Android App Addicts #557 – Ivor-less Leads to Mental Health Issues

Notes:
Derek
Hi Guys.
I have a complaint. You ask every show for us the listeners to email in our thoughts and opinions and when we do they don’t get read out! I often hear oh sorry we have run out of time to get to your emails but will read them out on the next show. When we take the time to contact yuu we expect to be answered, contacted back, or have the email read, otherwise there’s no point in us making the effort.
Just like to say that I LOVE you guys and the show I listen to every show and have done since the beginning of time i’m taking about the Steve Cherinbo days. I don’t always make contact but I’m always here for you and when my numbers come up I’m flying over and we are going for a beer, that’s a promise.
By the way the first part of this email isn’t really a complaint just a little irritation.
Keep doing what you’re doing guys.
Love to you and yours.
Derek
Listening in form ,
Hemel Hempstead
United Kingdom.
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Moist
Just a hello from Ottawa Canada, end of episode 556 asked for a location road call. Self proclaimed Android “NUT” here currently running 3 SIM cards. Pixel 3XL, Note 9 and OnePlus 7Pro are my current devices. Each phone has about 40 tech podcasts, Android App Addicts and Android Buffet are the only two I have on automatic download and AAA is the first one I listen too when available. Keep kicking ass! I do find you guys kind of cheap running devices I would never recommend I always enjoy your points of view. Props to the new hosts, while Eric is still missed I like the new “nutz”!! Cheers, Moist
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Christian
Hey guys,
Well, this has to be the show that has seen the most changes in the shortest time. A big tip of the hat to all of you for stepping up and helping keep the show going. Door, you also deserve a tip of the hat for convincing such find folk to join you in said podcast.
I found it harder than I would have thought to get used to the new voices, but ever since I had to endure the loss of Steve C., I have come to terms with it and learned to enjoy the changes. It saddens me how several of the hosts had to leave, in particular Eric, but also Mark “laser lips” Cockrell, who destroyed my attempts to trip him up with my feedbacks. I also inadvertantly stepped on Ivor’s toes, suggesting he’d be that “Aussi bloke”, which of course he is NOT, so the “bull in a china shop” saying, applies to me.
I was a long time holdout regarding “Smart Phones”, but when I eventually started listening to this and other podcasts on my smart phone, I too have become an Addict.
I think I have purchased my last flag ship phone…. Prices are going through the roof and having an unlocked phone will save a lot of money, not to mention bring it’s own challenges and rewards. I have my eye on the new Pinephone and hopefully it will find a home here on the show, even if it’s NOT an Android phone.
Guys, enjoy the season, your friends and family, and I look forward to hearing you on AAA in the new year.
Regards
Christian aka
Kaptain “Champion of lost causes” Zero
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Scott
2 items:
1) cell phone bands. I think you need to emphasize more the issue of bands compatibility when shopping Chinese phone models. A phone might be advertised as supporting a US carrier (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc) but it might only support SOME of the bands, not all. Band usage by the carriers varies by market/location, so you might end up with a phone that doesn’t support the specific bands your carrier uses in the areas you frequent. I almost got burned buying a phone that would’ve failed me until I did deeper research. I consolidated my notes re: AT&T bands and will include them at the end of this email, as an example.
2) I used to be a K9 Mail user. Glad to hear it’s making a comeback, but I wanted to pass along a lead for the client I ended up switching to when I decided K9 had fallen too far behind: Aqua Mail by Mobisystems. I’ve been using it for several years now and have been very happy, so it’s another email product your listeners might want to look into.
Cheers
——————— AT&T Band Info ————————
The company has rolled out a massive 4G LTE network in the United States with support for bands 2, 4, 5 and 17, but the backbone of it remains band 17 in the 700MHz range, the company’s primary band. From 2017, AT&T towers also support band 12 as per FCC requirements. Since band 12 is a superset of band 17, these are now commonly referred to as one entity (band 12), and again, are the backbone of the LTE network.
The remaining bands 2, 4 and 5 are mostly used in areas where AT&T does not have band 12/17, while in the densely populated metros, AT&T combines spectrum from multiple bands for better coverage. This is the reason why it is important that your phone supports all and not just one of these bands, in order for you to make maximum use of 4G LTE speeds.
Here is a breakdown of all the individual bands at AT&T and what’s their role:
* Band 2 (1900MHz frequency range): it is one of the core bands for AT&T LTE as the carrier has large, 20x20MHz blocks in most markets.
