All Android/Google All the Time

[matuski 4,540]

5 minutes ago, Mr.Pack said:

Including all apps, texts and contacts?

contacts yes.. apps and texts no, maybe apps?  not sure.

never seen texts transferred.

Edited January 28, 2018 by matuski

[Mr.Pack 2,312]

14 minutes ago, dorno said:

For settings and stuff I use Nova launcher which backs up to drive (free version is manual backup). For texts I use sms backup from sync tech pty Ltd. App works great and also backs up to drive and has auto backup settings so you can just forget about it.

I found this last night for transferring apps, music, videos etc.

Worked like a charm, fast to install and use, best of all, free.

[Mr.Pack 2,312]

12 hours ago, dorno said:

Looked into it for more than a second. If you transfer apps does it move them without losing data points? Example: would your gameplay be at the same spot on new phone as old phone without having to download anything?

No clue, I don't play any games. But the few apps I wanted transferred, it worked like a charm. 

Sigh..........

Got it UPS Saturday,and Sunday, not 24 hours later, it slipped out of my shirt pocket and into the toilet  when I bent down to flush it after taking a leak. Unbelievable, seriously un####ingbelieable. I cleaned it with a bleach wipe and its sitting in a bag of rice. But I did see that while I was cleaning it, the message "No Sim card" was showing........

Unbelievable...... FML

[Mr.Pack 2,312]

So what is the best app to connect to itunes? My daughter is thinking about switching to an Android, but doesn't know if it'll be a smooth transition to her itunes acct

[FreeBaGeL 7,619]

For the last couple months my S8+ has been re-sending me push notifications over and over after I dismiss them, all coming from different apps. 

For instance I now have 5 amber alerts piled up, and a few minutes after dismissing them they just pop back up.  Every few days I'll get another push notification that I can check in for my delta flight that took off a month ago, every few days I get a notification that my lyft account has a credit I added a month ago, etc.

Anyone know what's going on here? 

[Punxsutawney Phil 830]

15 hours ago, Mr.Pack said:

So what is the best app to connect to itunes? My daughter is thinking about switching to an Android, but doesn't know if it'll be a smooth transition to her itunes acct

Might as well just get a family music subscription to Google Play for $15 a mo & get rid of all those pesky YouTube adds as well with YouTube red.  

[Mr.Pack 2,312]

So I have another Moto G5+ and I have a problem that is driving me crazy. There is a, basically an infomercial on my voicemail that I cannot get rid of. I set it up and that seems to work because I left myself a message, but I cannot get to it because even if I listen to the infomercial, it doesn't let me delete it, it just hangs up on me.

Help!  

[Mr.Pack 2,312]

So I don't think it's a voicemail. When I tap on the voicemail icon, or dial *86 to get to voicemail, it dials a number that is nothing but ads. And never does go to voicemail. 

Anyone with an idea on how to fix this??

[prosopis 1,177]

Any thoughts on the Samsung S9? I watched the release thing and it looks pretty sweet. I think I may be upgrading. I am hoping for some incentive deals.

[SofaKings 116]

Samsung S6 that has a bit of a high pitch "squeal" when I open camera or any function that uses camera.  Reset to default, no luck.

[Ridgeback 31]

I'm really tempted to jump on Sprint's lease promotion for the Galaxy 8. It's $8 per month for 18 months, with a $187.50 payoff to own at the end, making it $331.50 total. That being said, I'd really rather stay with T-mobile, for a number of reasons. 

I have a S6 Edge, which I've loved, up until a couple months ago when it spontaneously cracked. It's a pretty small crack, looks like a BB hit it. I've gotten used to the crack. The allure of the S8 is there, but so is the potential to suck as the carrier would change to Sprint.

[Jaysus 4,424]

Sweet... it looks like I just won an LG v30!  It is the AT&T version, and I am ono T-Mobile.  I need to figure that part out, but that is a nice upgrade for me.

[East Coast Bias 1,162]

Switched to the Note 8 a couple months ago. I use Outlook for my work email but I don't always get notifications when I get an email. My notifications are turned on. Any other settings I should check or alternatives to Outlook? 

[RUSF18 3,463]

48 minutes ago, dorno said:

New contender for best specs for price ratio

Can't even pretend to have heard of them but I also haven't been paying a ton of attention lately. How long have those guys been going at it and what are the experiences with reliability, etc?

