re: Answer my dumb smartphone questions....
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2021, 05:03:40 PM »
In my experience the T-Mobile guy is correct: apps cannot run from the SD card.  There may be phones that can do this, but none of the ones I've had were capable of this.  However, you can move other things like pictures, videos, and documents to the card to free up the built-in storage for the app.

You can also have a review of apps and see if there are any that can be deleted, either permanently or temporarily.  Maybe there are a couple apps that are used very infrequently and can be re-installed should the need arise?

Also consider the security issues around having an out-of-date OS.  Any new vulnerabilities found in versions of Android older than 8 are not going to be patched, and soon 8 will be in the same boat.  That's assuming LG and Asus do a good job of keeping their own flavors up-to-date, which may not be the case.  Often you can install a custom ROM for phone that manufacturers leave behind, but that may be more work than you want to put in.

alsoknownasDean

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Re: Answer my dumb smartphone questions....
« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2021, 09:24:00 PM »
You can't put apps on the SD card in most instances, but you can move other data (photos etc) from the phone's internal memory to an SD card, which will free up space.

As for new devices, even many budget phones come with 128GB of storage and sizeable batteries these days.

I believe Nokia and Samsung have pledged longer software support for their phones (4 years inc security updates?), but the king of long software support remains Apple.
« Last Edit: July 27, 2021, 02:12:40 AM by alsoknownasDean »

ChpBstrd

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Re: Answer my dumb smartphone questions....
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2021, 11:35:00 AM »
The reason those apps won't install is because they are not supported on older operating systems. This happens for both Android and Apple products. Usually they will appear in the app store, but fail to install when you try. Additionally, apps you already installed can stop working when the developer stops supporting your O.S. It is planned obsolescence, pure and simple. 

This is unfortunate, because if you've done a good job taking care of your hardware and it's working great 5 years later, then you still have to pay up for a new model at some point and put working hardware in the landfill. It's all about extracting dollars from users and if you use apps there is no way out of it. Welcome to your "ecosystem". I hesitate to call this the progression of technology, because what really could we not do on a phone 5 years ago that we can do today?

The best you can do is just use your phone as a phone and consciously avoid FOMO from apps that don't work. The bonus of not spending so much of your life staring at a screen cannot be understated.

Also, very few apps will install to an SD card. I learned that the hard way.

partgypsy

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Re: Answer my dumb smartphone questions....
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2021, 07:36:02 AM »
Yes to what has been said before. A 5+ years back, different phone I had an sd card in my phone, but still ran out of memory. Found out they updated the os so nothing of much use could be saved to the external memory. Current phone only has 16 gb and it's a pain. That said I bought a phone for my daughter that has tons of internal memory (I can't remember, 64gb, 128 Gb?) for less than 200. I use ting and if a sale from Ting, otherwise an unlocked phone from Walmart. It's annoying but 150-200 every 4, 5 years is not that much in the scheme of things.
« Last Edit: August 01, 2021, 07:43:08 AM by partgypsy »