Richard wants to know if keeping his laptop and smartphone plugged in all the time will damage it. Leo says that there is great debate about it. It's not really bad to keep them plugged in at all. What's worse would be completely discharging or overheating them. Lithium-ion batteries also have circuitry designed to keep from overcharging. Check out Battery University for details on the life of batteries.
Tony's daughter is travelling to Turkey and he wants to know if Google Fi is a good service for international travel with the Motorola Moto G6. Leo says it certainly is! Plus, it's affordable and about the same cost in Turkey as it is in the US.
Susan tries to send her sister pictures on her smartphone, but the sister can't figure out how to open them. Leo says to try using Google Photos so she can put photos online and then she can see them through the app. All she needs to do is send her a link to an album, and she can click on it to go directly to the photos.
David hears that he can turn an old cell phone into an MP3 player. Can he use a cheap prepaid cellular smartphone? Leo says that will work, but he wants to be sure it has enough storage. Most cheap smartphones don't' have more than 16GB. Getting one that has a microSD card slot would also work because he can put one in with all his music and use it that way. Leo also recommends using doubleTwist to play music. From the chatroom - ZTE phones are $8 at Best Buy!
FIIO is one of the last "iPod-ish" companies, and they make great mp3 players.
Vinny bought a new Samsung Galaxy S10+. Good choice? Leo says it is! But the S10+ design is very sensitive, Leo had to get a clear case to stop accidentally triggering something when he holds it.
Stu got a new phone number for his iPhone and he keeps getting calls about paying a student loan. How can he prevent the phone from ringing on unwanted calls? Leo says that he can get a Google Voice number and then use it to filter out the phone calls that aren't in the contact list. He can also use an app called Nomorobo. or True Caller to filter them out. Lastly, he can block it from the carrier itself, but these calls often change the caller ID to thwart it.
Bill is having issues with losing the internet on his iPhone X. Leo says that this is a known issue with the iPhone X, and he thinks it may be a manufacturing issue. He recommends bringing it into the Apple Store. Since he loses connectivity on his network, and it comes back after he reboots the router, that leads him to believe that the router is losing the iPhone's IP address. He can set a static IP address on the phone in the settings, but he'll have to go into the router settings to reserve the IP address. A new router could solve this issue, but don't spend money unless necessary.
Mike's cellphone hasn't changed over for daylight savings time. Leo says that since it's not a smartphone, it may be that it doesn't automatically changeover unless he goes into the settings and enables "Accept DST." It may also be time to pick up a smartphone, and the iPhone XR has great accessibility features.
Tom got a Google Nexus 6, but the image stabilization in the camera doesn't work, and Motorola (who made it) and Google won't support it. Leo says that Motorola doesn't support it because Google sold it to a company in China, and It's one of the sad things about the phone industry. Leo says if you can return it, do so and get the Motorola Moto G6.
Tom bought an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S9 while he was travelling and now that he's back, it won't support WiFi calling. Leo says that Verizon supports VoLTE, so contact Verizon and ask them to turn on HD Voice. Tom can also turn it on with the MyVerizon app or the Verizon Account page.
