Samsung Pie update-hate it

[MicA88]

I find myself really, really unhappy with the Pie update from Samsung. Battery drain is horrible. Some features seem to be backwards now(like an iPhone) and no longer intuitive. If I had wanted an operating system like IOS, I would have just bought an iPhone years ago. Any others out there frustrated with this Pie update?

[vzw_customer_support]

MicA88,

Software updates are something that manufacturers offer, for various reasons. We always want the update process to go smoothly for you. I regret to learn of any issues with your update. Tell me, how long is the battery life now, compared to before the update? What is the model of your Samsung? Here is a link that outlines the Pie update: http://spr.ly/6608EiVBY

ChristinaB_VZW

[GrapevinePix]

There's MUCH MUCH more WRONG with the Pie update than battery life.  This is the absolute worst update Samsung's ever put out. One forced upon the users with no going back.  The S9+ was to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, and yet it's now just a mediocre phone.  Options removed that were useful, changes added for no apparent reason. It's pitiful.

[ErnestBorg9]

To any moderator: I have blocked the updates on my new J7 in every way I have been able to after reseraching the dirt sandwich called PIE. I am currently looking over the EUL of Samsung that allows them to BREAK a phone at will and drop it back in the owner's lap to limp along.

I would like to know one thing: Does Verizon have a position about forcing updates that are KNOWN to break phones that Verizon sells? I bought a smart phone from Verizon and spent a month putting apps on it that do what I need it to do. Now Samsung, through Verizon service,  is going to force an update on me on June 15 that by all accounts will completely wreak the UI and app functionality I have paid for.

Just to let you know this is not just a useless rant:

1) I am contacting American Express today to find out what their position is, since I intend to claim it is broken (as to what I PAID for) within the warranty period. If Verizon will not refund my money if it auto updates and breaks it, I will tie up the purchase price in a charge back dispute with AmEx. My last one like this took over a year to settle.

2) I suggest everyone who now has a broken Samsung phone due to PIE check into Small Claims arbitration, as I am doing now. For $50 or less, you can make Samsung appear with lawyers to explain how their TOS aren't violated by knowingly forcing software changes on phones that break them. Should be a couple thousand in their legal fees per arbitration.   Their arb language can be found at https://www.samsung.com/us/Legal/Phone-HSGuide/

3) Feel free to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission's consumer protection agency. Here is the link for software complaints: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/GettingStarted#crnt

The idea that purchasers just have to sit back and enjoy the reaming from big companies is dying fast. Turn about is fair play: You make my life miserable, I will make yours the same.

[boringusername]

update doesn't break phones. yes they can "force" updates on you. ironcially if you didn't get an update and you were hacked you'd be mad.

[vzw_customer_support]

ErnestBorg9

We want you to have the best experience possible on your device. Software updates are sent by the manufacturer to remove issues and implement new features on your phone. After retrieving the update, it's recommended that you update the software on all the third party applications that you've downloaded to your device, as well. This ensures that the applications on your device are running at full capacity with all the functionalities that you had before. Here's more information regarding the most recent software update that for your phone:

https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/samsung-galaxy-j7-update/

LasinaJ_VZW

[IT-Architect]

Pie destroys the usability of the phone. The call recording that professionals depend on for invoicing their time gets destroyed. Besides what has been posted 1. Get a phone that won't get Pie. 2. Get a generic version of the phone or flash to that firmware. 3. Fire Verizon. 4. Buy an International phone. 5. Buy a phone such as a Pixel 2 that you can root to where you have control. 6. Turn off auto update and notifications at the play store. 7. Get a VOIP service and don't use Verizon or any other carrier as simply a wireless ISP.

