Finally upgraded my phone

[Executioner]

From a Samsung S9 to a Google Pixel 8 Pro.

I had a small challenge in moving my music files over because they were stored on the micro card in the Samsung phone. I had to connect my S9 to my PC and copy the files off the micro card to the PC. Then connect the Pixel to the PC and copy them over.

[Losbot]

Congrats. We love our Pixel 7s. Great phones. Not sure if I'm going to go to 8 yet. Current one works just fine.

[psypher]

Good luck, never had a Pixel last more than a year or so and I own like 3 different ones in the past. Current phone is an iPhone 13 and still works the same as the day I bought it.

[FlyingPenguin]

I've had exceptional life out of Pixels. Still using a Pixel 2XL as a spare. I have my wife's old Pixel 3a that still works fine and I keep in the fridge to stabilize the battery. That's still configured for her so it's a backup. We're both rocking Pixel 6 phones currently.

I love the pure Android. Can't stand the stupid Samsung UI.

[Executioner]

After I got home and connected to WIFI, I had almost 30 updates. I don't update everything listed, so I have about 20 left that I'm not updating. I have no use for AI Wallpaper as an example.

[FlyingPenguin]

I turn off auto app updates, and pick and choose. I also use RerWare's MyBackup Pro to backup all my apps before I update them. There have been times when I didn't like an update or it broke something.

[Executioner]

Is there any way to hide the updates you don't want to install or upgrade? On my old Samsung S9, I always had about 10 updates that I never upgraded, but there was no way to hide them.

You mentioned that you can reinstall an older version of an app that you have a backup of. I did not know that was even possible. Samsung never allowed that with the backups I had on certain apps.

[FlyingPenguin]

I'm not aware of any way to hide them. If you back up the .apk files, which is what that backup program I use does, you can always sideload an old version by executing it's APK in a file manager app.

[Losbot]

Our Pixel 7s have been solid and I plan to eventually upgrade to the 8, keeping the 7 as a backup, where I'll keep a copy of Google Authenticator on it. Most likely just keep it in the safe.

[FlyingPenguin]

BTW: If you want to keep the battery on an old phone from deteriorating while in storage, put it in the fridge (not the freezer!). Best to discharge them to 50% first. I have several old devices in a mini fridge, along with my alkaline batteries. Batteries will stay fresh in a fridge for an extremely long time (old photographer's trick). And no, moisture is not an issue (first question everyone asks).

I pulled out an ancient iPod 2008 iPod Nano 4 out of the fridge the other day, that a friend was interested in. Still worked fine. I let it charge and then fully discharge while playing through the songs on it in a loop, and it lasted a good 18 hours. Also pulled out a couple of very old Android phones from the same era that I decided to recycle (too old to do anything with, and I have some newer used phones stored in there) and they still had a the half charge I stored them with, and booted them up and did a factory wipe on the battery.