* Band 4 (AWS-1700/2100MHz): this band is used as a supplement for improved capacity and is usually deployed in small, 5x5MHz blocks.
* Band 5 (850MHz): this band is used most commonly 3G (HSPA+ ) connectivity, but some of it also goes toward LTE. AT&T owns a lot in this frequency range throughout the nation, and band 5 is sometimes used in areas where there is no band 12/17 coverage.
* Band 12/17 (700MHz): the backbone of AT&T’s LTE network and it provides practically a nation-wide coverage.
* Band 14 (700MHz): AT&T has a nationwide license for band 14. The carrier acquired these bands from FirstNet and they will be used for a federally-funded public safety channel. These will only be deployed in states that opt in the FirstNet service.
* Band 29 (700MHz): this is a supplementary channel. AT&T purchased this from Qualcomm and it is mostly deployed in a 5×0 configuration, meaning that you get one small 5MHz block for download (in some limited places like the California coast and northeast you have 10×0 blocks). This band cannot be used for upload.
* Band 30 (WCS 2300MHz): another supplementary band for 4G LTE. AT&T has deployed chunks of 10×10 across the nation.
* Band 66 (AWS-3-1700/2100MHz): band 66 is a superset of band 4, meaning that it includes all of the band 4 blocks plus adds a few more. AT&T usually deploys this in 10×10 chunks, and you could commonly see it in the New York and New Jersey areas. It is actively being deployed.
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Christian
[Guys, this part is not for reading on the air….. I just thought I’d mention that I’m aware this is one looooong feedback email, and you may wish to break it up into several parts IF you wish to use it… If you don’t, I won’t feel ignored or slighted. And of course, by making my feedback email this long… I might trigger a migrane in Door… just cuz he’s such a nice guy! :-P]
Hello AAA,
This will be my yearly feedback with holiday wishes and best wishes for the New Year.
AAA has never left me wanting, but it saddens me when one or more hosts drift away, even though the new “blood” makes for a refreshingly new podcast. A belated warm welcome to Josh and that Australian bloke……
This year I thought I might suggest a few apps that have likely already been showcased on the show, but could be re-heated as they are the first apps I install on ANY new phone.
> Apk Extractor (4.2.9)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ext.ui
This is one of those apps you might not need for a long time, if ever, but if you do….. it’s pure gold. It lets you take an app on your phone and extract it to a *.apk file for side loading on another phone or whenever…… even if the app gets pulled off the play store, you still have a copy. Of course, if it’s a “phone home” type app, you may still be out of luck, if they have turned off the servers.
>
> App Dragon 2.0 (2.01)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stonedonkey.appdragon
I think Door and the gang are very familiar with this app, though I think Door may have forgotten that it was the “kaptain” himself who first brought this app to AAA. It doesn’t matter who gets the credit, it’s a great app!
>
> Army Knife for Android (1.6.2)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.digital_and_dreams.android.android_army_knife
This is one of those handy little apps I reach for on occasion… I particularly like the magnifier… my eyes ain’t what they used to be.
>
> Calculator (1.4.2 pro)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=my.android.procalc
There must be a bazillion calculators out there, but this one always finds it way back onto any new phone I get. Perhaps it’s good?!?!?!
>
> ColorNote (4.1.4)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.socialnmobile.dictapps.notepad.color.note
This is one of those apps I could not function without. I keep one of the widgets on my home screen and it auto populates via the built in calendar that can be reached by either clicking on blank space in the widget or using the app icon if you have no open space to click on. Notes will remain in that widget until you change them to completed or they expire. You have the option of bullet point or regular notes and you can colour code the title that shows in the widget for priority. You can even save it to the app’s online server if you wish (maybe it’s Google drive, I dunno). I much prefer it over alarms and notifications as they are on the screen and easy to see for the entire day or days if you so wish.
>
> CvPad+ (3.1.00)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cvpad.mobile.android.wt.unit
>
This is hands down the best converter app I have ever used and the ONLY one I keep. It converts anything…. and that includes up to date currency conversions…. I’m always reaching for it to convert inches to millimetres, gallons to liters, dollars to dougnuts…. OK, maybe not that last one.
> Drill Bit Charts Pro (1.2.6)
>
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.donstegall.drillbitchartspro
>
This is a more of a specific use case app…. I use it all the time when converting or looking for the correct hole size for threading, which drill bit is the closest to the one I don’t have….. you name it. I use it often when working with holes in 3D printing projects and such. For people who don’t build models, 3D print or make things…. it’s probably useless.
