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Cell Phone

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,275
Location
sw missouri
So I just got a new phone.

I use my phone for calling, texting, occasionally checking emails (compose and send email from my PC). Google maps/ satellite for looking at jobs. Google chrome for looking up parts. Google sheets for scheduling. Take lots of photo's of both jobs and equipment while I'm disassembling and reassembling, and transfer them to my PC. I have a lot of past years photos, and find myself looking at past photos for repeat jobs years later- all on my pc- I use the big screen of my pc for all that.

I don't like big screen phones, I like a very small phone in a pouch on my belt. I don't watch movies on my phone, and don't use voice commands at all, I've usually got too much background noise.

So my last few phones have been android/ google based. My last samsung I really liked, but they don't offer it any more, and the newer samsung ones are all bigger.

I got a iphone. They make one called a "SE" that's small like my old samsung, almost exactly the same size. SO I figured I see what all the fuss is about with the apple stuff, and ordered it. I'm about 2 weeks into it, and I hate it.

Its a pain to transfer photos. I was so used to my old samsung/android and USB to the PC and they all zip right in. Iphone has to go to icloud, then to a zip file, then I fumble around trying to find them to transfer to PC storage. Its a huge pain. Its like they want to make it complicated and difficult to transfer. It looks like its way easier if you are all ios, but I'm not and all my old stuff is PC, and I don't see myself getting rid of that.

I got all my google stuff (sheets, gmail, maps) all working right. But I just find the sending around of photos by email or for storing to be such a pain with the apple.

So am I missing the "great" part of the apple experience? I should bite the bullet and pitch a $400 phone, and just go back to android?

Who's running what and what should I have bought instead?
 

CM1995

Administrator
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
13,250
Location
Alabama
Occupation
Running what I brung and taking what I win
iPhone and Mac here and it is seamless on file transfers via the cloud including photos. I can take a pic on my iPhone and it will show up on my Mac within a minute. Can also text from my Mac to other iPhone users.

Used to be a PC only guy then bought a Mac in 2009 and never looked back. The learning curve from PC to Mac wasn't too difficult but it was a little frustrating trying to find things on a Mac compared to PC.

Now I run MS Office for Mac for Excel and Outlook for email.

Via iCloud I can pull up my Excel spreadsheets on my iPad and iPhone in the field to check numbers and whatnot however the sheets can't be edited and I'm fine with that.

I know it sounds like an apple commercial but it just works good for our operation.
 

petepilot

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2018
Messages
2,167
Location
central shenandoah valley va,
So I just got a new phone.

I use my phone for calling, texting, occasionally checking emails (compose and send email from my PC). Google maps/ satellite for looking at jobs. Google chrome for looking up parts. Google sheets for scheduling. Take lots of photo's of both jobs and equipment while I'm disassembling and reassembling, and transfer them to my PC. I have a lot of past years photos, and find myself looking at past photos for repeat jobs years later- all on my pc- I use the big screen of my pc for all that.

I don't like big screen phones, I like a very small phone in a pouch on my belt. I don't watch movies on my phone, and don't use voice commands at all, I've usually got too much background noise.

So my last few phones have been android/ google based. My last samsung I really liked, but they don't offer it any more, and the newer samsung ones are all bigger.

I got a iphone. They make one called a "SE" that's small like my old samsung, almost exactly the same size. SO I figured I see what all the fuss is about with the apple stuff, and ordered it. I'm about 2 weeks into it, and I hate it.

Its a pain to transfer photos. I was so used to my old samsung/android and USB to the PC and they all zip right in. Iphone has to go to icloud, then to a zip file, then I fumble around trying to find them to transfer to PC storage. Its a huge pain. Its like they want to make it complicated and difficult to transfer. It looks like its way easier if you are all ios, but I'm not and all my old stuff is PC, and I don't see myself getting rid of that.

I got all my google stuff (sheets, gmail, maps) all working right. But I just find the sending around of photos by email or for storing to be such a pain with the apple.

So am I missing the "great" part of the apple experience? I should bite the bullet and pitch a $400 phone, and just go back to android?

