HoFo News

From The Web:

Social media gets teens hooked while feeding aggression and impulsivity, and researchers think they know why

Teens in North America might be the death of Android smartphones

Social media giants must face child safety lawsuits, judge rules

Meta will fight the EU over regulating Messenger

Here are Google's Black Friday deals, going live this Thursday

From The Forums:

TF de-activated my line claiming it's a Safelink account

2nd-hand Tracfone - does the original SIM still work with the phone?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Nothing is bringing iMessage to its Android phone

Apple finally admits it's doing the thing we all knew it had to do

Wireless Test Alerts Coming Nov. 15 in These Provinces and Territories

Samsung One UI 6 will reach 30 devices in the next five weeks, here's the roadmap

Google Pixel 8 Pro Camera Versus 40- and 50-Megapixel Mirrorless Cameras

From The Forums:

How to convert from Physical SIM to eSIM?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Google Pixel Watch 3 could get huge design change

Apple Watch Ultra 2 Review: Reaching for the top

Apple Plans Ambitious iOS 18 and macOS 15 Updates, Seeks to Squash Bugs

OnePlus Black Friday deals go live early, Motorola Edge+ $200 off, Nest x Yale smart lock $250, more

Samsung's early access Black Friday deals let you save big on Galaxy S23 Ultra, Z Fold5 in the US

From The Forums:

No Verizon at Palm Springs Airport

LOL, Tracfone is getting crafty with words!

Is Straight Talk Unlimited Silver Plan subject to deprioritization? Is there a throttle limit?

Replacement Phone for Cricket

T-Mobile surpasses Verizon as biggest prepaid carrier

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

The Best Android Phones

Can Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Seamless turn the tide on Apple?

Apple admits third-party App Stores in Europe are inevitable

iOS 17.2 Will Add These 10 New Features to Your iPhone

Top 10 trending phones of week 45

From The Forums:

Unlocking problem

Does anyone win rewards on Scratch-And-Win and Spin-The-Wheel or are they pointless to play anymore?

US Mobile eSIM tranfers

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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It's time for a new thread of the week, our way of recognizing forum members for promoting valuable discussion here.

Every weekday yours truly posts a morning briefing, including the most popular forum threads—that is, the posts with the most replies—for the previous 24 hour period. For reference, here are the briefings for the past seven days:

Your Morning Briefing for Monday, November 6th, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, November 7th, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, November 8th, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, November 9th, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, November 10th, 2023

Remember that the Monday briefing includes forum posts from the prior Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so all weekend posts are similarly eligible.

In each briefing, forum posts are ranked by the number of replies (from highest to lowest). That's subject to change, of course, so I did a quick recount of replies for all forum posts in the briefings above. With 136 replies as of this posting the most popular thread started last week is:

AT&T Vs. Verizon Coverage

Congrats to Jim1348 for starting our one hundred and ninety-fifth thread of the week! As a small token of our appreciation, please enjoy a monthlong Premium Membership on us. Benefits include ad-free browsing, increased private message count, access to a subscriber-only forum, extra attachment space, a referral/affiliate signature link, the ability to post referrals, and a custom avatar and user title!

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Fitbit has removed its products from nearly 30 countries to ‘align’ with Pixel

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE review: parts bin revisited

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra long-term review

Mark Zuckerberg ignored teen and user safety warnings from Meta executives

Flashback: the Nokia N86 8MP was the last of the great Symbian sliders

From The Forums:

Inactive phones

Motorola BYOP to Straight Talk Verizon Network

Need help replacing broken phone

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

iOS 17.1.1 fixes wireless charging related issues, watchOS 10.1.1 fixes Apple Watch battery drain

Samsung launches premium S Pen to tempt iPad artists in the US

Android 14’s storage disaster gets patched, but your data might be gone

Ubuntu Touch OTA-3 released with support for over two dozen devices (including the PinePhone and PinePhone Pro)

US watchdog wants Apple Pay regulated like a bank

From The Forums:

Tracfone Iphone SE3 ... Is it really that bad?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Google and major European carriers ask the EU to make iMessage a core platform service

Samsung unveils Gauss - its own generative AI that's coming to the Galaxy S24

Verizon, AT&T Customers Sue To Reverse T-Mobile Merger, Saying It Raised Everybody’s Prices

Canada’s 5G Networks Struggle Big Time vs The World

Rogers Debuts 5G Plan for Low-Income Canadians with Free Phone

From The Forums:

redditor claims success with reclaiming FreedomPOP lines

TracFone / Numbers

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Android 14 November security patch rolling out

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 ‘for Galaxy’ allegedly adds even more raw power

Report: Samsung will unveil the S24 series at a US event on January 17

Subscription services are here to stay whether we like it or not

The World's First App Store

From The Forums:

30gb Basic Mobile Internet for $5/month

Problems paying TMo with debit card

Transferring Service to new phone - best way to do this?

Is it even possible?

best phones for metro pcs

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

This tiny device is sending updated iPhones into a never-ending DoS loop

Apple Argued Safari Is Three Different Browsers to Avoid Regulation

Apple slides from 2013 skewer Android as “a massive tracking device”

Google has removed Android’s COVID-19 exposure notification settings

Top 10 trending phones of week 44

From The Forums:

AT&T Vs. Verizon Coverage

Security Verification notice?

