This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
if you're paying more than what most people make a month for a fuckin phone, then you should be able to do what the fuck ever you damn well fuckin please with the phone.
No I dont own these afflicted phones, I'm not that rich, I'm just talking on principle
Samsung's UI sucks but Odin only helped the few that were actually aware of it.
Between this and Dex, there's little reason left for me to keep using Samsung.
Oh well...Another reason not to bother with them.
oh, is this why the software update happened without my consent?
but then what do the service centers use?
Sigh. I haven't actually run a non-standard firmware for a while now, but I'm finding the mindset of a lot of these big companies exhausting, the relentless push for them to control every aspect of everything. Particularly when they're charging huge amounts for the device and to my mind at least can't claim they've somehow subsidised the hardware.
The only answer is regulation. We need laws that say, if you own a device, you can do anything you want to it, including wipe it, hack it, resell it, etc.
If they want to control your device, or lease it to you provided you pay a monthly fee, etc, they need to say "Lease", "Rent" or similar, not buy.
And they shouldn't be able to void your warranty for it - voids should be limited to the parts of the device you mess with. Like, if you flash your phone, they should be able to say, we can't give you support, including how to re-install the original OS...but if your battery fails and it shocks you, they should have to replace the battery under a warranty.
We also need laws that say, if you pay for a device, that device itself, can't have ads. So like, when talking about Android TV boxes, they can put recommendations on the homepage, but not ads, and those recommendations can't be paid. Now, if you open youtube, they can make you watch ads.
The regulations won't come from S. Korea in the case of Samsung. And I doubt any other big market for Samsung is going to regulate them as well.
It's just a fucking shit show. I specifically gotten my s24u because of good lock and the BT stylus. Shouldn't have trusted the Koreans when they're already boring cyberpunk dystopia before anyone else
Yeah I agree! In general, a product should be either software or hardware, and companies shouldn't have say on the other one. If you're selling hardware (phone, TV, computer) you have no right to lock the software. If you're selling software (apps, games), you have no right to lock it to a specific hardware.
Best I can do is a bunch of age verification laws to take even more control away from you
There's a special place in hell for those Republicans. It's always the Pedo-Conservatives who want that.
I'll compile my own linux kernel before I install OS level age verification.
Republicans are absolute scum but they only exist in the US and are not in charge of every state. This is a bipartisan push around the globe.
As long as they don't encounter any resistance, they have no reason to renounce their enshittification process.
Will the sales slow because of this? Unlikely. I would assume the power users are in the noise.
Will they make more money? Probably, either through their own data collection and brokerage, or from third party editors paying to have their app bundled in the OS.
So, no catch! (for them…)
I dont run custom ROMs anymore either but I have needed Odin a few times over the last few years to flash different OEM firmware to devices. Examples are a couple of work phones the company let me keep after upgrading which had Sprint firmware. I was able to flash Tmobile firmware to them while simultaneously removing all the locked-down work stuff that was preventing me from doing anything with the devices like activating developer mode.
As far as my personal device, an S21 Ultra, I'll probably need to upgrade it in the next couple of years and I think its finally time to ditch Samsung. I had similar feelings before getting the S21 but compromised since the market was shit for higher-end devices (I typically get a higher end device and then keep it for years and years) and i have no interest in Apple. It sucks because the market is still weak as hell in the US. Every device I've come across that looks decent is a EU device that doesn't support all of Tmobile's bands.
Fond memories of using Odin to flash my Galaxy S3 back in the day. I thought Knox killed custom firmware on Galaxy, though — with the S4.
i remember many years ago i flashed, i think it was Lineage OS maybe android 8 or 7? on galaxy s2. There were something like 10 android versions ahead of last official relase.
I checked xda, and theres lineage os 19.1 (android 12) available for galaxy s2.
You're thinking of the Verizon s5. That version of Knox still hasn't been broken
I can recommend the Fairphone for those who appreciate actually owning the device they paid for
How is the fairphone doing these days? I was scared off by the battery life last time i checked it out
Wel that is subjective, but I'm happy with my FP6. ymmv
I also am happy. My battery has never died. It can go days and days it seems.
