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EskeRahn

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Posts posted by EskeRahn

    Fingerprint sensor & gestures

    in Pro1 - Thoughts & questions

    Posted

    It must sit a little low, so you won’t press it while gripping.

     

    It is a matter of the grip, but sure if it have sat a little lower, the risk of accidentally activating it with the left pinky in portrait would be less, on the other hand that would increase the risk of doing it with the right index finger in landscape, and that would be worse. So as Pie only allow five fingers entered anyway, simply do not enrol the left pinky.

    Updates? More Consistent Interaction from Dev Team

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Being a metal phone I’m not sure how strong the antennas are going to be for all the wireless related things 2g, 3g, 4g, WiFi 2.4,5, Bluetooth, nfc, fm radio. Some people overlook that (Sony did with the Xperia X, it came with a plastic bottom where all the antennas were located, blocking it would significantly drop signal, at least for me).

     

    I do not know the answers, but on FM, they use the headphones. To get a signal in you need something not far from ¼ wavelength, and in the FM band that is way beyond even the largest phablet. There are good reason while small transistor radios got an external antenna.

     

    I can say that the FM reception with the preproduction unit it is EXTREMELY much more sensitive than my last phone with FM, the Xperia (Neo) Pro.

    In conditions where the (Neo) Pro struggles to get even audible Mono and if you hold the cable exactly right. The Pro¹, at the same position, delivers (almost) noise free stereo, no matter how I turn or twist the cable, you can even crumple the headphone cable. And this is indoors..... This was a nice surprise!

    Small update for those only following the forums.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I feel pretty much the opposite, on a phone as big as 6″ I like to have dense home screen, lists, etc.

     

    I feel sort of the same way. The whole point of a huge phablets beyond one hand operable phones is - to me - to get more information on the surface. Why else sacrifice the one hand operability?

     

    SURE it is nice that a large display can also be used as a more handicap friendly device with a huge font for people with impaired vision, but though pushing 60, I'm not there (yet).

     

    It is not really a showstopper to me if an app looks sort of ugly. I would guess that most others that want a keyboard-device are going for function over aesthetics too anyway.

    Small update for those only following the forums.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I use both gmail and outlook mail app, and both work flawlessly in landscape. As does the SMS app, whatsapp, discord, twitter, skype, and slack (damn I have lots of communication apps…)

     

    Though GMAIL technically works in landscape, it is clearly not intended to be used in landscape.

    It missuses the display with so much spacing that you need to scroll a LOT.

    The 'overview' only showing TWO mail headers on each screen.

     

    Here an example on the same device (with same font etc settings)

     

    [attachment file=15076]

     

    Gmail has some keyboard functionality though, so not completely hopeless on a Pro¹.

     

    Fingerprint sensor & gestures

    in Pro1 - Thoughts & questions

    Posted

    Does look impractical with the position.

     

    May of been better in the screen but then gestures wouldn’t be needed anyway your finger is already on the screen,

     

    I can say it sits quite comfy for the right index or middle finger in landscape (both open and closed).

    In portrait it sits perfect for the left ring finger (pinky or middle finger also possible). For the left handed holding the device in their right hand it does sit a little low for the thumb, but it is not that you will shift it so much that you loose the grip.

    Apps that works great with a real keyboard and in landscape

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Suggested apps

    (By "works unproblematic in landscape" I among other things mean that they don't make odd scaling, or omit to wrap things differently)

     

    Mail

    K9-mail, 4.2, 5M+,

    This works unproblematic in landscape, and supports navigation with arrow keys, and also supports tab/shift+tab

    As far as I know, some functionality is touch only

    An advanced mail client with a lot of options. Key navigation also active in setup.

    (Many mail clients insists on threaded view, I just HATE that, and though default, it is an option here)

    Here the look compared to Gmail native app

    GmailVsK9_Collage.png.49c2c2fa02f775330df5037e35902183.png

     

    web-browser

    FireFox, 4.4, 100M+

    This works unproblematic in landscape, and supports navigation with arrow keys, and also supports tab/shift+tab

    Navigation slightly different if a site is requested in desktop mode.

    As far as I know, some functionality is touch only

     

    FireFox Focus, 4.4, 5M+

    As above, but privacy focused.

     

    Keyboard Browser, 4.3, 10K+

    As the name says this is DESIGNED to be used with a keyboard, and it works well in landscape also.

    Apps that works great with a real keyboard and in landscape

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Apps working well in landscape, optimally using the keyboard well

     

    Suggestions

    Please add your suggestions in comments below, and I will adjust the list in this primary post

    Please give your reasons for suggesting it for the list! Why is it especially suited for the PRO1?

    Please include a suggested category (new or existing)

     

    Smallprints:

    This is intended to be a list of apps that will work well in landscape and optimally uses the keyboard well.
    But only those where none/few of the competitors does too.

