which phone OS??

1775 wrote:
the Android phone today that you buy with Y Android version, will not get an update to Android Z comes out in six months or a year.

I don't find that at all. If you buy a new model Android phone you can generally expect the next 2 versions of Android will be made available. The S4 for instance came out with Jellybean. It was updated with KitKat and will be updated with Lollipop in the next month (builds have already been released to vendors). My prior S3 was updated several times over its life.

Older iPhones often are not compatible with the latest iOS. Same reason as older Androids. Newer OS's require newer hardware.

If you're not going to use it for anything but talking- any OS is fine. I have a Nokia Lumia 520 with Windows Phone OS. Good phone, rotten OS, but it doesn't matter, as I just use it for talking and the occasional text, plus having a camera is handy sometimes. I just use it on the AT&T GoPhone plan- a bit under $10/month with rollover minutes. Data is set for WiFi only. I paid $40 for the phone new (it has slightly better hardware specs than my iPod touch, which was *far* more than $40 :)).

I would get whatever phone your kids have, this way if you have a question on how to use it they can help you.

I was given an iPhone for work. After I used it for a year, I looked at purchasing my own smart phone and got the Android. I liked the larger screen (iPhone has one now) and I found it easier to use. Having said that, it is a personal choice. You can go to the store and play with both of them or ask your friends to show you how their phone works.

I cannot imagine traveling without a smart phone. I use it a lot for finding places and looking up information. I have a smart phone and my DH has the flip phone. If at least one of us has a smart phone, we are in good shape.

APT wrote:

rk911 wrote:
...tether the android to your laptop for a "free" hotspot. you'd have to jailbreak the iPhone to do that.

Nope, I have Wifi hotpot on my iPhone with Verizon. It's part of the service that VZN allows on certain data plans.

correct but we pay for that. if you jailbreak the iPhone you can find software that will let you tether to a laptop for free access to the web. not sure what effect jailbreaking has on the iPhone warranty though.

rk911 wrote:

APT wrote:

rk911 wrote:
...tether the android to your laptop for a "free" hotspot. you'd have to jailbreak the iPhone to do that.

Nope, I have Wifi hotpot on my iPhone with Verizon. It's part of the service that VZN allows on certain data plans.

correct but we pay for that. if you jailbreak the iPhone you can find software that will let you tether to a laptop for free access to the web. not sure what effect jailbreaking has on the iPhone warranty though.

. I'm not sure I understand your post. I pay $40/mo for an iPhone 5c unlimited talk and text and x GB for Internet with Verizon and I can use it for a hotspot wirelessly or tether it. Are you saying I would pay $30/ mo without this capability? I was told this was the min plan that Verizon offered for a smart phone. My old flip phone was $30/ mo.

Gjac wrote:

rk911 wrote:

APT wrote:

rk911 wrote:
...tether the android to your laptop for a "free" hotspot. you'd have to jailbreak the iPhone to do that.

Nope, I have Wifi hotpot on my iPhone with Verizon. It's part of the service that VZN allows on certain data plans.

correct but we pay for that. if you jailbreak the iPhone you can find software that will let you tether to a laptop for free access to the web. not sure what effect jailbreaking has on the iPhone warranty though.

. I'm not sure I understand your post. I pay $40/mo for an iPhone 5c unlimited talk and text and x GB for Internet with Verizon and I can use it for a hotspot wirelessly or tether it. Are you saying I would pay $30/ mo without this capability? I was told this was the min plan that Verizon offered for a smart phone. My old flip phone was $30/ mo.

I'm saying you'd pay nothing to nobody. just google 'jailbreak iphone tether' and read what comes up. I've not done this, jailbreak my iphone, but plenty have. as I said, not sure what effect if any jailbreaking the phone would have regarding warranty issues.

If you "jailbreak" or root the phone you will invalidate any warranty that you have left on the phone. If it is no longer under warranty, do a search on the apps that you have to make sure that all will still work after "jailbreaking" or rooting the phone. Some apps, particularly those that are connected to streaming video apps and some financial apps may stop working. If this is so for any of your apps, a search of the internet will turn up plenty on it.

mileshuff wrote:

1775 wrote:
the Android phone today that you buy with Y Android version, will not get an update to Android Z comes out in six months or a year.

I don't find that at all. If you buy a new model Android phone you can generally expect the next 2 versions of Android will be made available. The S4 for instance came out with Jellybean. It was updated with KitKat and will be updated with Lollipop in the next month (builds have already been released to vendors). My prior S3 was updated several times over its life.

Older iPhones often are not compatible with the latest iOS. Same reason as older Androids. Newer OS's require newer hardware.

My three year old Samsung phone came with Gingerbread and never got updated past Gingerbread. I own the phone - paid for in full from the start. My Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet that is a year old has never been updated past the original Android Jellybean version and Samsung says there is no intent to update it. Maybe it is a Samsung thing - but three Samsungs and all the same story. As to not being able to be updated - if it can be rooted and updated with a custom rom to run any of the versions of Android, it should be updated by the phone's manufacturer.

BB_TX wrote:

dryfly wrote:
.........
I must really be getting old!! I recognize the benefits of the newer phones but actually see very little advantage to my needs ......................

That is what I said a couple years ago when I still had a flip phone. But wife got a new iphone5 , so I took her old iphone4 even though I didn't NEED it. Now I use it a lot.
I don't usually make phone calls unless I need to. Would rather send a quick text. Short and sweet.
But it is synced to my truck for hands free operation in case someone calls while I am driving, or I need to make a call while driving.
Use it for e-mail more often that I do on the computer.
I use it for maps, directions, and a basic GPS.
When my son updates his calendar with my grandson's baseball games, my granddaugher's volleyball games, and my other granddaughter's dance competitions, it automatically updates my calendar so I know where I will be when, along with addresses and directions.
Sitting at a baseball game and clouds building, I look at local radar to see if rain is approaching. Or any other time I may have reason to see if storms are approaching.
Camera comes in handy when I am not carrying a regular camera but find I want to take a picture of something. And maybe even e-mail it or text message it to someone.
And it goes on and on.
And now I have a new iphone6. :B

My experience as a previous dedicated "FLIPPER" is similar and have now had my first iphone for just over 1 year. I don't text, do social media, send pics, stream or watch videos and sure don't play silly games on it. I have found it to be very useful in several areas such as scheduling and keeping a history of medical appointments and invested in one of the high end super capable aftermarket calenders "Pocket Informant". I also keep basic medical records like immunizations, tests, medicines, etc. in an app along with an app for tracking my blood sugar and exerices. I have found several other good uses for it like the compass and sat app to see generally where to set up or sat dish when at a CG, the Universal Studios and Disney World apps for things like the Maps, wait times, restaurants, etc., the weather app and a couple of others. I also have all our pics on my phone from our camera that includes some 6,000+ pics and slides from all our scanned albums, etc. from the last 40 years. Do I really need all this ... NO, but it is nice to have now that it's available to me for only the cost of admission and my iphone is on a separate 1GB account for $60/mo. In fact I still have my old flip phone active which is on with my wife's flip phone on a separate Verizon family share plan account and is only costing me an extra $10/mo.

Larry