GG on smart phones

[aLiteSneeze]

Forgive my ignorance in advance because I know nothing about running forums. BUT.

I've noticed some forums know you're on a smart phone and make themselves more viewable as a result. Can GG become like this or is it not popular enough to warrant it? I mean I would love it. But that's just me.

[Sadogoat]

The GG forums are displayed fine on my Blackberry....

[Salvage Guy]

I think that would require someone building a mobile version if the website. Of the bbc can't be added, what's the likelihood if GG getting one?

[Hamz]

i can view it but have to do all kinds of finnagling to zoom and read everything.

bbc does have an app to view news stories.

[StrangeWill]

Originally Posted by Salvage Guy

I think that would require someone building a mobile version if the website. Of the bbc can't be added, what's the likelihood if GG getting one?

vBulletin should have mobile optimized themes.

[CtrlAltDel]

vB offers an app for iphone/android that we can purchase when we upgrade it. But for us to buy it we'd have to charge you all it since it's expensive.

The homepage is in the process of getting redone to be, well better, for phones and in general. Plus new features. The forum is down the list to redo, but I'd like to at least upgrade to the latest version. If the 30 people that post here want to fund the purchase ($3-4 each I think) of the smartphone addon, then I'm sure we can set that up as well.

As far as a forum friendly theme, we can look into it, but I wouldn't work on one until we are on the latest version.

[Miss Lucifer]

Doesn't work for shit on my phone. Might be because I have a Huawei though.

[J A Eyers]

I have an HTC Wildfire and except for panning around the screen GG works okay for me. Pretty fiddly posting, though that's true for most sites. Reading posts is fine.

[BullpupDFWM]

Works/looks fine on a galaxy s1, will try it on an s2 tomorrow.

[Sadogoat]

Traded in my Blackberry for a HTC Desire. It was ok on the BB but it's even better on the Android.

[StrangeWill]

Droid Incredible here, tested it out a few days ago, looks fine.

[aLiteSneeze]

Really? Mine just loads like a small webpage which I have to scroll around, a lot. It's not a good phone though. Never again, Apple, never again.

Oh well- probably a good thing I can't comfortably get on GG on my phone!

That being said I'd be happy to contribute towards it but it seems like I'm the only person with much of a need! How sad....

[Anceh]

You got an Iphone?

[BullpupDFWM]

iphones are massively popular here, Android phones haven't taken off here anything like they have overseas.

I spend most of my day talking people out of getting iphones and into getting the cheaper, better, faster galaxy or HTC.

[aLiteSneeze]

I got it quite some time ago, and my two-year contract is nearly up, and I hope to get a Samsung Galaxy S II. Or a nice HTC or a Windows phone because I drool over those bad boys for some reason. Just like the menus and stuff. For some unusual reason, I did very little research into getting my first smart phone. It's not like me. I was used to my basic little flip phone that made calls and sent texts so everything seemed to exciting. I had no perspective.

BUT I don't want to go to Android until Instagram comes out on Android. It's the one app I actually enjoy.

[Eldritch]

Looks really good on my Samsung Omnia 7 with Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango).

[Salvage Guy]

Originally Posted by Sadogoat

Traded in my Blackberry for a HTC Desire. It was ok on the BB but it's even better on the Android.

Desire is good but I have the one before the HD and am somewhat frustrated by the lack of internal memory. Contract's up in a few months thankfully though I might stick with HTC after having a play about with the Samsung Galaxy S (not 2 though) and wasn't impressed by it's performance nor the whole Samsung app store crap.

[J A Eyers]

Originally Posted by BullpupDFWM

iphones are massively popular here, Android phones haven't taken off here anything like they have overseas.

I spend most of my day talking people out of getting iphones and into getting the cheaper, better, faster galaxy or HTC.

Give it time. It's only really been in the last couple of years that Android has really taken off here in the UK as the main rival to Apple. As in the US, Android phones look to overtake Apple within a year. Of course Apple will probably remain the largest single provider, but with the economy the way it is, they're like General Motors, producing a big beautiful expensive product when people are happy to lose a few bells and whistles for a cheaper alternative. I wouldn't pay £40 a month for an iPhone when I get unlimited internet and more free minutes/texts on my Android phone for under £15 a month.

And to be honest I don't see what all the fuss is about with Siri on the iPhone 4S. Apps that do all that have been available for Android for ages.

[nVidiot_Whore]

There are mobile friendly themes out there for VB 3.x.. really one main one, not hard to find on vbulletin.org

Then you can get a plugin for VB 3.x that auto-detects that you are browsing from a mobile phone, and will select that theme for you.

All free and fairly easy to install.

[Yelsent]

Originally Posted by J A Eyers

Of course Apple will probably remain the largest single provider, but with the economy the way it is, they're like General Motors, producing a big beautiful expensive product when people are happy to lose a few bells and whistles for a cheaper alternative.

