For anyone that switched to android from ios.....

waynegalway

Is there anything you miss about ios?

Any handy little things in ios that you can't do on android? Things like tap the status bar to go to the top of a web page? Drag te keyboard down to remove it from te screen in messages?

Anything at all?

KTRIC

I moved in reverse. My Galaxy S2 is up for sale on adverts and I just got an iPhone 4S from work. I'm very happy with it , didn't think I would be though. The only thing is the battery life is horrendous !!!

MrTrebus

Things I miss

1. The iOS media player plays ALL files including podcasts ( I really miss that as I cant find one that plays the posdcasts I have saved on my sd card !)

2. Replacing the stock icons and then not getting the notifications on the new icon (ie sms icon replaced but notification only shows on original icon )

3. When you put in a 4 digit pin code on the lockscreen, you HAVE to press the OK button to actually unlock it.

4. having steve jobs telling me what I can do with my own phone (ha ha ha )

thats about it really, nothing that makes me want to go back to itunes thats for sure !!!

Kenno90

I was thinking about switching, i'll move to whatever platform is the most advanced,

I did it with the ipad as its simply the best tablet you can get (going by overall experience)

I have a galaxy nexus but the thoughts of using a tiny iphone 4s , no thanks , maybe the next iphone will tempt me

mickoneill30

MrTrebus wrote: »

Things I miss

1. The iOS media player plays ALL files including podcasts

I thought it didn't play FLAC or Ogg. Has that changed?
Anyway I download Podcasts using an app on the phone. No need to download using a PC and copy over anymore. A couple of good ones are BeyondPod or PocketCasts (neither are free). Google Listen is free. It's not as good as the other two in my opinion but worth trying out.

MrTrebus wrote: »

2. Replacing the stock icons and then not getting the notifications on the new icon (ie sms icon replaced but notification only shows on original icon )

It's not built into Android but Nova Launcher Prime has that feature. That's not free either though. It's €3 but even without that feature it's worth the €3 I think.

waynegalway

So I took the plunge and got an S3 yesterday!

I like the big screen, and it's not cumbersome in the hand like I thought it might be. You can definitely see pixel on small text when zoomed out a bit, so I'm not convinced it's a sharp as an iPhone, but I don't look at it with a magnifying glass so it's not an issue. Definitely better than iPhone 3GS, and not far from 4S screen quality in terms of visible pixels.

A few things have really impressed me so far, such as the way when you send a location through Whatsapp, you can click on the map and go straight to navigation without exiting the app and going in somewhere else manually.

The sharing features that are integrated are very nice too....great to have so many options with what to do with a photo! The camera on the S3 is way better than the iPhone 4.

Things I miss???

1.The keyboard on the iPhone is better, IMO. I find that the auto correct on the iPhone was really great, and the way that the S3 does it is a little different, but I guess I'll get used to it. I read about replacing the stock keyboard, but I don't want to get into messing around too much with the phone just yet. I had shortcuts set up on the iPhone, but I can't see how to get them on the S3.

2. I miss the "reader" function in Safari that cleans up webpages and only shows the important text and pictures. Maybe there's a browser for android that does this? I've started using Chrome Beta as my browser, because the Samsung one was too dark and gloomy looking.

I keep getting network error messages when I try to use S Voice,so I have no idea if it's any good.

Atomic Pineapple

Buy SwiftKey and use it as your keyboard.

Nolimits

draffodx wrote: »

Buy SwiftKey and use it as your keyboard.

This, SwiftKey is immense, especially if prediction is what you're looking for.

Feidhlim

Nolimits wrote: »

This, SwiftKey is immense, especially if prediction is what you're looking for.

agreed

Mc Love

MrTrebus wrote: »

Things I miss
3. When you put in a 4 digit pin code on the lockscreen, you HAVE to press the OK button to actually unlock it.

With ICS and maybe only on resurrection you dont need to press the OK button to unlock it

Nolimits

Shamelessly stolen from elsewhere but thought the OP might like it

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/itunes-syncing-comes-to-samsung-galaxy-range-1086638

Samsung is making it easy for iPhone users to ditch their Apple handsets in favour of picking up a Samsung Galaxy device.

The smartphone manufacturer will exclusively offer the free Easy Phone Sync app to anyone who buys a handset in its Galaxy range.