[IT-Architect]

**>...charge back dispute with AmEx...Small Claims arbitration...Federal Trade Commission's consumer protection agency https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/GettingStarted#crnt< Thanks for publishing the links. Look for any class actions as well. There are settings to turn off auto updates for the operating system but they have deliberately hacked the operating system to work around them. **A cursory search of the web reveals a huge issue was destroying the usability of call recordings, including historical records, that show who called when and be able to hear the recordings or see who they were to or from, vanishes. For professionals who invoice for their time, such as attorneys, accountants, IT support, and many others where it is their note taker, such as construction managers, condo managers, apartment managers, and engineers, it has cost them each many thousands of dollars. It is also a documentation requirement for some professions. If credit card processors require Pie, we don't need credit card processors on our phones. **For many, the Pie forced update is worse than ransomware because you can't even pay the ransom. It's like an accounting software update that does away with your accounts receivable and makes historical data unusable. If it were not Android and the wireless carrier, it would be headlines worldwide as cyber terrorism. Pie has displaced China and Russia as the top personal data issue for many. The number one cause of death for younger people is traffic accidents too. Since airbags are clearly not doing the job, tomorrow morning the gears in your transmission on your car will be permanently welded so they cannot turn. Protecting someone's life is certainly much more important. If they just being good people concerned with your privacy, then they have nothing to hide, and should have no problem releasing their software as open source so the whole world can scrutinize their code for vulnerabilities as was done with Open Whisper's Signal, which has never been broken and some countries outlaw for that reason. **The fix for those with this problem and many more is to use a VOIP service to host your communications rather than your wireless provider. Moreover, do not use them for cloud services, credit card processing, or anything else. This is the future anyways has many advantages. Here are a few: *1. It enables you to change carriers without porting your number, travel, or even live in foreign countries and never lose your number nor pay long distance in that region. All that is required is an Internet, and any device that can be a VOIP client such as a phone, tablet, computer, or a SIP phone. If you swap SIMs anywhere in the world, nothing changes, an for the new phones with eSIMs, you don't even need to do that. VOIP calls consume very little data. 1GB will easily do 1,600 phone calls. *2. You can service local numbers in multiple countries at the same time without swapping SIMs because the local SIM simply give you access to the Internet if Wi-Fi isn't available. If you don't get a data-only plan, the number associated with the SIM isn't used anyway.. *3. With VOIP you can record all of your calls and recordings and logs are kept forever for you. The logs are all together no matter which device you made the call from. Moreover, you can download them and call logs locally. Nothing is associated with the carrier. *4. If your phone becomes unusable for any reason, you have not lost your data nor the ability to call since any device that can serve as a VOIP client will work, which is pretty much any phone, tablet, or computer. *5. It can take the place of a home phone or be a business phone because it can ring an unlimited number of extensions, and if you pick up a call and it is for another family member, you can transfer it to their device by assigning their device an extension. You can set up times you don't want calls from the number to your device. It can roll over to another device if no one answers the first, multiple people can use the same phone number at the same time with no busy signal. It can do spam filtering, and about a thousand things that wireless providers do not provide or want to charge extra for. *6. You do not need to be concerned about losing services because you are not using their specific firmware because you are not using any of them. VoLTE is a standardized network protocol and cannot be made carrier specific, nor can ViLTE. The FCC will not allow Verizon not use it with capable phones. They already force them to share bands with other providers. The towers usually belong to people you've never heard of that they must share with other providers because communities don't allow hundreds of towers all over the place. With regard to Wi-Fi calling, you wouldn't using it anyways. All of your calls would be VOIP which means any way you can get a connection to the Internet, whether that be cellular data, Wi-Fi, or Ethernet, you will have a connection. When it comes to video calling, there are applications that enable you to do secure calling, video calling, chat, and SMS, anywhere in the world for for free. There is one that is completely open source so you don't have to worry about back doors in the software, it has never been broken, and there are no logs for it to keep, because they simply connect endpoints and maintain no information other than your phone number, and the last time you logged in, which is pretty much any time your phone is on. You can use any cloud service you want to, or have your own cloud using one or more of your own computers, and replicate over the Internet between them. Moreover, if you buy phone such as Pixel 2s purchased directly from Google, you can root your phone to get a real backup and make changes that make forced updates impossible, and increase your phone's functionality. If you want to unroot it to do credit cards, you can do that as well. *7. It is more secure. The Wireless ISP simply sees an encrypted connection to your VOIP provider. Out of the VOIP provider are thousands of encrypted connections to devices everywhere. Previous whistle blowers and current news have proven that there is a SYSTEMIC problem with privacy at the highest levels. Any time someone is falling all over themselves to give you something for free, you can be absolutely certain that your private information is what they are selling. Keep the data you can on your own "cloud" or a vendor where their very existence depends on keeping it private. Anything less means you have a fox guarding the hen house.