No Contract Phones as Audio Players

[booklover6]

Ok, you convinced me, and I ordered the Maven 2. Will I have to activate it? Is the monthly sum going to be charged automatically? I wonder if I can apply the $30 to another phone.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Mine is a Verizon Moto E which works fine with StraightTalk but not so good with AT&T.

I have a Fire Phone but it has issues with AT&T too. So I got a gophone last year and no more problems. So I'm staying with GoPhones for my cell phone.

Sent from my Nexus 7

All three of our Fire Phones are using GoPhone plans. AT&T is good where we live.

The Moto E is on Tracfone.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by booklover6

All three of our Fire Phones are using GoPhone plans. AT&T is good where we live.

The Moto E is on Tracfone.

Here it misses calls and texts and refuses to send texts at night. Only at night.

Originally Posted by booklover6

Ok, you convinced me, and I ordered the Maven 2. Will I have to activate it? Is the monthly sum going to be charged automatically? I wonder if I can apply the $30 to another phone.

I went to the AT&T store down the street not online. They transferred my number to the new phone. It took about 15 minutes. I paid $32 cash with tax. Auto pay is $25 so a little cheaper.



Sent from my Nexus 7

[booklover6]

I got mine on the AT&T web site. I'll have to see what all it says when it arrives. I might give it to my daughter to replace the Moto. She doesn't use texting a lot, but she will go to high school next fall, so I expect that will change.

[ApK]

My son just bought the Tracfone ZTE Citrine ($29.99 at Target and elsewhere) to replace his broken Sansa media player. It was cheaper to get a phone than any decent media player these days, if you can even find one.
8GB, MicroSD expandable 4" screen, Android 5.1, and most notably for the phones at this price, two cameras so he can video chat.

So far, he's loving it. It performs better than I expected for a $30 phone, and so he's doing more game playing than audio listening right now.

I'm pleasantly surprised that for $30, with no activation required, we can get a device like this. Bluetooth, Wifi, GPS, and even with only 8GB (and shifting some stuff to the SD card) he has a gaggle of apps installed.
And if we want to, we can even activate it as a phone.

I doubt I'll even bother buying him a case for protection. Hopefully by the time he breaks it, we'll be able to get an even better device even cheaper.
(I don't WANT it to be disposable, but it seems like the better value play.)

[Blossom]

I can tell you ZTE is a decent brand but my Maven II is annoying as an actual phone.

It's 5" screen makes it too easy for my chin to hit all sorts of things like hold, mute, speaker, end call button and bring up all sorts of screens while talking.

I don't want to say I hate the phone but I miss my Maven I which was a much better phone to talk on. It would make a nice phablet though.

Sent from my XT1528

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I can tell you ZTE is a decent brand but my Maven II is annoying as an actual phone.

It's 5" screen makes it too easy for my chin to hit all sorts of things like hold, mute, speaker, end call button and bring up all sorts of screens while talking.

I don't want to say I hate the phone but I miss my Maven I which was a much better phone to talk on. It would make a nice phablet though.

Sent from my XT1528

Every smart phone I've ever used, including the Citrine, has a proximity sensor that is supposed to shut of the screen when you put it near your head during a call, which, among other things, stops you from hitting buttons with your face.
You can test this by making a call (not on speakerphone) and putting your palm within a centimeter or two of the the top of the phone, where your ear would go.

If the screen does not turn off, you may have a defective phone, or there might be some "always on" setting somewhere.

[Blossom]

It's how the phone app works on the Mavens. It only turns off if your face is plaster against the phone a certain way. It wasn't a problem with the Maven 1 because you have to push a more options to get at the buttons but they all display on the Maven 2 because of the large screen.

I'm testing a lock call screen app. So far so good.

Sent from my XT1528

[cromag]

I'm still an MP3 player fan. In fact I just had this discussion with my extended family at the Christmas get-together. But I'm also a big believer in people using whatever device works for them.

My biggest question would be battery life. My Clips go a long way between charges. How does the phone fare in this regard?

[ApK]

Originally Posted by cromag

My biggest question would be battery life. My Clips go a long way between charges. How does the phone fare in this regard?

Yes, that's one if my major concerns as well.
I already have my eye on an extended battery from ebay, but even at $10, thats 30% of the cost of the device.....

The most significant drains on a smartphone battery are the display and the radios. If you only use it as an audio player, with the screen off most of the time, and the radios off (except for maybe the low power bluetooth for headphones) the battery SHOULD last a good long time.

[Blossom]

Airplane mode with WiFi turned off and the battery will last longer than any Clip. Providing you don't have alot of apps installed running in the background. Disable any apps you don't want or need through settings.

Sent from my Nexus 7

[septentrion]

I've finally switched from my sansa jam to a no contract phone ( a wiko sunny, wiko being a French brand). At least I can download my audible books in a single file and the end isn't abruptly cut. It would be perfect if I could find an app for android that would allow me to start/pause a book or an audio file (espacially audible) with the physical buttons of the phone. I've explored the play store and specialised sites for advice but to no avail. Has anyone found one such app?

[ApK]

Originally Posted by septentrion

It would be perfect if I could find an app for android that would allow me to start/pause a book or an audio file (espacially audible) with the physical buttons of the phone. I've explored the play store and specialised sites for advice but to no avail. Has anyone found one such app?

You can search "button remapper" in the play store. There are several apps that seem to do what you want, and at least one that claims to work without root.
But maybe if you describe how you envision this working for you and why you want it, we can think up some alternate means achieving your goal. (like using a headset button instead, for example.)

[septentrion]

Originally Posted by ApK

You can search "button remapper" in the play store. There are several apps that seem to do what you want, and at least one that claims to work without root.
But maybe if you describe how you envision this working for you and why you want it, we can think up some alternate means achieving your goal. (like using a headset button instead, for example.)

Thank you for your advice. What I want to do is start the audiobook I'm listening to and stop it with a physical button. I regularly need to stop the audiobook I'm listening to while driving and it'd be less dangerous if I could do this without activating the screen and than tapping on the screen.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by septentrion

Thank you for your advice. What I want to do is start the audiobook I'm listening to and stop it with a physical button. I regularly need to stop the audiobook I'm listening to while driving and it'd be less dangerous if I could do this without activating the screen and than tapping on the screen.

If the button mapper apps don't do it for you, here's a some other options to consider:

1. The simplest option is to use an audio app where the entire screen is the pause/play control. Several apps have this feature, sometimes as a "driving mode." Then you really don't need to look at the phone at all, and it's arguably as easy or easier than finding a physical button.

2. Play your phone through a device that has the controls built into it, like a portable BT speaker, or, ideally, a car stereo with a BT or other remote enabled connection. (I went this route, replacing my car stereo, and I'm happy I did.)

3. If you plug your phone into your car stereo with an aux cable, you can try something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/MEE-audio-Rep.../dp/B00K36XWG0