Android Advice requested

"Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap" (ddadragon) 01/19/2016 at 11:54 • Filed to: None

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I went out and bought myself a new phone. I made the switch from Apple to Android. So what does someone with no experience with Android need to know.

Cars with computer things for your time.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 11:56

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you’ve made the wrong choice

TheHondaBro > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 11:57

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As someone who went from an iPhone 4S to a Galaxy S5, it’s pretty easy to pick up. But you will be overwhelmed by how much there is to do with it versus an iPhone.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 01/19/2016 at 11:57

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Have I though? It’s so pretty. And fast. The screen curves down the edges.

HammerheadFistpunch > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 11:57

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Android doesn’t treat you like a child, so be aware that you can make changes that can actually matter now...for good and bad.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > TheHondaBro 01/19/2016 at 11:58

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I’ve already spent way too much time looking through settings.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > HammerheadFistpunch 01/19/2016 at 11:58

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I realized this and have been very careful.

Nibby > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 12:00

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App list

adobe reader
Android Weather
androzip
best parking
chrome
convertpad
es file explorer
goggles
instagram
jota
mx player
n7player
nova launcher
qr droid
quickpic
realcalc
reddit is fun
skype
sms backup
speed test
sports yahoo
street view
stopwatch timer
synprezfm
torch
translate
whatsapp
wikipedia
yelp
youtube

HammerheadFistpunch > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 12:00

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You will learn to love this. Also it will probably upset when you realize all the things apple wouldn’t let you do.

TheHondaBro > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 01/19/2016 at 12:00

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Bro.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Nibby 01/19/2016 at 12:00

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I will have to look into those.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > HammerheadFistpunch 01/19/2016 at 12:01

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I had friends with Android and have seen all the things. That’s a major reason that I switched.

Nibby > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 12:01

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Which phone did you get?

I’ve used both iOS and Android... I get annoyed when I have to use iOS now.

Also, if you haven’t already... Install the Google Keyboard and you can swipe letters to make words. It’s quicker.

Future next gen S2000 owner > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 12:02

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Welcome to not overpaying for an inferior product!

You’ll get the hang of it.

duurtlang > HammerheadFistpunch 01/19/2016 at 12:05

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I noticed the same thing when I suddenly received an iphone as a workphone from my employer last year. It was the first time I used one, after many years of Android usage. Android is more mature and less simple, in my perception. The Apple is more of a toy.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 12:10

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What do you intend to do with it?

Games? Movies? Music? Social media? Fitness tracking? Navigation? There’s a lot to cover.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 12:16

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Hopefully this doesn’t degenerate into nonsensical fanboyism. Apple has its upsides just like Android.

As far as making the switch to Android from Apple, I think the big thing is setting up a Google account if you don’t already. The rest of my family who uses Apple likes the ease of transferring things over to a new device; Google has had this for a while, as far as I know, where your contacts are synced with your account and you can easily transfer them to any new Android device. I believe apps work the same way.

Once you have the Google account setup, really dive into the privacy settings. Android can typically keep track of your regular commutes, tells you when you should leave to make it to your appointments on time, and even where you’ve parked as well. If you don’t like this stuff, make sure you go through the privacy settings very thoroughly.

It's a neat OS in that you can customize it to your liking, but I think this is the basic first step that needs to be taken before going to apps and stuff.

Klaus Schmoll > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 12:25

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https://play.google.com/store/apps/det…

This is a neat neat little app which measures 0-60 runs based on GPS. No idea how accurate it is, but it’s free, so just try it out.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Nibby 01/19/2016 at 12:29

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I got the S6 edge.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Future next gen S2000 owner 01/19/2016 at 12:31

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It. It’s so pretty.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. 01/19/2016 at 12:32

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Just general use. Mainly just use it as as a phone.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Klaus Schmoll 01/19/2016 at 12:34

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Like I’m going to be doing 0-60 pulls.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 12:37

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There’s this feature Android has called “customizability” You can find it somewhere in the settings menu. You should try it out.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 12:37

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I am a fan of pushbullet, it gives you mobile notifications on your PC (after you install their app on the PC) as well as the ability to send and receive texts. You can also enable end to end encryption if you so choose.

