• Re: Samsung phone app, Google contacts app

    From Stan Brown@21:1/5 to Retirednoguilt on Thu Sep 28 12:10:37 2023
    XPost: alt.comp.software.thunderbird

    (followups set to comp.mobile.android)

    On Thu, 28 Sep 2023 08:03:18 -0400, Retirednoguilt wrote:
    I'm also used to using Google contacts on both my Windows PC and on my Android tablet. I found the solution I like. I downloaded the Google
    phone app as well as the Google contacts app and made both my default
    apps instead of using the default Samsung apps. Did it almost 1 year
    ago and can't recall what I did except that it seemed intuitive and easy
    to do.

    That may be a change in later updates, because there doesn't seem to
    be a way now to change the default Contacts app in Settings > Apps,
    nor in Settings within Samsung's Phone app or Google's Contacts app.
    There is still a setting in Settings > Apps for default Phone app.

    The Samsung Phone app doesn't (yet) bother me as much as it bothers
    you, but if the solution is to install Google Phone and make it the
    default I'm willing to try that.

    If you can't make them the default, chances are you could get
    help at a T-Mobile store.

    I wouldn't have thought of that, because my carrier is Visible (a
    Verizon subsidiary). But I guess it couldn't hurt to ask. I was
    rather amazed to see that my small town actually has a T-Mobile
    store.

    I do know that for convenience, I banished the Samsung phone
    and contacts apps off my home page and into the Samsung app group on an
    inner page of apps. I added both the Google phone and contacts apps to
    my home page as replacements for their removed Samsung counterparts.

    I've already done that for Contacts and Messages, and if I end up
    using Google's Phone app I'll do it for Phone as well. Samsung sure
    ships with a lot of junkware!

    --
    Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
    Shikata ga nai...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Retirednoguilt@21:1/5 to Stan Brown on Thu Sep 28 16:12:31 2023
    On 9/28/2023 3:10 PM, Stan Brown wrote:
    (followups set to comp.mobile.android)

    On Thu, 28 Sep 2023 08:03:18 -0400, Retirednoguilt wrote:
    I'm also used to using Google contacts on both my Windows PC and on my
    Android tablet. I found the solution I like. I downloaded the Google
    phone app as well as the Google contacts app and made both my default
    apps instead of using the default Samsung apps. Did it almost 1 year
    ago and can't recall what I did except that it seemed intuitive and easy
    to do.

    That may be a change in later updates, because there doesn't seem to
    be a way now to change the default Contacts app in Settings > Apps,
    nor in Settings within Samsung's Phone app or Google's Contacts app.
    There is still a setting in Settings > Apps for default Phone app.

    The Samsung Phone app doesn't (yet) bother me as much as it bothers
    you, but if the solution is to install Google Phone and make it the
    default I'm willing to try that.

    If you can't make them the default, chances are you could get
    help at a T-Mobile store.

    I wouldn't have thought of that, because my carrier is Visible (a
    Verizon subsidiary). But I guess it couldn't hurt to ask. I was
    rather amazed to see that my small town actually has a T-Mobile
    store.

    I do know that for convenience, I banished the Samsung phone
    and contacts apps off my home page and into the Samsung app group on an
    inner page of apps. I added both the Google phone and contacts apps to
    my home page as replacements for their removed Samsung counterparts.

    I've already done that for Contacts and Messages, and if I end up
    using Google's Phone app I'll do it for Phone as well. Samsung sure
    ships with a lot of junkware!

    As far as the T-Mobile store suggestion, I thought you had written that
    you bought your phone there. My mistake. HOWEVER:

    I just saw how I made the Google Phone (blue background) the default
    phone app instead of the Samsung Phone app (green background). After installing the Google Phone app, go to the android settings and select
    APPS. In APPS, do NOT go to the "Samsung app settings" area. In the
    main listing within APPS, scroll down until you see both the Samsung
    Phone and the Google Phone apps and tap open the green, Samsung Phone
    app settings. Tap on the "Calling app" item and note the title at the
    top of that screen. It's called "Default phone app". Move the selected
    radio button choice from the green "Phone (System default)" choice to
    the blue "Phone" app - which is the Google Phone choice. Easy once you
    find where to make the switch!

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Wally J@21:1/5 to Stan Brown on Thu Sep 28 18:08:18 2023
    Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote

    I do know that for convenience, I banished the Samsung phone
    and contacts apps off my home page and into the Samsung app group on an
    inner page of apps. I added both the Google phone and contacts apps to
    my home page as replacements for their removed Samsung counterparts.

    I've already done that for Contacts and Messages, and if I end up
    using Google's Phone app I'll do it for Phone as well.

    Regarding contacts, messaging, dialers & privacy...