Who's running what and what should I have bought instead?
I would`nt carry an apple out of the store if it were free. androids are becoming worse to
 

1466IH

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Messages
613
Location
prairie du rocher, il
I have never gotten along with Apple products personally but to each their own. There are a lot of mixed reviews online but I have been very satisfied with my Cat S61 phone. It is an android/Google based phone and have no complaints with it at all
 

Tinkerer

Senior Member
Joined
May 21, 2009
Messages
9,342
Location
The shore of the illinois river USA
I have had iphones for quite a few years.
Your photos do not have to go to the cloud to be able to transfer them.
I simply plug the iphone usb cable into my pc and open the iphone folders and copy and paste all or individual photos to a folder on my desktop.
Quite often I simply select a or multiple photos in my phone and email them or text them to myself.
If I email them they go to three computers I use at the same time.
 

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,275
Location
sw missouri
I simply plug the iphone usb cable into my pc and open the iphone folders and copy and paste all or individual photos to a folder on my desktop.

I'm going to have to work on that. I've got a usb cable, and have tried to download that way, but I haven't figured out how to make it work like the android one does with "photos". It didn't want to transfer direct. The way I've been doing it is icloud to a zip file in a folder, to my photo albums, that I separate by month and year. I'm great from phone to cloud, that's automatic. Where I have issues is from my created zip file to folder storing, with how I organize/ label them on my PC.

I store photos by month and year, if I can find a bill from a customer from a job 7 years ago in quickbooks, I can then find the pictures of the job much easier if I have a month and year range to go looking for it. I'm going to have to cipher a little harder on this mess. It just seems like they make it more difficult than it needs to be to integrate back and forth.
 

Nige

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
28,984
Location
G..G..G..Granville.........!! Fetch your cloth.
Your photos do not have to go to the cloud to be able to transfer them.
I simply plug the iphone usb cable into my pc and open the iphone folders and copy and paste all or individual photos to a folder on my desktop.
Quite often I simply select a or multiple photos in my phone and email them or text them to myself.
If I email them they go to three computers I use at the same time.
I have a old iphone 5S and transfer photos exactly the same way, either hard-wired via the cable or simply email them to myself if the computer's not within reach.
 

Old Doug

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2013
Messages
4,485
Location
Mo
I washed my last flip phone it dryed out but i was afraid and got a new one its bigger and the battery will not last 2 days the old one could make it for weeks. The new one some how is set up to just work for one year. Every one says to get a big screen but then i will destroy it if i have it on me all the time.
 

simonsrplant

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Messages
554
Location
Alberta CANADA
Occupation
Heavy Duty Off Road RSE
Years back I swore by apple.
Iphone MacBook etc...
All linked seemlessly
Maybe four or five years back as I kept breaking the iphone I went to android and one of the many tough phones out there.
Way better battery life, similar apps, tougher hardware, and most importantly, they work with the rest of the world.
I can now open and send pdf documents from my phone. Photos are linked to my Panasonic windows laptop. It all just works.
10 years back apple were ahead of the game, no question there. But they sure didn't keep pushing forward, arguably they have fallen back.
 

CM1995

Administrator
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
13,250
Location
Alabama
Occupation
Running what I brung and taking what I win
Years back I swore by apple.
Iphone MacBook etc...
All linked seemlessly
Maybe four or five years back as I kept breaking the iphone I went to android and one of the many tough phones out there.
Way better battery life, similar apps, tougher hardware, and most importantly, they work with the rest of the world.
I can now open and send pdf documents from my phone. Photos are linked to my Panasonic windows laptop. It all just works.
10 years back apple were ahead of the game, no question there. But they sure didn't keep pushing forward, arguably they have fallen back.

I'll argue it. :D Apple is still ahead of the game IMO.

Been receiving, saving, opening and sending PDF's, spreadsheets, etc with my iPhone for years.

The best thing I enjoy about Apple is not having to worry about virus and malware like a PC. Of course there are security updates and such you have to do but that's with any computer.

