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[Ronski]

I wonder if it's the phone, I had a quick Google and there were some reports of poor reception, but I could probably find reports of poor reception for most phones.

The Fame is quite a low end phone, my current choice of phone for family and friends is a second hand Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini, I've managed to pickup a couple of mint condition phones for around £110 recently. We have a couple now and am very pleased with them. The first thing I do is root them, and install a light Rom (No crapware!) then install Avast, which allows me to track the phone, lock it and wipe it if need be. Avast also allows you to lock apps, so for instance on my S4 I have a 6 digit pin to unlock it, then another pin to get into apps such as Gmail, EBay etc. I also install a custom recovery so I can backup the entire phone, and therefore easily restore it should there be a major problem. I have another App which will save me from entering my unlock pin if I'm connected to a trusted Wi-fi connection such as at home.

The thing with Android is it takes a lot of time to get a phone to how you like it, right Apps, right settings etc purely because Android is so customisable, where as iOS is not, basically you get what Apple wants to give you, apart from Apps of course which you can choose.

It is also this customization ability which also causes a lot of problems, this is why even though I hate Apple and the way they do things it's still the right choice for some people, I would recommend Apple to anyone who wasn't technically savy when it comes to a phone or tablet.

That said Android is getting a lot better, but can still be a pain to find a particular setting.

[door_bell]

I love my Android stuff. Got a Nexus 7, Nexus 5 and Tegra Note 7. Amongst all my other Windows tablets and stuff.

Scary thing with Android comes when you add a custom recovery - doesn't matter what passwords you have, unless you secure ADB access. Someone can get your phone, plug it into a PC and wipe passwords or just take all your data!!!!!

[sevenlayermuddle]

I wonder if it's the phone, I had a quick Google and there were some reports of poor reception, but I could probably find reports of poor reception for most phones.

Most unlikely to be a signal strength or reception problem as it is showing either 3 or 4 bars at all times.  Moreover, voice calls are fine.

But today I've noticed that if I avoid using the various Apps (BBC, Network Rail) etc and instead just use the Opera browser to view the relevant mobile websites directly, it seems to work most of the time.  It can take a long time to render but I don't care about that as long as it gets there in the end.  That would suggest to me it's a basic Android weakness in whatever APIs the Apps are using?     

Mildly surprising there not more talk about it on the Android forums, you sometimes see people mentioning something similar, but being shot down in flames by the throng of Android supporters, along the lines of 'GPRS is crap, what do you expect?' .  Which of course is twaddle, many of us have been using GPRS for a decade or so, it serves its purpose if properly implemented.

I shall live with that approach of using the browser directly for a few weeks and, if it allows me to carry on doing most of the stuff I used to do with my old (pre-Android) Samsung, then I suppose I'll be happy.  And it's a cute gadget that I will enjoy, to supplement my (substantial!) collection of cute iOS gadgets. 

WRT comparison of iOS and Android, IMHO they are both amazing achievements of modern technology and I'm sure each has their benefits.  Personally I trust iOS to be more secure, and expect Android to perhaps be more 'fun' in a frivolous way.     But one thing in particular they seem  to have in common is a strong, almost cult-like following, from large numbers who will hear no criticism of whichever one it is they have chosen   

[broadstairs]

Not sure if the Opera browser on Android is still the same but if I remember correctly it uses a server to render stuff and pass back the display info to the phone. If still trhe same I would be worried about using it to do anything secure on the phone. I do access banking stuuf from my phone but ONLY using the relevant banks own app.

Stuart

[sevenlayermuddle]

Not sure if the Opera browser on Android is still the same but if I remember correctly it uses a server to render stuff and pass back the display info to the phone. If still the same I would be worried about using it to do anything secure on the phone. I do access banking stuuf from my phone but ONLY using the relevant banks own app.

Stuart

Agreed it's a concern, but if Opera want to know what weather forecasts I'm checking, or what train timetables I'm looking at, they are very welcome.

The Google chrome browser works too, but I prefer Opera.