They did go a regular/pro model but I don’t use it enough to make the pay version worth it.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 01/19/2016 at 12:39

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That was one of my main reasons for wanting to switch

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Phyrxes once again has a wagon! 01/19/2016 at 12:41

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I already got that one. Thanks though.

functionoverfashion > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 12:43

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I did the same thing about a year ago, and I have since realized one limitation of the Android architecture vs iOS. Granted, this is my own basic understanding, not some conclusion I’ve come to through extensive research. I’ve had 2 iphones and now two android devices: A tablet (nexus 7) and my galaxy S5.

Another disclaimer: this is a gross oversimplification.

Let’s say there’s some behavior or feature you want/don’t want and you decide to try and fix that. With iOS, there is one and ONLY one iOS, at least that’s current. Sure, you can run an older iOS but that’s still the only iOS version x.x that you can find. So if you do your homework and jailbreak your iOS device, you can probably tweak most things to your liking.

With an Android device, the freedom is initially liberating. There is infinitely more you can do, you can tweak and change just about anything. But I have found that sometimes this means changing your whole “launcher” which affects a whole host of behaviors across the device. So, like in order to get intermittent wipers you have to switch our your manual, black Jeep Wrangler for an automatic, white FJ Cruiser. Let’s say you love your current setup but you just really want to be able to dismiss, ONCE, text messages from your home screen. The odds of someone having figured out and distributed a tweak for that specific version of the device, Android distribution, and launcher that YOU have, is like, none. I’ve had no luck in that department. Just as an example, I keep my Nexus 7 and my Galaxy S5 as up-to-date as they will allow, and the differences are staggering, because one is using Samsung’s special sauce.

I recognize I could “jailbreak” the Samsung/Android (aka “root the device”) but that’s not necessarily going to grant me magical abilities to write the necessary code, or to find it on the internet, that does the specific thing I’m trying to do. I almost always found with a jailbroken iOS device, that someone had come up with a viable solution to the simple tweaks I wanted.

Maybe I’m missing something, and someone will chime in to correct me. I hope so!

tl/dr: it can actually be harder to tweak simple things because of the endless variations in Android as compared to the uniformity of iOS.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > functionoverfashion 01/19/2016 at 12:55

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I probably wasnt going to go that deep anyway

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 01/19/2016 at 12:56

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yes cause cheaper and more customization and ability to modify whatever you want is a downgrade haha

shop-teacher > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 13:30

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I just went the other way, I regret my decision! Anything you’re having trouble doing?

functionoverfashion > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 13:39

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yeah, it’s just some little things. The “mark text message as read” thing really annoys me. When I get a one-word reply like “yup” I wish I didn’t have to unlock my phone, then go into the messaging app, THEN tap the name of the sender, just to keep from getting pinged about it on my lock screen.

boxrocket > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 13:53

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Congratulations for getting out of apple’s walled garden. The biggest difficulty clients and acquaintances have switching from apple are itunes purchases converting to non-apple playlists and moving them onto the non-apple device. I believe that’s improved as of late, and there are apps for that. I personally am on Windows Phone, which I strongly recommend, so perhaps you could give one of those a whirl for your next phone, and decide which OS you like best.

John > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 14:06

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Youtube will teach you everything. I switched myself a few years ago and I will never go back, Androids allow you to do so much more, and in my opinion, they let you do it better. Youtube teaches lots of tricks, even phone specific stuff.

I went from an htc to a Note 5, and had to relearn everything for this new phone. Im ALWAYS surprised how much androids can do.

KirkyV > duurtlang 01/19/2016 at 14:11

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I would agree, though I do feel that Android’s relative complexity is often overstated, and that the form that complexity takes is frequently misunderstood.

