Mobile Phones

Steven logged into the hospital internet on his iPhone, and he lost all his numbers. It reverted back to an old phone backup. Leo says that's an odd thing. Sync is notoriously troublesome because it doesn't usually know what version is the current, official version. Look at all the accounts the phone is logged into and see what account syncs to the contacts. That is usually what happens. Users wind up logging into a different account, and it wipes out the existing contacts. 

Lex and his wife have identical Samsung international phones. But when they travel to Richmond, VA, his wife's phone stops taking and receiving calls. What gives? Leo says it's because he bought an international phone. Each carrier supports different radios. So he can travel to somewhere in the US and those phones won't be supported. Leo recommends going to GSMArena, enter the model number, and it will tell what radios it supports. But his works while her phone doesn't. Leo says it's possible he doesn't have the exact same model, but very close. It could also be a configuration issue.

Alex has an Samsung Note 8 mobile device, and after an operating system update, he's lost the abilty to stream music. Leo says that some updates will cause some apps to stop working, and if you used an app that is no longer supported, like the Milk streaming service, then you will lose the ability to use that app. Leo also says that Verizon often doesn't give updates in a timely manner. So it's not surprising. But you may also want to check to be sure that your app is still supported or updated. Or try another app.

Neil bought a new iPhone and wants to give his old iPhone X to a family member. How can he transfer the phone and number to them? Leo says that since Neil has Verizon, he has to have the phone unlocked, and they will do it with a request. But it's as simple as taking the SIM out: you'll want it with your new phone anyway. Then, you'll also want to erase the phone and restore it back to the factory settings.

George is having issues with his phone screen going black when he opens his Facebook app. What gives? Leo says that the Facebook app is crashing and closes out when the screen goes to black. If you delete it and reinstall it, that should solve the problem. 

Charles wants to know how he can stop robocalls. Leo says robocalls have become an epidemic and up to 80% of all your calls are now spam calls. It's ridiculous. But there are efforts underway to do away with them. AT&T is working on a new technology called "Shaken and Stir" which will authenticate the caller before people even get the call. AT&T also has an app called AT&T Call Protect.

Sandy's iPhone 8 Plus is starting to touch lag severely. Is Apple deliberately slowing it down to get her to buy a new iPhone? Leo says probably not. But it may be high time to back up her data, wipe it, and finally restore it. Leo says that some iPhones have been recalled in the past for touch lag, but not in the iPhone 8 class. So it's likely it just needs to be refreshed. A new battery is also probably a good idea. Apple has a battery replacement program, for $90. What Leo recommends is going to the Apple Store and talk to the genius. Then see what they think.

David has heard that if he formats his microSD card to be part of his phone's memory, it'll be ruined for anything else. Leo says that Google created something called Adopted Storage for this kind of thing and gave up on it because if you remove the card, your phone will be unusable because the phone keeps looking for it.  And yes, it will only work with an Android device because it's encrypted. It was abandoned by Android vs. 9. Terrible idea. Better to just use it as an external storage area on your phone. Your phone has to support USB on the Go or UTG.

Danny called last week about his phone's GPS lagging behind where he actually was. His wife recently figured out what was wrong, and that was the metal mesh that supports the rearview mirror attached to the windshield was causing interference. When he moved the phone to the left side of his windshield, the GPS was suddenly accurate again. Leo says that makes sense. The Mesh is causing a kind of Faraday cage for that particular area of your dashboard.