HoFo Blog

From The Web:

15 Years Ago Today, the iPhone Went On Sale

Kuo: Apple's Work on 5G Modem Chip 'Failed,' Qualcomm to Remain Supplier for 2023 iPhones

Samsung begins production of first-gen 3nm chips

Samsung Galaxy M53 review

Apple Executive Says Samsung Copied the iPhone and Simply 'Put a Bigger Screen Around It'

From The Forums:

Activate Total Wireless Phone on Tracfone Service

TextNow: SIM card has been deactivated

Success! And the Steps Used.

Does my Moto E6 do VoLTE?

Airtime PIN issue

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Apple Music’s student plan is getting more expensive in the US, UK, and Canada

Google Hangouts stares down extinction as mobile users are finally forced to Chat

How T-Mobile's 3G shutdown will impact Google Fi and older Pixels

Biden's net neutrality strategy looks doomed

The Party’s Over at Airbnb

From The Forums:

404 page not found

Simple Notepads

Does Verizon throttle Tracfone data users?

ATT, union reach tentatie deal that includes 15% wage increase

Unlimited high speed data hotspot ?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

HTC Desire 22 Pro announced with Snapdragon 695 and Viverse compatibility

Pixel 3 and 3 XL unexpectedly get new update with VoLTE roaming support

OnePlus’ Nord N20 5G is now available unlocked

New Asus ROG Phone 6 renders offer a first look at its fancy snap-on cooling fan

Atari Turns 50: A Look Back on the Original Name in Video Games

From The Forums:

Unlimited hotspot

Login error

land line type phone question

Tracfone Sim kit just went up 10 times.

Verifying Steps To Moving # When Upgrading to a New iPhone

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Top 10 trending phones of week 25

Apple and Android phones hacked by Italian spyware, says Google

T-Mobile is selling your app usage data to advertisers — here’s how to opt out

Flashback: a decade of iPhone camera tech

Google’s Pixel 5 was the last of its kind

From The Forums:

Activating non Verizon service on TracFone

Tracfone Changing the Zip Code on Our Phone Accounts

Should I be worried??

Got Screwed Out of the 8,000 Refer A Friend Points.

So what's with T-Mo's caller ID while abroad?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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It's time for a new thread of the week, our way of recognizing forum members for promoting valuable discussion here.

Every weekday yours truly posts a morning briefing, including the most popular forum threads—that is, the posts with the most replies—for the previous 24 hour period. For reference, here are the briefings for the past seven days:

Your Morning Briefing for Monday, June 20th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, June 21st, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, June 22nd, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, June 23rd, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, June 24th, 2022

Remember that the Monday briefing includes forum posts from the prior Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so all weekend posts are similarly eligible.

In each briefing, forum posts are ranked by the number of replies (from highest to lowest). That's subject to change, of course, so I did a quick recount of replies for all forum posts in the briefings above. With 28 replies each as of this posting the two most popular threads started last week are:

Verizon and at&T give airlines another year
Simplest way to determine if phone is Volte compatible

Congrats to Jack Hagar and donald_s for starting our one hundred and thirty-first threads of the week! As a small token of our appreciation, please enjoy a monthlong Premium Membership on us. Benefits include ad-free browsing, increased private message count, access to a subscriber-only forum, extra attachment space, a referral/affiliate signature link, the ability to post referrals, and a custom avatar and user title!

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

From The Web;

Xiaomi shows us what we’re missing in the US with the Poco F4 and X4 GT

Samsung's new 200MP smartphone camera looks incredible

Which cameraphone is king of natural bokeh?

T-Mobile Named 'Best' U.S. Mobile Network in 2022 Carrier Showdown

Quebecor’s Freedom Mobile Buy Unlikely to Create Strong Competition: Telecom Experts

From The Forums:

Tracfone will automatically transfer my number to another phone?

Best Prepaid for Porting Landline to Google Voice?

