Hi.
I'm trying out a smartphpme because everybody and their brother wants you to use an app to do anything

1.I set up my gmail on it -- I would just as soon take it off, but I've read that some Google crap won't work if you don't connect to your account. Not dure what the min requirement for that is

2.When I set up gmail, it imported all of my gmail contacts . I just want my phone to have a half a dozen numbers that I use regularly, but it seems to think that the gmail ones are the bomb. Any thoughts

3. For now I have a 3Gb data plan. I checked my usage and I saw 20mb --I didn't do that. Google play and some of the other apps did it. Play was the biggest user. Not at all sure why it did that. How can I keep that down ? Not obvious from any setting that I could find.

Not really happy with this phone, but it's the breed, not this specific one. I've worked with electronics and computers before the PC showed up . Could usually figure out the tech stuff -- now they seem to do their best to make that a confusing nightmare.

Thanks in advance for any help,

hj

 

Hi Hj,

Smart phones back up a few things and use an email account for identity verification. Your address book is probably the #1 thing that is backed up (and that you want backed up)! I'm very particular about what I put on my phone because I treat it as my personal phone with a few toys on it. No email, No Facebook, No social media of any kind, etc. The number is given out to very few people, so when I get a call from a number I don't recognize I know there's a 99+% chance that it's a wrong number or scam call. I have no idea how secure the backup of the address book really is, but knowing something about cryptography I don't trust any hidden server from dissecting my/our data. Even if it's done for legitimate purposes, the data is no longer "secure" and I just won't play that game.

You can delete all of the phone numbers, email addresses, etc. that you don't want in the phone. It's a nuisance, but if you want the phone to be "minimalistic" it may be worth it to you.

Almost everything you do on a smart phone results in it "calling home" so don't be surprised at your usage going up. 3G seems like a lot (when I got into the computer business that was more than 20 washing machine sized hard drives!) but in today's world it really isn't, Keep an eye on your usage for the first few months to get a feel for how much you really use. And you might want to look around for better plans and/or other carriers. Verizon and T-Mobile offer unlimited plans to seniors for about $30/month. Others have their own specials.

Good Luck!
~Bass

 

first thing that was done when i got home with the stupid phone was my 6 year old grand daughter took it away from me and deleted all the games and other crap that was on it.
she told me it was not good to have on a phone and if i accidently opened one of those apps, i would never be able to close it.
(she was rite).
she also deleted the gmail address book, and a lot of other stuff she said i would not need.( she was rite on those points too)
the phone is for work, and paid for by work.
i do have email setup on it, but with my verizon account which is what i do all correspondence with.
gmail email account is there strictly for the phone to work.

 

Thanks for all the help guys -- a lot to think about there.

hj

 

Smart phones are made so people to don't have to be smart. The devices are very intituitve so anyone can figure them out.

Unfortunately learning curves vary.

 

Use them yes -- possibly while being blissfully unaware of what might be happening. I'm fond of knowing what my stuff is doing.

hj

 

actually they are not if you do not know how to use them. it took me two days to be able to answer calls. it took my 7 year old grand daughter to explain to me you have to swipe up the answer button, not just touch it.

 

That 3GB limit is Over The Air (OTA) data, meaning that if your phone is connected to Wi-Fi then any data transferred via that Wi-Fi connection does not count towards your 3GB OTA limit.

 

Mine has ruined me. I used to have 100 phone numbers in my head. Family, friends, works associates around the country, etc. that I could call instantly from any phone. I've become so trained to let the phone remember all the numbers that I can call only 2 people from a random phone without looking up a phone number.

 

I use to keep a ledger with names, numbers, passwords etc. Now it's all stored on my phone and backed up nightly.

I'm definitely spoiled by my phone. I use it to lock unlock the front door, garage door, turn on /off flood lights at my house, answer the door when I'm not home, adjust the HVAC, even remote start my truck.

All from any where in the world so long as I have a signal.

To me it comes as second nature with a long history of working with electronics and computers so I do have that advantage.

My wife on the other hand does not so I had to explain to her to read the manual and just play around with it, now she's a whizz with her phone.

 

There was a new Android update this morning. Anybody know what it's for?

 

My brother-in-law installed a security system (with live camera feeds) at his church a while back. All of the elders have an app on their phones that ties back to the security system. The alerts tell them of movement at odd times, glass breakage, ability to watch any of the camera feeds, etc.

One afternoon an alert warned of a break-in. The camera feed showed several teens wandering down a hallway inside on of the buildings. The cops were called, and everyone met in the parking lot. All while watching the kids get into typical kids kind of trouble. When the kids realized that the sheriff was outside, you could hear one of them ask, "How did they know????"

All possible because of the technology in our "phones".

 

What age were these kids, and how did they gain entry?


By age 13, in the 8th grade, there was a couple of lock picks that kids in the neighborhood passed around. One kid would keep it for awhile, then pass it to another kid. Some kids actually learned to use them. No gym locker, teacher's desk drawer, or file cabinet was safe. Some locksmith probably left them behind, then forgot where he lost them. We all have lost tools like that. Over the years, I've found a few tools left on the ground also. As an adult, I see that those lock pick tools aren't worth much.

In high school, the kids in the neighborhood passed around a set of "jiggle keys". These must have been stolen. But I don't know. I don't know who actually acquired them. But they worked. It was a keyring of picks, that you could insert into automobile locks, then jiggle them around to hit the tumblers.

Today's kids don't pick locks or steal cars anymore. They hack your computer.

 

My first experience with a combination lock was in junior high school. The school had a bunch of them, all with the same master key, and the kids were randomly assigned one for their book locker and another for their gym locker.

The dials on them were silky smooth. Too smooth. If the lock was even slightly worn you could feel the tumblers align. As far as I know, none of us ever made a career of seeing what was in the lockers, but it was a game to see how many we could open by feel.

It's tough to imagine how quickly the lockers would be ransacked today with those same locks!