Except that GM never put any care into detail, quality control, looks, engineering or efficiency into their products (nor were they really expensive) and only managed to keep on for so long before the bail out because of patriotic Americans still wanting to 'support their own industries', despite being vastly inferior to foreign products.

It does please me that Android is catching up with iPhones though. I wonder when batteries, who aren't really any better than they were ten years ago, will catch up to the rest though. At this rate, the new technologically advanced phones suck out all the power in a day or so. The new iPhone 4s I heard was so bad with battery capacity that if you set the alarm with half the battery left when you go to bed, it would be dead and not having rung the next morning, making you miss the alarm.

[Anceh]

Nanobatteries - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hopefully that comes out within the next 20 years

[nVidiot_Whore]

Originally Posted by Yelsent

The new iPhone 4s I heard was so bad with battery capacity that if you set the alarm with half the battery left when you go to bed, it would be dead and not having rung the next morning, making you miss the alarm.

iPhones have never had bad battery life, including the 4s.

I went to bed with my phone at about 15% last night.. it was at... 15% this morning when my alarm went off.

Siri is certainly over-hyped.. but it is pretty useful, and I've used Android voice control.. it pales in comparison, including the 3rd party software.

[Yelsent]

Your phone's battery percentage did barely go down, if at all during your sleep? How long do you sleep for, two hours each night?

[nVidiot_Whore]

I went to bed at 12:30 and got up at about 7.

As long as no-one is calling or texting me, my phone will often report the same battery percentage after several hours on standby. Those percentages come from software anyways, it's not like my battery didn't get some use.

It has 200 or so hours of standby time.. so any given hour would only be half a percentage.. so if it was being entirely accurate I might have seen 2-4% loss, but again.. the software just does it's best to estimate, and during use (right before I went to bed) it probably over-compensate.

People sure are strange when discussing Apple products.. I'm not a big Apple fanboy, but the iPhone and iOS are extremely solid products. The original lacked many features it really should have had, but Apple revolutionized touch interfaces at the same time.. post 3g or so it's generally been considered the best phone on the market overall, largely due to iOS.

And it also has a great browser.. aLiteSneeze's comment is pretty hilarious.. having to "scroll around"? WTF do you expect? It's a 3" screen. lol I love how all of the non-iPhone owners forgot to chime in and mention they also have to scroll around to see the site.. Apple has more "anti fanboys" than any other company I've ever seen.. people who act entirely irrational when comparing other products to Apples.

They also have some INSANE fanboys.. but I just ignore them and judge products on my own measurements.

[Hamz]

iphones are pretty nice. I have a cheap android phone, which works pretty well. It isn't going to win any awards.

I haven't tried an HTC but I don't really have a use for one unless I decided to play some graphic intensive games or something.

[BullpupDFWM]

Originally Posted by nVidiot_Whore

I went to bed at 12:30 and got up at about 7.

As long as no-one is calling or texting me, my phone will often report the same battery percentage after several hours on standby. Those percentages come from software anyways, it's not like my battery didn't get some use.

It has 200 or so hours of standby time.. so any given hour would only be half a percentage.. so if it was being entirely accurate I might have seen 2-4% loss, but again.. the software just does it's best to estimate, and during use (right before I went to bed) it probably over-compensate.

People sure are strange when discussing Apple products.. I'm not a big Apple fanboy, but the iPhone and iOS are extremely solid products. The original lacked many features it really should have had, but Apple revolutionized touch interfaces at the same time.. post 3g or so it's generally been considered the best phone on the market overall, largely due to iOS.

And it also has a great browser.. aLiteSneeze's comment is pretty hilarious.. having to "scroll around"? WTF do you expect? It's a 3" screen. lol I love how all of the non-iPhone owners forgot to chime in and mention they also have to scroll around to see the site.. Apple has more "anti fanboys" than any other company I've ever seen.. people who act entirely irrational when comparing other products to Apples.

They also have some INSANE fanboys.. but I just ignore them and judge products on my own measurements.

It's not so much that their handsets or software are shit, it's that they're over priced and over rated. Yes, the iPhone, particularly the 4 and the 4s are solid products, iOS is easy to use and over all a decent piece of software, BUT, anything iPhones can do, Androids can do, and overall they can do it cheaper, faster and better. As JA has pointed out Siri is one of the most marketed features of the 4s, but very similar products have been available on Android for ages.

[nVidiot_Whore]

Originally Posted by BullpupDFWM

It's not so much that their handsets or software are shit, it's that they're over priced and over rated.

Well iPhone base model prices are comparable to the phones you listed in this thread. I could have paid the same for my iPhone 4s that I could have for a Galaxy S2. Do they jack you on increased sizes? Certainly can't argue with you there.. expandable with memory cards is certainly preferable, and typical of Apple's price gauging.

And really, it's all opinions anyways. Apple products, and particularly their iOS devices hold a lot of "Value" to people.. actual hardware costs vs. price? Certainly can't argue there.. but products aren't priced based on their costs, they are priced based on their value. I find iOS devices to have a very high value. They perform consistently, with very few bugs or issues.. I can purchase software once and install it across all of my devices, they work well with my PC's, my super cheap $99 Apple TV, and because of their popularity, have great 3rd party software and hardware support.

