Smartphone Upgrade Questions

[easysurfer]

Having switched over from a trusty flip phone to a very basic smartphone about a year and a half ago, I knew this day would come. That is, I've sort of outgrown my basic smartphone and am considering an upgrade.

My current smartphone is an Android and I'm happy with the small 4 inch screen and adequate speed (for me), but the main problem is the phone only has a 4GB internal memory (runs out of space for installing new apps) and the camera (especially the front -- need those selfies!) is nothing to brag about.

If getting an upgraded phone (with same number), questions are:

1) How do I keep the contacts and apps from my old phone? Or do I need to reinstall?

2) Do I need to deactivate an reactivate for sites that I have set up for 2FA? (for example, 2FA for Vanguard, SSA)

#2 is the bigger question as if I have to reinstall apps and contacts, that isn't too difficult.

 

[jzajzz]

Your contacts and apps will be pulled in right from your Google account.. so as long as you sign in with your same Gooogle account on the new phone .. your contacts will be brought on to the new phone..

your apps as well .. though it takes some time and it's not always seamless ..

 

[broadway]

I am hoping you moved all the selfies to your SD card.

Move all the apps you can to the SD card.

I have a smartphone with only 4GB of RAM so I feel your pain.

 

[bloom2708]

If you have Amazon Prime, consider the Moto G Play 4 (or 5) from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Moto-Play-4t...&qid=1497017919&sr=8-7&keywords=moto+g+play+5

$99, very good battery life, 16GB + Memory SD card expansion, Android. Your contacts come from one of your accounts. Google, Microsoft.

It is not a Galaxy S7, but I am very happy with it for $99

 

[easysurfer]

I am hoping you moved all the selfies to your SD card.

Move all the apps you can to the SD card.

I have a smartphone with only 4GB of RAM so I feel your pain.

I'm really not much of a selfie person. But the front camera on my phone is absolutely terrible. Looked up the specs and the camera only has 0.3 megapixel. No wonder the selfies added a lot more wrinkles than I have already .

Unfortunately, from what I found out, my phone doesn't support Android 6.0 (Marshmallow). Otherwise, with Marshmallow, I could've use a SD card (I have a 32 GB card) and set that like an internal memory. But instead, I'm stuck with the 4 GB unless I upgrade.

 

[easysurfer]

If you have Amazon Prime, consider the Moto G Play 4 (or 5) from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Moto-Play-4t...&qid=1497017919&sr=8-7&keywords=moto+g+play+5

$99, very good battery life, 16GB + Memory SD card expansion, Android. Your contacts come from one of your accounts. Google, Microsoft.

It is not a Galaxy S7, but I am very happy with it for $99

That's the one I'm considering, through Consumer Cellular for $80. I actually prefer the smaller phone (like the one I have) but this is only a bit larger. Plus, the external buttons on the phone are the same as my current Moto. So, nothing new to learn there. The Moto-Play also has a removeable battery.

 

[broadway]

I'm really not much of a selfie person. But the front camera on my phone is absolutely terrible. Looked up the specs and the camera only has 0.3 megapixel. No wonder the selfies added a lot more wrinkles than I have already .

Unfortunately, from what I found out, my phone doesn't support Android 6.0 (Marshmallow). Otherwise, with Marshmallow, I could've use a SD card (I have a 32 GB card) and set that like an internal memory. But instead, I'm stuck with the 4 GB unless I upgrade.

My 4GB LG smartphone runs KitKat. I have all my photos on the SD card.
You should check how much memory your photos are taking up on your internal memory. Moving as many apps that allow it to the SD card helps.

 

[easysurfer]

My 4GB LG smartphone runs KitKat. I have all my photos on the SD card.
You should check how much memory your photos are taking up on your internal memory. Moving as many apps that allow it to the SD card helps.

Thanks for the suggestion. I already moved all the apps I could to the SD card and also any photos and videos.

At this time, checking the storage, I have 0.92GB free on the internal memory. Irritating is when I do their too often updates to Facebook or Youtube and get not enough memory. Other than that, I'm quite happy with my phone.

 

[ejman]

Thanks for the suggestion. I already moved all the apps I could to the SD card and also any photos and videos.

At this time, checking the storage, I have 0.92GB free on the internal memory. Irritating is when I do their too often updates to Facebook or Youtube and get not enough memory. Other than that, I'm quite happy with my phone.

Check the memory use by Google. It tends to take over any memory that is available. I periodically clear the Google app data ( Settings>apps>Google app>manage space) and find that frees up all kinds of space. If I loose some functionality it must be minor becasue I don't notice it. The other thing I do is go to storage and move media to SD card.

After the above I don't seem to have memory problems with my Moto E 1st gen with 4 gig and any updates install just fine.

 

[broadway]

Check the memory use by Google. It tends to take over any memory that is available. I periodically clear the Google app data ( Settings>apps>Google app>manage space) and find that frees up all kinds of space. If I loose some functionality it must be minor becasue I don't notice it. The other thing I do is go to storage and move media to SD card.

After the above I don't seem to have memory problems with my Moto E 1st gen with 4 gig and any updates install just fine.

I didn't know what Manage Space meant.
I freed up 111 MB !
Thanks!

 

[easysurfer]

Check the memory use by Google. It tends to take over any memory that is available. I periodically clear the Google app data ( Settings>apps>Google app>manage space) and find that frees up all kinds of space. If I loose some functionality it must be minor becasue I don't notice it. The other thing I do is go to storage and move media to SD card.

After the above I don't seem to have memory problems with my Moto E 1st gen with 4 gig and any updates install just fine.

Thanks for the tip. just did that and cleared up about 80 mb. Did rearrange some of the icons though and I had to put back.