[Jaysus 4,424]

39 minutes ago, RUSF18 said:

Can't even pretend to have heard of them but I also haven't been paying a ton of attention lately. How long have those guys been going at it and what are the experiences with reliability, etc?

I am pretty sure they are #2 in the world behind Apple now.

 

P.S. USA is trying to ban them

[saintfool 2,759]

just picked up the LG G6 off Ebay for like $200 and like it quite a bit. Fast, responsive, good photos.  Battery is kind of crappy but i got it as a refurb with warranty. once the battery tanks completely i can replace or get my money back. 

[EYLive 4,529]

3 hours ago, dorno said:

New contender for best specs for price ratio

At this rate, there's no reason for someone like me to not get a new phone every 1-1.5 years.
The idea that cheap phones are getting really good and good phone are getting really cheap is definitely true.

[BoltBacker 1,226]

13 minutes ago, EYLive said:

At this rate, there's no reason for someone like me to not get a new phone every 1-1.5 years.
The idea that cheap phones are getting really good and good phone are getting really cheap is definitely true.

IMO, Huawei is actually kind of a mid-tier phone.

It's shocking to me how good a phone you can get for $100, and it's even more shocking that people will spend over $1000 for ANY phone. 

 

 

[BoltBacker 1,226]

2 hours ago, Jaysus said:

P.S. USA is trying to ban them

Hearing US intelligence agencies warn people that their cell phones aren't "secure" sounds like the New England Patriots warning fans that there are NFL teams out there to get a competitive edge. Nobody has worked harder to ensure that you have no privacy on a cell phone harder than the US intelligence community. 

[Bull Dozier 3,483]

37 minutes ago, EYLive said:

At this rate, there's no reason for someone like me to not get a new phone every 1-1.5 years.
The idea that cheap phones are getting really good and good phone are getting really cheap is definitely true.

Agree to a point.  Though my Moto G4 Plus is well over a year old and gives me no need/desire to upgrade.  Though I do know that when things start slowing down or there some feature on the newst Moto I just need to have, upgrading isn't cost prohibitive.

On the other hand, my wife just had to have an iPhone 8, so I upgraded her when it first came out.  Despite having a cover, she cracked the screen.  Have fun living with that for the next several years.

[Bull Dozier 3,483]

2 minutes ago, BoltBacker said:

Hearing US intelligence agencies warn people that their cell phones aren't "secure" sounds like the New England Patriots warning fans that there are NFL teams out there to get a competitive edge. Nobody has worked harder to ensure that you have no privacy on a cell phone harder than the US intelligence community. 

Maybe true, but even if there is a shred of a chance that my phone is spying on me for the Chinese government, I think I'd ditch it for a competitor.

[EYLive 4,529]

1 minute ago, BoltBacker said:

IMO, Huawei is actually kind of a mid-tier phone.

It's shocking to me how good a phone you can get for $100, and it's even more shocking that people will spend over $1000 for ANY phone. 

Absolutely, I paid $230 for my current 2GB/32GB Moto G5. Before that $275 for a Nexus 5X, and $250 I think for a Nexus5 prior to that. It's a good trend for us budget android fans.

[BoltBacker 1,226]

Just now, Bull Dozier said:

Maybe true, but even if there is a shred of a chance that my phone is spying on me for the Chinese government, I think I'd ditch it for a competitor.

I guess my point is every cell phone is spying on you at the network level. None of it is truly private. 

In a post-Equifax-breach world you don't really have security, do you? All you can use is reputable financial institutions that will protect you against fraud and check your accounts often. 

I can't tell you how many people that I meet that are completely paranoid about privacy. Then I ask them if I can contact them on facebook, and they nearly always say yes they have a facebook account.

[Bull Dozier 3,483]

1 hour ago, BoltBacker said:

I guess my point is every cell phone is spying on you at the network level. None of it is truly private. 

In a post-Equifax-breach world you don't really have security, do you? All you can use is reputable financial institutions that will protect you against fraud and check your accounts often. 

I can't tell you how many people that I meet that are completely paranoid about privacy. Then I ask them if I can contact them on facebook, and they nearly always say yes they have a facebook account.

