[ValarMorghulis]

Got a Samsung M31 Prime Edition for mom who just needs it for Whatsapp, YouTube and basic calling.
She's super happy with it so far. The phone is peppy, has good battery life and the screen is excellent. The only grouse is Amazon ads on the lock screen

[anks_at]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

The only grouse is Amazon ads on the lock screen

Try disabling the dynamic wallpapers:
Settings->Wallpaper->Wallpaper Services. Choose None.

Does that solve it?

[JMaruru]

Is there a way to shut off the notification sound for an app in Asus 'Zenfone Max' Pro M1 running on 'Android 9'?
I am trying to switch off the sound notification ONLY for twitter BUT not able to find the same.

[binand]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

Is there a way to shut off the notification sound for an app in Asus 'Zenfone Max' Pro M1 running on 'Android 9'?
I am trying to switch off the sound notification ONLY for twitter BUT not able to find the same.

Try this (I don't have the Twitter app to test, though):

1. Open the App's notification settings page (Settings App > Apps & Notifications > All Apps > Twitter > Notifications).

2. Identify the Notification category that is offending you. This you have to manage yourself. Each app is free to define its own categories and settings specific to each category. As far as I can see these are listed between "Show Notifications" and "Advanced", one category per line.

3. Tap on the category name in the list of categories that you get in step 1.

4. In the subsequent category configuration screen, select "Silent".

This will suppress audible notifications for the selected category.

There are a lot of additional configuration options ever since Android introduced the concept of Notification Channels.

Some apps have even finer controls within each category, but for that the UI is usually within the app itself (WhatsApp / Telegram allow per-group or chat notification settings, for example).

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by binand

4. In the subsequent category configuration screen, select "Silent". This will suppress audible notifications for the selected category.

This nailed it. Thank You.

I have another issue, like when I do a WhatsApp voice call, suddenly the screen goes blank and never responds. Then, I need to reboot the phone to get it back. This happens off and on. What could be the reason here? This has been happening lately, like from past couple of weeks.

BTW, I am on 'Android 9' Havoc Custom ROM.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by chiefpk

Any replacements for GP Music, a player with good UI and ad-free experience for my downloaded stock music

VLC.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...g.videolan.vlc

Originally Posted by JMaruru

I have another issue, like when I do a WhatsApp voice call, suddenly the screen goes blank and never responds. Then, I need to reboot the phone to get it back. This happens off and on. What could be the reason here? This has been happening lately, like from past couple of weeks.

BTW, I am on 'Android 9' Havoc Custom ROM.

Try clearing app's cache or data, or try upgrading the ROM?

[binand]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

I have another issue, like when I do a WhatsApp voice call, suddenly the screen goes blank and never responds.

When something similar happened to my phone (but with voice calls), it was diagnosed by the service centre as a faulty proximity sensor. Replacing it was way too expensive an option so I chose to change the phone. Is your issue only with WhatsApp or all calls? If the former I wouldn't worry too much about it - it is anyway far too buggy to be usable.

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Try clearing app's cache or data...

Bad advise for fixing issues with WhatsApp, no? :-)

Originally Posted by chiefpk

Any replacements for GP Music, a player with good UI and ad-free experience for my downloaded stock music.

I use Jet Audio+. Brilliant piece of software. You also get Android Auto support if you need it. It costed me Rs. 330 for the full-featured version. Try out their free version before plunking down any money.

Full Version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...y.jetaudioplus
Free Version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ctory.jetaudio

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Try clearing app's cache or data, or try upgrading the ROM?

I wipe the cache whenever this happens. But it happens again, after sometime.

Originally Posted by binand

Is your issue only with WhatsApp or all calls? If the former I wouldn't worry too much about it - it is anyway far too buggy to be usable.

Bad advise for fixing issues with WhatsApp, no? :-)

Yes, this happens only with WhatsApp voice calls.

[ValarMorghulis]

Originally Posted by anks_at

Try disabling the dynamic wallpapers:
Settings->Wallpaper->Wallpaper Services. Choose None.

Does that solve it?

Hey thanks!! This did solve it!

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

I have found OnePlus phones to be among the best Android phones in this budget segment and their performance remains consistent over the years.

Does the OnePlus Nord need a tempered glass ? Or is the Gorilla Glass 5 enough to offer protection? I'm thinking of getting the Nord for my mom, though its a bit of an overkill based on her requirements. Her last 2 phones have been Motorola's (currently uses G5s Plus). The 10-20k budget segment is terribly crowded!

