Help New to Android's...many questions/issues encountered!

[swfcdan]

Recently got an Android after years and years using an Iphone, so these modern Android's are all new to me and I'm finding many teething problems and questions so far! I have a Vodafone Smart Ultra 6, as much help as I can get on these issues would be much appreciated:

1. Mobile data connection seems inconsistent. I've not used 4G before, at times it's worked great and allowed me to stream video nicely, however at other times I'm having trouble even loading webpages. Long waiting times despite having 4G, so it seems like a phone issue but what could be causing it to run slow?

2. Closing apps. It seems closing apps is much more necessary on Androids than Iphones. I've downloaded Advanced Task Manager to close all open apps, but they still appear when I look at recent apps used (square button). Are they actually closed, and if so is it ever necessary to close (x button) the recent apps used manually?

3. Waking up the phone from standby. 'Double tap to wake' is enabled but quite often it doesn't wake up doing this and I have to do it many times, can't understand why it wakes some times but not others. Sure I can press the power button but you don't really want to do that every time, is there a particular part of the screen to tap?

4. Sending emails using 4G. I can use email fine at home on wifi, and can recieve emails when out using mobile data. But when sending them using 4G they get stuck in my outbox and won't move, any ideas what's causing this?

5. SD card reading issues. I have audio files including a Spanish course stored on an SD card I use in my phone. It has been working until today when suddenly my phone said nothing was on the SD card so wasn't playable, restarting didn't initially work either. I took it out when home and managed to get it working again but it seemed strange to suddenly not be able to read it, do Androids sometimes have problems reading SD cards or is it more likely that it's the age of the card causing the problem? Also if someone can reccomend an audio player app that would be great, the current one 'play music' works but skips ends of tracks early (a pain with language courses) and I've tried another which just seems to jump around tracks repeateadly.

6. Phone doesn't seem to want to sleep when charging! This is a continous thing I've noticed, it will never go into sleep mode like usual when it's charging at night. I can flick the power button to turn off of course but it seems odd, I can't see any option to change it in settings, is there one somewhere?

7. Voice dialing! Not sure why I left this last as this is probably the most annoying issue of the lot. If im listening to something from my phone in the car or headphones, it's been bringing up google voice dialing a lot lately without me asking it to do anything! I've googled this problem and disabling "ok google" detection still doesn't seem to have fixed it like I expected.

There are lots of good things about Androids I've found but of course I don't need to ask about those . I have been a bit disappointed in it so far though with all these problems, so I hope people can help with at least some of these rather many issues! Thanks.

 

[El Presidente]

I can't answer all your questions, but I'll have a go.

1. Is it just 4G? Does it display 4G in the notification bar at the top of the screen? Are you sure it's not reverted to 3G or G/E? What does your signal bar look like (how many bars)?

2. Advanced Task Manager/Killer anything that says it's going to save you battery by killing open apps is lying and isn't needed on Android. The apps might look open, but they're being held in RAM for when/if you need them later. It's a lengthy read, but info on why they're pointless is here: http://androidforums.com/threads/pu...k-killers-ram-optimizers-and-the-like.896663/

3. No idea, sorry. My LG G4 suffers the same problem fwiw.

4. No idea, sorry. You could try another mail app though? Maildroid is very good, as is Aquamail.

5. Are these cards legit? They're not cheapos from eBay etc? Run an app called SD Insight and it will tell you if they are legit cards, not counterfeit.

6. Settings -> Display -> Daydream? Is that turned on or off?

7. Turning off "Ok Google" hotword detection would have been my suggestion so again, no idea sorry!

Welcome to AF!

 

[Slug]

Welcome to AF, @swfcdan!

1. Mobile data connection seems inconsistent. I've not used 4G before, at times it's worked great and allowed me to stream video nicely, however at other times I'm having trouble even loading webpages.

Welcome to UK 4G. Despite what the networks claim, it's still a work-in-progress in many parts of the country.

2. Are they actually closed, and if so is it ever necessary to close (x button) the recent apps used manually?

The "Recently used" list is just that, a list of apps used recently. Android does a very good job at managing its resources, and will 'kill' any idle apps/processes if it requires the RAM. It also learns from experience, so the best thign to do is just use the device and let the OS do its thing. I'd advise uninstalling ATM, as Android will simply restart anything which is required by its (or your) settings.

