The Samsung Galaxy S24
lrg51's profile

Teacher

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16 Messages

Friday, February 14th, 2014 6:09 PM

Love the Samsung Note 3 !! HATE My Magazine and Flipboard...

I just traded up from an Apple 4s to the Samsung Note 3 ( a wonderful companion to my samsung smart TV's and Home Theaters. I am impressed!!! Smiley Happy

 

One complaint... and its a signifiant one for me.

 

I absolutely despise My Magazine and Flipboard. This nagging bloatware nearly ruins the whole exciting Samsung Smart phone experience. I really hate when software is forcefully pushed onto customers... and this was a complete surprise.

 

Would I go back to an iPhone? I am thinking about it.  Smiley Indifferent

 

Get the picture AT&T? Smiley Mad

Professor

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3.1K Messages

10 years ago

I think Samsung is the one that did My Nagazine 🙂

 

You can disable it from messing with your home button. Do this:

 

Open My Magazine and open the settings from within the app. Uncheck the 'Open using the home key' option.

 

The only other option is to switch to a different launcher app. Or root your phone. I don't suggest rooting your phone. So far just turning off the setting has bade it stay away for me.

 

 

Professor

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3K Messages

10 years ago


@johninsj wrote:

I think Samsung is the one that did My Nagazine 🙂

 


Flipboard is a "standard" Samsung bloatware also.  I have a WiFi only (no carrier branding) version of the Note 8, and it has Flipboard.  

 

So its Samsung, not AT&T to blame.

 

Besides (to the OP) Apple has their own bloatware.  Its called iTunes.

Tutor

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8 Messages

10 years ago

Every company has there own bloatware and unless you root and rom there isn't much you can do about it. You can "disable" the apps but these days that's the standard. At least on Android you can use ext mem cards to make up for the lack of space (on most devices). The worst Android is still better then the best Apple.

Contributor

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1 Message

10 years ago

While I realize this is a month later than this original post, I have almost duplicated the same scenario in that I have gone from an iPhone of many years to the Note 3, with high expectations, only to find more bloatware and spying apps than Microsoft could even dream up. Useless apps such as My Magazine and Flipboard, and no way to remove or even disable them for more than 5 minutes. Having the My Magazine app programmed to the home button?? Really?? I am fully aware that I can accept the crappy guidleines to access My Magazine and then tell it not to come up with the Home button, as many have said is easy to do, but I refuse to give them any further access to my information, or that I even acknowledge such a useless app. Going to the play store for useful apps, you find out that the majority of apps you want to download expect you to give them access to your camera, your contacts, to make phone calls, to access any accounts you might have on your phone, and to track phone calls you make and text messages you send and this is ridiculous. It seems the NSA is writing all the apps for these phones and I have no idea if this is the fault of Samsung or Android. ATT just sells the phone, regardless of privacy concerns of their customers. Sure I have the choice to not download anything and put up with only the forced apps that you can't turn off or delete, and just look at the beautiful screen and use the phone to watch vids, play music, and make a phone call once in a while, but if this is the way that an Android/Samsung phone is to work, then I will make sure this is the first and last Android/Samsung smart phone I ever own. No, I would not go back to the iPhone as I am no fanboy of anything in particular except freedom that I helped defend. It just seems to me that too many people are too eager to give out all their personal information without a single thought of what rights they shoud have and thus the issues are forced on all of us to sell us somehting else that we don't need or want. If they end up giving more control over the phone I purchased, to me, between now the contract expiration time, then perhaps I will change my mind but at this point I truly wish I had not bought this phone. Truly hope you enjoy yours.

Professor

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3.1K Messages

10 years ago

App developers put in the manifest what the app *might* need access to. On Android, you see the list of things the developer put into the app, and you have to approve it. It doesn't mean the app is spying on you.

 

As you correctly identify, this is the state of Android, not particularly AT&T or Samsung. If you got a "clean" Android phone (from Google, for example, as a developer) with nothing but stock Android, the apps in the app store will still need your approval for whatever they are accessing. At least you get to know 🙂

 

I'm not sure how this differs from any other Phone OS platform - as far as I know Windows Phone 8 and iOS are exactly the same in that apps can access core information (with your permission, or silently) in order to provide you with whatever feature or function they provide.

 

If you are mildly concerned with privacy, then reverting to a simple flip phone, or even using a smart phone with no personal information on it and all location capabilities disabled, along with no data service, might give you some limited protection, but not as much as not using a wireless phone at all.

In this age quaint concepts like privacy are undergoing rapid change - we are reverting back to our early roots where everyone in the tribe knew everything about everyone... that doesn't mean we're less free than before - just less private. Unless we choose to not use the technology, which is (at least for now) still an option.

 

This post was sent over the open internet where the bits passed through hundreds of machines and devices I have no control over, without encryption, using a free content server I also don't have any control over, for all to see.

Mentor

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72 Messages

10 years ago

So there is no way to disable my magazine? I know Flipboard should be able to be disabled. I have it disabled on my S4. I am thinking of getting the note 3 next or even the note 4 when it comes out. I don't think I can go back to apple at all.

Contributor

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1 Message

9 years ago

I got rid of Flipboard accidentally. I was reorganizing the icons on the pages and when I held my finger down on Flipboard, I accidentally moved it to the trashcan. So then there was a big blank space where Flipboard used to be with a couple of app icons underneath. So then I tapped on the space where Flipboard used to be, and a Home screen menu came up, so I tapped on "Apps and widgets", and went to widgets, where I could select the widget that I wanted to put in the place where Flipboard used to be. I selected AT & T Navigator, and moved it into the space where Flipboard used to be, and Voila! - now AT & T Navigator has replaced Flipboard!

 

- Julie

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