 

[exnavynuke]

Google Photos will backup all the pics on your phone if you want it to, and unless you have a ton of them it's free as well. I have it set to backup my stuff on wifi. That keeps me from losing anything should I accidentally lose/destroy my phone AND it allows me the freedom to delete old pics regularly to free up space if needed (though I have a ton of space on my current phone so that isn't likely going to be an issue).

 

[ejman]

I didn't know what Manage Space meant.
I freed up 111 MB !
Thanks!

Good. Glad it helped. I forgot to mention one other trick to save memory: Settings>Storage>Cached Data> Clear cached data. This might slow down some apps just a little bit but memory use can grow pretty large over time if not cleared.

 

[easysurfer]

If you have Amazon Prime, consider the Moto G Play 4 (or 5) from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Moto-Play-4t...&qid=1497017919&sr=8-7&keywords=moto+g+play+5

$99, very good battery life, 16GB + Memory SD card expansion, Android. Your contacts come from one of your accounts. Google, Microsoft.

It is not a Galaxy S7, but I am very happy with it for $99

I'm almost ready to pull the trigger and go for the upgrade but from my readings, have a question about the Moto 4G Play with the Android Marshmallow OS. Hope you can answer for me.

With the Lollipop OS, using an SD card, there's an option to move some apps to SD. But reading, is that option taken away with Marshmallow?

There's the internal (adoptable) memory option with Marshmallow but I don't want to do that. Just went to use the SD card as a portable one.

If I can't do a manual move of apps to SD, that might be a bummer as I bet 16 GB could fill up pretty fast.

 

[REWahoo]

I'm almost ready to pull the trigger and go for the upgrade but from my readings, have a question about the Moto 4G Play with the Android Marshmallow OS. Hope you can answer for me.

With the Lollipop OS, using an SD card, there's an option to move some apps to SD. But reading, is that option taken away with Marshmallow?

There's the internal (adoptable) memory option with Marshmallow but I don't want to do that. Just went to use the SD card as a portable one.

If I can't do a manual move of apps to SD, that might be a bummer as I bet 16 GB could fill up pretty fast.

You can still store some apps on your SD card in Marshmallow. Here is a comparison between the two android operating systems: https://www.gottabemobile.com/android-6-0-vs-android-5-1-lollipop-whats-new-in-marshmallow/

 

[easysurfer]

You can still store some apps on your SD card in Marshmallow. Here is a comparison between the two android operating systems: https://www.gottabemobile.com/android-6-0-vs-android-5-1-lollipop-whats-new-in-marshmallow/

So, the option to move some apps to SD is still available in Marshmallow but "burried" in the marshmallow "user interface improvements "?

Thanks for the comparison link.

 

[REWahoo]

So, the option to move some apps to SD is still available in Marshmallow but "burried" in the marshmallow "improvements" ?

It isn't listed in "improvements" since it was already an available feature.

 

[easysurfer]

It isn't listed in "improvements" since it was already an available feature.

I was just being sarcastic about calling that an improvement.

Guess my follow up question is, "Is finding the option to move a moveable app to SD still easy to find with Marshmallow?"

In Lollipop, I just go to Settings --> Apps --> tap on an app name

Then there is the option to tap to move to phone or move to SD (if allowed, otherwise grayed out).

Is Marshmallow still similar?

 

[REWahoo]

In Lollipop, I just go to Settings --> Apps --> tap on an app name

Then there is the option to tap to move to phone or move to SD (if allowed, otherwise grayed out).

Is Marshmallow still similar?

It's similar. You go to Apps manger > application > storage. It will tell you where the app is stored (internal or SD) and, if applicable, give you the option to change - move the app to the SD card or to internal.

 

[easysurfer]

It's similar. You go to Apps manger > application > storage. It will tell you where the app is stored (internal or SD) and, if applicable, give you the option to change - move the app to the SD card or to internal.

Thanks! The kind of answer I was looking for .

 

[REWahoo]

Thanks! The kind of answer I was looking for .

Yep, I figured a RTFM reply wasn't going to cut it...

 

[kcowan]

You guys seem to put the "smart" in smartphones! Lollipops & Marshmallows! Sounds like sweet tooth to me.

 

[Lsbcal]

Just a thought: go with the best phone you can buy (Android or Iphone)

My choice is an unlocked Google phone. If I were in the market now I'd probably buy the Pixel (see reviews for details). You will get the latest updates fastest. You are free to move to a different carrier (unlocked). You could even take advantage of the Google Fi project (low cost).

 

[bjorn2bwild]

You guys seem to put the "smart" in smartphones! Lollipops & Marshmallows! Sounds like sweet tooth to me.

Yea, don't forget KitKat - I'm waiting for Android type II.

 

[REWahoo]

Lollipops & Marshmallows! Sounds like sweet tooth to me.

The history of Android operating system names is sure to give you cavities:

Each version of Android since 1.5 has been developed with a specific codename. These codenames are chosen alphabetically, and have thus far all been dessert items (or, generically, sweet/sugary foods).

Cupcake:
Android 1.5

Donut:
Android 1.6

Eclair:
Android 2.0
Android 2.1

Froyo: (short for "frozen yogurt")
Android 2.2

Gingerbread:
Android 2.3

Honeycomb:
Android 3.0
Android 3.1
Android 3.2

Ice Cream Sandwich:
Android 4.0

Jelly Bean:
Android 4.1
Android 4.2
Android 4.3

KitKat:
Android 4.4

Lollipop:
Android 5.0
Android 5.1

Marshmallow:
Android 6.0

Nougat:
Android 7.0
Android 7.1

https://android.stackexchange.com/q...-versions-of-the-android-os-and-how-are-these