    I plan to place them here in groups.They will be ordered within the groups by a (subjective) mix of number of users and their rating.

    Some apps I see no reason to include. e.g. apps for displaying video or streaming TV, or full screen games or similar that are naturally in landscape, unless they got some especially keyboard-friendly features,

    Also apps that has no substitutes should be omitted. (e.g. an app for your bank, some special hardware, national rail roads...).

    I will just write the name (with link) and ratings of the apps, and link to a recommending post with the actual reason why it is suggested as suitable for landscape/keyboard.

    Please don't misuse this for advertising style posts, those will be moderated partially or even deleted

    Please include the ratings and number of downloads from the Android Market (also known by the silly name Play Store), as this can give a hint on the apps general qualities. so no reason for a general review of the app, primarily what matters to the Pro¹, or how it differs from others in the group.

    Feel free to suggest several apps for the same category. There are no such thing as a best app for everyone and everything.

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 3

    Small update for those only following the forums.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    So yes – it is great that fxtec offers to fix this, but I also feel like it really isn’t their task to do that, instead of optimizing their own hard- and software and to implement it in a fluid way to apps already supporting landscape.

     

    It is not that FxTec can fix it, but I think they plan to have some apps like a mail client.

     

    PERSONALLY it sounds like a waste of time, as mail clients like K9-mail that works great landscape and with keyboard already exists. But i'm sure they got their reasons, and we will see what apps they will offer and what special treats these will offer over 'standard' apps.

    Small update for those only following the forums.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    @eskerahn:

     

    That sounds good, thank you.

     

    Although it may still have some modifications, what is your opinion about the current image quality of the rear camera?

     

    Does GPS reception work well – if you know, what are the supported GNSS / GPS systems?

     

    The images looks better than I expected, but I have not done any real testing, and anyway it would not be quite fair to conclude much currently, as they are clearly not done tuning stuff. The apps I have tried only use one of the cameras.

    Small update for those only following the forums.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    @MortisAngelus

    Oh i do not mean that every app HAVE to be in landscape, but if you primarily use it for typing, it would seem silly to change to close the keyboard, change to portrait, switch to the internet radio app, switch channel, and then open and turn into landscape to continue what you were doing.

     

    But SURE if you take the phone from the pocket just to use one of these portrait only apps with touch only, it would not be an issue, that the program designers were lazy/incompetent.

     

    But frankly only for very special apps I see good reasons to NOT offer both portrait and landscape - and that is primilly like TV-apps where you do not really need portrait. But sure there are rare stuff out there that naturally cries for portrait only, e.g. something emulating an old standard pocket calculator. as the visual emulation would be broken rearranging stuff in landscape.

     

    on the a) you could turn the question around and say why not offer both options? I'm sure there are scenarios where one are more convenient than the other. But I bet that for the majority of websites, it is easier to navigate with touch. But if you are to read a long text, just use an arrow to move is quite conveinient.

     

    on b) yes luckily they have not removed support for real keyboards in Android, but its clearly touch-oriented. Just as it is hard to operate Windows with keyboard only so is Android.

     

    Small update for those only following the forums.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    @eskerahn

     

    how do you feel about scrolling for example websites with the device, do you have to use the onscreen-keyboard for example while browsing and writing something to the address bar?

     

    How do you feel the phone feels on your hands? Are the sides curved so that it would feel comfortable? Or are they like a slab that is very unergonomic to hold? Both closed and opened (holding landscape and portrait)

     

    What about the notification LED? Do you feel it is visible from a far distance away? Is the LED big and customisable one? I especially love the LED on my Samsung S3. It is big and easily visible´from all angles and even far away. Hate the LG G5 for such a small notification LED that you can’t even see.

     

    Is the phone experiencing any heating or extreme warming with the usage you have?

     

    In FF (have not tested with other browsers) you can scroll with arrows or traditional touch. And YES the good old Tab and Shift-Tab is indeed supported - at the least in some apps and to some extent. I used it to jump through fields in setting up the details of my mail-accounts in my K9-mail.

     

    Despite it (for my hands) is clearly a two handed phablet, it feels quite comfy to hold, As a slab, the 'edge' mentioned and the extra thickness give a good grip, But I'm not going to operate it as a phone with one hand.

     

    The notification LEDs are very bright, I got no idea how the LED can be used

     

    Surprisingly very little heating, even at the most intesive things i have done so far. But I\m not a gamer, so are not a heavy user.

    Small update for those only following the forums.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Not to sound condescending – I really appreciate and admire all the amazing work that you do atm, but why is there (both here on the forum and in the live stream interview) such a huge topic/discussion about “optimizing apps for landscape” and “getting good keyboard support/navigation”? Why is this even a problem?