How do you get the new one in the US?
Through Murena, I believe?
Also doesn't seem to have the necessary bands to work well on Verizon. I believe it works on T-Mobile and unsure of ATNT. Just something to be aware of.
Unfortunately it isn't a particularly great spec. It's fine if you don't care about those things but for people that want high-end smartphones the phone isn't going to cut it.
Subjectivity was implied, stating the obvious does not add new insights.
You could have, e.g. by pointing to some of the things you don't like. This way other readers could decide if they care about the thing. For example, FP6 is does not have a folding screen, which would have been nice. On the other hand, that would have added anothe couple 100s of €s to the price and would have ruined servicebility. So I'm glad they decided to focus on an affordable phone that gives the owner the option to replace parts that they legit sell via their site.
I require a decent camera.
The pre-processing (for example on Pixel) is a tad annoying but the end result is still better than most other phones.
Low-light is also important.
Who knows, in a year or 2, when tech has moved forward, they FP may release a camera module with better specs. Because of the phone's modular assembly, that camera could be swapped. I think this is a beutiful concept.
Sounds like FP bringing 2 year old tech to a current gen phone.
Sorry but that doesnt cut it.
If it's a monetary issue, release a specced up model. Then we may talk.
I do miss the camera from my Samsung since making the switch. I'm looking into pocket cameras since I do find those fun to play around with, but that's a bit of a dead category in recent years.
Performance-wise the Fairphone 6 has been more than fine for me. Maybe it wouldn't have been if I played 3D games, but I don't, so I wouldn't know.
Oh.
I just ordered a fold 7 and I was contemplating which ROM I should install...
I guess that's that then.
Cancel the order!
Aye aye sir!
I had a Samsung TV over 10 years ago. One of the early "smart" ones. It got quite a few updates where a happy little text box told "your samsung smart tv got even better" or some shit like that. Even if they actively removed features and or apps got unsupportet. You know after like 2 years or so.
Like fuck it. It still works as regular ass TV till this date. But the whole software and update experience was so shit that i never bought a samsung device ever again. Wait, thats a lie. I bought two of those 25 buck dumbphones from them. They were pretty good for what they were, ngl. But apart from that Samsung is a big no-no for me and i get proven right year after year.
God their TVs have become so terrible over the last decade. Not only the firmware but the quality of them. I got one to use as an office monitor and it randomly glitches out showing static on the screen until you unplug it. My BIL also buys Samsung TVs and has seemingly gone through half a dozen of them in the last few years because they keep breaking. Same with all the Samsung appliances that he buys too.
For my last TV, I got an LG C3 OLED from Costco and the picture is incredible along with the price and we haven't had any software issues or annoyances with it either. I have blocked the LG domains on my router though so that it won't nag me about updating the firmware.
Samsung is a no-go again anyway, as they have decided to go back to their shitty Exynos CPUs for the S26. The CPU itself is fine, but their modems are awful.
Going from my Exynos S22 to a Snapdragon S25 was night and day mobile reception wise.
What would you get for a new phone nowadays?
Honestly: I could see myself waiting for the Graphene Motorola.
Other than that, I'll stay (atm) with Pixel.
Sorry, did I misread or did you edit your comment? I might have been half asleep :)
Like were you asking for phone recommendations? If so, what do you mainly use it for, will you use stock ROMs or do you like to mess around with things?
Probably stock unless I find a reason to mess around.
I'm very satisfied with my S25 so far. But I wanted a smaller phone, not a big fan of the tablet sized monsters people use.
Camera could be a bit better, but it's decent enough. I'm using the stock ROM, unfortunately if you tinker certain banking and government apps no longer work :-/
The only other option would be an iPhone at that size, which I'm not a fan of.
Though there's plenty of cheaper mid-range phones nowadays if you want to save some money. Like the OnePlus Nord.
For me: Just for the modem and battery life :)
But now that my new phone works well, no reason at all. I don't game on my phone, so any more performance is utterly wasted and the cameras barely seem to be getting upgrades either.
My s24 ultra is still almost perfect except for the inexplicably mediocre cameras.
