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New to the F6

Muilisx

Android Expert
Jan 7, 2011
1,134
184
Long Island, NY
Ok,

long story short,

I'm coming from a LG Motion ( Best ever because of internal space ). I recently bought a Alcatel One Touch Fierce to replace the Motion, but after receiving it. It just plain sucks, and now I'm returning it for either the F3 or the F6. After some investigation, I rather go with the F6 for a few reasons, most of them being easy to determine based on specs.

The ONLY concern I have with this new phone is the internal space. I did not have to root the Motion as it had 5GB of internal space, well, a little less available to the user, but still had the most space for the money compared to the high end priced phones.

I'm pretty positive I'll have to root this phone to remove bloatware but besides that, did anyone find anyway to free up some space? According to Google, a lot of people bought the F3 and F6 and almost immediately encountered storage problems when downloading or updating applications. The Motion NEVER gave me this issue as I always had 2.5GB free. I don't really game much at all on my phones so I hope it has enough space for stuff like, ifunny, discover, capital one, amex, citibank, AIM, etc. I'll have to do more forum searching and reading, but I just wanted some quick information before I actually ordered the phone.

The camera on the Motion was pretty good, but the camera on the Fierce is horrible. Nice and bright on picture mode, but as soon as you press the record button, everything becomes dark. The picture mode is laggy as I guess I can blame that on the phone not having AF but still. It was a decent phone, just had a horrible camera. The best feature of this phone was the ability to toggle the default install location to either the internal space or the sd card which to me is pretty damn awesome, but LG doesn't offer that feature.

I know I'm a schmuck for not searching, but if anyone can link like, legit root links for this phone, it would be awesome, and if anyone has a list of bloatware that can be removed without bricking the phone would also be awesome.

I'll be sure to visit, and check up on this thread.

Thanks in advance.
 
Without a doubt, you should not use any other method to root the F6 other that saferoot (Google provides). Saferoot requires ADB, so google for "Just ADB download" - there are links somewhere, I think on this site or XDA-Developers. ADB is a development tool, and is part of a 1.6Gbyte package for developers, but there is a package with ADB by itself, and drivers for the F6 can be easily loaded form LG. With that, saferoot is the best, non-invasive and Chinese hackery free method of all of them.

Many report satisfactory results with app2external_sd and link2sd, in combination. I don't, but many do. I have a discussion thread on this point with technical minutia regarding a project I'm engaged in to solve the storage problem for my son's F6, which I'll share when it's ready for use. The solution will provide a thorough and complete way to substitute that puny little 1.27 GByte partition for space on the external_SD card, but the early results will be primarily for people with experience on the subject, and the ability to restore the phone with a recovery (factory) ROM from LG (an 800 Mbyte download by itself).

However, with some testing and feedback I should be able to package it suitable for most determined people to manage it. Still, it will require root, and it's not exactly "factory" authorized service. You must still decide on the risk.

In reality the risk is limited to one's ability to restore the factory ROM to the phone, which typically works under all but the most extreme situations (and this solution won't be one of those).

I agree that the F6 is a great phone, with that one flaw. A little forethought would have eliminated the problem, but somehow LG just didn't get that memo.
 
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Without a doubt, you should not use any other method to root the F6 other that saferoot (Google provides). Saferoot requires ADB, so google for "Just ADB download" - there are links somewhere, I think on this site or XDA-Developers. ADB is a development tool, and is part of a 1.6Gbyte package for developers, but there is a package with ADB by itself, and drivers for the F6 can be easily loaded form LG. With that, saferoot is the best, non-invasive and Chinese hackery free method of all of them.

Many report satisfactory results with app2external_sd and link2sd, in combination. I don't, but many do. I have a discussion thread on this point with technical minutia regarding a project I'm engaged in to solve the storage problem for my son's F6, which I'll share when it's ready for use. The solution will provide a thorough and complete way to substitute that puny little 1.27 GByte partition for space on the external_SD card, but the early results will be primarily for people with experience on the subject, and the ability to restore the phone with a recovery (factory) ROM from LG (an 800 Mbyte download by itself).