Easy Phone Sync allows you to transfer iTunes music, videos, podcasts, pictures, contacts and text messages from an iPhone to an Android handset – although this app is only available on Samsung handsets.
iPhone users reluctant to switch

Samsung has realised it's difficult to tempt iPhone users away from iOS, with Simon Stanford, VP of Telecommunications and Networks for Samsung UK, saying: "We know that traditionally iPhone users have been reluctant to switch to an Android device because they couldn't use iTunes to manage their content.

"Easy Phone Sync means people can now enjoy their iTunes content on a Samsung Galaxy phone."

Samsung is attempting to get iPhone users to switch to the Galaxy S3 before Apple announces the iPhone 5 later this year – which will see the majority of iPhone users stick with the iOS platform and handsets.

and the app in question
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.galaxysync.android.app&hl=en


Also, re the keyboard, one of the best things about Android is, if you don't like something there is probably a plethora of options to change it

Donnelly117

Nolimits wrote: »

Shamelessly stolen from elsewhere but thought the OP might like it

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/itunes-syncing-comes-to-samsung-galaxy-range-1086638


and the app in question
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.galaxysync.android.app&hl=en


Also, re the keyboard, one of the best things about Android is, if you don't like something there is probably a plethora of options to change it

I cannot get that app to work. Im using a MacBook and when I connect my S3 with the usb cable it does not register the phone, whether I connect it as a media device or a camera. I tried using android file transfer but this program reports an error every time I connect, saying my screenlock is on when it is not. This is really annoying me because I cant transfer anything to my phone trough USB.
I know its probably considered blasphemy to say on the android forum, but the thing I miss the most about iOS is iTunes

Riesen_Meal

Donnelly117 wrote: »

Nolimits wrote: »

Shamelessly stolen from elsewhere but thought the OP might like it

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/itunes-syncing-comes-to-samsung-galaxy-range-1086638


and the app in question
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.galaxysync.android.app&hl=en


Also, re the keyboard, one of the best things about Android is, if you don't like something there is probably a plethora of options to change it

I cannot get that app to work. Im using a MacBook and when I connect my S3 with the usb cable it does not register the phone, whether I connect it as a media device or a camera. I tried using android file transfer but this program reports an error every time I connect, saying my screenlock is on when it is not. This is really annoying me because I cant transfer anything to my phone trough USB.
I know its probably considered blasphemy to say on the android forum, but the thing I miss the most about iOS is iTunes

I know I sound like a fanboy but I think Google Music is better than itunes, I have loads of music on my phone and in the cloud, couple that with a Dr dre beats mod and my tunes sound sweet through earbuds....

ED E

Google music is amazing. No question there. 20K tracks, service is free. What more could you ask for.

waynegalway

Donnelly117 wrote: »

I cannot get that app to work. Im using a MacBook and when I connect my S3 with the usb cable it does not register the phone, whether I connect it as a media device or a camera. I tried using android file transfer but this program reports an error every time I connect, saying my screenlock is on when it is not. This is really annoying me because I cant transfer anything to my phone trough USB.
I know its probably considered blasphemy to say on the android forum, but the thing I miss the most about iOS is iTunes

Im having the same problem.

The app won't work on my Mac, and I tried downloading the Android File Transfer app too, and that doesn't recognize when the S3 is connected.....I get an error message saying "no device detected".

I tried ripping a CD into Samsung Kies, but it's a pig of a program. It will rip the CD okay, but when you try to get album information, it gets very very messy. It will pick up that a track is off a certain album, but if there are multiple songs with the same name it will ask which track is the one you've ripped.

Why can't it just read a CD as a single album with a single artist name and a single album name?

I have to say....iTunes does ripping and transferring way better than Kies.

Are there alternatives to Kies?

I have a load of stuff I want to put on the S3, but I haven't been successful yet. I could have "transferred" a CD or 2 quite easily, I'd say, but manually checking the artist and album name for each track where multiple results came in was painful and so I gave up during the ripping process.

There is an option in Kies to import an iTunes playlist, but when I tried that it brought over every playlist, I didn't get the option of picking just one. I share an iTunes library with my wife, and I don't want/need here playlists on my phone, so bring all of them over was a pain in the arse.

JamesReeves

KTRIC wrote: »

The only thing is the battery life is horrendous !!!

I have a Galaxy S and the battery life is shocking, it barely lasts a day, and If you're using the internet on the phone it completely drains the battery :(worst thing about smartphones is their battery life. Anyone remember having the Nokia 3310 and the battery lasted a week.

Donnelly117

waynegalway wrote: »

Im having the same problem.

The app won't work on my Mac, and I tried downloading the Android File Transfer app too, and that doesn't recognize when the S3 is connected.....I get an error message saying "no device detected".

