YouTube for Android never gives up



  • It's been showing the spinning circle for literally 5 minutes now, despite the fact that both Wi-Fi and data have been turned off the whole time. Maybe if it keeps trying it will manage to receive some bytes through atmospheric pressure changes?

    And yet, whenever it gets an error from the server because the video is not accessible (even a perfectly normal error like not finding the video because it was deleted), it shows it as a "Network error".


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    If data's off, why do you have two bars?



  • Because voice is on? Duh?


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    Really? Just because you have signal does not mean you have data turned on... or even available.



  • It could be worse, it could have an embedded copy of a Rick Astley video that it plays instead of the loading icons.



  • I actually buttumed this was a rickroll-in-training before I read the thread.



  • A clbuttic mistake based on the topic name. :P


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    Huh. I don't normally turn off data by itself, so I didn't know that there's no indication.


  • FoxDev

    @FrostCat said:

    Huh. I don't normally turn off data by itself, so I didn't know that there's no indication.

    On my phone there is an indication that data is off, a little lock icon appears overlaid on the reception bars if data is off or blocked because i've hit my monthly limit.

    although that might be a carrier specific thing.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @FrostCat said:

    Huh. I don't normally turn off data by itself, so I didn't know that there's no indication.

    When there's a data connection, the bars are accompanied by a little indicator saying what kind of data connection you've got. My phone goes from ā€œEā€ (shit) to ā€œH+ā€ (almost as good as wifi).



  • You do know that just because the animation is spinning, it doesn't mean anything is going on, right? It probably errored out and never got to call removeSpinner() or whatever it's called.


  • šŸš½ Regular

    That would be a really neat feature to have on my phone. Are you using a custom ROM?



  • Most phones just have a setting for it. Windows Phone does. Data costs $$$, so a lot of times people will want it turned off so they don't accidentally go over their limit.


  • šŸš½ Regular

    Sorry, should have said I'm on Android and have been leaving the mobile data off to converve my allowance. It used to autoconnect to my WiFi but has stopped doing that reliably. Some sort of indication that it wasn't receiving data from any source would be helpful.

    Edit: If there isn't a letter by the signal bars (and no WiFi symbol) then it isn't getting data, so it does already have one. Should of checked the manual first. Thanks.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @dkf said:

    When there's a data connection, the bars are accompanied by a little indicator saying what kind of data connection you've got. My phone goes from ā€œEā€ (shit) to ā€œH+ā€ (almost as good as wifi).

    My phone only does that if there's actually data being transferred. At idle, you just get the bars. As far as I know (going back go Froyo) that's the way it's always been.



  • I ā¤ my unlimited data plan.


  • FoxDev

    @Cursorkeys said:

    That would be a really neat feature to have on my phone. Are you using a custom ROM?

    no custom ROM, just an overlay from USCellular that came with the phone. I'm considering flashing a custom ROM, but the phone works and i'd rather not mess up and own a brick instead of a phone. I'm probably going to jump ship and get a nexus 5 when my contract is up.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @FrostCat said:

    My phone only does that if there's actually data being transferred. At idle, you just get the bars.

    I get little arrows overlaid when data is being transferred (this is with nearly stock Jellybean; it's not carrier-locked). The letter symbols indicate connection quality; there might be some data transferred as well, but the amount is trivial unless I'm actually downloading something.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @FrostCat said:

    As far as I know (going back go Froyo) that's the way it's always been.

    You get arrows if data is being transferred - you get the relevant G/E/3G/H/H+/4G indicator as long as the data is connected.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    Because voice is on? Duh?

    Not all phones say "4G" or "H" or whatever when data is on. My phone

    Never mind. You'd probably just hate the post anyway.



  • @dkf said:

    My phone goes from ā€œEā€ (shit) to ā€œH+ā€ (almost as good as wifi).

    E is EDGE which is faster than G (GPRS) which my Nokia in 2001 supported (GSM network). My network really only started rolling out EDGE when it started rolling out 3G (3G or H indicators) so there still plenty of places with G when 900MHz penetrates and 2100 doesn't. There is no H+ on Optus in Australia. Nexus 4 does not support 4G, bit I don't have access anyway on my cheap plan.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @Zemm said:

    E is EDGE which is faster than G (GPRS) which my Nokia in 2001 supported (GSM network). My network really only started rolling out EDGE when it started rolling out 3G (3G or H indicators) so there still plenty of places with G when 900MHz penetrates and 2100 doesn't. There is no H+ on Optus in Australia. Nexus 4 does not support 4G, bit I don't have access anyway on my cheap plan.

