After so many years of iPhones, this is a very frustrating phone to use

Some of you would know that I have always been an Apple person since I owned the iPhone 3G in 2009; followed by the 4 (2011), 4S (2012), 5S (2013) and 6S (2016). 

I even became the go-to-person among my friends when they need help on Apple and iOS stuff. I don't know why but I suppose I always make myself available to help them and I'd always try to figure things out for them. 

It all changed when I started to use the Razer Phone 2 and Android in 2019, when I run into so many problems I can't solve.

Maybe it's more the phone than Android. 

Android is alright. I find it hard to compare between iOS and Android because one is simpler and more intuitive while the other is more accessible and practical. I don't mind using one or the other now that I have used both. 

The problem I think is my phone. 

I keep having problems with it. My latest problem is that I have now lost access to my Internal Storage if I use the native Files app. I can no longer move my files to my Internal Storage because I can't get to it.

I wrote to Razer for help and I just got a reply to factory reset my phone. I don't know. I don't want to do that afraid that I will lose my stuff. I have never needed to factory reset any of my iPhones before. 

So now to move my files around, and particularly my photos, I am using three, yes three, apps. Google Go as a gallery app (yup, believe it or not, the Razer Phone 2 does NOT have a native gallery app to view photos), File Manager by Xiaomi to move my files and photos around and Files by Google to easily view where all the files are. 

That's too many and I'm bound to ditch one. So far File Manager by Xiaomi looks good except that all the icons and thumbnails are so small. I am sure the designers of the app are all in their 20s who do not realise some of their users would need a magnifying glass to use their app.

Let me go buy one now...

pearlie

Update: ah, I found the solution! I fixed it and in a way where the Razer people should know since it's their product! And not ask me to unnecessary factory reset my phone!!! 

The heart won't let it go

Ever since I began using my Razer Phone 2, which I won in a lucky draw, it has now become the only device I use. 

And I had so many devices that I carry with me everywhere I go: the iPhone, the iPad and my Kindle Paperwhite.

I sold my iPhone two weeks ago. And I just sold my iPad an hour ago!

I have been using my Razer Phone for all that I need to do so much so that my iPad had been sitting on the shelf untouched for the longest time.

I do not like to see it unused. But my heart didn't want to let it go. 

But then I was thinking since nobody batted an eyelash when I put up my iPhone 6S for sale in mudah.my, I thought I'd just do the same with my iPad and see if there'd be any interest. 

I posted these shots. Not very attractive I know but believe it or not, I got 10 inquiries for it. 

I responded to the ones I was comfortable with and finally sold it to one of them. 

My head won. But my heart is aching.

pearlie

Going watchless...again

My Fitbit has gone kaput. 

And now I will need to get used to not wearing a watch, again. 

I stopped wearing a watch back in year 2004 when I found it obstructive when at work. Wearing a watch and using the notebook computer is not a good combination. And since I have the time on the computer and my phone, I decided to ditch the watch. 

Until year 2017 when I decided maybe a fitness watch would be a good idea. 

And so I bought a MiBand 2 and later I switched to the Fitbit Alta HR which my husband didn't want to use anymore. 

And now it's no longer working. 

I don't think I will buy another one. Reason being, these things don't last unlike real watches and I found that I don't really need one anymore. 

Only a day has gone by without a watch. I'm still lifting my hand up to read the time but I'll soon get used to it in no time. 

I went 13 years without one anyway. 

pearlie

I’m loving it—my Kindle Paperwhite

I started to pick up read again extensively back in 2011 when I found that I could buy e-books from Kobo.com. 

And since then I have always wanted an e-ink reader. I tried to get a Kobo one but they will not deliver to Malaysia. 

It was only in 2016 that Amazon began to sell e-books to Malaysia. But till today, they still do not deliver their Kindle e-readers here. 

And so when I was in the US last month, I went to Target on the very day I arrived and bought the Kindle Paperwhite. 

But I did feel the pinch. It cost me more than RM500 but now after a month of using it, I have no regrets. 

It’s because I am reading again. 

2016 wasn’t a good year in reading for me. I only managed to read 20 books. I got caught up with too much television. 

So I’m happy. It’s only February and I’ve just finished my fifth book today. 

I am not very ambitious but I hope to read at least 25 books this year. 

pearlie

Are password manager apps safe?

I am on leave at home and with all my devices with me I suddenly realize they all carry different passwords and I keep keying the wrong ones for the different devices and applications. 

Our lives are so full of passwords these days that I have no choice but to use a password manager app. 

But a very important question is how safe is it?

Check out these articles and let me know what you think:

- A Skeptic’s Guide to Password Managers and Security

- Is it safe to use a password manager?

- Password Managers: The good, the bad and the ugly

I think it is both good and bad but where we are now we really have no other choice. 

One of the articles claim that “Despite fears, most experts in the field agree that password managers are still the safest way to secure online accounts.”

pearlie

There is never too much memory

 

What are three things you will never have enough of (other than money of course)? For me they are clothe-hangers, underwear and memory.

I was helping a good friend to clear his notebook memory so that he can get it running again. This is because in favour of lightness, he purchased a notebook with only a little over 100G. That was a few years ago. I am not sure if there are still machines sold these days with so little memory. 

When I checked his notebook, about 40G were used in his Windows folder and 50G in his Apple folder. There is nothing I could do for him in the Windows folder, and I removed all his backup files in the Apple folder and that brought down usage from 100G to 70G. 

There is never too much memory. I wouldn't mind paying a little more for that extra memory in whatever devices I am using. 

With one exception: external hard drives. 

I wouldn't buy external hard drives with more than 500G, for now.  I would just buy more units if I needed more. That is because for example if the 1T unit becomes faulty, I would have lost all 1T worth of data. That would be something you wished wouldn't happen.

pearlie