I get that it is a pretty random place to draw a line in the sand, but I will draw it at knowingly allowing the Chinese government access to my information.  I get that there is very little privacy these days, and by blinding clicking all those "accept privacy policy" buttons, we are signing our life away.  But, I do think it is one thing to allow some giant corporation my movie habits, and allowing the Chinese government a backdoor into my financial accounts.

[BoltBacker 1,226]

1 hour ago, Bull Dozier said:

I get that it is a pretty random place to draw a line in the sand, but I will draw it at knowingly allowing the Chinese government access to my information.  I get that there is very little privacy these days, and by blinding clicking all those "accept privacy policy" buttons, we are signing our life away.  But, I do think it is one thing to allow some giant corporation my movie habits, and allowing the Chinese government a backdoor into my financial accounts.

Yeah, I get that everyone has their line. Maybe I'm just a little too tin-foil-hatty but I don't even trust that what I do on a home network is all that private if comcast found a way to squeeze 14-cents out of a terrorist group that was interested in the exact type of toothpaste I use.

When it comes to financials I limit and sandbox the accounts that I use/access online, use double authentication, and monitor all the sites I visit with "Web of Trust". Those few financial accounts that I access online have alerts setup in case something really unusual(like an unexpected large charge) happens I get an email/text. I check them more than once a month just to be sure those accounts have spending as expected which is pretty easy because they have relatively small limits or only a few months worth of expenses in them. The biggest peace of mind you have is the institution that you chose in the first place. As long as it's reputable and has online fraud protection I feel as safe as I can. Certainly not claiming this is full-proof but at least imo it's about as secure as you can reasonably be and still enjoy the convenience of online bill pay and purchasing items with the protections/advantages of using credit cards.

Maybe the Chinese government is accessing a bunch of financial accounts and I haven't heard about it. Seems to me Sony(Japan), Asus(Taiwan), HTC(Taiwan), LG(Korea), and Samsung(Korea) are some of the only phones that aren't made in China. For that matter how many wireless routers, and computers, and smart televisions do we use everyday that aren't made in China? 

Not saying that you are wrong in your stance BTW, I'm just saying that if I tried to avoid using every online device made in China it would be pretty tough and at the end of the day the Chinese aren't the only ones that are making us vulnerable. The fact that the US government is trying to "protect us" by telling us that the Chinese are threatening our rights to expect online privacy and security seems especially laughable.

[Bull Dozier 3,483]

13 hours ago, BoltBacker said:

Yeah, I get that everyone has their line. Maybe I'm just a little too tin-foil-hatty but I don't even trust that what I do on a home network is all that private if comcast found a way to squeeze 14-cents out of a terrorist group that was interested in the exact type of toothpaste I use.

When it comes to financials I limit and sandbox the accounts that I use/access online, use double authentication, and monitor all the sites I visit with "Web of Trust". Those few financial accounts that I access online have alerts setup in case something really unusual(like an unexpected large charge) happens I get an email/text. I check them more than once a month just to be sure those accounts have spending as expected which is pretty easy because they have relatively small limits or only a few months worth of expenses in them. The biggest peace of mind you have is the institution that you chose in the first place. As long as it's reputable and has online fraud protection I feel as safe as I can. Certainly not claiming this is full-proof but at least imo it's about as secure as you can reasonably be and still enjoy the convenience of online bill pay and purchasing items with the protections/advantages of using credit cards.

Maybe the Chinese government is accessing a bunch of financial accounts and I haven't heard about it. Seems to me Sony(Japan), Asus(Taiwan), HTC(Taiwan), LG(Korea), and Samsung(Korea) are some of the only phones that aren't made in China. For that matter how many wireless routers, and computers, and smart televisions do we use everyday that aren't made in China? 

Not saying that you are wrong in your stance BTW, I'm just saying that if I tried to avoid using every online device made in China it would be pretty tough and at the end of the day the Chinese aren't the only ones that are making us vulnerable. The fact that the US government is trying to "protect us" by telling us that the Chinese are threatening our rights to expect online privacy and security seems especially laughable.

I could be wrong because of ignorance, but I personally think there is a difference between a phone being assembled in China for an American company (Motorola), and a Chinese phone made in China by a Chinese company (Huawei).  Maybe that can put some Easter eggs in the phone for the American phones, but I would imagine that would be near impossible to get the same data mining.  