Do I have a wish list for Apple that likely will never be met? But none of them are deal breakers. The cost of space is one issue, and lack of SD support. I spend a bit of extra cash and get the 32 or 64gb version of most Apple products I buy. It's a rip-off from a cost standpoint, but I eat it and move on with my life, and enjoy the product I purchased. I buy a phone and use it every single day for 2 years usually.. so it's not difficult for me to justify a couple extra hundred dollars.

and overall they can do it cheaper, faster and better.

My iPhone 4s browses sites over 50% faster than a Galaxy S2 (iPhone 4's now slightly best the S2).. it has pretty much no performance issues with any software written for it. iOS is generally considered smoother and better performing than Android overall.. on any phone.

They do it with cheaper,slower hardware.. it doesn't bother me whatsoever, because in the end the device performs flawlessly.

As JA has pointed out Siri is one of the most marketed features of the 4s, but very similar products have been available on Android for ages.

And as I pointed out, Siri is widely considered to be the best. It's not like iOS didn't also have software available for "ages".. it had built in voice control pre-Siri.. Siri is a huge advancement.

The software updates are more consistent, generally work on all devices, unlike Android phones that have to wait for a carrier update, etc.

And if I really felt like it.. I could jailbreak my iPhone.. and get a lot of the features Android users hype. I've tried it, and didn't need or really desire anything it offered.

TBH? The fact that you claimed you would recommend an Android phone to every single consumer over an iOS based phone? Really dude? You think your average Joe can take advantage of the flexibility of an Android phone? You think they'll notice the difference between that Android phone's higher end processor and more RAM? Go home and root their device? Honestly makes you sound like an anti-fanboy. If I worked retail, I'd certainly recommend Android to some people.. but other people? I'd definitely recommend an iPhone. Especially if they have other Apple products at home.

[BullpupDFWM]

Originally Posted by nVidiot_Whore

TBH? The fact that you claimed you would recommend an Android phone to every single consumer over an iOS based phone? Really dude? You think your average Joe can take advantage of the flexibility of an Android phone? You think they'll notice the difference between that Android phone's higher end processor and more RAM? Go home and root their device? Honestly makes you sound like an anti-fanboy. If I worked retail, I'd certainly recommend Android to some people.. but other people?

Honestly, 90% of the time, no. I could sell someone an iPhone or an Android or a Nokia and people won't notice a single difference. Except for the cost. I don't know how it works in America or elsewhere, but here iPhones are ridiculously overpriced. Even the 4 is still on a higher minimum plan than an s2 or an HTC sensation xe.

People in general are also idiots, they only want an iphone because they think that's all there is. I had one family come looking for iphones, after they saw the cost of the iphones vs the cost of several different android phones they left with android phones. I can sell a parent an s2 and sell their kid a galaxy ace based on the fact that the kid will learn faster and then teach the parent how to use their phone (or and sensation xl and an explorer, or an optimus 2x and an optimus one).

I'm not just talking people out of iphones to be a dick to apple. In all practicality the diversity that android phones offer suits more people more easily, and once they see the price there's no question.

I'd definitely recommend an iPhone. Especially if they have other Apple products at home.

This is the only time I'll recommend people an iphone. I have sold them before, but generally only to people who take full advantage of the icloud and are already heavy apple users. It's the only way I can justify taking that amount of money off people.

[J A Eyers]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an Apple hater. Indeed, I'm following all the iPad 3 rumours and if it does indeed turn out to be the high definition version I'll be getting one pretty much right away. The nearest comparable tablet to the iPad so far as I can see is the Samsung Galaxy one, and that costs the same here anyway.

But iPhones cost three times as much each month as many Android phones, but they're not three times as good. This isn't entirely Apple's fault, of course, because it's the phone networks that set the subscription prices, but Apple create the hype, people get sucked in, and the networks cash in on that.

I had a go on someone's Siri on Friday and it was hardly what it's hyped to be. It can't find any locations in the vicinity, whereas the free Vlingo app that has been available on Android for ages can find what you're looking for using Google Maps and then use GPS to give you verbal directions like a satnav. Plus it's hand's free. You don't need to tap any buttons. You can just say "Hey Vlingo" and it starts listening. It can take dictation for text messages just like Siri. Yes, Siri is a fun toy when you ask it to talk dirty to you, but Apple is playing catch-up to Android, yet have successfully hyped their late entry into the game as the beginning of a new era. It's brilliant marketing, but it pays to be wary of it.

[nVidiot_Whore]

Interesting.. plans and prices are all fairly comparable here in the US.. aka, everyone gets ripped off.

Now I can definitely see where you guys are coming from.

And yeah.. I find Siri to be over-rated overall. Vlingo is also available on iOS.. it does some things better, but Siri has been WAY more accurate with dictation for me. Could be my voice.