Are there any non Apple/Android smart phones

[norcalplinker1]

I've never had much use for technology. Smartphones are the only device I use. I do a lot of maintenance in the field and it's nice to be able to look up parts and do research away from home. I have a Samsung S8. It was great when I first got it, but then it updated.. It automatically switched over to a "gesture" system that makes it like an iphone. I hated it. Called to get my old system back, was told it's impossible and I had to learn the new one. Been over a year,I hate it more. Every time my thumb hits the screen it does something I dont want it to. It is beyond frustrating. I can't even use an apple product,and now I can barely use my android. More than anything I want to take this phone to the target range.
I asked verizon if I could buy an s7, I can still use those. They will not activate one because it is too old of a model and they are the only company with service where I live. So I have two choices. I either need to find a smartphone that still has back buttons and not a gesture system or give up and just get a flip phone. I do not know much about any of these things, I just know I will not continue being pissed off by this. I was hoping that there might be a company that still makes phones for guys like me. My main problem is that I don't want screen swipes to be commands. I'm honestly thinking I'm screwed and need to just get away from these things, but if there is another operating system I'd love to try it. Thanks in advance.

[Bako88fanjr]

I've never had much use for technology. Smartphones are the only device I use. I do a lot of maintenance in the field and it's nice to be able to look up parts and do research away from home. I have a Samsung S8. It was great when I first got it, but then it updated.. It automatically switched over to a "gesture" system that makes it like an iphone. I hated it. Called to get my old system back, was told it's impossible and I had to learn the new one. Been over a year,I hate it more. Every time my thumb hits the screen it does something I dont want it to. It is beyond frustrating. I can't even use an apple product,and now I can barely use my android. More than anything I want to take this phone to the target range.

I asked verizon if I could buy an s7, I can still use those. They will not activate one because it is too old of a model and they are the only company with service where I live. So I have two choices. I either need to find a smartphone that still has back buttons and not a gesture system or give up and just get a flip phone. I do not know much about any of these things, I just know I will not continue being pissed off by this. I was hoping that there might be a company that still makes phones for guys like me. My main problem is that I don't want screen swipes to be commands. I'm honestly thinking I'm screwed and need to just get away from these things, but if there is another operating system I'd love to try it. Thanks in advance.

By gesture system, do you mean that you have to do gestures to go to the home screen?

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[Cowboy T]

Yes. There's Purism's Librem 5, which is not Apple or Android based. However, they're just now gearing up full production, which means it might be several months before you would get yours.

https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/

There's also Pine64's PinePhone. The latest version uses the KDE mobile desktop, which is pretty durn cool. These are expected to ship in January 2021. I personally would go for the "convergence" version, which lets your phone also become a miniature desktop computer; just hook up a monitor, keyboard, and mouse and there's your desktop.

https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/

[norcalplinker1]

By gestures I mean its like an I phone. Every time o touch the screen it thinks I'm inputting a command and does some spastic ****. Takes me way too many attempts to do anything. Came with an android update a little over a year ago. Been trying to learn it, just learned that I hate it and.
Thanks for the tip cowboy t. I'll look into them.

[Marauder2003]

Go to Settings/Display. Scroll down and check Accidental Touch protection and Touch sensitivity.

By gestures I mean its like an I phone. Every time o touch the screen it thinks I'm inputting a command and does some spastic ****. Takes me way too many attempts to do anything. Came with an android update a little over a year ago. Been trying to learn it, just learned that I hate it and.
Thanks for the tip cowboy t. I'll look into them.

[Bastard]

install a launcher - apex or nova and turn gestures off.

[.sam.]

My Pixel 3a on Android 11, allows changes from gesture, back to 2 or 3 button navigation. Very odd that Samsung locks that out.

Launcher/app seem like the most cost effective option.

[C.G.]

As others have said, launchers are the way to go. When Microsoft dumped the Windows phone (which I really liked) I ended up with an Android (which I still don't like that much) and the Windows launcher makes it more palatable.

[AregularGuy]

I've never had much use for technology. Smartphones are the only device I use. I do a lot of maintenance in the field and it's nice to be able to look up parts and do research away from home. I have a Samsung S8. It was great when I first got it, but then it updated.. It automatically switched over to a "gesture" system that makes it like an iphone. I hated it. Called to get my old system back, was told it's impossible and I had to learn the new one. Been over a year,I hate it more. Every time my thumb hits the screen it does something I dont want it to. It is beyond frustrating. I can't even use an apple product,and now I can barely use my android. More than anything I want to take this phone to the target range.
I asked verizon if I could buy an s7, I can still use those. They will not activate one because it is too old of a model and they are the only company with service where I live. So I have two choices. I either need to find a smartphone that still has back buttons and not a gesture system or give up and just get a flip phone. I do not know much about any of these things, I just know I will not continue being pissed off by this. I was hoping that there might be a company that still makes phones for guys like me. My main problem is that I don't want screen swipes to be commands. I'm honestly thinking I'm screwed and need to just get away from these things, but if there is another operating system I'd love to try it. Thanks in advance.

