https://i.imgur.com/beu32RT.png

Okay, they never said it's because of using a rooted device. Customer support just said it's "for security reasons" and "it can't be reactivated". But since I haven't been like scraping their API, using a rooted device can be the only reason.

I knew about apps that refuse to work on a rooted device. But I never thought they'd go as far as banning your account just for that.

Sharing because it might be useful for other users to be aware that this may happen (other apps may follow), and because if a company behaves this way it deserves to be known.

Backstory: I was an iPhone guy for a well until I enlisted in the army and decided to get a cheap phone with me because in training especially I was afraid I would break the expensive iPhone. Thats when I got introduced to this brand with the Redmi Note 9 Pro which I bought lightly used 2.5 years ago for 140$. I was shocked to see that what I did on my 1400$ iPhone actually felt easier on Android even on a cheap phone with low specs. There some huge gaps in terms of camera and snappiness of course but the experience was still a 7.5/10 which for the price difference blew my mind and in fact some features on Android were plain impossible on iOS (custom video players, access to useful open source apps etc.) My previous experience with Android was way back in the day were I bought a Samsung Note 8 but proved fragile and broke from me literally accidentally banging it on a desk where I vowed that the quality was not there and I wouldnt but that phone again (expensive phone too). After the Note 9 Pro was long obsolete in software and tried pixel os custom rom on it I decided its time to get something new, that was the Xiaomi 13t Pro. I got it used for just 350$.

Pros:

Specs are amazing for the price (12-512)

Microphones and Speakers just a tad under the flagships from Samsung and Apple which is quite the accomplishment.

Display is great, brightness is a couple of years behind but I dont really mind.

Charging is plain ridiculously good.

HyperOS is actually not that bad, got its quirks sure but very usable just like I remembered MIUI was.

Feels light on the hand, unlike most flagships which I like other people dont.

Cons:

No feature updates for over 4 months. One security update 4 months later (March to August).

Camera... Look the hardware is there but the software isnt. You can make photos look good on this phone but there isnt that seamless click the button and it always looks above average you get from flagships. Auto focus regularly fails. Many modes have limitations with framerate and hdr functionality between the lenses.

Battery is just above average but the charging completely makes up for this honestly.

Heat, it gets hot often especially when using GPS/Mobile Data.

Hi there,

I have been lately trying out different launchers and I wonder which one is the best in your opinion and why?

I was looking for a customizable and as lightweight as possible Launcher.
There are some minimalist launchers but they lack for example widgets that you can use for Smart Home or some quick info.
If the Launcher allows for widgets, it then feels little slow and somewhat bloated as they tend to add a ton of "effects" instead making it snappy and most of the time there are huge gaps between the widgets and icons which isn't efficient.

As I'm looking for a launcher if you have a favorite one you use now, please let me know :)

I want to try different android apps. Mention your favorite android app.

I recently bought a Pebblebee Card from the Google Store here in Japan. Setting it up was super easy, and I even tested the sound feature – it works great!

I wanted to see how well the tracking works, so I took the card with me along with my Pixel 8 (which is logged into a different Google account than the one linked to the Pebblebee). I walked around different places for a whole hour, but it didn't track my location at all.

I wasn't expecting it to be as accurate as an AirTag, but this was really disappointing. The fact that it couldn't even update my location while I was carrying it around with my Pixel 8 makes me think the "finding" network might not be very functional in Japan yet.