| Author | Message | ||
     Xl1200r |
We have a ton of tech nerds on here, give me your thoughts/advice. I have been an iPhone user for a few years and, overall, I've really liked it. I don't dislike Android, just never felt the pull to make the switch... until lately. What I'm looking for is a website or something that's along the lines of, "Android for iOS users", for people making the switch. Basically, there are a lot of things I like about the iphone and I'm curious how they'd work on an Android. These include, but are not limited to: iCloud - I get 5GB of free storage with apple, which automatically backs up my contacts, photos (taken on the phone), phone settings and more. Does Android have anything like this? iTunes - I actually like it, contrary to most. It makes syching my music and photos extremely easy, especially since I use iPhoto on my Mac. It's very easy to select specific albums, artists or playlists for music, and also easy to pick certain events in iPhoto, include the most recent 3 events, etc. Is there any kind of phone synch management software for Android? Calendar - something I've missed on my iPhone is a better experience using Google Calendar and Google Docs (now called Google Drive). Are there apps for this as well? I'm patiently awaiting the iPhone 5, but the phone has been rather stagnant for a while and the new one will need to blow me away, or else I'll be going for a Samsung Galaxy S III, I think. | ||
| Froggy |
Google has been automatically syncing contacts with your gmail account for years, even before the iPhone came out. You just log into the phone with your Gmail credentials, and it automatically downloads your google contacts, mail, calendar, and some other things. If you ever have to replace your phone, it will automatically restore things like your wallpaper and saved wifi networks. As for document storage, Google just came out with Google drive, I personally haven't played around with it, I just use my Dropbox. The Dropbox app on Android automatically uploads my pictures and videos as I take them.
Honestly I don't know, I don't use my phone for anything music related other than Pandora on occasion, so I don't have any knowledge to help you here.
See the my cloud comments Whatever phone you get, make sure it has Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) or Jellybean (4.1). There are a ton of devices out there and still coming out with outdated versions. Android 3 was a substantial improvement over 2.x, and 4.x even more. I have 4.0 and 4.1 on each of my tablets, 4.1 is a little smoother on the interface but overall I personally like 4.0 better. Also, if you want to play around a bit with Android before committing with a contract, pickup a Google Nexus 7 tablet, the 8gb model is only $200, and it comes with 4.1 (Message edited by froggy on August 16, 2012) | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
as far as cloud storage, I just picked up a new android phone (razr maxx) and they didnt mention anything about that to me. Now I do know that there are services out there, when i had my hp touchpad tablet Box was one that offered quite a bit of free storage, then you could buy more if you needed. Might be available on android, not sure. | ||
| B00stzx3 |
Plenty of awesome Android calendars that sync automatically with your Google Calendar. So you can enter crap through the web and access it instant from your phone because typing on a phone is a PITA. Doesn't google offer cloud now too? Bottom line...my sister has an Iphone and I have Android. Same crap pretty much! | ||
| Xl1200r |
I'd want to be able to add stuff to a google calendar, not just look at it. I'm the main booking manager for a band I'm in and it's a PITA to check our availibility when a venue calls and I'm not at a computer. I don't need a cloud for anything but phone backup - I'm not a power user and wouldn't need to have remote access to major files on my phone. Regarding contacts in Google, I don't have many contacts in my google account, they're all just on my phone. Any ideas how to get them to google, even when I don't have e-mail address for many of them? The Galaxy S3 is running 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It touted as THE top-of-the-line Android phone right now. B00 - I agree, I think, for the vast majority of stuff, there's not much difference. It's sounding like not having something like iTunes will be the biggest change... | ||
| Kyrocket |
I have a Razr and my wife has an Iphone. I downloaded my CD's into my computer and Itunes snatched them all up and doesn't like me to share them which really irks me. There's a program called doubletwist that you put on the phone and computer and looks just like Itunes but will allow you to sync your music to your phone. I've got somewhere in the neighborhood of 4K songs on my phone, of course I added a 32G card to it. But in a nutshell, you just have to play around with it, Android has all the stuff you mentioned you just need to find the app you like best. | ||