By in large, I think you are right that there isn't much we can do other than taking personal steps like double authentication, etc.  But, if I can even imagine the possibilities of something worse than the normal data mining, and it is an easy step to take to prevent, I'm just lazy enough to do something easy that makes me feel like I accomplished something.

[matuski 4,540]

Our government trying so hard to make it so we can't buy these is the main reason I want one.

Makes more sense to me that our government wants to have a backdoor into my phone than the Chinese.  What would they care about my personal info?  It isn't like our own companies are keeping our privacy anyhow.

That P20 Pro is an objectively badass phone and I'm going to try to get it if I can figure out how.

[EYLive 4,529]

30 minutes ago, matuski said:

Our government trying so hard to make it so we can't buy these is the main reason I want one.

Makes more sense to me that our government wants to have a backdoor into my phone than the Chinese.  What would they care about my personal info?  It isn't like our own companies are keeping our privacy anyhow.

That P20 Pro is an objectively badass phone and I'm going to try to get it if I can figure out how.

The specs are insane but so is the $1,110 price tag.

Edited March 30, 2018 by EYLive

[Mr.Pack 2,312]

All of a sudden my Moto G5+ has ads popping up at all times even when I'm not on the damn thing. WTF?

I Googled it and it said to look for running apps when it pops up, but when I go to Apps, I don't have a button that says "Running" I'm getting pretty pissed off

I haven't installed anything in awhile either, this just happened out of the blue. Not an Amazon phone either. 

A little help please!!!!!

[EYLive 4,529]

28 minutes ago, Mr.Pack said:

All of a sudden my Moto G5+ has ads popping up at all times even when I'm not on the damn thing. WTF?

I Googled it and it said to look for running apps when it pops up, but when I go to Apps, I don't have a button that says "Running" I'm getting pretty pissed off

I haven't installed anything in awhile either, this just happened out of the blue. Not an Amazon phone either. 

A little help please!!!!!

What about your apps list? Do you see any unfamiliar apps on there?

[Mr.Pack 2,312]

4 hours ago, EYLive said:

What about your apps list? Do you see any unfamiliar apps on there?

None that I can tell

Just had another one for Google Asst.

ETA, I did download a PDF reader a while ago, but the ads just started the other day. Uninstalled it, I'll see if it does the trick

Edited April 20, 2018 by Mr.Pack

[Psychopav 1,025]

10 hours ago, Mr.Pack said:

None that I can tell

Just had another one for Google Asst.

ETA, I did download a PDF reader a while ago, but the ads just started the other day. Uninstalled it, I'll see if it does the trick

I'm just curious, are you one of those people who are just cursed when it comes to technology? Do you have problems with email,  does your computer crash for "no reason"? Do you get malware or viruses but can't figure out why? Does your internet run very slowly? Do your kids "hack" your Facebook account? 

[Mr.Pack 2,312]

5 minutes ago, Psychopav said:

I'm just curious, are you one of those people who are just cursed when it comes to technology? Do you have problems with email,  does your computer crash for "no reason"? Do you get malware or viruses but can't figure out why? Does your internet run very slowly? Do your kids "hack" your Facebook account? 

Not me. Actually I'm pretty savy with all of that stuff, every now and then I'm tossed a curveball though..... However you just described my wife to a T

[Psychopav 1,025]

16 minutes ago, Mr.Pack said:

Not me. Actually I'm pretty savy with all of that stuff, every now and then I'm tossed a curveball though..... However you just described my wife to a T

Mine too lol

[EYLive 4,529]

My new job is buying me a phone of my choice. I originally asked for a Oneplus 5T, but changed to the Samsung Galaxy S9. I'm not sure I made the right choice knowing I also could've gone with the Pixle2. I like stock Android.

[Jaysus 4,424]

17 minutes ago, EYLive said:

My new job is buying me a phone of my choice. I originally asked for a Oneplus 5T, but changed to the Samsung Galaxy S9. I'm not sure I made the right choice knowing I also could've gone with the Pixle2. I like stock Android.

At this point in the release cycle, the S9 is your best bet.  I prefer stock as well, but I messed with a GBs S9+ recently, and if I got it for free, I would certainly get over the skin quickly, as it seems that much of it can more easily be disabled (or ignored) than it could have been in the past.