Next challenge is to try and find a way of getting email working at least as well as it did with my older, pre-Android phones.  Webmail may work but is not is not a viable solution, far too graphical.  I may try the separate Android mail App and see if it works?   I've been using the dedicated gmail App so far, or rather had it thrust upon me as it is what Android seem to think is good for me.   But gmail behaves like the other Apps, seems to give up the ghost at the slightest hiccup, whereas with GPRS I think you need to be able to survive the hiccups.

One big feature missing from the Gmail App (compared to mail Apps on older Samsung/Siemens/Motorola phones) is an option to 'download mail headers only', so the subject and from fields are downloaded and displayed, but the body of the email is only downloaded if you actually decide to read it.  That massive reduces the data overhead in most circumstances.  The closest thing i can find in the Gmail App is the option to (not) download attachments, but I want to defer download of the whole message body, not just the attachments.

[Ronski]

Try Aquamail, that only downloads a small part of the message, not sure how it will cope with your connection though.

[broadstairs]

I use K-9 Mail again dont know how well it will cope with a 2g connection.

Stuart

[sevenlayermuddle]

Try Aquamail, that only downloads a small part of the message, not sure how it will cope with your connection though.

I use K-9 Mail again dont know how well it will cope with a 2g connection.

Stuart

Thanks a lot, will try them both as long as they are free, or at least free to try.

Might be a day or two before you hear back from me though as configuring access to  Google Apps mail is a little bit fiddly thanks to the (excellent, IMHO) two-step verification.  It doesn't take two days mind, but it takes longer than a minute or two, and some days it seems 'a minute or two' is all I have to spare   

[sheddyian]

I've got a Galaxy Nexus 5, running Android 4.2.2 and I find it pretty good on 3G networks.  Obviously, at home on the wifi it's faster, but don't have much problem with it.

On the occasion it's switched to 2G due to lack of coverage, it is pretty unusable, I have to say. but I assumed that was down to the speed of 2G rather than the phone.

I've had a couple of instances where it's had a strong 3G sgnal but there's been no data connection at all, even switching it off and on didn't clear it.  But a little later when I moved a few miles along the road (and so I assume on a different network beacon) it all started working again, so it may have a been a local fault rather than my phone.

As to data, I'm on a Virgin pay as you go, and you can buy a repeating 1Gig per month bundle for £5, which seems good value.

Ian

[sevenlayermuddle]

On the occasion it's switched to 2G due to lack of coverage, it is pretty unusable, I have to say. but I assumed that was down to the speed of 2G rather than the phone.

Interesting, as are all comments.

2G data is crap on any phone, that much is indisputable.   But I used to be able to request train times on my (45 minute) walk to the station then stick the phone back in my pocket while it worked on it.   Five minutes later it would have finished, and I could see the train times.    So it was crap, yes, but still useful.

The Android in comparison with previous generation handsets (pre Android and pre iOS) seems to give up quite quickly, if it doesn't complete in the first few seconds (which has always been rare for 2G data) it just gives up.   Still crap, but this time it's crap and useless too.

I'm still testing the theory that the browsers (chrome / opera) try a bit harder than the dedicated Apps.  But I tried side by side browsing comparisons with other half's iPhone last night (also Vodafone PAYG), the iPhone won hands down.   When the data arrived quickly they both rendered in the same sort of time but - more importantly - the iPhone kept on trying even if it took a while, long after the Android had given up.

[kitz]

>>> One biggie that bugs me is that I seem to have to be permanently logged into my google account

There must be some way around this.  There is a one login for all page which has a button top right to log you out.     However I thought it still leaves you connected with google play in that any apps which need updating can still do so without need for logging in to google play.

I always use the logout feature, & afaik I am always logged out as I have to enter my password to get to gmail/g+/YouTube account.   However I agree that I do seem to be associated somehow because existing apps will update without me having to re-enter my password.     Yet yesterday I went to install a brand new app, I was suddenly presented with a page telling me I had to log in before I could download and install it.   So it would appear it treats new and existing apps differently.

Btw I also have google sync switched off (the one which keeps a  backup of contacts etc) so I don't know if this makes a difference.