However, with some testing and feedback I should be able to package it suitable for most determined people to manage it. Still, it will require root, and it's not exactly "factory" authorized service. You must still decide on the risk.

In reality the risk is limited to one's ability to restore the factory ROM to the phone, which typically works under all but the most extreme situations (and this solution won't be one of those).

I agree that the F6 is a great phone, with that one flaw. A little forethought would have eliminated the problem, but somehow LG just didn't get that memo.

Thanks for the reply.

Now, the 1.27GB you mentioned. Is that what's available to the user? Or is that the total space minus bloatware? If it's 1.27GB available to the user, then honestly, that isn't TOO bad if you're not installing games. The F3 and F6 have about the same exact storage specs, so I rather go with the bigger screen, as well as it being a HD display. If I read the F3 correctly, it's not going to be as vivid in display as the F6 is going to be. I know the F3 and F6 will both have great cameras as LG is LG, but for $30 more, I rather the F6.

I do indeed know how to flash, and root, so if anything did go wrong, as long as I have the stock recovery rom, I have no issues flashing back to stock if I did somehow brick. I had the Samsung Admire before the Motion, and I had that thing rooted in minutes, but the Motion was so perfect stock, I had no reason to root. I'm actually looking at Motions on ebay, under $50 in good condition but I'm personally not a fan of used phones. From what I'm reading, a lot of Motions are simply just dying, and I hate to buy a used Motion that works great today, but then dies in a couple months. I rather buy the F6, deal with the storage flaw, strictly maintain my applications, and make sure all music, pictures, etc, go onto the SD card.

I do indeed have a lot to think about, and I just hope I make the right choice. Besides the storage flaw with the F6, do you have any other cons? Or is the phone pretty much a decent beast for $70? However, the F3 does look more appealing to me. Just the way the phone like squares off at the top differently than the F6, but a 4.5" screen blows the Motion's 3.5" screen away, and even compared to the F3, the extra half inch of screen really does make a difference especially when you're on youtube, netflix, etc.
 
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The F6 is otherwise an excellent device. I'm impressed with it.

1.27 Gbytes is the size of the partition on the SD card for which the main directory /data is mounted. It holds the dalvik-cache, the "internal_sd" card, the /data/app directory, etc. The stock phone gives around 1.01 GBytes available once the system is running. Most of the bloatware is linked to another partition, so it's out of the way.

For me it's way too small, but for many it's fine, and of course solutions like link2sd and app2external_sd help to organize such that for many the 1.01 GBytes will do. My son, however, tends to download just about everything to do with driving - from wallpapers to games. I really want to avoid having to administer the phone, or for him to do that so frequently.

So, I'm going for about 26Gbytes for the /data partition instead of 1.27 Gbytes.

The display is many times better than the F3 IMO, the phone is a solid build and, frankly, so many devices have a similar storage problem (Android itself doesn't allow for dealing with this issue very well) that I'm motivated for a solution generally applicable to Android - which I'm fashioning.
 
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The F6 is otherwise an excellent device. I'm impressed with it.

1.27 Gbytes is the size of the partition on the SD card for which the main directory /data is mounted. It holds the dalvik-cache, the "internal_sd" card, the /data/app directory, etc. The stock phone gives around 1.01 GBytes available once the system is running. Most of the bloatware is linked to another partition, so it's out of the way.

For me it's way too small, but for many it's fine, and of course solutions like link2sd and app2external_sd help to organize such that for many the 1.01 GBytes will do. My son, however, tends to download just about everything to do with driving - from wallpapers to games. I really want to avoid having to administer the phone, or for him to do that so frequently.

So, I'm going for about 26Gbytes for the /data partition instead of 1.27 Gbytes.

The display is many times better than the F3 IMO, the phone is a solid build and, frankly, so many devices have a similar storage problem (Android itself doesn't allow for dealing with this issue very well) that I'm motivated for a solution generally applicable to Android - which I'm fashioning.