| Crackhead |
Ok.... where do i begin.... In order to use the contact/calendar/settings/gmail ect backup feature. You have to have a Google account. Google interlinks all of their services, so if you have an account for one thing, then you have it for everything. On the phone you can always access your google calendar and you can set it up to sink with outlook and other email/calendar systems. Also, doubletwist will sink your itunes to your android phone. I don't have itunes, so i haven't personally used it but Cnet did a writeup. http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57370000-285/h ow-to-sync-itunes-with-android/ Switch and don't look back. The dark-side serves milk and cookies. | ||
| Crackhead |
Or you can fully come to the dark side and upload your entire itunes collection to Google Music and stream it from any device. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Thanks, guys - this appears to have answered all the questions I have. Looks like Doubletwist does everything I need iTunes to do... | ||
| Cyclonedon |
If I was you, I would wait another month until the iPhone 5 comes out, then decide. I would NOT get a Samsung product!!! I'm getting rid of mine tomorrow! I hate the dam thing! I purchased a Motorola Droid Bionic off Ebay to use until my contract is ready for an upgrade. I plan on switching to the iPhone 5 then if it's as good as they say it's going to be. We'll see. | ||
| Crackhead |
Cyclonedon, Which Samsung? The SIII is one of the top phone right now. I personally prefer the Galaxy Nexus but I like to tinker. With that in mind, I own the Droid4 because I wanted the physical keyboard. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I have the Samsung Galaxy Note on AT&T and I also have the Samsung Galaxy S3 on Verizon. I'm running ICS 4.0.4 on both units, but the Touchwiz UI on the Note has some of the better features of ICS shackled. The S3 is the finest piece of electronic gadgetry I think I've ever owned. The camera is fast, multi-point facial recognition, battery lasts a long time. And it has Samsung's version of Siri, which works very well. Always been an Android guy. Played with my brother's various iterations of the iPhone and never liked them much. | ||
| Andymnelson |
I'm a tech geek all day long. I love to tinker with my electronics! My Android phone is fantastic for that...rooted with all kinds of hacks etc. Love it. On the other hand, my iPhone 4S has me FAR more efficient for work and being actually productive. Everything I need it to do, it just does with delay, with out complaint, without crashing, without hacks. I use it because I am noticeably more productive when I do. So...my favorite depends entirely on whether I want a for for playing around on or a phone for working. | ||
| Aeholton |
If you are a Mac user, stick with IOS. A lot to be said for seamless compatibility. | ||
| Hammer71 |
If you want a peak at IOS6 let me know and ill set your phone up as a developer so you can see the new operating system. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Hammer - does it work or look any different than iOS5? Could you send me some screen shots? | ||
| Hammer71 |
some things look different, speed is increased across the entire phone, maps is now a 3d gps among some other tweaks. This is still beta but am very impressed so far,new phone with better faster processor will be interesting | ||
| Steve_mackay |
http://www.businessinsider.com/should-the-iphone-5 -flop-heres-how-to-switch-to-android-2012-8?op=1 | ||
| Loki |
jmho, seamless integration trumps gee wizardry for me. I like my 4, the wife enjoys her 4S. We both like having a MAC in the house. The few drawbacks to the MAC are school related for the wife. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Steve, thanks for that link - looks like my contacts conundrum is even simpler than I thought. Loki, I hear you, and I love my MacBook, but the more I read and research, the more I realize that seamless integration is no problem with an Android device. In any event, I use Google extensively for many things, and with them and Apple not getting along so well any more, my life might be a little easier on an Android device. Hammer set me up with iOS6 - Thanks, buddy! - And while a few things look a little different, it is overall the exact same OS with a few little tweaks. I understand this is a Beta and, in grand Apple fashion, some of the yet-to-be-released features of iOS6 won't be available on anything but the iPhone 5, so far there's not enough "new" to keep me in the camp. I'm still torn on which way I want to go, but unless the new hardware Apple announces combines with some still-secret software updates to really blow me away, I'll probably go Android. Like I said before, I have no complaints with my iPhone 4, I'm just bored with it and looking for something new and flashy. |
