HoFo Blog

From The Web:

Google Pixel Watch could get its first discount as soon as Black Friday

Samsung halts Galaxy Watch 4 update following bricking reports

Samsung November 2022 update rolling out for these Galaxy devices

November security patch hits Pixel 4a and newer

Apple Preparing iOS 16.1.1 as Widespread Wi-Fi Bug Persists

From The Forums:

TF getting aggressive

USMobile...What happened?

T-mobile network pass on TracFone esim

Looking for new phone

HSN Price Guarantee on TF phones?

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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:

Worker exodus from world’s largest iPhone factory hits Apple supply chain

The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max will come with ‘longer wait times’ due to factory lockdown

This week in Canadian telecom: tis the season for quarterly reports

Weekly deals: the best smartphone deals from the US, the UK and Germany

Top 10 trending phones of week 44

From The Forums:

AT&T Vs. Verizon Coverage

New company: Mobile X

USMobile experience

How is it that your cellphone "wakes up" when it is moved?

Moto G Stylus 2021 stylus question

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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, October 31st, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, November 1st, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, November 2nd, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, November 3rd, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, November 4th, 2022

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 14 replies each as of this posting the two most popular threads started last week are:

Loyalty Reward Points disappeared
T‑Mobile Delivers Industry‑Leading Customer and Cash Flow Growth in Q3 2022 and Raises 2022 Guidance

Congrats to PaulCrawhorne and trees12 for starting our one hundred and forty-seventh threads 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:

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2022: deals, news, and more

Hands-on: T-Mobile’s new suitcase packs a wireless charging pocket behind its vibrant looks

Sir Jony Ive Talks ‘Life After Apple’

RIP Google Hangouts, Google’s last, best chance to compete with iMessage

Before Elon Musk destroys Twitter, here are 7 of his other failures

From The Forums:

In Future Would Verizon (& ATT&T & T-Mo) Be Better Off Just Densifying Instead Of Buying Spectrum?

Is the 24 month loyalty bonus the last one?

Does Verizon use Charter/Spectrum band 48 licenses in some markets?

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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 7 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

This is how Android 13 works on a 2016 Pixel phone

Google Pixel Watch review

Google revives Pebble smartwatch app with support for Pixel 7 in fresh update

Inside a Chinese iPhone Plant, Foxconn Grapples With Covid Chaos

From The Forums:

Visible compatibility checker

Been out of the loop awhile...how to ensure BYOP will work with the new network requiring VoLTE?

T-Mobile Will Force A New $35 Activation Fee On Nearly Every Transaction

Verizon gradually culls some TracFone prepaid brands

Upgrade to Android 12?

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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:

T-Mobile is reportedly adding an activation fee for online orders

Moto G Play (2022) leaks: specs and images are out

Google Pixel 7a set to be a big upgrade w/ flagship camera, wireless charging, and more

Apple Has Not Finalized Details for iPhone SE 4 Display, 5.7" to 6.1" OLED and LCD Screens Under Consideration

The Deauther Watch is the world’s most annoying wearable

From The Forums:

Limits on total transfers?

Trying to get answer related to wifi calling function S10e

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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:

There are too many iPads, iPhones, and Apple Watches

iPad (2022) Review: Impressive, but it’s time to rethink the iPad lineup

Google ‘perfectly comfortable’ with Tensor not winning benchmarks and vertical integration benefiting Pixel

Boost Mobile’s new no-fee banking comes with a surprising number of fees

Instagram Apologizes for Randomly Suspending Accounts

From The Forums:

Sim cards that work on all US Networks?

Any advice on switching from T-Mobile to Verizon using the same device?

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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:

Weekly deals: the best smartphone and smart watch deals from around the world

Top 10 trending phones of week 43

Moto Razr 2022 makes global debut

iPhone 15 Pro solid-state buttons predicted for volume and power

The wild, wonderful world of North Korean smartphones

From The Forums:

Loyalty Reward Points disappeared

Xcover 6 pro connectivity

T‑Mobile Delivers Industry‑Leading Customer and Cash Flow Growth in Q3 2022 and Raises 2022 Guidance

Moto G Stylus 5G 6.8" (XT2131DL) Head scratcher

Reactivated phone with same previous phone number

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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 24th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, October 25th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, October 26th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, October 27th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, October 28th, 2022

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 26 replies as of this posting the most popular thread started last week is:

additional mobile mail, but new account, or existing account?

Congrats to joseg2016 for starting our one hundred and forty-sixth 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:

Apple flexes its control over the App Store

Apple raises prices on Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, and Apple One

Google Maps has removed its COVID-19 layer

Elon Musk Now Runs Twitter: Fires CEO; Sent Tesla Engineers to Examine Code

An Oral History of 'Snake' on Nokia

From The Forums:

Transfer Existing to New with Activation vs. Merge of 2 active lines

Zero knowledge of cell phones; need help getting started with an ObamaPhone.

