[Q] advice for newbie oldie

[jabberwocky66]

Hello , sorry for the cryptic title to my first post , My name is Graham , I am in my mid 50s and have had little or no need for mobile phones let alone modern 3rd or 4th generation ones .but I have a Problem that i will put in 3 parts .
first , My partner has learning difficulties and has poor motor skills , up until now she has been getting by with "doro" push button phones . we are due to upgrade her pay monthly package and the Doro,s dont cut it anymore , so i am looking for a phone with dead simple menu system .
thats the first part "a reccomendation for a simple modern 3 or 4g phone" touchscreen would be nice.
second part is that i dont want her running up huge bills as "apps" update themselves etc , and she is happy with her PC for anything internet related anyway , so whatever phone I have for her ,will i be able to remove all apps including the ones that come with it "embedded ?" and disable or password lock internet access to prevent bandwidth being used .
and finally assuming i purchase such a reccommended phone ,and it is possible "without bricking it" to be able to disable and remove apps/internet etc.
has anyone ever done this on a contract phone , ie, would it be legal .
please be gentle ,I have the greatest respect for the techies here , who could not think as slow as me , if they tried . its just i need to sort a phone for her and although i would like a modern phone "leaning towards a sammy" for her ,I dont want to end up with a contract that sucks me in to a system that will be costing me even when the phones idle . (updates/downloads etc.)
thanks for your patients ,
Graham
sorry ,I could not find an icon with a zimmer frame .

 

[jimsiv]

Hello , sorry for the cryptic title to my first post , My name is Graham , I am in my mid 50s and have had little or no need for mobile phones let alone modern 3rd or 4th generation ones .but I have a Problem that i will put in 3 parts .
first , My partner has learning difficulties and has poor motor skills , up until now she has been getting by with "doro" push button phones . we are due to upgrade her pay monthly package and the Doro,s dont cut it anymore , so i am looking for a phone with dead simple menu system .
thats the first part "a reccomendation for a simple modern 3 or 4g phone" touchscreen would be nice.
second part is that i dont want her running up huge bills as "apps" update themselves etc , and she is happy with her PC for anything internet related anyway , so whatever phone I have for her ,will i be able to remove all apps including the ones that come with it "embedded ?" and disable or password lock internet access to prevent bandwidth being used .
and finally assuming i purchase such a reccommended phone ,and it is possible "without bricking it" to be able to disable and remove apps/internet etc.
has anyone ever done this on a contract phone , ie, would it be legal .
please be gentle ,I have the greatest respect for the techies here , who could not think as slow as me , if they tried . its just i need to sort a phone for her and although i would like a modern phone "leaning towards a sammy" for her ,I dont want to end up with a contract that sucks me in to a system that will be costing me even when the phones idle . (updates/downloads etc.)
thanks for your patients ,
Graham
sorry ,I could not find an icon with a zimmer frame .

First of all welcome to our forum Graham.
S4 mini is a very good phone to start as it has also a menu that turns the main screen simple with few large button for your contacts and applications. The main problem with all those phones is that you can't uninstall all the applications that comes with them unless you have root access. (like administrator) That means you must have some knowledge for that but we can help you also. There are many good guys here who will be glad to help you.
Also you can disable the internet connection so she won't cost you extra money on that. Btw I don't know if it's legal with a contract phone but wth....what's legal or illegal to this world!!

Hope I helped a little.
Best regards

 

[jabberwocky66]

thanks , you say you can help with knowledge regarding "root" access. .is there any risk associated with this process .
also can this phone perform "voice typing " for text. (dictation) it would be great for her if it could .
thanks once again for your help and advice .

 

[Whosat]

There is always a risk in modifying phones.

Voice typing is available in several android phones including the S4 Mini. Unfortunately, it is not always accurate.

You can disable automatic updating of apps and manually disable individual apps from using your Data plan, but still allow those apps to use the Internet when connected to a WiFi network. All without needing root (administrator) access.

 

[jabberwocky66]

thanks for the advice ,I have ordered the phone , and will be back soon for some Advice on settings .
thanks Graham

 

[jabberwocky66]

got the phone , on the box it says Samsung Galaxy S4 mini I9195 , on the back of the box it says GT-I9195 , and on the side of the box next to one of the bar codes it says I9195 PM.
Will i need to access any more info via the phone itself to find out if its compatable to be rooted .
i want to be able to completely uninstall all apps(stock) or at least permanently disable them and completely and permanently disable any internet access too . the phone is for my partner who has asperger syndrome ,and will only be using it for calls and texts , she has been having a bad time using older push button type phones as she has poor motor skills ,she does operate a touchscreen tablet ok though .
I just want to be able to guarantee that she cannot run up a large bill because of software and apps updating without our knowledge .
any help would be appreciated . thanks .