I can play a youtube video on our big screen TV with Apple TV from my laptop by just hitting an icon which is really cool for SoCalEarthmovers new hi-res scraper videos.

Now I do run MS Office for Mac as Apple's version of Excel and Word suck.o_O
 

terex herder

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2017
Messages
1,779
Location
Kansas
Apple maps is lousy, and you can't share accurate locations between apple and android. I'm not a apple fan. The products are for people watching videos and living on (anti)social media.

I have a 5 year old motorola (chinese owned). I'd upgrade, but the new ones are way to big. I keep it in a pouch on my belt and roll around on the floor with it and do other things that would crush a larger phone. Plus, I don't have to worry about having to take it out of my pocket ever time I set, or leaving it in a machine when I just get out to take a leak.
 

Spud_Monkey

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2018
Messages
6,438
Location
Your six
Occupation
Decommissioned
I have a Kyocera Android that's about 6 years old, you can run a a key across the screen or a coin and not scratch it, swam mile back to shore across Strait of Juan with it in my pocket and has been dropped, got welding splatter on it along with diesel/oil and tossed a few times at people and such, still running. When it finally dies I'm disconnecting from cell phones and going to HAM radio. No one calls me or texts me besides the wife and that is is if she is in town, I am retired so I don't go anywhere and I got a laptop with hotspot for internet. If I need to call in town I will just borrow the wife's old Apple 5S.
Don't like being tracked of where I go and data collected of places I have been to be sold to third parties for whatever reason, you think airplane mode or turning your cell phone off really works you are in for rude awakening. Pull the battery, stick it in a Faraday cage or find a old microwave to put it in.
 

CM1995

Administrator
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
13,250
Location
Alabama
Occupation
Running what I brung and taking what I win
The products are for people watching videos and living on (anti)social media.

I do a little more than watch videos like run a company on my Mac.;) Also don't have a FB, Twitter or any other social media accounts.:p

Agree that Apple maps suck. The Devil G has the best maps and sat images.
 

funwithfuel

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2017
Messages
5,519
Location
Will county Illinois
Occupation
Mechanic
I'd give just about anything to have direct connect back with Nextel. That was a good service with resilient Motorola hardware. When Nextel pulled the plug, i signed on with Sprint and the android operating system. I, like many of you, was worried about a 4x6 piece of glass in my pocket. I've had more water damage than broken screens. I started with an HTC Evo back in the beginning, now just Samsung. Currently running an S8+. It does nearly anything i need it to. I use it for everything. Now that Tmobile took over Sprint, my cell and data service sucks. Hoping it gets better. The company supplies me an iphone. It sits on the dash as a wifi hotspot. I don't find it as natural or intuitive as others swear they are. He!! , half the time it's a poor hotspot. That's about all the use i have for it. My wife let my daughter con her into getting an iphone. That was 2 years ago, and she's still angry with it. I would like to see what Nextel's new iteration shakes out as.
 

AzIron

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2016
Messages
1,541
Location
Az
Nextels push to talk in the day was a game changer especially when you were paying nickels and quarters for phone calls

I have Samsung s8 for the last 4 years been the best phone I have ever had not sure what I will do when it breaks tried an I phone once was not sold have a few customers that swear by them and all I think the learning curve didn't work with my habits so I didn't want to learn to navigate the apple

Google is the only map source of authority for me but maps and sat photos are what made Google into what it is so I would really be happy to go back to land line phones and actual paper I think I could get a lot more done without distractions but the world wont let me so android for me
 

JLarson

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2020
Messages
656
Location
AZ
Occupation
Owner- civil and heavy repair/fab company
I miss the nextel ptt too, worked pretty good even in areas with shitty service.

I too hate when when someone sends me an apple maps pin.
 

emmett518

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2021
Messages
810
Location
USA
Apple is arrogant and snotty. THEY know what’s best for you, and you’ll do it their way, thank you very much.
There is no way to do things if it’s not in line with Apple’s vision.

I did an IPhone this time, and hate it in spite of the benefits. Love my MacBook Pro. Hate the IPhone.
 
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