3. Waking up the phone from standby. [...] can't understand why it wakes some times but not others.

Tapping anywhere on the display should wake the device. The double-tap needs to be fairly rapid, with approx 0.25s between them.

4. Sending emails using 4G. [...] sending them using 4G they get stuck in my outbox and won't move, any ideas what's causing this?

Yup, your email provider. This is standard practice to prevent spam injection from outside their network, and is usually fixed by enabling SSL or another authentication method in your SMTP settings on the device. Best to check with your email provider for exact details.

5. SD card reading issues. [...] do Androids sometimes have problems reading SD cards or is it more likely that it's the age of the card causing the problem?

Most likely the latter, unless you're using a 128GB card (the Ultra 6 officially supports up to 64GB). Try copying everything to PC, formating the card in the Ultra 6, then copying the contents back. I've had issues in the past where a card formatted in one device wasn't completely happy until reformatted in the new one, despite using the ubiquitous FAT32 file format.

6. Phone doesn't seem to want to sleep when charging! [...] I can't see any option to change it in settings, is there one somewhere?

Not unless Vodafone added something extra. The screen timeout shouldn't be affected by being on charge.

7. Voice dialing! Not sure why I left this last as this is probably the most annoying issue of the lot. If im listening to something from my phone in the car or headphones, it's been bringing up google voice dialing a lot lately without me asking it to do anything!

Not something I've experienced, so I can't offer a solution I'm afraid.

 

[Crashdamage]

Excellent information from El Presidente and Slug, as usual. Even so, I'll add a few things...

1. Just to be clear, this is a network/service provider issue, not an Android issue and probably not a problem with the phone.

2. What they said. Also, see this and the link in it:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/an...risk-if-i-delete-cm-security.html#post4646043

3. Don't use it so can't help. What Slug said sounds right though.

4. Again, this is a network/service provider issue, not an Android issue and probably not a problem with the phone. I agree with Slug as to the likely cause. If your email client has options for DNS resolution, SSL validation and/or SSL hardening, enable them. It's possible that another email client could help as El Presidente suggested. K-9, Maildroid and my favorite, AquaMail, are good choices. And AquaMail has the options for DNS and SSL.

5. Agree with above. Not an Android problem. Sounds like a bad or bogus SD card.

6. What they said. Also, you may have an app with a setting to keep; the screen on when charging. Kinda unusual, but I've seen it once or twice.

7. Are you singing along with your tunes? (Sorry - couldn't resist)

 

[swfcdan]

Thanks guys, really useful responses! I also went into my local Vodafone store and cleared up a few issues

1. Fair enough with 4G UK signal then, I've only seen 4G and some H2 symbols on it so far. 4G is usually great but didn't find speed was very good at all if no 4G coverage, thought it may be able to pick up 3G if not but maybe im very wrong about that . It seems either you get 4G which is (usually) great, or a pretty poor connection.

2. Ok so apps close automatically then? ATM implies that you are clearing up lots of memory but using it to close apps, suprising it has so many downloads if it's not too useful.

3. The double tapping waking feature isn't that good on Androids apparently according to the person I spoke to at Vodafone, you need to tap towards the centre of the screen to turn it on it seems. It's not a massive deal anyway.

4. I tried El Presidente's advice and downloaded AquaMail and it worked immediately even sending when using mobile data instead of wi-fi! So I think I'm going to use that for now, has a tag line in the free version but apart from that it seems good.

5. Yeah it is quite an old SD card so that is likely the issue, if I get the problem again I'll get a new card for it (is a 32GB card). The more annoying issue is I've still not found a good reliable audio player to play through (am currently learning Spanish so using it for that). The default 'Play music' player works but skips parts/tracks 3-4 seconds too early for each one as though it isn't fully in sync, another free audio players I've downloaded have other problems such as duplicating each audio file (very strange) and another skips between them wildly and I can't seem to stop it. Is there a recommended Android Audio player to use? I don't mind paying a few quid if I can get a decent one.

6. Apparently there is a (well hidden!) setting for it not sleeping whilst charging, so I disabled that.

7. Haha no not signing along, it is the voices from my language course it is detecting (multi-lingual phone clearly!) Disabling the "ok google" may have actually fixed it, as I didn't get it popping up once today.

So most things fixed now

 

[El Presidente]

Yeah, Android kills stuff when it doesn't think it's needed. You haven't needed a task killer since Android 2.1 over 6 years ago. Don't take this the wrong way, but the majority of installs/reviews are from people like yourself, who don't know the OS, see all this stuff "running" in the background and think it needs stopped cos it's using resources/battery.

