Fotos App with Samsung Phone

[Don Morley]

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My Leica SL2 which I bought second hand lists a Mac address when I trawl though the menu. I that from Leica I wonder or is it because the Camera's previous owner use a Apple I Phone? Whatever I cannot find anyway of changing it and when I try and couple or set up Fotos for it with my Samsung phone it comes up with the message my phone is not suitable. But I wonder if it is only not suitable because the camera was paired previously with a MAC? And if so can I delete the cameras MAC setting and then re set it to work on my Samsung smart phone instead? Any advice please. Thanks Don

[Chuck Albertson]

The MAC address is associated with WiFi networks, not an individual user's computer. The Fotos app is only available for iOs devices, not Android or other operating systems.

[Don Morley]

I find that amazing, indeed quite shocking if true. Surely Leica would not cut out Android users who I suspect must be the vast majority of buyers? Also why does it not mention this factor in such as my Q2 or SL2 instruction books? Anyway thanks for answering but I sure hope you are wrong! Best wishes, Don 

[maikellermann]

Try this:

 

https://play.google.com/store/search?q=leica+fotos&c=apps

[Don Morley]

Thanks. I have tried this already but failed? Don

[Chuck Albertson]

4 hours ago, maikellermann said:

Try this:

 

https://play.google.com/store/search?q=leica+fotos&c=apps

I stand corrected.

[Don Morley]

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Thanks again, all help much appreciated though sadly it still will not download. Don

[SLamb]

What model of Samsung phone are you using for the install of Fotos?  I have it installed on a Galaxy S24 Ultra and it downloaded and works fine with my Q3.  Also, for the latest version of Fotos make sure you are on Android 10 or higher, which I assume most Samsung users will be.

[Don Morley]

Thanks for this very helpful advice. My phone is a S8 so from what you say I suspect might not be young enough to be Android 10 or higher. This is something I will now have to look into. Best wishes and thanks again. Don

[Anbaric]

On 4/4/2024 at 5:36 PM, Don Morley said:

My Leica SL2 which I bought second hand lists a Mac address when I trawl though the menu.

The MAC ('Medium Access Control' or 'Media Access Control') address has nothing to do with Apple, the name is just a coincidence. It's a unique identifier that every networked device has. Some devices (like computers with both wifi and wired network cards) have more than one:

https://slts.osu.edu/articles/whats-a-mac-address-and-how-do-i-find-it/

I think you are right about the age of your phone. I know the app is available for my Samsung phone, which is currently on Android 13. I think the last official update for the S8 is Android 9, though there are unofficial builds that can take you up to 13 if you want to delve into the world of custom ROMS. Otherwise, you might want to think about getting a new phone - yours won't have had security updates for a long time, which is risky if you use (e.g.) banking apps.

Edited April 11, 2024 by Anbaric

[Don Morley]

Brilliant advice thank you. Best wishes, Don

[davidcc]

On 4/5/2024 at 2:19 AM, maikellermann said:

Try this:

 

https://play.google.com/store/search?q=leica+fotos&c=apps

Thanks

Edited April 12, 2024 by davidcc

[Don Morley]

Sadly it seems my Smart Phone is not smart enough and is too old. I will have to replace it ot forget about using Leica Fotos

[SLamb]

That's disappointing that your phone cannot support the use of Fotos.  As I'm sure you already know, the major functions of Fotos are transferring pictures wirelessly to your phone, updating the camera firmware using the app rather than downloading the update file to an SD card to install it, remote operation of the camera and integration with Lightroom and social media apps for editing and posting pictures.

If you are content to not have these functions then there is no need to buy a more up-to-date phone. Personally I like to have the use of Fotos.

[Don Morley]

Thank you your input is very much appreciated. A as much as anything would have liked to have had the geo tagging info about where each picture was taken also to have been able to fire the camera remotely etc. Best regards, Don 

[SLamb]

Ah, I forgot the geotagging facility. Maybe you'll upgrade your phone in the future to take advantage of these things. 

[frame-it]

On 4/9/2024 at 4:54 PM, Don Morley said:

Thanks for this very helpful advice. My phone is a S8 so from what you say I suspect might not be young enough to be Android 10 or higher. This is something I will now have to look into. Best wishes and thanks again. Don

worked fine on my old S7 till jan this year, that phone died so i changed phones.

Edited April 18, 2024 by frame-it

[SLamb]

Fotos version 4.4.1 was released in March 2024 so you were probably using an older version of Fotos that supported the Android version on your phone. Version 4.4.1 states Android 10 as the minimum level, which your S7 would not have been running. 

[frame-it]

37 minutes ago, SLamb said:

Fotos version 4.4.1 was released in March 2024 so you were probably using an older version of Fotos that supported the Android version on your phone. Version 4.4.1 states Android 10 as the minimum level, which your S7 would not have been running. 

probably

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[Anbaric]

There are websites like apkpure and apkmirror that mirror older versions of Android app installers, so it would probably be possible to get hold of an earlier version of Fotos that would be compatible with versions of Android before 10. These particular sites aren't pirate sites (they shouldn't have cracked versions of paid apps etc.) but at the same time they are not approved by Google and the security risks of using them will be higher than using the official Play store (plus the older OS will be insecure to start with). Use at your own risk.

Edited April 19, 2024 by Anbaric