Electronics

[Zhills]

I wish I knew more about them to help you.  I know TracFone phones work on several networks.

I am computer savvy (started in 73) and I have a desktop, a laptop, 2 Kindles and I don't know why I need a Smartphone.  They duplicate each other.  I prefer the Kindle.  Love it's size and speed.  It has Alexa on it.

I don't think you have a bad phone, I just think that number to dial does  not work on all networks and phones.  Good luck with it.  My phone works great!

[x Hedge]

@sueinsf,  @Marp  I never activate the Samsung account. It seems to want to load a lot of bloatware on to the phone, and keep track of how you use your phone.

Pretty sure the account downloader just goes to the Google Play Store, finds the Trackfone My Account app, which you do need, and downloads it for you. Trouble is, then the account downloader hangs around in your phone forever taking up space.

Just go to Google Play Store and download Trackfones "My Account" app. yourself. I either turned off or disabled the account downloader on my 2 smartfones after the My Account app was installed.

Besides the basic settings for the devise itself, not everyone is aware that every app has its own settings. Please take the time to look for the settings in every individual app even if it came pre-loaded on your phone. Your phone app, text messages, internet, and other apps all have their own settings. You may want to set differently.

I like to keep control of a lot of features. For instance I never allow app updates to download automatically. That will turn on the data on your phone and use it when you could have just as easily waited until you were in a Wi-Fi area and downloaded that update without using any of your data. There are other things that will turn on and use your data unless you check your settings and make sure you have blocked that.

Tracfone My Account app is no different. Please take the time to browse through the settings and make sure everything is set the way you want it.

@Marp, I'm glad you're liking the NoLED app enough to recommend it to others now. It's a humble little app, but I like it.

[Marp]

@x Hedge, lots of good points in your post.  Thanks for sharing.  One of the things I like most about Marshmallow is how much more control it allows over almost every aspect of the phone.  I am still fine tuning.

I disabled the TracFone downloader app and even though it is still there I don't see it unless I go into settings.  I ended up removing the my account app completely.   I don't use the phone enough to need to keep close check on things.  I look online periodically just to make sure there are no "leaks".

Another thing that I particularly like about Marshmallow is being able to check on each app to see how much data, battery, memory, etc. it uses.

If you think of any more battery and/or data saving tips please share.  LOL, I'm so enamored with the control Marshmallow allows over previous versions I'm already thinking of upgrading the first time TracFone offers Nougat in a package through HSN or QVC.

[Zhills]

Thank you all for your  input and the information.  You made it so much easier for the newbies.   I just needed a phone so it was very helpful to learn how to turn off all the 'stuff' I will never use.  My main reason for upgrading was to get a QWERTY keyboard for texting.  My daughter texts more than she calls.  Now she is using Messenger.  Don't know if that effects Talk, Text or Data. 

Do any of you know which way "texts" uses the lesses or any of these?

[Marp]

@Zhills, it does not matter which texting app is used.  TracFone deducts for incoming and outgoing texts and calls regardless of the source.

One shortcoming I have found with Android having to block each unwanted call manually.  I have my phone set to silent and to only ring or notify me of incoming calls or texts from those in my contact list.  When I review my call log (weekly) I sometimes find junk calls listed and go though them and block the number so they can't complete a call again and therefore no deductions to my minutes.

[Zhills]

And how do you do that?  I find that the instructions on the phone are not always clear about what they do.  You have been a blessing to me.  I'm learning my new Kindle with Alexa and a new Smartphone.  Doesn't make me feel too smart!!!

The other posters with tips have helped also.  My phone has the 5.1.1 Lollipop system - Android.  

I just need a phone.  I have all the other toys already.  You don't need the same features on every electronic toy you own in my opinion.  I took the Alexa app off my phone. It only used the shopping list.

[sueinsf]

Thanks @x Hedge and @Marp -- Yes, very helpful suggestions!  I will have to get around to checking the settings on the pre-loaded apps.  I don't think I am going to use that My Account Downloader, and for now, I'm not yet going to download the TracFone app (which had some pretty bad reviews online).  I read that you can dial *777*1# to check your minutes as well --  I would think that this does not deduct any minutes?   If not, I might just do that, but with all the minutes I now have and for how little I use the phone, I honestly don't need to be checking it anytime soon and can periodically spot check online if I want to.

I didn't think I wanted the Samsung account so thanks for confirming.  Only reason I could see was that feature to find your phone if it is lost or stolen but for a $120 prepay phone with little extras on it, that isn't so much a concern either.

I still have playing around to do but so far I'm liking the phone and very happy with my upgrade!

[x Hedge]

Some years ago my employer handed me the first smartphone I ever used. It was a Samsung Android Galaxy something, with advanced features I still miss, and I had absolutely no appreciation for what a wonderful device it was. But at least I had it long enough to learn something about the phones.

When I finally bought my own smartphone I bought a Samsung Android 3G Jellybean 4.3 OS.

I love that Jellybean OS as the settings allows me to exercise a wide range of personal choices.

I use it primarily for texting now.

My backup Trackfone was an old LG, and I wanted to replace that with a modern Samsung.

18 months ago I bought an Android Lollipop 5.0.1 OS, foolishly thinking a Lollipop would have everything the Jellybean had, but even better.

What a disappointment!

I hate the Lollipop. The display has been simplified so that it looks like it was made by/for children.

Worst of all, many of the settings choices that I have in the Jellybean are not even offered in the Lollipop. I actually have fewer choices in the upgraded model. So I am very reluctant to try the Marshmallow or Nougat, for fear its settings may be even more limited than the Lollipop.

The nice thing about the phone is that it is a quad-core 4G so everything moves very fast, and I do enjoy that. I do all my Internet work on that one.

@Marp, what OS were you using before the Marshmallow? My old Jellybean shows me how much data, battery, memory is used by each app.

Illuminating the screen is the biggest drain on the battery. So I keep my screen setting very low.

When I get a message to upgrade an app I go to the Play Store and look at what the upgrade consists of.

I have made the mistake of allowing upgrades in the past of foolish things I don't need and will never use, but finds that the app now takes far more space in my phone than it did before the upgrade.

There's one app I frequently use and have in both smart phones. The version in the older phone is a little over 12MB, the version in the newer phone is more than three times as big! Yet they each do the same thing. Frankly I don't care if my keyboard can now type 18 new languages that I'll never use.

Some upgrades are for security reasons and that's fine, but I have about 8 unnecessary app upgrades that are pending for 6 months now, and I will not let them into my phone.

[Marp]

@x Hedge, my LG has version 4.4.2.   I've found that with every version there are features I really like that aren't carried over but new features that somewhat make up for what I lose.  Then again, the same goes for computer OS changes.

One thing I can say I really like about Marshmallow is that I am not hounded to do upgrades because I have "background data restricted" turned on and appears to stop apps from checking for updates.  I can just imagine what I'll encounter when I stop restricting.

[x Hedge]

@Marp,  mine is the last Jelly Bean before they moved to your KitKat. Very similar. 

Background data is restricted on both of mine, that doesn't stop the update notifications on either phone.To do that see if Marshmallow has:

settings>phone>sound &notifications>app notifications. You can turn off individual notifications for pending app updates.

But WHERE is call blocking mode in the new ones?

Call blocking is a basic feature, almost everybody blocks some calls. WHY would they remove that?

I never looked in the Play Store for that, but it's just like when they took out the little blue light and NoLED was born. I'll bet there's an app for call blocking now that it's not a feature in every phone anymore.