> F-Droid (1.6.2)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.fdroid.fdroid
>
The Google Playstore has a lot of apps, but some apps can only be found on F-Droid….. however, you will have to side load to install them.
> K-9 Mail (5.600)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fsck.k9
>
It’s my favourite mail program and instantly replaces google’s mail program when I set up a new phone. Likely not everyone’s cup of tea, but I cannot stomach the Gmail app with it’s tiles and colours.
> Multi Timer (2.6.3)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jee.timer
This app may be new to the show….. I found it after having to retire my Pebble watch, which had a great timer app. The Amazfit Bip has a terrible timer, but at least I can create a set of widgets on my phone for the common time intervals I want to keep track of and it vibrates my watch when the time is up.
>
> My Paid Apps (3.6.2)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jkg.mypaidapps
I have graduated to the paid version of most apps I have. As Door often says… if you want it to be around and development to continue, ya better pony up! So, that, plus my morbid curiosity in finding out how much I’ve spent over the years makes this a must have app for me.
>
> Nova Launcher (6.2.3)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher
Tried, tested and true…. I can’t live without this launcher. EMUI on my Huawei P30 Pro didn’t even last 12 hours.
>
> Podcast Addict (4.12.2)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bambuna.podcastaddict
Of all the podcast players I’ve used, this is by far my favourite and the only one I use.
>
> Podnutz In Your Pocket (1.2.4)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=info.sipnet.podnutzinyourpocket
No need to rewind and listen for the umpteenth time to catch some detail in a Podnutz podcast, all the important links and details are in there!
>
> Reminder Pro (2.2.3)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=alarm.clock.calendar.reminder.pro
>
I do have some scheduled alarm style reminders and this is the app that I found works best for me.
> Should I Answer? (2019.06.11014)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mistergroup.muzutozvednout
>
You really do have to take the time to set it up correctly or you face not getting calls you are waiting for, but when set up properly, it’s the bees knees!
> Sleep (20191101)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.urbandroid.sleep
>
I don’t need an alarm clock anymore, but I still use this app together with my smart watch.
> Solid Explorer (2.7.8)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.solidexplorer2
I have found this an excellent file explorer. I’m sure there are others, but I’ve settled on this one for myself.
>
> SwipePad (0.9.23)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.conduction.swipepad.android
>
I don’t use this as a full bore launcher, but it runs in the background so I can quickly access my clipboard app when I’m in the middle of typing something. My clipboard app can contain a long list of clips and being able to quickly bring it up, grab what I need and go back to another app is invaluable to me.
> Textra (4.20)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.textra
>
I don’t “text” much, but when I do, this is the app I use.
> Via (3.9.4)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mark.via.gp
>
My all time favourite browser for android, it just works the way I want to work.
> Volume Butler (2.5.1)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobiletrialware.volumebutler
>
Android 9 has a nasty little problem as far as I am concerned. They combined alarms and notifications so if you get say a Voxer notification, it will be as loud as your alarm. This app has a little trick that lets you break them up (alarms and notifications) so you can set different volume levels for each type. This app also lets you create profiles that can be automatically switched at given times. I only have two profiles, night and day, but you can create as many as you need.
> WiFi Analyzer (1.8)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=abdelrahman.wifianalyzerpremium
>
The only one I could find that would work with my Huawei P30 Pro….. nuff said.
Sorry for the long feedback email.
Regards
Kaptain “Not only can’t I shut up, I made Door scroll” Zero
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Eric
Ivor’s Brother in Dunedin, NZ
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Carlo .
Hi Stephen, I’m such a selfish ass*******le, I didn’t notice that my payment option at Patreon had expired (tied to a debit card which expired last september) . I listen to 2-3 podnutz podcasts, being AA my favorite. I got to tell you that not only it has good information about tech, but listening to you is inspiring when you talk about helping others and always offering your time to help folks that ask for it. I’ve been sick for the last 5-6 months, a big burnout (mostly depression tied to my frustration) because of the sh***eads that I have for bosses at my job. Listening to you (and the others in the podcasts) has helped me in many ways. Thanks man.
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Comica

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gr.gamebrain.comica
Josh
$1.00
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RecycleBro – Make Money Free Cans Bottles Near You
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