[Cowboysfan8 6,678]

Moto Z Play

My text message thing on my front page shows a '1', that I have an unread text message. I don't, and it's driving me a little crazy. Anyone know how to get rid of it?

I'm using whatever text app came installed on the phone

[Andy Dufresne 9,454]

My LG G4 is still in great shape but runs pretty slow compared to the new ones.

Thinking of the Pixel 2. Pros and cons between the smaller one and the XL?

The XL is pretty big but the smaller one is a half inch less than my G4. 

[saintfool 2,759]

8 hours ago, Andy Dufresne said:

My LG G4 is still in great shape but runs pretty slow compared to the new ones.

Thinking of the Pixel 2. Pros and cons between the smaller one and the XL?

The XL is pretty big but the smaller one is a half inch less than my G4. 

i bought an LG G6 a few months back. Very happy with it. 

[BoltBacker 1,226]

On 5/16/2018 at 10:21 PM, dorno said:

Now that my back is pretty much healed up I finally got my fat ### back into the gym, almost been 2 weeks now.

Now for the Android part. Looking for a decent fitness tracker/heart monitor that isn't going to break the bank or look fugly as hell. GPS and waterproofing are a plus. And obviously works seamlessly with Android.

Whatcha got?

Thanks.

Watch recommendations are always tough because they are highly personal in terms of aesthetics and feature importance but I'd watch two videos:

BEST OPTIONS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG-lGTj-H9U

BEST VALUES:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNYlpEYPUGo

As always, after you watch some comparison videos to narrow down to a specific model(maybe two) then it's also a good idea to watch a couple of in-depth videos just on that particular model in case there is a single deal-breaker flaw before you buy. I have owned several of these health/smart watches in the past and a few of the most important factors to me are:

- SCREEN, can't stress this enough. Most of my activity is outside so transflective screen is a must for me, but it also needs to have a back light so it's functional as a watch all day/night long. This is a matter of taste but I'm only interested in round screens without a giant bezel(although I'm less sensitive than some regarding a large watch). If the screen is bad I likely just won't use it. Especially if there is so much glare on a sunny day that it's difficult to read. This rules out a ton of watches for me.

- BATTERY LIFE, is a close 2nd. Most of these health/gps features have varying settings that drain the battery at different levels. If you want to actually use all the cool features then the battery life estimates drop quickly. As long as the watch will go a full weekend without a re-charge with EVERYTHING turned on I am fine although a week is always better. Transflexive screen really helps with this since you are forced to turn on the back-lit screen much less often throughout the day.

- EASILY REPLACEABLE/AVAILABLE STRAPS, has become more important over time. There are just so many out there where the straps look/feel cheap and it's something you use all the time so it's certainly within the realm of possibility that it will break and need replacing. The best smart watches use wrist straps that are so quick to swap out so you can get several looks out of the same watch. Most of the time I use some version of a silicone strap while actually hiking or playing tennis but any other part of the day I swap it out for a metal strap. But some folks like leather or fashion straps. Don't support any device maker that doesn't allow for easy swapping(preferably generic connections available from third parties). This is a feature that doesn't seem that important until you've lived with the device for more than a month and can quickly become critical if the strap starts to weaken or breaks.

- WATERPROOF, because it's on your wrist all the time. The last thing I need to worry about is getting my wrist wet on occasion. This is a must for all mobile devices except maybe a tablet or a laptop imo. Mobile devices need good battery life and sometimes it rains outside...... not sure why the tech industry is just coming to grips with these two facts.

- RECHARGE PORT, is a hidden concern that you don't realize how important it is until you own a few of these devices. You want a device that has a solid point of contact so that when you intend to recharge it there is an obvious connection and that connection is firm so when you leave the next morning it didn't accidentally lose contact or it turned out you thought it was charging when it really wasn't charging, etc etc. This can be a problem with a surprising number of smartwatches and health watches. Also keep in mind not all devices charge at the same rate which is a factor for some people(others simply recharge while they are sleeping).

- SOFTWARE is as highly personal a decision as fashion. I try to only buy devices that sync with either MyFitnessPal and/or Google Fit but there are others that are certainly very popular. Some of it depends on they type of exercise that you do, the type of data that is important to you, and how that data is organized in a way that makes sense to you.