    My connectivity goes all over the place on my commute, from total bupkis to great. A consequence of the rail route having a lot of tunnels and deep cuttings.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    Data costs $$$

    What kind of barbaric provider are you using?

    I get 4GB per month of "4G" (well, my fruity 5S - yes, I'm a sucker - says 4G, anyway) for free at full-signal rates up to 8MB/sec (yes, 8 megabytes a second, 64 megabits if you prefer), and data beyond that is free-but-throttled. (Roaming? No idea. I have the phone locked to my provider to stop it wandering to a Belgian provider when I'm in the office. The office is in France, but near enough to the border that my phone will sometimes decide it likes the Belgian signal better.)

    So I repeat, what kind of barbaric provider are you using?


  • FoxDev

    @Steve_The_Cynic said:

    So I repeat, what kind of barbaric provider are you using?

    pretty much any provider in the US of A. all the big names charge as much as they can get away with, and they love those hidden fees too.

    things are getting better slowly as third party providers and resellers gain ground, but it is a slow process.



  • @accalia said:

    pretty much any provider in the US of A. all the big names charge as much as they can get away with, and they love those hidden fees too.

    things are getting better slowly as third party providers and resellers gain ground, but it is a slow process.


    I notice you didn't contest "barbaric"... An oversight or a deliberate choice?


  • FoxDev

    why contest the truth? they are barbaric.

    Unless you are comparing them to Cable TV providers. Those guys can make anyone look civilized by comparison.



  • @accalia said:

    pretty much any provider in the US of A. all the big names charge as much as they can get away with, and they love those hidden fees too.

    Canada too, and it may actually be worse here. Last year, there were some rumours about Verizon starting service in Canada, and people were looking forward to it.



  • If you're in a city where Sprint has rolled out their LTE 4G service, it's by far the best.

    I have a grandfathered plan for unlimited data, I go through 10-20GB a month.



  • @Zemm said:

    E is EDGE which is faster than G (GPRS) which my Nokia in 2001 supported (GSM network).

    I still remember when GPRS was the whole new thing, and standard WAP connection was dial-up - yep, you had to watch the timer, or end up with a pretty hefty bill.

    Also, logos and ringtones in the back of a newspaper, and SMS games. I wonder how much money I blew playing Hangman.



  • @hungrier said:

    Canada too, and it may actually be worse here. Last year, there were some rumours about Verizon starting service in Canada, and people were looking forward to it.

    My Canadian provider (Egyptian, really, but that's close enough) provides unlimited data, calling and text messages for less than the big providers charge to stand in the same room as one of their phones. It's just coverage that's limited.


  • FoxDev

    unlimited data on a non grandfathered plan is expensive!

    i priced it out and was going to spring for it, then i realized that because i'm almost always on WIFI my data usage per month tends to be about 1.5G, within all of the low end plans from carriers i'd be willing to use.



  • Yeah, there are a lot of factors. For me, most 4G spots in my city are faster than wifi, and I prefer not to be on my company's wifi network.



  • @Cursorkeys said:

    Should of checked

    Grr... Where did you learn to write? You didn't finish the job.



  • @chubertdev said:

    If you're in a city where Sprint has rolled out their LTE 4G service, it's by far the best.

    You're the first person to claim that who I actually have a reason to believe. Sprint was crap for way too long, haven't taken them seriously since about a year after they merged with Nextel (those walkie-talkie phones were cool back in the day).

    Also: I consider it ironic (? not quite the word I'm looking for, but I'm falling asleep here) that the main carriers in the USA offer unlimited talk & text while rating data...when the talk & text are transitioning to run over the data (VoIP and all). Kind of a WTF in itself. But they can get away with it, for now...


  • šŸš½ Regular

    @another_sam said:

    Grr... Where did you learn to write? You didn't finish the job.

    Public school sadly. I should ask for a refund.
    There was a [i]slight[/i] wine haze by that point in the evening...



  • @Maciejasjmj said:

    I still remember when GPRS was the whole new thing, and standard WAP connection was dial-up - yep, you had to watch the timer, or end up with a pretty hefty bill.

    From memory it was dialup speed (9600bps or so) but I was charged by usage, at 0.55c/KB (half a cent plus tax). Never really used mobile data until I got my current plan which included 1GB of data per month. At least now it's 3G data.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @redwizard said:

    You're the first person to claim that who I actually have a reason to believe. Sprint was crap for way too long, haven't taken them seriously since about a year after they merged with Nextel (those walkie-talkie phones were cool back in the day).

    Like anything, it's going to depend. I live in Dallas and switched from AT&T to Sprint because, while AT&T's coverage is better overall, my office is a dead spot, and all the people with AT&T more or less have to leave the building to use their phones, but Sprint coverage is fine. I want my phone to work in the place I'm going to spend half my day.