Straight Talk hijacked a Tracfone

Sometimes a call won't connect? (using Verizon sim)

hot swap motherboard?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Xiaomi Smart Band 7 debuts globally

Fitbit Charge 5 keeps disconnecting for some owners, fix in the works

Google kicks off the summer driving season by killing Android Auto for phone screens

iOS 16’s editable iMessages may not play nice with older iPhones

Nothing Confirms Phone (1) Will Not Be Coming to US

From The Forums:

TF says unlocked iPhone XS not compatible with Verizon

Simplest way to determine if phone is Volte compatible

TF website safe for activation?

Lose visual voicemail on iPhone after adding data or service, every time

Nokia 2760 Question

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

A hundred limited edition Nothing phone (1) units go up on auction today

OnePlus 10T 5G: Everything we know so far

Samsung reportedly stuck with 50 million unsold phones

Rogers to Retain 450,000 of Shaw’s Wireless Customers, Despite Selling Freedom Mobile

Everything you need to know about accessing the new 3500MHz spectrum

From The Forums:

Check IMEI for original retailer and/or carrier lock?

trying to see my car recorder videos

Email notification of messages?

T-Mobile >>> Verizon broke Google Voice

Tracfone ATT service intermittent today

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

The latest wannabe iPhone competitor has Nothing to show for itself

This $280 phone is a lesson in affordability – I hope Apple and Samsung are paying attention

What is GrapheneOS?

Google Play will no longer support AT&T carrier billing

Telegram’s Premium subscription is here and it costs $4.99 / month

From The Forums:

How to contact Official Tracfone Forum Administrator

So, T-Mobile 3G is Shutting Down July 1...

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Top 10 trending phones of week 24

Rogers and Shaw Agree to Sell Freedom Mobile to Quebecor for $2.85 Billion

FAA says Verizon and AT&T will soon be able to use the good 5G

USB-C iPhone could become mandatory in the US as senators push for common charger law

Google pesters Apple to support RCS in iMessage by explaining Drake's 'Texts Go Green'

From The Forums:

Unlocked Nokia 5.3 on T-Mobile. Replacing with Pixel 6 Pro. How to best do this?

Verizon and at&T give airlines another year

freezing my tracfone account

New ATT activation?

Can a phone be activated using another *un*activated phone+plan?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

It's time for a new thread of the week, our way of recognizing forum members for promoting valuable discussion here.

Every weekday yours truly posts a morning briefing, including the most popular forum threads—that is, the posts with the most replies—for the previous 24 hour period. For reference, here are the briefings for the past seven days:

Your Morning Briefing for Monday, June 13th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, June 14th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, June 15th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, June 16th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, June 17th, 2022

Remember that the Monday briefing includes forum posts from the prior Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so all weekend posts are similarly eligible.

In each briefing, forum posts are ranked by the number of replies (from highest to lowest). That's subject to change, of course, so I did a quick recount of replies for all forum posts in the briefings above. With 45 replies as of this posting the most popular thread started last week is:

Another switch to VZW gone bad.

Congrats to Brian VT for starting our one hundred and thirtieth thread of the week! As a small token of our appreciation, please enjoy a monthlong Premium Membership on us. Benefits include ad-free browsing, increased private message count, access to a subscriber-only forum, extra attachment space, a referral/affiliate signature link, the ability to post referrals, and a custom avatar and user title!

---------
Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

From The Web:

Gas discounts and international data: here’s what T-Mobile’s adding to your plan

Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Google and others agree to new EU rules to fight disinformation

John Oliver attacks Google for its anti-competitive grip on search on Last Week Tonight

Mozilla rolls out Total Cookie Protection to everyone on Firefox

Instagram Will Begin ‘Nudging’ Teens Away From Content They Dwell On

From The Forums:

Unlocked vs Tracfone?

Calling Canada?

Genesis is "up and running"?