I think this is an issue with the S8. I had an S8+ that would, just as you said, vibrate and make a spastic jiggling, for lack of a better word, of the screen if I hit the home button in a funny way or held my finger on it. I've had Galaxy S4, S7 edge, S8 plus and now S9+. I hated the S8, was the worst of the bunch. You can set the buttons on the bottom of the screen, the back button, home button, and menu/screens button to always show rather than disappear and appear with a swipe. I did this on mine but the screen jiggling persisted. I eventually got a new phone. Buy a new S9 or S10. You'll be happier and they're cheaper than going for the current gen.

[AregularGuy]

By gestures I mean its like an I phone. Every time o touch the screen it thinks I'm inputting a command and does some spastic ****. Takes me way too many attempts to do anything. Came with an android update a little over a year ago. Been trying to learn it, just learned that I hate it and.
Thanks for the tip cowboy t. I'll look into them.

You can also disable all motion commands in settings. Samsung tries to get too fancy for it's own good, screen stay where the screen stays on while looking at the phone, swipe to capture a screenshot, swipe diagonally to do this or that, I don't know anyone that actually uses these. Disable all of them in the settings.

[WoodTurner]

Definitely sounds like a Samsung issue.
Haven't had any of those issues with any recent android phones and all of mine have had back, home, and recen apps buttons.

I have a pinephone (ubports edition) and am waiting for my librem 5. I wouldn't recommend either for a normal person though. Basically consider both of these phones as beta testing until they get the software figured out. They will get better with time, it's just going to take said time.

[the86d]

Lots of 3rd party phones/ROMs dropped over the years...
Sailfish OS
Ubuntu Touch
Plasma Mobile
Firefox OS
Openmoko
Cyanogenmod
LineageOS

I think they all seem to die quick due to a lack of 3rd party apps, support for those apps, and those that create to OS unwilling to continue supporting it due to lack of financial resources to do so?

Cyanogen dev Steve Kondik was working for Samsung, last I heard,
I think I read this is why CyanogenMod moved to become LineageOS, possibly due to conflicting interests?

As I recall, as I haven't dropped a MOD on my phone in a while, is that certain apps are not available in the app store for modded phones, unless side-loaded.
Netflix, Chase, and Hulu, but even if side-loaded, the apps bioch at you, or don't work, but my recollection might be fuzzy...

My vibrate hasn't worked on my old V20 for a while, so I'll need to replace it, so maybe I'll tinker on the no-vibe V20 once I have a newer spare...
and I'll probably stick with the V20 for the new model for the user-replaceable battery swaps, AND they're CHEAP for an older model to buy that STILL RAWKZ...
Edit: Just ordered another V20, so I'll have vibe again, as I didn't want to rip the phone apart to swap the vibe assembly, in case I hork it, but once I get the replacement, I can...
Hard to beat a ~$130 NIB Android that chooches-well, AND supports up to a 2TB MicroSD, 5.7" screen, w/4G LTE...
Hell, I even got my daughter a V20 for Christmas... SHE is currently still rocking an LG K10.

[67Cuda]

What is this swipe and gesture on an iPhone? Never seen it, but I have an iPhone 7.
Never had an iPhone kicked off my carrier because it's too old. Glad I don't use android.

[the86d]

That is what I like about T-Mobile, SIM-swap and done...
If you use a no-data-dumb phone SIM on an Android, not sure if it changed, but AT&T used to just start charging you for data, T-mobile let you ride w/out data, if you wanted to Wi-Fi-only it... w/a k-board for texting/SSH sessions.

Since I went away from Sprint, Virgin, and Verizon, LOVING the SIM-Swaps on Android. Card too big, cut it, and drop it in the new phone. T-Mobile is completely out of the picture, no calls or nothing.

GLAD I ONLY PAY <$50 for 256GB of U3 storage, OR $64 for 512GB of U3, AND no MONTHLY iCloud recurrent fees... so Apple employees don't go to the bathroom w/pictures of my daughter on THEIR phone...
AND don't use my real name tied to my phone's iCloud/Applecare plan... w/ a CC and REAL NAME tied in too... ... ...

1) Can you default to a different browser, OTHER than Safari (tracked via e-mail) when you click e-mailed links... YET via an iPhone?
OR is it still locked down to use their (tracked) Safari browser?

2) Sprint, Virgin, and VZW use SIMs in all new phones now?

[Bastard]

T-mobile is actually kicking phones off their network or rather requiring all devices to be VoLTE compatible by Jan. 1, 2021 and AT&T requires this by Feb. 2022... unless something changed