These are probably the most important considerations I weigh when comparing devices. That's a lot of typing to generally say that most people would probably be best served starting off with a Amazfit Stratos(recently released English version). I have one that just arrived and I haven't even had time to play with it but that's currently the best value option with the best features imo. But I have also ordered a Garmin Fenix 3 GPS watch because it was on a special at the time but it hasn't arrived. You should also realize there's a fairly good chance that you won't even know what features are particularly important to you until you've owned one of these smart/health devices and hated it for at least one very specific reason. Oh, and in 18 months there will be a new device that fits your needs much, much better than anything that is on the market right now. It's sort of like phones used to be.

[Punxsutawney Phil 830]

Stuff has been leaking out about the Pixel 3 and pixel watch.  If anyone is thinking of a new Android smartphone, or Android watch, you might want to wait until more details come out one these.  Google's very own hardware will set the bar for Android.  I have a pixel 1xl, which still works great, but I usually get a new device every 2 years.  If this thing starts to suck, or the 3 looks amazing, I may be in the market.  Refurbished pixel 1s are going for $200 to $210 (xl) right now.  Still a great device, awesome camera.  I still highly recommend it to anyone in the market for a more economical option.  The Pixel 3's are going to be HTC again like the Pixel 1's.  I had the HTC evo, which was a great device for it's time, so that's 2 HTC devices I have had now that I like.

Most likely Google gives a watch away for free, or a discount to the Pixel 3 pre-orders.

Edited May 18, 2018 by Punxsutawney Phil

[BoltBacker 1,226]

I wouldn't wait until the end of the year based on watch rumors. If the google phones are any indicator of what their watch will be like it seems to me the software will run great but the hardware will be somewhat vanilla and the price points will rival that of apple/Samsung/LG.... so that puts it in the $300-$500 range? And those full fledged smart watches struggle to get a full day of charge if you have all the features turned on in my experience. Almost every app now nags you incessantly to turn on location if you dare to turn it off to conserve battery life.

[Punxsutawney Phil 830]

"ok Google___ broadcast___bring me some toilet paper" 

[EYLive 4,529]

I was about to purchase a OnePlus 6 directly from their website... then find out they don't take American Express.  

[EYLive 4,529]

1 hour ago, dorno said:

Really hating the notch but like the fact you can hide it. Hopefully the 6T comes with the underscreen fingerprint sensor and wireless charging. Day one buy then.

Yeah, better screen:body ratio than the Galaxy S9+, dash charging, fastest processor around, near stock Android. Lots to like at that price point.

[matuski 4,540]

1 hour ago, dorno said:

Really hating the notch but like the fact you can hide it. Hopefully the 6T comes with the underscreen fingerprint sensor and wireless charging. Day one buy then.

Why would you want wireless charging on a OnePlus.. their charging is one of the best features?  

[EYLive 4,529]

2 hours ago, matuski said:

Why would you want wireless charging on a OnePlus.. their charging is one of the best features?  

It's odd they put a glass body on it but can't wirelessly charge. An aluminum body would be cheaper, no?

[matuski 4,540]

6 hours ago, EYLive said:

It's odd they put a glass body on it but can't wirelessly charge. An aluminum body would be cheaper, no?

Weight?  Hellifiknow.

I just know I can plug in my +3 and a few emails later 30-40% up.  Leave it for a minute and get 9-10%.  Really is convenient.

My +3 still humming but it is about time for me to upgrade.  I believe I am waiting for the 6T as well.  Hoping for a better camera and upgraded display.

Edited May 28, 2018 by matuski

[Jaysus 4,424]

8 hours ago, dorno said:

Possible leaked Pixel 3 and 3 XL screens

 

I will say if the Pixel 3 XL ends up looking like this and you can't hide the notch then no ####### thanks. Looks hideous if you ask me.

Android P has an entire settings section dedicated to the notch... including the ability to hide it. 

[BoltBacker 1,226]

17 minutes ago, Jaysus said:

Android P has an entire settings section dedicated to the notch... including the ability to hide it. 

But based on the photos the notch physically holds hardware to make the phone functional?

There are a lot of things I hate about Apple, but a notch between the time/notifications at the top of the screen really isn't one. I don't need a full dedicated notifications bar at the top but I also turn off notifications for all but a few important programs. I guess it boils down to personal taste. I look at the real-estate on either side of the notch as a bonus rather than space used by the notch as a negative. Some hardware has to fit on the front of the phone.