Clearway Business from Tracfone selling older iPhones for obscene prices

Need a 4G flip phone before July. Any suggestions?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

From The Web:

Google Pixel 6a’s full set of renders leak

Pixel 6 case meltdown: The bad decisions that doomed Google's design

Samsung may be giving up on Fan Edition phones

Bell announces ‘5G+’ deployment starting in Toronto

Amazfit Bip 3 and Bip 3 Pro global

From The Forums:

Net10 forcing me to new phone

Combine minutes and port second number

Starting tomorrow 5G Start gets 5 GB hotspot

Unlimited Plans are broken

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Dish says it launched 5G service the day before it faces millions of dollars in fines

Nothing reveals Phone 1 design a month early

Latest smartphone maker to sell phones by subscription is doing it with an eco-friendly twist

Samsung's Galaxy S22 June 2022 update is all about improving the camera

HTC is launching a Viverse smartphone on June 28

From The Forums:

Another switch to VZW gone bad.

Verizon to expand 5G Ultra Wideband availability using CBRS spectrum

TF. Transferring balance from 1 line to a 2nd, does expiry date STACK or take the furthest expiry?

Trac BLU Phones: Lingering Privacy Concerns?

T-Mobile Edge

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

From The Web:

Google Maps now estimates toll charges for your journey

Canada may finally kill COVID Alert — sorry to the 6 people still using it

Competition Bureau Wants to Fast-Track Hearing on Rogers-Shaw Merger

postmarketOS v22.06 brings easier upgrades, UI improvements to the mobile Linux distro

Thunderbird is taking over a beloved open-source email app to transform it into its own mobile client

From The Forums:

Discounted/free phone for CDMA upgrades?

5G+ without mmWave

My Verizon issue

is this phone any good Rino7 Pro 5.5 inch Android 10 4G

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

From The Web:

Top 10 trending phones of week 23

Apple explains how it’s making your iPhone a full-fledged webcam for Mac

OnePlus 10 Pro’s 12GB RAM model arrives stateside on June 15th

Nothing Phone 1: Everything we know about it so far

Flashback: a decade of Xiaomi battery and fast charging tech

From The Forums:

New TF-VZ Scam

Anyway around Visible's phone model list?

These @#*&@ disconnected me

very bad outcome from chat session

Can I do this and how?

---------
Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

It's time for a new thread of the week, our way of recognizing forum members for promoting valuable discussion here.

Every weekday yours truly posts a morning briefing, including the most popular forum threads—that is, the posts with the most replies—for the previous 24 hour period. For reference, here are the briefings for the past seven days:

Your Morning Briefing for Monday, June 6th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, June 7th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, June 8th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, June 9th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, June 10th, 2022

Remember that the Monday briefing includes forum posts from the prior Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so all weekend posts are similarly eligible.

In each briefing, forum posts are ranked by the number of replies (from highest to lowest). That's subject to change, of course, so I did a quick recount of replies for all forum posts in the briefings above. With 53 replies as of this posting the most popular thread started last week is:

I am searching for a 4G phone which has an inbox and an outbox and DOES NOT have message threads.

Congrats to John Flushing for starting our one hundred and twenty-ninth thread of the week! As a small token of our appreciation, please enjoy a monthlong Premium Membership on us. Benefits include ad-free browsing, increased private message count, access to a subscriber-only forum, extra attachment space, a referral/affiliate signature link, the ability to post referrals, and a custom avatar and user title!

---------
Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

From The Web:

The ugly economics behind Apple’s new Pay Later system

Customer Satisfaction with Canadian Bank and Credit Card Digital Experience Declines, J.D. Power Finds

Rogers files challenge to Competition Bureau efforts to block its takeover of Shaw

Google's getting rid of SafetyNet Attestation, but the root and ROM crowd shouldn't celebrate yet

These 4 features won’t be in iOS 16’s first public release

From The Forums:

Purchase data only plan with data that does not expire?

Airvoice won't release number for port-out

Older BYOP SIMs expired? SIM swap on Verizon?

Upgrade phone before switching?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

​Amazfit Bip 3 goes live as budget smartwatches go to war

Meta reportedly shelves plans for dual-camera smartwatch

‘Google Pixel Watch app’ coming soon alongside Wear OS ‘Smart Unlock’ for Android

iOS 16 Lets You Transfer an eSIM Between iPhones via Bluetooth

iPhone 7 and older users are frustrated because they won’t get iOS 16

From The Forums:

Xiaomi Mi 9 SE no signal on GSMA AT&T MVNO (FreedomPop)

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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