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by PPS

Does the OnePlus Nord need a tempered glass ? Or is the Gorilla Glass 5 enough to offer protection? I'm thinking of getting the Nord for my mom, though its a bit of an overkill based on her requirements. Her last 2 phones have been Motorola's (currently uses G5s Plus). The 10-20k budget segment is terribly crowded!

At around a 25k budget the Nord is a great phone and good value for money.
I don't recommend tempered glass as that hardly protects the screen and cracks itself too easily. What I have been using on all my phones is flexible glass shields. They are quite good and also do not get damaged easily.
You should also get a good back case (spigen are best in my experience)
With both of these you should be good to go!
My wife has already dropped her phone twice (in less than 2 months) and with both of these protections in place it is undamaged (so far).

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

I don't recommend tempered glass as that hardly protects the screen and cracks itself too easily.

I don't mind the tempered glass cracking as long as it protects the screen.

What I have been using on all my phones is flexible glass shields. They are quite good and also do not get damaged easily.

I'm hearing this for the first time. Can these be bought at stores like Croma,etc or Amazon only?

You should also get a good back case (spigen are best in my experience)

Have been using Spigen for many years on my iPhone & can vouch for it. Came across this SupCase for the Nord, never heard of them before. Both are pricey! I got Spigen case for my iPhone under 1k last month.

https://www.amazon.in/stores/page/57...6&ref_=ast_bln

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by PPS

I

I'm hearing this for the first time. Can these be bought at stores like Croma,etc or Amazon only?

This is what I am using currently on my wife's Nord currently. It is pretty easy to apply and lasts well over a year.

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B08MQLWWRJ/...ing=UTF8&psc=1

The good thing is that it is not edge to edge and works well with all back cases and you do not feel any height difference or colour shift. (unlike tempered glass)

[sukhoi]

So we recently bought the A71 for mom to replace her old phone. Got a good deal and got this for INR 26,635 less 10% on SBI card (borrowed from a friend), making it effectively for INR 23,971.5. Phone is Sep 2020 manufactured & made in India. Purchased from Samsung website as part of corporate offers. In case anyone is interested in this or other Samsung models, do check out samsung website and corporate offers.

Originally Posted by sukhoi

The showroom did not have FE available for me to try out both FE & 20+ side by side when I went last. Would make another trip later this week (hopefully FE would be available) and experience both phones side by side. Hopefully I would be able to take a final call and get a new phone for Diwali photos

Finally got a chance to compare them side by side at Croma store but they did not have S20+ in stock in black and in grey they had one piece remaining which was reserved for a customer. S20+ felt better when compared side by side.

Not sure why but the store salesman was trying to push FE over 20+, maybe because they did not have 20+ in stock but had FE. S20+ offers a better display (Dynamic AMOLED versus Super AMOLED, though not sure if the difference would be noticed by an average user like me), fast charger in the box, AKG USB earphones). FE does not get a fast charger out of the box nor does it get earphones.

The problem was that the phone is not available anywhere (offline or online).
Finally seeing it available on Flipkart today evening. However since I have never purchased anything from them in recent times, had a query about the seller. Seller is TrueComRetail and is marked as fAssured. Is fAssured something same as Fulfilled by Amazon? Any feedback on this seller, reliable or not? Being a big ticket item, am not very sure of this seller. Earlier there used to a seller as WS-Retail which was essentially flipkart's own thing and that was considered safe. Please share your feedback from latest purchases from flipkart?

EDIT: Came across this article which talks about making Pixel 5's camera app available for all other phones.
From the article

The Google Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G were launched with a new version of the Google Camera app (v8.0) that featured a revamped UI and some exciting new features. While the app was initially reserved for Google’s latest phones, the company recently released Google Camera 8.1 which brought the new UI, Cinematic pan mode, and the Storage Saver feature to older Pixel devices. Now, thanks to the efforts of XDA Senior Member Arnova8G2, you can enjoy the new Google Camera 8.0 UI and features on a bunch of non-Pixel devices.

Cheers,
S

[poloman]

Got an Galaxy S20 for 42500 from Reliance Digital showroom. Not sure how they are offering such crazy discounts on a flagship phone launched close to 70K, 6 months back.

I was planning to buy a pixel 4A but that phone was perennially out of stock. My older phone was a Galaxy S7, so this was a natural transition and I had a preference for the Samsung ecosystem being a long term user.
S20 at 42K is better VFM than Pixel 4A at 32K.

Samsung pricing strategy has gone crazy, flagship S20 is cheaper than S20 FE and you can find all kinds of prices across various e-tailers and outlets. Looks like S20 sales were much below expectations and they are resorting to heavy discounting to move the inventory.