[sevenlayermuddle]

>>> One biggie that bugs me is that I seem to have to be permanently logged into my google account
There is a one login for all page which has a button top right to log you out.   

I am probably being even thicker than usual, but I haven't found such a button.   Can you tell me where it is? 

Re internet access it's better news.... the Opera & Chrome browsers definitely do seem to work on 2G even when the dedicated Apps don't.   Time after time I've witnessed this, alternating between the National Rail website (takes ages but nearly always works) and their App (nearly never works at all).  Same result for BBC weather App vs website.   

Combined with the (nice!) feature that Chrome allows me to add bookmarks as icons directly to the home screen, this gives me reasonably convenient access to what I want, and should be enough to stop me moaning for a while.   And I'll stop watching ebay, and lusting over cheap ageing iPhones.   

Still, the fact that I can browse the web with Chrome and Opera does leave me thinking there's nothing fundamentally wrong with the phone, the signal strength, or the network.   Odd then that so many Apps that basically attempt to automate the same process don't work - I'm guessing somewhere in the depth of Android perhaps, it just has the wrong timeout (for 2G) hard-coded?

The gmail App behaves like the other Apps and gives up in circumstances where the browser succeeds.  But I can live with that, in fact I never used email on my last phone either as it couldn't handle IMAP and I never missed it.   I've yet to see if the other mail apps might work any better.

[kitz]

>>  but I haven't found such a button.

I use chrome on my phone.

If I go to google.co.uk theres a button on the top right which invites you to "Sign In".

If I click that I get the "One account All of Google screen" and an option to "sign in" and "Manage accounts on this device".

For the next steps Im typing as I do this as Im not normally signed in

 I enter my password,
I now get a new home screen for google, and at the top right theres an icon of my av I use for google.
If I click the av I get the following options
"View profile" & "sign out"

I sign out and Im back to seeing the "sign in" button on top right, which is how it was previously.

------------------
"which is how it was previously"
oh no it isnt...     


.....  because now I  I can download anything from Play without having to log back in 


Ive no idea what Ive changed, and why I can now purchase anything on the play store without having to login.   
I definitely definitely 100% still had to log in on Thurs before I could download an app...  but now I cant seem to sign out of play.  grrrrrrrrr. 
I can still sign out of mail/web/ though etc though.   

I totally agree its not good that you cant log out of Play...   Ive bought apps in the past and it concerns me that my credit card may be associated.
What a stupid and pathetic idea. 

[sevenlayermuddle]

I totally agree its not good that you cant log out of Play...   Ive bought apps in the past and it concerns me that my credit card may be associated.
What a stupid and pathetic idea. 

Oh dear, and just as I'm becoming a bit more cheerful, didn't mean to disgruntle anybody else 

I hadn't thought of logging out via the website and you're right it does seem to stop mail from downloading, so I'm halfway there. 

One thing that ought to work (sledge hammer approach) would be to go to settings->accounts and delete my account from the phone.  I'm not sure what the side effects would be, or what else may stop working though, and what would happen to any Apps I've installed.

Probably what worries me most is that the new owner of my stolen phone would find access to my google drive stuff, I'm finding it hard to convince myself that won't be possible.  I suspect google's legendary data-mining plays a role here.   By making me stay logged in, I'm guessing, they can learn all the more about me?

[sevenlayermuddle]

One thing that ought to work (sledge hammer approach) would be to go to settings->accounts and delete my account from the phone. 

I've now tried that sledge-hammer approach of removing the account and it does seem to have the desired effect, equivalent to 'logging out'.   Better still, I no longer have bits of Android spontaneusly suggesting that the man who owns the removal firm that cleared Dad's flat should be a friend of mine, just because Google found his name on an email I'd sent.   

Downsides are that when you need to log back in again, you have to go through the 'new account' ordeal all over again, agreeing to the T&C, and answering various prompts about various settings.

Also, can't confirm it, but I have read on forums that earlier Android versions simply won't let you remove the primary account.  Mine does though, version 4.1.2.