Top Android Phones (Late 2022) - 5G UW Connectivity/Speed?

Android 13 One UI 5 Officialy out

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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:

Samsung will update these Galaxy devices to Android 13

Samsung smart ring leak suggests Oura rival will be packed with health sensors

Samsung’s Maintenance Mode prevents repair shops from snooping at your private data

Champagne lays out conditions for Vidéotron’s acquisition of Freedom

OnePlus’ fast-charging Nord N300 5G is coming to T-Mobile for $228

From The Forums:

TCL flip 2 no service

In praise of Twigby - Unique?

Anything cheaper than FreedomPop's 1 gig/month for $60/yr for back up phone?

Metro unlocked phones on At&t Prepaid

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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:

Ottawa rejects Rogers's original bid for access to Shaw's wireless frequencies

Chinese spies allegedly tried to obstruct Huawei investigation

Fitbit Sense 2 Review: Running in reverse

Amazon Halo View review: A lightweight fitness tracker tied to a deeper app

The new iPad Pros and iPad (2022) hit store shelves today

From The Forums:

Can a ymail email account be setup onto a mobile app?

Typo in AT&T's whitelist?

F-Droid Moto G Stylus 2020 Android 11

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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:

WhatsApp is back online after a major two-hour outage

iOS and iPadOS 16.1 are now available

Here’s how the new iPad (2022) compares to its predecessor

EU Gives Final Approval to Law That Will Force iPhone to Switch to USB-C

Google is giving Apple a dose of its own medicine. iPhone owners will now get annoying messages that an Android user 'reacted' to their text.

From The Forums:

Real 5G access! Finally!

Is Add Airtime For A Friend dead now?

Phone AT&T Locked?

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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:

Top 10 trending phones of week 42

Apple is cutting iPhone 14 Plus production

The Samsung Galaxy S22 is receiving stable One UI 5, based on Android 13

Verizon’s new prepaid plans are cheaper — but not really

PopGrip JumpStart review: what if a battery bank were also a PopSocket?

From The Forums:

Tablet (IPAD) Cell Plans

Question on Selling Unlocked MyFlip2

size of app (android) varies by device - No! I want to KNOW the size.

additional mobile mail, but new account, or existing account?

Weird text from 77089

---------
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 17th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, October 18th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, October 19th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, October 20th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, October 21st, 2022

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 28 replies as of this posting the most popular thread started last week is:

Home Internet Choices For Seasonal Users

Congrats to Jim1348 for starting our one hundred and forty-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!

---------
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:

I went all in on eSIM and I have regrets

WhatsApp is now joining Google in bashing iMessage

Canada's telecom regulator sets new rules for virtual wireless networks to boost competition

Lufthansa Airlines Says AirTags Now Allowed in Luggage Amid Confusion

Flashback: breaking through the 60Hz barrier

From The Forums:

caller ID name changed

Extended international roaming and not losing cell number.

Family plan on prepaid

T-Mobile Now roams in Appalachian Wireless

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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:

The best Google Pixel phones of all time, according to Android Police

Every new feature in Google's latest Pixel Drop

Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro review: better and better

Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus (2022) review: a fine tablet if you’re subscribed to Prime

Apple’s 2022 iPad Lineup is More Confusing Than Ever

From The Forums:

Getting Service Buckets from VZW SIM(1200min/1200text/3gb data)

Poor ATT call quality

Tracfone accusing me of violating terms of service. Cancelled account and number

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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:

Smartwatches, not phones, are where the action is at this year

Google Pixel Watch v Apple Watch Series 8 - all the key differences

Here’s why Google Fit doesn’t work with Fossil’s Wear OS 3 update, wonky on Pixel Watch

Latest Fitbit Versa 2 update bricks device, heart rate, and sleep tracking functions for many

Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro review

From The Forums:

Straight Talk Introduces Home Internet Plan on Verizon Network – Unlimited Data for $45/mo

Home Internet Choices For Seasonal Users

dealer being directed to pick network instead of providing a choice

Call Waiting Started Working On MY GV # Today (Using "Prefer Wi-Fi & mobile data")

which is better? Use app, or use site through browser?

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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 Nears M2 iPad Pro Launch and Plans Google Tablet-Like Home Hub

Samsung Wallet is expanding support for mobile payments to these 13 countries

Motorola’s teasing a rollable concept phone

CRTC Says Telus Credit Card Fee Decision Now Coming in December

Google’s Pixel Tablet and foldable phone will have side-mounted fingerprint sensors

From The Forums:

Cheap backup phone: QVC $50 Tracfone deals?

Xcover 6 pro

Consolidating Balances

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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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