I actually tend to find doing a lot of things on my Android devices far simpler than the equivalent task on iOS, precisely because, in the pursuit of simplicity, Apple often requires that you go through a series of daft workarounds to perform any task of even minor complexity that they themselves have not come up with a solution for.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > shop-teacher 01/19/2016 at 14:32

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I don’t know if I’ve had any real trouble yet. I’ll probably make a post asking for help if I need it. Thanks.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > functionoverfashion 01/19/2016 at 14:33

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I haven’t had that problem.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > boxrocket 01/19/2016 at 14:35

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I didn’t really have much in terms of Itunes library purchases so it was no big deal for me. And the guys at the store were able to transfer contacts and stuff over.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > John 01/19/2016 at 14:35

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Youtube is always a good resource for tutorials.

shop-teacher > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 14:46

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No problem!

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > shop-teacher 01/19/2016 at 14:46

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I’m sure I’ll eventually have an issue but nothing yet.

shop-teacher > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 15:28

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It’s pretty easy.

BLCKSTRM > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 18:08

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People hate on Android and Samsung (even Android people), but there are some pretty advanced things you can do that you can only dream of on an iPhone. Or that other Android makers will get in year or two when Google copies Samsung.

I can’t think of everything right now, but I was Samsung’s US Competitive Intelligence analyst for the last 5 years (I just quit in July).

Any questions you have, feel free to ask me.

Oh, and Swype. Give it a week, you’ll never look back. I literally have won money out-typing iPhone snobs. (I prefer the real Swype to Samsung’s Swiftkey-based implementation, but Samsung does add the dedicated number row. You should try both, which are BOTH pre-installed).

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > BLCKSTRM 01/19/2016 at 18:23

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I’ll take a look.

BLCKSTRM > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/19/2016 at 18:28

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Google’s keyboard is my least favorite between Swype, Swiftkey/Samsung, and Google. But you should definitely try them out. That’s the nice thing about Android - options for everyone!

pjhusa > functionoverfashion 01/20/2016 at 15:25

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hence why I jailbreak.

pjhusa > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/20/2016 at 15:26

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The moment when you realize Oppo loves Android so much that only ONE comment is in support of Apple.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > pjhusa 01/20/2016 at 15:29

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I’m not against Apple. I have a MacBook. I was just ready to try something different in terms of my phone.

pjhusa > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/20/2016 at 15:33

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I prefer PC over Mac, but I haven’t owned a Mac before. I’d imagine this is how most commenters feel about Android vs. Apple.

Anyway, I see your motivation. Makes sense.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > pjhusa 01/20/2016 at 15:36

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I liked Windows XP or 7, but I just like Mac for about everything except for the whole gaming and upgradability of their systems.

pjhusa > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 01/20/2016 at 15:41

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Yeah. Kind of regretting not getting a Mac. It’d be great to have both a PC and a Mac.

Personally, I prefer iPhone. The recent iOS releases have been jam-packed with enough features. iMessage and FaceTime are nice to have too. On top of this, though design is subjective, I prefer my iPhone 6s compared to my friend’s S6 edge.

I do like Android as a platform, though. I’d consider a OnePlus Two if I had to go with Android.

I’ve jailbroken my two previous iPhones, and have been immensely satisfied with the freedoms.

Again, to each their own. I just prefer iPhone to Android.

functionoverfashion > pjhusa 01/20/2016 at 20:56

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Not sure if you’re labeling my comment “in favor of apple...” regardless I would say it’s luke warm at best haha. I’ve had both, my wife has an iphone 6 now, and I actually have a 4S I use sometimes. I am in IT so I like to try out lots of different things. My biggest complaint about my S5 - which is true for an iphone 6 too - it’s a little too big. I actually prefer the size of an iphone 5 and I might seriously buy one on ebay (a 64gb) and sell my S5.

pjhusa > functionoverfashion 01/20/2016 at 21:56

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Nice. The “6c” rumor would be perfect for you.

I upgraded from a 5 to a 6s. The screen size improvement is great. Then again, to each their own.