     

    I ask this because:

     

    1) I don’t know about you, but I use my regular phone like 90 % of the time in landscape. I cannot type in portrait mode anyways; feels too small to type on a portrait touch keyboard. And apart from only a few apps (can’t even remember one now) I have never felt that it wasn’t optimized well enough for landscape mode – even with on-screen keyboard. So someone enlighten me what all these apps are that need so much landscape optimization.

     

    2) My latest physical keyboard phone was a Sony Xperia Pro Mk16i back in 2013. It rocked Android 4.0 I believe. I never had any issues with the keyboard implementation on that device. This is just a personal opinion, but as long as the Pro1 works as good as that old phone, I am happy; meaning pretty much only that A) when keyboard is slid out, the phone locks itself into landscape mode, B) when slid out, the on-screen keyboard gets disabled. Anything else is just a luxury imo. And it also had key-arrow navigation of the OS.

     

    Point is, if it was possible to make a fluid experience back in 2011 with something as clunky as Android 4.0, it shouldn’t be that difficult in 2019, should it? Just get those two basic things (point A and B) to work properly at launch, and otherwise make Android 9 run smoothly (like any normal phone), and any special fancy stuff can be added on in updates.

     

    @eskerahn: What phones are you gonna compare the typing experience to?

     

    on 1) Well a lot of apps out there are done by lazy programmers/designers only thinking of Portrait, Some do landscape, but just widening things with a lot of 'white space', scaling or even stretching, not even changing the column-width of their texts, An example is the Danish national broadcast app "DR Radio", only supporting portrait (their DR TV does support landscape though) - see below. The app from the national railways as well as the largest Danish bank, has similar issues... with no alternatives.

    So you have to seek out apps that works well, or rethink the design of the app if it is something you got control off

     

    on 2) I got an SE Xperia (Neo) Pro from 2011 too. So this, the BB Priv, and the Samsung S8- with a click-on keyboard is my plan.

     

    The below are unsharp shrunken images not taken with a real camera, just the S8-, but you can enjoy the backlight none the less :)

    And YES I've put a flat screenprotector on it, not a perfect fit, I did not dare risk this hard to get to device...

     

    [attachment file=IMG_20190516_181339_HDR~01.jpg]

     

    [attachment file=IMG_20190516_181318_HDR~01.jpg]

    Small update for those only following the forums.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    The software isn’t in a hurry i guess as even when the device is out OTA updates can be offered, etc.

     

    Exactly my thoughts! The worst issue being if there are severe bugs that can affect reviews from influential sites and initial buyers damaging the reputation in ways influencing the sales. But overall the software/experience is very close to stock android, so that means a lot of potential bugs have already been handled by others. ;)

    Small update for those only following the forums.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Wow you so lucky to get to see one already :)! Are you at liberty to tell us more? How does it feel to type on?

     

    I believe I am. It is an awesome device, hardware-wise, but the software still need some ironing out, but it is surprisingly bugfree. But the keyboard driver/app definitely need some work. I plan to compose some sort of mini-review over the next few days, when I find the time for it. also comparing it with some older devices.

     

    Small update for those only following the forums.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    If they could get a license agreement for an official dbrand skin it would solve two issues: it would counter the fatty fingers marks, and it would probably reduce/counter any wobble from the small camera bump.

     

    I really hope for dbrand, since a traditional case might be difficult for this slider-form factor.

     

    A back skin would be a nice alternative to a case. No matter the brand.

    Preferably one with a little more grib than the smooth metal back.

    Cleverly it is NOT a back rounding smoothly into the side though, it has an edge that improves the grip (got my hands on a pre-production unit)

    I tried to make a sketch:

     

    [attachment file=14910]

    POLL: What keyboard layout do you want?

    in Pro1 - Thoughts & questions

    Posted

    Sorry nothing at all against your poll. I am indeed glad you made it. I am just saying, that the 13 votes could be the same very eager person. But at least you can see why they confirmed a German layout.

    Yeah makes sense. It just makes me reflect on the odd decisions of the past (like… 8 years ago or so) when phones with physical keyboards could only be found in USA;

     

    My Xperia Pro Mk16i (which I loved so much) died, and I was looking at getting a newer keyboard phone. There were options from both LG, Samsung and Motorola (that I can remember). but for some odd reason, these phones were sold exclusively on the US-market. I still to this day cannot grasp why these phones were only sold to USA and not anywhere else. I doubt Europeans and Asians disliked physical keyboards any less than Americans….

     

    I'm guessing here: If you already see the keyboard you want in the pictures, you might not bother to even open a thread on alternative layouts?

     

    The German QWERTZ thread had been up for quite a while, and this might have wheeled in people with interest in the German keyboard to be active in the forum, ant from here they got to the poll thread...

     

    But just guessing.

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