    Almost everyone on Android is both ignorant - and - rude - unfortunately.
    When it comes to contacts privacy.

    Almost everyone on Android is extremely rude to everyone they know in
    that they blindly allow Google to have your personal contact information.
    Mostly out of sheer ignorance

    These extremely rude people don't even ask for your permission to upload
    your personal contact information to Google servers and that of your kids.

    Anyway... since I'm NOT rude, and since I'm not ignorant...
    ... the first thing I do is populate the default Android contacts sqlite database with garbage which is easily accomplishsed using this app.

    Fake Contacts <me.billdietrich.fake_contacts>
    "Create fake phone contacts, that will be stored on your phone
    along with your real contacts. The idea is to feed fake data
    to any apps or companies who are copying our private data to
    use or sell it. This is called "data-poisoning.
    Nothing about these fake contacts will interfere
    with your normal use of your phone or your real contacts."

    <https://github.com/BillDietrich/fake_contacts>
    <https://f-droid.org/packages/me.billdietrich.fake_contacts/>
    <https://archive.org/details/github.com-BillDietrich-fake_contacts_-_2021-01-31_19-04-27>
    <https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/me.billdietrich.fake_contacts>

    Then you install an intelligent contacts app which has the
    innate ability to import/export your real contacts database.

    For messaging, PulseSMS (last known good version works fine)
    will maintain its own contacts, as will well-written dialers.
    --
    Note that Fake Contacts #2 is not yet ready for prime time use.
    <https://github.com/BillDietrich/fake_contacts_2>

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Stan Brown@21:1/5 to Retirednoguilt on Sun Oct 1 14:06:00 2023
    On Thu, 28 Sep 2023 16:12:31 -0400, Retirednoguilt wrote:

    On 9/28/2023 3:10 PM, Stan Brown wrote:
    (followups set to comp.mobile.android)

    On Thu, 28 Sep 2023 08:03:18 -0400, Retirednoguilt wrote:
    I'm also used to using Google contacts on both my Windows PC and on my
    Android tablet. I found the solution I like. I downloaded the Google
    phone app as well as the Google contacts app and made both my default
    apps instead of using the default Samsung apps. Did it almost 1 year
    ago and can't recall what I did except that it seemed intuitive and easy >> to do.

    That may be a change in later updates, because there doesn't seem to
    be a way now to change the default Contacts app in Settings > Apps,
    nor in Settings within Samsung's Phone app or Google's Contacts app.
    There is still a setting in Settings > Apps for default Phone app.

    The Samsung Phone app doesn't (yet) bother me as much as it bothers
    you, but if the solution is to install Google Phone and make it the
    default I'm willing to try that.

    If you can't make them the default, chances are you could get
    help at a T-Mobile store.

    I wouldn't have thought of that, because my carrier is Visible (a
    Verizon subsidiary). But I guess it couldn't hurt to ask. I was
    rather amazed to see that my small town actually has a T-Mobile
    store.

    I do know that for convenience, I banished the Samsung phone
    and contacts apps off my home page and into the Samsung app group on an
    inner page of apps. I added both the Google phone and contacts apps to
    my home page as replacements for their removed Samsung counterparts.

    I've already done that for Contacts and Messages, and if I end up
    using Google's Phone app I'll do it for Phone as well. Samsung sure
    ships with a lot of junkware!

    As far as the T-Mobile store suggestion, I thought you had written that
    you bought your phone there. My mistake. HOWEVER:

    I just saw how I made the Google Phone (blue background) the default
    phone app instead of the Samsung Phone app (green background). ...
    Easy once you find where to make the switch!

    Easier even than you said!

    1. Download the Phone app (blue background) from Google play store.
    Tap Open.

    2. It asks me if it should be the default, explaining that it can't
    receive calls if it's not. I tapped "set as default" or similar,
    right in the prompt.

    3. Add the Google Phone app to home page and remove the Samsung one
    (green background). I long-pressed the Samsung app icon, but Disable
    was not an option.

    4. In Google phone, tap Contacts, and the Google contacts come up,
    yay! Tap on any particular one, and I get the same choice I had
    before, (a) Google or Samsung Contacts, and (b) Always or Just This
    Time. Tap Google's icon, tap Always. When I did that within the
    Samsung Phone app a few days ago, Always acted like Just One Time.
    (Grr!) With the Google Phone app, Always means Always -- I didn't get
    asked the question again when I tried opening a second contact from
    the phone app.

    So I think the question that started this thread is now answered.
    There may or may not be a way to have Samsung's Phone app communicate
    with Google's Contacts app by default, but if there is no one seems
    to know what it is. The solution was to replace Samsung's Phone app
    (green background) with Google's Phone app (blue background).

    --
    Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
    Shikata ga nai...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)