Poweramp is a decent MP3 player, give that a go. I'm not sure if it has a free version, but I'm pretty sure there's a trial version out there.

If you're going to get a new card, Amazon have pretty good deals on Samsung cards and you can pick up 32GB for dirt cheap. Make sure you're buying from Amazon though, not an Amazon Marketplace seller.

 

[Crashdamage]

2. It's not just "not too useful.". ATM and other apps that try to override how Android is designed to operate are actually counter-productive.. If you didn't read the link I gave and the link in that you really should.

4. AquaMail is very good. Extremely configurable, fast, stable and well suoported. So many options that it has a fairly steep learning curve to get the best out of it, but worth the effort.

 

[MLSS]

Once you get the hang of how Android works, you can start customizing everything to your liking.
Launchers, icon packs, wallpapers etc.....

You have come to the right place for all your android questions so welcome to the forum and remember, the only dumb questions are the ones that are never asked. [emoji217] [emoji217]

 

[septembersrain]

I'm a non-bias device user. I've got an iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows phone and Android.

My best advice to you is to start just playing with your device. Learn by reading up on great forums like these.

You'll start to feel comfortable and may even explore more into modding someday.

Hope you're happy with the new device! =)

 

[mikedt]

7. Are you singing along with your tunes? (Sorry - couldn't resist)

You: "la la la la..Jenny....867-5309..la la la"
Phone: "Your call cannot be connected as dialled."

 

[Dazg300]

3. Double tap on the screen only tends to work while the phone is upright.Rarely works when phone is lying flat.However,double tap on the home button works pretty much every time

 

[swfcdan]

Thanks for all the help guys. Thought I was asking boring questions that have been asked many times here and might not get many responses. So to get all this help I'm very grateful and shows this this is a forum full of nice, helpful people.

Yeah, Android kills stuff when it doesn't think it's needed. You haven't needed a task killer since Android 2.1 over 6 years ago. Don't take this the wrong way, but the majority of installs/reviews are from people like yourself, who don't know the OS, see all this stuff "running" in the background and think it needs stopped cos it's using resources/battery.

Poweramp is a decent MP3 player, give that a go. I'm not sure if it has a free version, but I'm pretty sure there's a trial version out there.

If you're going to get a new card, Amazon have pretty good deals on Samsung cards and you can pick up 32GB for dirt cheap. Make sure you're buying from Amazon though, not an Amazon Marketplace seller.

Thanks man, I've uninstalled the ATM app now. Staggered that it has 10 million downloads and a similar one has 50 million, but I guess it's just one of those apps everyone thinks they need but they don't actually. I trust the views of knowledgeable people on sites like this the most. Do you recommend any closing of apps/webpages then after use?

Thanks for Poweramp reccomendation, im downloading that now and will give it the free version a try. My SD card seems to be working fine since that one problem so I'm happy for now, will try Amazon if it does decide to pack-up again though.

2. It's not just "not too useful.". ATM and other apps that try to override how Android is designed to operate are actually counter-productive.. If you didn't read the link I gave and the link in that you really should.

4. AquaMail is very good. Extremely configurable, fast, stable and well suoported. So many options that it has a fairly steep learning curve to get the best out of it, but worth the effort.

I've just read some of your linked post now and am starting to get the idea how Android works. So it allows apps running in the background and will only close them when necessary. I guess that answers my question above then, no closing necessary. Do notice my phone can get quite hot during prolongued usage though, wonder if there's a way I can minimize that.

3. Double tap on the screen only tends to work while the phone is upright.Rarely works when phone is lying flat.However,double tap on the home button works pretty much every time

Almost as though it is part human lol, why would it 'wake up' better when flat? I bought a case for it which makes the power switch harder to push (which is a good thing as I sometimes pressed it accidentally when picking my phone up before). I've tried your advice d-tapping the home button and it's only worked 2/5 times for me just now, I wonder why it's so inconsistent whether it turns on or not.

8. New question! I am noticing recently my phone is getting flooding with app notifications each time I switch it on! Now I don't really want any notifications on and found they can mask text messages and other important things. I did find a way to individually disable them but (and you know what im about to ask!), is there an app you guys recommend to disable all notifications preferably present and future ones? I tried an app called 'NotificationsOff' but I get a 'root not available' message whatever that means, so not much luck there.