Yeah, that is why I loved the Motion. 5GB, and once everything was running, user had like 4.2GB or something. I ended up after all my stuff installed with still 2.5GB of free space. I don't understand why they don't just add more storage to the phones. It's 2014, there is like no reason for all these new phones to come out with such low storage space. Boggles my mind.

That 1GB that your left with the F6 isn't TOO bad but isn't good at all, but It will do as everything else on the F6 looks pretty good. It would be my first 4.5" phone so that is exciting coming from 3.5" screens for the past few years.

I need to take a look around the F6 section and F6 all things root, and stuff so I can see what I can do. If the bloatware is on a separate partition then it may not even make sense to remove it. I would love for the phone to have just 1 damn partition so you can remove what you want, and have all the space. That's another thing that pisses me off, why do they feel they need to load phones with all that crap for. It's like when you buy a Dell, it comes preloaded with tons of crap, but when you buy your own Windows and boot from cd, and do a nice clean install, you get simply the OS, and none of that preloaded crap that eats up the HDD. They should at least allow you to remove the bloatware without rooting. Another great thing about the Motion, you could disable apps without root which would give you space, it was great.

I just hope this is the right choice. Everything else on the F6 besides storage looks awesome.
 
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How ya been Bruce? How was ur holidays bro?

Anyway,

I decided to go with the Galaxy S4. Why keep wasting time and money and other phones I won't be 100% happy with?

The S4 is just awesome except for the price tag, but I figured I would slap it on one of my credit cards that I have no interest on for 18 months, and just pay the minium of $25 every month. I'm opening my own business so money technically isn't a major major concern anymore.

The S4 has 9.1GB of internal space and supports a 64GB micro sd card. I can't ask for more honestly, then add the awesome 13MP camera with 1080P video recording. A 1.9MP front camera. A 5" full HD 1080P Super AMOLED display.

I may even add insurance for $5 more a month for this phone just to be safe even though they'll most likely replace it with a refurb.

I gotta run but I'm going to read more on the S4 when I get back.
 
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Yep. A S4 is the kitties jammies if you've got the coin.

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

Indeed. I went ahead, and ordered the S4 with overnight delivery. It shipped out today and should be here tomorrow. We're getting slammed up here with snow so I just hope the FedEx truck arrives tomorrow. I also looked into some hybrid cases already. I'm just excited to have a awesome phone, and I'm going to make sure it never sees the floor. This is going to be cool :)

Does the F6 have the option to freeze or disable the bloatware like the motion did?

I don't think you can but I could be wrong but I don't think it would help too too much.
 
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Since you mentioned hybrid cases.

Go here, down to my post #8.

http://androidforums.com/lg-spirit-4g/721161-any-consensus-yet-protective-case-best.html

I have the stand one on my Spirit now and would buy either one of them again. There are similar ones, I looked, for the F6. It is my personal preference that the corners be the softer shock absorbing material but that's just me.

They really are a toss-up. The no stand one adds very little extra bulk, the stand one a bit more, but the stand is just so damn convenient.

Both cases are excellent protection and the soft side being on the inside ensures no marks on the phone from the case. I also had almost a clone of the no stand one on my Motion.

Bruce in Ocala, Fl
 
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Since you mentioned hybrid cases.

Go here, down to my post #8.

http://androidforums.com/lg-spirit-4g/721161-any-consensus-yet-protective-case-best.html

I have the stand one on my Spirit now and would buy either one of them again. There are similar ones, I looked, for the F6. It is my personal preference that the corners be the softer shock absorbing material but that's just me.

They really are a toss-up. The no stand one adds very little extra bulk, the stand one a bit more, but the stand is just so damn convenient.

Both cases are excellent protection and the soft side being on the inside ensures no marks on the phone from the case. I also had almost a clone of the no stand one on my Motion.

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

Cool, I may order that one too, but I ordered this one last night.

New Black Hybrid Impact Hard Case Cover Screen for Samsung Galaxy s IV S4 I9500 | eBay
 
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