Too much advice and too little

appears to assume that new clients already have mobile connectivity

To be fair, you’re setting up a mobile phone so it’s not an unreasonable assumption…

[though, I don’t recall all this nonsense when setting up my S9, but that was years ago, maybe it’s different these days, or if you already have an account?]

But my problems do not end there. To set up a Samsung account I have to provide not only an email address but also a telephone number, so that they can send me a pin-number for 2-factor verification.

My wife bought a Samsung A35 last year and, despite having all the connectivity you could wish for, was an absolute nightmare to set up. I can’t remember the details at this distance but the included software failed to complete several times when we tried to transfer data/apps from her old phone (a Moto G7).

Currently I have a Nokia 6.1 and it came with stock Android (Android One), in other words it has no manufacturer’s skin. I bought it in October 1918 and it was straightforward to set up and has never let me down.

It wasn’t a leading edge phone when I bought it but I find it to be quite functional enough for me. It has been updated to Android 10 (and won’t go any further) but I don’t use it for anything sensitive: no banking or social media apps. It is woefully under-used by me (in terms of its capabilities) and I suspect most people don’t even scratch the surface of their devices’ abilities.

I think I might transfer to an iPhone when (and if) the Nokia lets go before I do. My son persuaded me to replace my aging Google Nexus tablet with a 9th generation iPad nearly two ago. The experience is so much better than with the Nexus – even when it was operating at its best. Facetime makes communicating with my elder brother (in Florida) so much easier. I think it makes sense to have both mobile devices on the same platform. Neither Android nor the Apple ecosystem is perfect but the latter does seem to have the edge.

PS: Realising that I was rambling a little, I was about to transfer this to Aldershot until I twigged that I was already here! “Quick nurse! The screens!”

included software failed to complete several times when we tried to transfer data/apps from her old phone

Was that Google’s fancy smart installer? Maybe it works on American phones or something, but I’ve never had much success with it. I usually skip that step and install things myself.

That’s part of the reason I’m still using a half dead S9 as my mobile (the later phones are SIMless and used mainly for internet and Netflix). Setting up a new phone just right would be such a monumental piston in the arse.

[I meant to swipe “pain” but my phone thought I wanted “piston”, and honestly, it’s more appropriate]

Just beware that Apple plays well with Apple and really badly with everything else. I prefer Android because I don’t like Apple’s stance on several things.

Do they allow non-Safari browsers yet? It used to annoy me (back when I used an iPad Mini / iOS7) that you had a selection of browsers that all used the same engine and thus all crashed in exactly the same way, and Safari is quite prone to doing exactly that.
Also, the lack of separation between firmware updates and the browser/email/etc is horrible for security. Look how often Chrome and Firefox are updated, and look how often Apple releases updates. Those apps should be exactly that, apps, that can be updated apart from the core OS.

Clearly I prefer Android. It isn’t perfect, nothing is, and every release gets closer to Apple’s brokenness (so many annoying restrictions), but given a choice I’d take freedom over peace of mind.
Especially given as two apps I use (PipePipe and Blokada 5) are banned from the app store because their activities upset Google, but it’s easy to sideload them. Something that’s an ongoing struggle in the Apple world.

I upgraded from a Nokia 5 with plain Android to a Samsung. Took longer than it ought to to bypass most of the supplied gunk. And also failed to bring across any WhatsApp messages.

A simple Google: https://faq.whatsapp.com/209942271778103/?cms_platform=android

The A35 I got for my son at Christmas was very straightforward to set up. He already had a google kids account, and I used my Samsung account details though, as there is no way he’d be able to choose a password he’d remember tomorrow, never mind if he lost his phone.

failed to bring across any WhatsApp messages.

That’s a failing of WhatsApp, not the phone manufacturer.

I’m most surprised by the reported problems with Samsung phones. Of all the makes that I, my wife and my son have had, our Samsungs have been the least problematic and most straightforward.

And I have vowed never to own an Apple product in my life, the greedy b******s. Reports in the technical press show a litany of failures of Apple hardware and software over many years.

@Rick

Was that Google’s fancy smart installer?

Not as far as I can remember. I think it was Samsung’s own. Probably designed to work best with other Samsung phones.

Do they allow non-Safari browsers yet? It used to annoy me (back when I used an iPad Mini / iOS7) that you had a selection of browsers that all used the same engine and thus all crashed in exactly the same way, and Safari is quite prone to doing exactly that.

I downloaded Firefox from their App Store. It didn’t have all the functionality that it does on Linux or Windows. There’s no Quit entry at the bottom of the Menu list and no option in Settings to clear cookies on quitting. I can’t find them in Safari either.

My son, who has used Apple systems for many years, tells me that Firefox is a re-skinned version of Safari. I can’t find the functionality I want in Safari either.

@Dave

And I have vowed never to own an Apple product in my life, the greedy b******s.

Not being of a religious persuasion, vows don’t figure very highly (if at all) in my outlook on life. If you’re serious about them, they can put a severe crimp in what you can and can’t do. I’m a lot more pragmatic in my choice of what I use than ever I was in the bad old days of “Down with Windows and death to Bill Gates”. By the way, that was deliberate hyperbole for the benefit anyone at the NSA. One of the drivers behind the iPad was to be able to use Facetime to talk to my brother in Florida while using TeamViewer to sort out his laptop(s) – a long and tedious affair. He’s even older than me and has never been computer literate, nor will he ever be. I shudder to think what it would have cost me for transatlantic telephone calls.

for the benefit anyone at the NSA

I think they might be otherwise preoccupied with their own government’s chaos. After all, giving a foreign born person with a big mouth and a drug habit that level of access? What?!?

I shudder to think what it would have cost me for transatlantic telephone calls.

You still pay for phone calls? 🤷

You still pay for phone calls?

Yes, but only if I stay on the call for more than an hour, and that’s only for 01, 02 and 03 numbers. Overseas? Forget it.

I pay “a lot” (about €50/month for ~2.3Gbit), but since the landline is VoIP, phone calls are basically free – to landlines and mobiles in France, UK, and I think USA and Canada. For everywhere else that isn’t a terrorist haven, landlines are free (but not mobiles).

The limitations? The call will terminate after three hours (but it’s possible to just call back) and I can “only” call something like 500 different numbers in any calendar month (you know what that’s trying to stop).

And, well, When I Were A Lad a month’s worth of evening calls to Arcade, Arctic, and The Digital Databank cost hundreds.
How things have changed.

I can “only” call something like 500 different numbers in any calendar month

I don’t have 500 different numbers in my phone contacts. Actually, I’m pretty sure there aren’t even 100 in there.

well, When I Were A Lad a month’s worth of evening calls to Arcade, Arctic, and The Digital Databank cost hundreds.

I had an Ionica connection¹, when they folded that automatically shifted to NTL² and while the Ionica service was flawless the NTL service was truly priceless – they weren’t collecting on the direct debit agreement and only noticed this when I notified them to cease the service³ when I moved house to somewhere that only had BT service. Priceless.
I think I had dealings with the same accounts department staff when a work service was installed by Virgin (who had merged with NTL) and simply couldn’t get sets of figures to add up⁴

¹ The BT was awful, more noise than signal