 

[jimsiv]

got the phone , on the box it says Samsung Galaxy S4 mini I9195 , on the back of the box it says GT-I9195 , and on the side of the box next to one of the bar codes it says I9195 PM.
Will i need to access any more info via the phone itself to find out if its compatable to be rooted .
i want to be able to completely uninstall all apps(stock) or at least permanently disable them and completely and permanently disable any internet access too . the phone is for my partner who has asperger syndrome ,and will only be using it for calls and texts , she has been having a bad time using older push button type phones as she has poor motor skills ,she does operate a touchscreen tablet ok though .
I just want to be able to guarantee that she cannot run up a large bill because of software and apps updating without our knowledge .
any help would be appreciated . thanks .

Just go to http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2364980 and follow the steps 1-9. That should be enough to root the phone and then you can download from Google play Titanium Backup. With that program you can uninstall any application you want. But be careful what to uninstall. You should take a backup first with Titanium Backup before you'll proceed.

To disable any Internet access through your operator, go to Settings- More Networks-Mobile Networks-Access Point Names and tap on your Operator Internet settings and with the left touch button choose Delete APN

Btw if you don't want to root the phone there is another solution to disable the applications you don't want. Just go to Settings-More-Application Manager scroll left to see ALL and then choose any application you don't want to have , and tap Disable. That way you won't loose your warranty. (I recommend it, if you are not experienced with rooting)

 

[jabberwocky66]

thanks , phone now rooted (congratulations your warranty is now void etc,etc.) and i seem to have a new icon "superuser" , though I have had a quick look and cannot see how to delete apps yet ,but i guess disabling them is as good ,and easier to recover from . have already disabled almost all google related stuff (cos I hate it) can i download titanium backup and install it via SD card , as i did with the rootkit ? .
thanks again ,you have been a great help , Graham

 

[jimsiv]

thanks , phone now rooted (congratulations your warranty is now void etc,etc.) and i seem to have a new icon "superuser" , though I have had a quick look and cannot see how to delete apps yet ,but i guess disabling them is as good ,and easier to recover from . have already disabled almost all google related stuff (cos I hate it) can i download titanium backup and install it via SD card , as i did with the rootkit ? .
thanks again ,you have been a great help , Graham

Titanium Backup is an application and you can download it from Google play. If you have already disable google play you can enable it again and download it from there. Of course you can search in google for it, to download from a different site, send it to your phone and install it like any application from the phone's file explorer. (not from cwm)

Superuser is for giving permission to applications to have root access.

 

[jabberwocky66]

Titanium Backup is an application and you can download it from Google play. If you have already disable google play you can enable it again and download it from there. Of course you can search in google for it, to download from a different site, send it to your phone and install it like any application from the phone's file explorer. (not from cwm)

Superuser is for giving permission to applications to have root access.

OK , I have found titanium backup as an "APK" file , so I can send it to the external SD from my PC and use the phones own explorer to find and install it from there ?
I assume i need some additional system file explorer to work with super user . to be able to completely stock apps.
thanks ,and sorry for being so slow on the uptake .

 

[jimsiv]

OK , I have found titanium backup as an "APK" file , so I can send it to the external SD from my PC and use the phones own explorer to find and install it from there ?
I assume i need some additional system file explorer to work with super user . to be able to completely stock apps.
thanks ,and sorry for being so slow on the uptake .

Yes, that's right. You can install it through phone's file explorer. With Titanium you can uninstall all the stock apps. No need for file explorer with root privileges. But if you want one, a very good file explorer with root privilege is ES File Explorer. You can find it as you did with Titanium Backup.

 

[jabberwocky66]

Yes, that's right. You can install it through phone's file explorer. With Titanium you can uninstall all the stock apps. No need for file explorer with root privileges. But if you want one, a very good file explorer with root privilege is ES File Explorer. You can find it as you did with Titanium Backup.

I have installed titanium ,but keep getting multiple errors (cannot find changelog etc) maybe I should have rebooted after install and before using .will try again . thanks ,your a scholar.

 

[jimsiv]

I have installed titanium ,but keep getting multiple errors (cannot find changelog etc) maybe I should have rebooted after install and before using .will try again . thanks ,your a scholar.

Oh something I didn't mention is to enable USB debugging....go to Settings-More-About Device and tap about 8 times at Build number. This will enable the developer Options menu at Settings-More-Developer options

Go there and check USB debugging.....I think that's the reason Titanium gives you some errors.:fingers-crossed:

Glad I helped you!!! :victory: