I am disapointed, you need to swipe from top to the bottom
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The How To that exist now was not that helpful in understanding basic usage of /e/OS.
Is that only me who would like a “crash course in using /e/OS”?
Like, the top mystery menu we talked about above, what is that?
How do you connect it to a computer to transfer files? Can contacts be backed up to a computer?
What is actually App Lounge and how does deGoogling work? (I have a basic understanding of it, but I think it could be explained to new users with little experience). Just some examples.
I wish /e/OS to be a serious alternative to big tech and so easy to use that my grandmother can use it, after a bit of How To reading. Unfortunately I am not qualified to write such a manual or contribute to it, because I have very little understanding of what I am doing… I am, rather, the ideal reader of it.
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Wow, sorry Piero, that was stupid of me… You swipe from top to bottom… 
Imagine I have used /e/OS for 3 years or so, and still not figured that out! It wasn’t so easy though, my Samsung S7 is fickle with the touch and you got to do it exactly right. Is these things you are just supposed to know…? I came from iPhone, don’t think it has such a menu…
Well, that only strengthens my argument that we need a How To for absolute know-nothings. Imagine that someone who is a totally newbie to mobiles wants to buy an /e/OS phone, knowing these tricks will make using it so much more efficient.
I used to think smartphones was a necessary evil, I had no interested in them at all and was mostly annoyed, often threw my iPhone at things, I kind of actually hated it and had no interest in becoming a ‘power user’. It was full of dings and scratches, surprised that it survived for so long.
That was until I got an /e/OS Samsung S7, which I really like! It is the first time I’m in a really good relationship with a mobile phone.
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I am afraid yes,
State bar (top bar) is not an /e/ things, all android device have it
It has, but it is located at the bottom of the screen
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Thanks a lot for your time and help piero.
This is my first Android, I didn’t even think about it as Android, but of course it is.
Neither do I have any friends who use Android, actually they are all on Apple, so I had to figure things out myself, which I may have done in a half-hearted way, to your disappointment.
I am sure there are others out there who would go from Apple to /e/OS, if we could nudge them a little in the right direction… People like me, who were dismayed by Android.
By the way, an interesting thing that happened after updating the OS, before the half lower screen was darker than the rest and sometimes flashing. It got back to normal after updating.
There are users with the same preocupation as yours :
Un « /e/ pour les nuls »?
.
Création d’un Guide « eOS pour les Nuls »
And the officials
https://doc.e.foundation/support-topics#
.
Getting Started on /e/OS
Do you use the forum search bar ?
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Yes I checked those guides. Not sure if they were that helpful, unfortunately.
Also did search in the forum. The forum is great but it contains and immense amount of information and most of it is really heavy tech jargon that a guy like me (non IT or mobile pro) can’t grasp.
I know some “normal” people that would have problems with finding info there. You have to be highly motivated and interested in mobile tech.
Here is an example. I am trying to find how to connect via USB to a computer to copy files or do whatever is possible (not sure what is possible yet, like copying contacts. Mainly want to copy photos).
I managed to connect the phone via USB and can find it on my computer (Linux Zorin), but the folder is emtpy. I have lots of photos and videos on the phone, but not sure where they are. What folder am I viewing on the computer, it is unknown to me.
So for me the USB connection is not useful. In a case like this I give up and assume that USB connection is not meaningful.
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Have you selected “file transfert” in “usb preferences” ?
by default, it is “charge only”
There is a possibility to change default settings in “developper options” “default usb preferences” but it is not so safe in term of privacy.
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Where do you change USB preferences?
By the way, what is the meaning of the circle to the right of the swipe down top menu? Really stupid question I am sure.
I don’t see, Please share screenshot…
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If you fully develop the top bar menu by a second swipe from top to bottom, you will see the text under the icons…
Clicking on the little pencil, you will be allowed to arrange those icons (add or remove)…
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Oh yes, I see! It is so silly to take up your time with these basic things. But I don’t know where to figure them out elsewhere.
I see that the “recycle” symbol means rotate automatically.
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Let’s check Permissions in
Settings > Apps and notifications > See all … apps > Contacts > Permissions > Now tap to allow Contacts, Storage, and Telephone.
One would hope this would also allow import of .vcf
I did that now. It already has permission. Imported contacts, it worked, however now I have copies of the old contacts that are empty, so I have to manually erase them. The new empty contacts can be erased, the old ones can only be “hidden”.
It seems I am extraordinarily unlucky when it comes to mobile phones, the amount of trouble I have encountered is amazing. Still, I love my /e/ phone, it is fantastic.
I don’t understand the contacts app. I’ll just rewrite them all manually.
Did you make your .vcf from the “good contacts list” on the old phone ?
I think you now need to go to
Settings > Apps and notifications > See all … apps > Contacts > Clear cache and Clear storage.
But please let’s try to get the damaged contacts cleaned up before importing more !
I tried that in the link. It was one of the first things I did.
It wasn’t from the “good contacts list” on the old phone, it was on the new. The old is gone.
Tried clear cache now, it does not make any difference in the contacts list now however. I hesitate to do another import. Last import only made doubles without any information in them, which will just increase the amount of erasing I have to do.
I do not know which is old and which is new.
Good, that is why I said
For clarification. This would be the Contact list I expected you to export as your “good”.vcf
You also need to follow what I indicated and Clear storage – we are still trying to clear the faulty permissions in your Contacts, the problem you reported on Upgrade to e-1.12-s in Post #8.
For this I meant before and after update of the OS.
I did this on two phones, one was done without much trouble, it was bought from the /e/ shop, preinstalled. The other is the one we are talking about with contact trouble, a Samsung S7.
I have had so much trouble with it, it almost becomes a sport…
Clean up “damaged contacts” sounds good, if only I knew how to do it. Maybe easier, I thought, to just “hide” them, because that is what the system says when I try to erase them.
“Clear storage”, that sounds scary, won’t that erase all contact info?
I don’t trust import contacts. I bet all contacts will be imported empty and I lose it all.
So do you have a “good”.vcf exported from your “problem free phone” ?
If no, please stop reading !
No, we hope it will clear permissions. That’s all for now.
Note: We could delete all contacts for a fresh start from
Clearing data for the Contacts Storage system app in Settings > Apps will delete your contacts.