6 months with the S2, these are my annoyances. Solutions?

[UTEPDroider]

First of all, thanks for reading. I love this message board.

I've been using the S2, unlocked on Tmo for 6 months now. These are my annoyances:

1. The screen brightness changes to very bright sometimes, when coming out of the unlock state.

2. When walking, with the phone in my pocket, if I receive a text the phone will on its own unlock and begin opening other apps.

3. USB mode is very inconsistent. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't. After about 6 connects and disconnects I can then move files around from the phone to my MacBook.

4. Sometimes, when texting, characters that I am typing do not appear. To get the messaging app to work correctly I need to shut down the app and reopen it.

5. The phone was useless at Coachella. My friends with Tmo and old blackberries had service. I was saddened that I didn't, boohoo. Thought I'd throw that in.

Hey, thanks for reading! Solutions to the first 4 issues? Thanks.

 

[Xerses]

1. The screen brightness changes to very bright sometimes, when coming out of the unlock state.
Are you using an app like Juice Defender? If so, adjust the sensitivity of the Auto-brightness to slower. If not, change brightness setting from Auto to a fixed brightness that suits your needs.

2. When walking, with the phone in my pocket, if I receive a text the phone will on its own unlock and begin opening other apps.
May be harsh as an answer... get a case that clips to your belt. I never have issues since it is always in my case.

3. USB mode is very inconsistent. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't. After about 6 connects and disconnects I can then move files around from the phone to my MacBook.
I do not have issues with USB connectivity. When I select USB mode it simply connects.

4. Sometimes, when texting, characters that I am typing do not appear. To get the messaging app to work correctly I need to shut down the app and reopen it.
Are you using the default app? Are you using the default keyboard? If so, I can't help. The Telus version works flawlessly with the default KB and text app.

 

[UTEPDroider]

Thanks for the response. I appreciate the help. I just don't understand why I need a belt clip to avoid my phone from running apps and unlocking when receiving a text message if it's in my pocket.

 

[mills2533]

If you aren't using a lock screen, you can open the messaging app by swiping the envelope that shows up on the screen when you have a new message. It may be opening that in your pocket and then going to who knows what.

I have the same issue with #5. I don't have decent access for any event I go to where there are a few thousand people or more.

Thanks for the response. I appreciate the help. I just don't understand why I need a belt clip to avoid my phone from running apps and unlocking when receiving a text message if it's in my pocket.

 

[alextop30]

First of all, thanks for reading. I love this message board.

I've been using the S2, unlocked on Tmo for 6 months now. These are my annoyances:

1. The screen brightness changes to very bright sometimes, when coming out of the unlock state.

2. When walking, with the phone in my pocket, if I receive a text the phone will on its own unlock and begin opening other apps.

3. USB mode is very inconsistent. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't. After about 6 connects and disconnects I can then move files around from the phone to my MacBook.

4. Sometimes, when texting, characters that I am typing do not appear. To get the messaging app to work correctly I need to shut down the app and reopen it.

5. The phone was useless at Coachella. My friends with Tmo and old blackberries had service. I was saddened that I didn't, boohoo. Thought I'd throw that in.

Hey, thanks for reading! Solutions to the first 4 issues? Thanks.

I have noticed some of this too and I guess here is my input. The brightness of the screen seems to be an interesting weird thing. The screen is either too dark or too light for the environment until I press the power button the screen turns off and than turn the screen back on and the light sensor adjusts the brightness properly.

Second I have never had the situation where my phone would power on and unlock in my pocket and call or activate different things. I have a simple hard shell case which is to protect my phone when it bounces off the ground. I am using the default unlock method where you have to swipe the screen aside to unlock the device.

USB mode - I have found that you must update windows media player and keep it up to date. The environment that Windows Uses to mount the USB MTP device is contained in the Microsoft Windows Media Player package. I have a special distribution of windows 7 (Windows 7 N) to be exact and until I installed Windows Media Player (latest version) I was not able to connect both my phone nor my tablet. So keep it updated and restart your phone every now and than - since that time I have not had any problems with USB mode.

For texting I have found that the stock keyboard is not very good! - I actually hate the stock samsung keyboard and I think I want to burn it. Horrible word complete horrible key structure and just plain bad. Best one I have found is Swift Key X - just magical great complete great for people like me with very big basketball hands big thumbs that press multiple buttons at the same time. Horrible for spelling out names because autocorrect really want to make it something normal. I have misspelled my bosses name in 3 consecutive messages so that was fail! Swipe works well but all that swiping action is a little too much for my brain when I am under stress I would much rather frantically press all the buttons in the word instead of going crazy with the swiping action.

As for the coverage issue I have never experienced one - went to Europe with a connecting flight in Germany and T-Mobile worked just fine on the Airport at Frankfurt as well as Munich. Went to Istanbul had no problem with connecting to the roaming on the local carriers - went all over eastern Europe with my phone no problem connecting to the roaming towers nor putting in a local carrier sim into my phone which got unlocked by T-Mobile.

 

[Bandaid]

First of all, thanks for reading. I love this message board.

I've been using the S2, unlocked on Tmo for 6 months now. These are my annoyances:

1. The screen brightness changes to very bright sometimes, when coming out of the unlock state.

For brightness I don

 

[UTEPDroider]

If you aren't using a lock screen, you can open the messaging app by swiping the envelope that shows up on the screen when you have a new message. It may be opening that in your pocket and then going to who knows what.

I have the same issue with #5. I don't have decent access for any event I go to where there are a few thousand people or more.

Which lock screen or lock app are you using? I'm unsure that I'm moving enough to be opening that swipe feature to go directly to the messaging app. I appreciate the feedback.

 

[UTEPDroider]

Thank you all for the responses. Let me respond back to your feedback:

I also do not use auto brightness, as I like being able to change that on the fly from the top of the notifications screen. Doing so by holding down and moving from right to left, as I'm sure most of you know.

I find it crazy that my phone comes out of the "lock" state while just in my pocket without being swiped, with an incoming text message. I send a text to my girlfriend while walking from my vehicle to my office. Knowing that she's going to send a message I check before I walk in and it's unlocked, shows that I have one text message; shows through widget that I have a few other apps open now.

Thank you all for the USB connect and coverage follow-up.

I use Smart Keyboard, as opposed to Samsung's keyboards/ Swype etc.

 

[UTEPDroider]

I'm going to try using the pattern lock to avoid things from opening while just having the s2 in my pocket while walking. Will report back.

 

[Oldschoolwax]

OK, I haven't had any of these problems so I can't really address all of them.

However, you might want to try a different MicroUSB to USB cable. I have heard of a few people having trouble with connections related to cables. I regularly connect to my Mac Pro and MBP as well as many iMac where I work, I've never had a problem with any of them, using the aftermarket cable I carry with me.