    Plus I've seen download speeds on Sprint's LTE twice as fast as the fastest "4G" HSDPA I ever had with AT&T.



  • Yeah, their WiMAX rollout was horrible, the only time that I ever got to use it was in the Bay Area when I was on vacation.

    The rollout has been slow, they've been doing the flat cities first. The one that I live in isn't exactly flat, but they've covered a fairly large part of it, to the point where I have 4G LTE more than I don't, now.



  • @FrostCat said:

    Plus I've seen download speeds on Sprint's LTE twice as fast as the fastest "4G" HSDPA I ever had with AT&T.

    Re-evaluate that in a year, when enough subscribers are online to actually tax the system.

    That being said, I'm glad to hear things are working. My contract with Verizon I believe is up soon... šŸ˜ˆ


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @redwizard said:

    Plus I've seen download speeds on Sprint's LTE twice as fast as the fastest "4G" HSDPA I ever had with AT&T.

    Re-evaluate that in a year, when enough subscribers are online to actually tax the system.

    Good lord, no. Remember "effectively no signal in my office?" I switched to sprint 90% because it has signal in my office!

    I realize an LTE-to-HSPA comparison isn't necessarily fair. But AT&T could deliver gigabit data and it's useless if I can't even connect to the network. And it's not just a data issue. Voice signal sucks too. If you're on AT&T, you have to go into the conference room and lean on a window, or you have to leave the building. Which isn't all that fun in the summer in Dallas, unless you like that kind of thing, and even if you do, you'll still be sweating when you go back inside.



  • Reminds me of what a guy at my former job had to do. I was in a room with two other workers, he was across the hall. His room had no window, so he'd come over to our room, with a windowed wall, to make calls.



  • @FrostCat said:

    But AT&T could deliver gigabit data and it's useless if I can't even connect to the network.

    I'm not contesting that at all. I was merely saying to reevaluate the Sprint performance on its own merit, not necessarily to switch back to American Trudge & Termination! šŸ˜®



  • @Cursorkeys said:

    There was a slight wine haze by that point in the evening...

    Ah ha. I approve. šŸ‘



  • Anyone miss the days when the spinner animation advanced every X bytes (or, for CPU-bound stuff, every outer-loop iteration) instead of every X milliseconds?



  • @Seahen said:

    Anyone miss the days when the spinner animation advanced every X bytes (or, for CPU-bound stuff, every outer-loop iteration) instead of every X milliseconds?

    No


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    That is literally what people my office do, except they use the conference room rather than walk into other people's offices.

    And I'm talking about leaning up against the wall, not "being in that room." I used to think that it was partly because the building's a hollow rectangle with a courtyard in the middle, and we are in the inner ring, except that the Sprint and Verizon users don't have the problem the AT&T people do.

    Plus, the last place I lived, I was literally in a hole--according to the coverage maps--about 3 houses wide that only got Edge. Next street over got 1-2Mbps 3g, in my house, you'd be lucky to get 200Kbps.

    Oh, and the assholes canceled my unlimited data plan for tethering, although I realize some might argue that's technically on me.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @redwizard said:

    I'm not contesting that at all. I was merely saying to reevaluate the Sprint performance on its own merit, not necessarily to switch back to American Trudge & Termination!

    Oh, gotcha. Well, at home it's regularly twice what I got on AT&T (~7 vs ~3 Mbps) and driving around town I have gotten--sometimes--speeds up to 25Mbps sustained (as measured by timing a 200+MB download as well as speed tests.) Generally speaking the places I go have sufficient coverage.



  • @FrostCat said:

    Oh, and the assholes canceled my unlimited data plan for tethering, although I realize some might argue that's technically on me.

    ...and they wonder why you left them as a customer?


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @redwizard said:

    FrostCat said:
    Oh, and the assholes canceled my unlimited data plan for tethering, although I realize some might argue that's technically on me.

    ...and they wonder why you left them as a customer?

    It's actually irrelevant. All they do is change you to a more expensive plan, and frankly I was pretty sure I could get around how they found out but too lazy to try, and it gave me another reason to leave, which, as I said, was primarily due to no service.



  • @Zemm said:

    From memory it was dialup speed (9600bps or so) but I was charged by usage, at 0.55c/KB (half a cent plus tax). Never really used mobile data until I got my current plan which included 1GB of data per month. At least now it's 3G data.

    I had GPRS service from Fido on my trusty iPaq 6315 back in 2004. It was $25 for 5 MB per month. They offered unlimited for $50, a plan that went away quickly enough, and a couple years back someone tried to sell theirs for $15,000 Not sure if he ever did.


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