Identifying google voice "answer calls on" devices

a51 issue with usb port

changing account security info

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

It's time for a new thread of the week, our way of recognizing forum members for promoting valuable discussion here.

Every weekday yours truly posts a morning briefing, including the most popular forum threads—that is, the posts with the most replies—for the previous 24 hour period. For reference, here are the briefings for the past seven days:

Your Morning Briefing for Monday, October 30th, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, October 31st, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, November 1st, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, November 2nd, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, November 3rd, 2023

Remember that the Monday briefing includes forum posts from the prior Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so all weekend posts are similarly eligible.

In each briefing, forum posts are ranked by the number of replies (from highest to lowest). That's subject to change, of course, so I did a quick recount of replies for all forum posts in the briefings above. With 22 replies as of this posting the most popular thread started last week is:

Sim Swapping

Congrats to kaZZoo for starting our one hundred and ninety-fourth thread of the week! As a small token of our appreciation, please enjoy a monthlong Premium Membership on us. Benefits include ad-free browsing, increased private message count, access to a subscriber-only forum, extra attachment space, a referral/affiliate signature link, the ability to post referrals, and a custom avatar and user title!

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

From The Web:

Apple Q4 report shows strong iPhone sales, all-time high services revenue

Verizon will give you a free iPhone 15 Pro if you trade in any older iPhone

Connected Smartwatch for Kids

Without a Trace: How to Take Your Phone Off the Grid

The restaurant nearest Google

From The Forums:

Rewards Plus nuisance notification

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is already discounted by $100

Samsung’s Galaxy S23 starts receiving Android 14 update

Samsung rolling out free cloud storage with a small catch

Apple Watch support for Android was ‘nearly complete,’ canceled to protect iPhone

There’s a surprising new top-five player in the smartphone market

From The Forums:

Red Pocket Black Friday 2023 Deals

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Facebook and Instagram launch a paid ad-free subscription

YouTube is getting serious about blocking ad blockers

Android 13 takes the lead in Android OS distribution stats

Here’s every smartphone set to use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 so far

Messages for web starts rolling out new Google Account device pairing

From The Forums:

Get Visible+ for $35 a month until 11.30.23

Missing data usage meter

How to get out of Legacy Prepaid useless plan?

Data Speeds - Slow, Enable Airplane mode or Network Reset then fast for short period

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Apple’s Scary Fast M3 Mac event is the first keynote shot on iPhone

The Google Pixel 7A at $125 off is all treat, no trick

Samsung confirms a list of over 20 Galaxy smartphones that will get Android 14

Xiaomi launches new home-grown OS, as Huawei moves further from Android

Huawei phones are saying that the Google app is a virus

From The Forums:

Sim Swapping

Ebay BYOP Annual Plan Sim issues

Cheap International Roaming?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Here’s the Truth Behind the Biggest (and Dumbest) Battery Myths

Tata to become first Indian company to make iPhones with the $125 million Wistron deal

Google paid a whopping $26.3 billion in 2021 to be the default search engine everywhere

T-Mobile employee James Tu posted customers' photos: Lawsuit

Top 10 trending phones of week 43

From The Forums:

Unlocking Question

State of rural / semi-rural coverage, backup power, and network access

New phone with best value

Is TF website Chat link missing, or is it just me?

---------
Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

It's time for a new thread of the week, our way of recognizing forum members for promoting valuable discussion here.

Every weekday yours truly posts a morning briefing, including the most popular forum threads—that is, the posts with the most replies—for the previous 24 hour period. For reference, here are the briefings for the past seven days:

Your Morning Briefing for Monday, October 23rd, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, October 24th, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, October 25th, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, October 26th, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, October 27th, 2023

Remember that the Monday briefing includes forum posts from the prior Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so all weekend posts are similarly eligible.

In each briefing, forum posts are ranked by the number of replies (from highest to lowest). That's subject to change, of course, so I did a quick recount of replies for all forum posts in the briefings above. With 64 replies as of this posting the most popular thread started last week is:

T-Mobile Will Force Customers Onto Newer Plans Unless You Opt-Out

Congrats to DRC72 for starting our one hundred and ninety-third thread of the week! As a small token of our appreciation, please enjoy a monthlong Premium Membership on us. Benefits include ad-free browsing, increased private message count, access to a subscriber-only forum, extra attachment space, a referral/affiliate signature link, the ability to post referrals, and a custom avatar and user title!

---------
Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

From The Web:

States sue Meta, claiming Instagram, Facebook are addictive, harm kids

Apple commits to nationwide right-to-repair bill in the U.S.

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is now available in the US with a sneaky price hike

Public Mobile Promo Cuts $34/20GB Plan to 30 Days from 90 Days

We tested Freedom Mobile's 5G to see if it's better than our current carriers

From The Forums:

Writing & Note apps

Bought Tracfon package with 1 year service, want to keep using existing phone / sim

Monthly Plan End Date

Tracfone Text Messages Just Doubled On their Own

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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