Android phones might crash when calling 911
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Both links are to reddit threads about people that had the issue:
Hope you didn't really need that ambulance!
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@anonymous234 well, duh, because as any fule kno, you're meant to dial 0118 999 881 999 119 725 3 now.
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@arantor said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@anonymous234 well, duh, because as any fule kno, you're meant to dial 0118 999 881 999 119 725 3 now.
https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSimpsons/comments/33y93g/dont_bother_dialing_911_anymore_heres_the_real/
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@arantor That exact joke, posted just as lazily on the Reddit article about the OnePlus phone, inspired this:
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@blakeyrat said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
Remember the key to humor is to remember
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@timebandit I also ended up with two periods at the end, doesn't that just chafe your butt.
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@blakeyrat I consider partially inspiring a Blakeyrat Nugget of Wisdom like that a successfully-achieved life goal.
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A similar bug was created in Android 1.5, affecting the HTC Dream and HTC Magic (first two phones produced). When dialling 911, the OS is supposed to turn on GPS to send your current coordinates as part of e911, but that code had a NullPointerException which rebooted the phone.
In Canada, we had a debacle similar to the recent Samsung exploding battery recall. After much confusion and misinformation, Rogers (the only carrier with android phones at the time) decided to cut off both of these phones from their network until owners installed an update. The problem (at least for me) was that the update wiped all of the phone data for some unexplainable reason, and closed all known holes to root the device.
I had a bit of fun figuring out how to extract the baseband firmware from the system update and only flash that portion to get my cell service back. :)
That's the sad nature of software. These life critical bugs will keep happening and may even appear back in the Android code base some day. Which company takes responsibility when the bug is released?
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@quijibo said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
Which company takes responsibility when the bug is released?
Whoever holds the copyright, of course.
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@tsaukpaetra said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@quijibo said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
Which company takes responsibility when the bug is released?
Whoever holds the copyright, of course.
The monkey?
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@anonymous234
Solution: call 112
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Ooh, new report:
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@quijibo said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
A similar bug was created in Android 1.5, affecting the HTC Dream and HTC Magic (first two phones produced).
Holy shit, I think I had an HTC Magic back in the day. That was on Android 1.5? That shit makes me feel old.
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@heterodox I had a Hero, which was basically a Magic (known as the G1 in the UK) without the hardware keyboard or factory underclocking. I think it ran at a blazing 266MHz, which I upped to 700 odd with rooting.
It had 1.6 when I bought it, and later got an update to 2.1 but not OTA so I had to download it and wipe my data. Once I was rooted I got a 2.2 ROM, but that didn't have the sort of working flash player the official builds had
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@jaloopa said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
I had a Hero, which was basically a Magic (known as the G1 in the UK) without the hardware keyboard or factory underclocking.
Actually the Magic did not have a hardware keyboard. The Dream (G1 in US) did. Incidentally, all of the Android phones that I've owned had a hardware keyboard until I bought a new phone just recently.
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@jaloopa I had a Hero as well. In fact I still have it sitting in a drawer, although the battery is puffed up a bit so I don't want to use it. And also it's a million years old and I have newer phones I can use.
I kind of miss the retro-futuristic look though
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@quijibo said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
Actually the Magic did not have a hardware keyboard. The Dream (G1 in US) did
It's hard enough remembering details about phones from back then without having to keep up with with what other countries called them. I think the Hero was known as the Droid Eris in America
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@jaloopa said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
I think the Hero was known as the Droid Eris in America
Right, but it was a different design from the Hero that the rest of the world had.
HTC Hero (good version):
HTC Hero (CDMA US version):
Apparently there was yet another design that was the Droid Eris:
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@quijibo said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@jaloopa said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
I had a Hero, which was basically a Magic (known as the G1 in the UK) without the hardware keyboard or factory underclocking.
Actually the Magic did not have a hardware keyboard. The Dream (G1 in US) did. Incidentally, all of the Android phones that I've owned had a hardware keyboard until I bought a new phone just recently.
This was the greatest phone EVER!
Seriously, I loved my G1 (or Dream, whatever you cal it). The hardware keys owed it had was a feat of engineering. An "island" design, so that you could easily feel if you were pressing the right keys. I loved it.
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@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
This was the greatest phone EVER!
Better than the iPhone then
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@timebandit said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
This was the greatest phone EVER!
Better than the iPhone then
Actually, the hardware keyboard made it the nicest typing experience ever. TBH, these were early days of touch screen OS's, I didn't own an iPhone back then, can't compare. But typing experience was better than in current phones.
It was THE best keyboard. I'd buy a phone with such a keyboard in a heartbeat, if it were released nowadays.
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@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
I'd buy a phone with such a keyboard in a heartbeat, if it were released nowadays.
https://www.amazon.ca/BoxWave-Keyboard-Buddy-iPhone-Case/dp/B00NMY9X1I
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@timebandit said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
I'd buy a phone with such a keyboard in a heartbeat, if it were released nowadays.
https://www.amazon.ca/BoxWave-Keyboard-Buddy-iPhone-Case/dp/B00NMY9X1I
That's⦠beautiful!
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@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@timebandit said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
I'd buy a phone with such a keyboard in a heartbeat, if it were released nowadays.
That's⦠beautiful!
It's not the same kind of keyboard, though. There are no spaces between keys, this could make it less functional. :(
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@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
There are no spaces between keys, this could make it less functional
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@timebandit said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
Better than the iPhone then
That's a low bar to clear
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@masonwheeler said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@timebandit said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
Better than the iPhone then
That's a low bar to clear
And yet, no one from the competition was able to reach it.
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@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@masonwheeler said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@timebandit said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
Better than the iPhone then
That's a low bar to clear
And yet, no one from the competition was able to reach it.
Sucks donut π©?
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@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
And yet, no one from the competition was able to reach it.
...which is totally why iPhone has been hemorrhaging market share for years and more and more people keep getting Androids.
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@masonwheeler OTOH, the iPhone 7 is the best selling iPhone ever.
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@jaloopa Meh. Until they put a real keyboard on it and tear down the walls around the garden, I ain't going near it.
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@masonwheeler I'm not a fan either, but you're on difficult ground trying to argue it's a failure
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@jaloopa Not necessarily "a failure," but it's been looking less and less successful ever since a non-sucky Android appeared and started showing people what a smartphone can do when it doesn't try to restrict what you can do left and right and pretend the OS developer owns it rather than you.
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@masonwheeler said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
And yet, no one from the competition was able to reach it.
...which is totally why iPhone has been hemorrhaging market share for years and more and more people keep getting Androids.
Your just got serious?
It's funny when people say stuff like that and Apple is still the most profitable tech company in the world.
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@tsaukpaetra said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@masonwheeler said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@timebandit said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
Better than the iPhone then
That's a low bar to clear
And yet, no one from the competition was able to reach it.
Sucks donut π©?
Um?
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@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
Your just got serious?
That's the best kind!
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@masonwheeler said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
when it doesn't try to restrict what you can do left and right and pretend the OS developer owns it rather than you.
many Android devices are locked-down and you need to jump through hoops to do the fun stuff. But AFAIK none restrict you from changing the launcher, dialer, SMS app, etc, so it's still less locked-down than iOS.
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@hungrier said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
fun
What is the android equivalent of dying? Bricking?
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@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@tsaukpaetra said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@masonwheeler said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@timebandit said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
Better than the iPhone then
That's a low bar to clear
And yet, no one from the competition was able to reach it.
Sucks donut π©?
Um?
Glad to see you're enjoying it!
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@pleegwat said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@hungrier said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
fun
What is the android equivalent of dying? Bricking?
iphones brick too. seen it happen. i saw a mason build a wall with nothing but bricked iphones and mortar.
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@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
It's funny when people say stuff like that and Apple is still the most profitable tech company in the world.
The only logical conclusion is that they sell their stuff way overpriced.
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@timebandit said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
It's funny when people say stuff like that and Apple is still the most profitable tech company in the world.
The only logical conclusion is that they sell their stuff way overpriced.
Of course this is the only logical conclusion that you can come up with. You're mentally just one step from writing Micro$oft and you like discussing how Debian has a better installer than Ubuntu because it lets you choose packages you want installed.
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@timebandit said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
The only logical conclusion is that they sell their stuff way overpriced.
I think Apple products are nothing special, but I'll acknowledge that one of the things Apple has over its competitors is fantastic marketing. That seems a much more "logical conclusion" in economic terms; value is relative. If Apple's stuff was way overpriced, they'd fall out of the market. But clearly consumers don't think it is so they see value you don't. Marketing helps manipulate that value assessment a lot.
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@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@masonwheeler said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
more and more people keep getting Androids.
It's funny when people say stuff like that and Apple is still the most profitable tech company in the world.
Maybe because they're the only ones selling iOS, while there are 678253752 companies making Android devices.
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@hungrier said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@masonwheeler said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
more and more people keep getting Androids.
It's funny when people say stuff like that and Apple is still the most profitable tech company in the world.
Maybe because they're the only ones selling iOS, while there are 678253752 companies making Android devices.
I don't see how this logically follows. Because so many companies sell Android they need to be profitable?
I didn't mean @masonwheeler lied. What I meant was, it didn't matter, because they're still uber successful.
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@kt_ I meant that Apple can be the most profitable single tech company despite being behind Android in the mobile space, because the profits from Android are split however many ways.
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@hungrier said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
@kt_ I meant that Apple can be the most profitable single tech company despite being behind Android in the mobile space, because the profits from Android are split however many ways.
Got it. What I meant was, that despite losing market share they are still the most profitable company, so it's a news.
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@kt_ said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
Got it. What I meant was, that despite losing market share they are still the most profitable company, so it's a news.
...for the moment.
Apple has historically only ever operated two ways: successfully as Steve Jobs's private cult of personality, or flailing and failing without him at the helm. Now that he's gone for good, and with them doubling down on literally all the same mistakes that caused them to lose the Desktop so thoroughly in the 80s and 90s, I wouldn't expect it to last too much longer.
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@heterodox said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
one of the things Apple has over its competitors is fantastic marketing
Had. Their recent adverts have been a bit shit IMO.
The question is open whether they're coasting on the left over Jobs magic and about to enter freefall, or whether they've got something up their sleeve to keep the momentum up.
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@masonwheeler said in Android phones might crash when calling 911:
Apple has historically only ever operated two ways: successfully as Steve Jobs's private cult of personality, or flailing and failing without him at the helm. Now that he's gone for good, and with them doubling down on literally all the same mistakes that caused them to lose the Desktop so thoroughly in the 80s and 90s, I wouldn't expect it to last too much longer.
I heard a great line today, listening to the latest Writing Excuses episode. Brandon said how he does all his writing in Microsoft Word on a ThinkPad, and that he really should probably get a Mac for various reasons, but he doesn't want to give any money to "the ghost of Steve Jobs."