I tried ripping a CD into Samsung Kies, but it's a pig of a program. It will rip the CD okay, but when you try to get album information, it gets very very messy. It will pick up that a track is off a certain album, but if there are multiple songs with the same name it will ask which track is the one you've ripped.

Why can't it just read a CD as a single album with a single artist name and a single album name?

I have to say....iTunes does ripping and transferring way better than Kies.

Are there alternatives to Kies?

I have a load of stuff I want to put on the S3, but I haven't been successful yet. I could have "transferred" a CD or 2 quite easily, I'd say, but manually checking the artist and album name for each track where multiple results came in was painful and so I gave up during the ripping process.

There is an option in Kies to import an iTunes playlist, but when I tried that it brought over every playlist, I didn't get the option of picking just one. I share an iTunes library with my wife, and I don't want/need here playlists on my phone, so bring all of them over was a pain in the arse.

I agree with you there...kies is horrendous! I use an iTunes account by myself so i just imported it all, which is fine for the existing library but when i download some new music I dont know how that will work. The app mentioned above sounds ideal but it work because my mac will not recognize my S3. The USB connectivity on the mac is the one thing that annoys me about it because ive had issues like these before trying to use iPhoto with an iPhone and it would not find it either

srsly78

That's a mac problem, not a galaxy problem. Plug it into PC and it shows up like a flash drive. You are missing some kind of driver the new phones use for this - is same on other ICS devices.

areyawell

Can you multitask on the IPhone? I wasnt able to on a mates. Cheap android phones suck, ones for around 500 or class. Just downloaded the first max payne and gta 3 on my Sensation XE, both class. New Androids have quad core processors, more ram, bigger screen, more customizable. IMO Android is much better

waynegalway

ED E wrote: »

Google music is amazing. No question there. 20K tracks, service is free. What more could you ask for.

How'd you get that to work? When I looked it up it says its only available in the US

Johnny Johnson

Download the apk file through the browser.

Professey Chin

waynegalway wrote: »

How'd you get that to work? When I looked it up it says its only available in the US

Tunnelbear.
Once you sign up with a US proxy you can use it anywhere

JustAddWater

I'm making the leap to the S3 from iPhone4 very soon

Don't think I'll miss it, iOS6 is leaving out maps and a few others, only 4S will get full update

One thing I won't miss is iTunes and syncing, had some nightmares!!

I'm can program and want to write smartphone apps, can't even test my own app on a real iPhone without giving apple €80 something a year for a developer licence, plus I have to learn Xcode!! So simple in android, and I can use java!

For me, seems like now is the time to go. Have paid for a few apps but I can use them on an iPod touch anycase

waynegalway

JustAddWater wrote: »

I'm making the leap to the S3 from iPhone4 very soon

Don't think I'll miss it, iOS6 is leaving out maps and a few others, only 4S will get full update

One thing I won't miss is iTunes and syncing, had some nightmares!!

I'm can program and want to write smartphone apps, can't even test my own app on a real iPhone without giving apple €80 something a year for a developer licence, plus I have to learn Xcode!! So simple in android, and I can use java!

For me, seems like now is the time to go. Have paid for a few apps but I can use them on an iPod touch anycase

I felt the same, but to be honest, iTunes seems far slicker than Samsung Kies for ripping and transferring CDs

waynegalway

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

Tunnelbear.
Once you sign up with a US proxy you can use it anywhere

Thanks. Downloaded Tunnelbear to the Mac, but not sure how it works, and tips on getting it up and running? I'd only use it for Google Music.

PogMoThoin

Here is the app
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/56355/GoogleMusic_4.1.511.apk

Professey Chin

waynegalway wrote: »

Thanks. Downloaded Tunnelbear to the Mac, but not sure how it works, and tips on getting it up and running? I'd only use it for Google Music.

Just make sure its set to US then turn it on.
Once it connects go to music.google.com and register.
Once thats done you dont need it anymore

god's toy

Lets not forget http://www.doubletwist.com/ for all your cross platform needs.

Nolimits

waynegalway wrote: »

Im having the same problem.

The app won't work on my Mac, and I tried downloading the Android File Transfer app too, and that doesn't recognize when the S3 is connected.....I get an error message saying "no device detected".

I tried ripping a CD into Samsung Kies, but it's a pig of a program. It will rip the CD okay, but when you try to get album information, it gets very very messy. It will pick up that a track is off a certain album, but if there are multiple songs with the same name it will ask which track is the one you've ripped.

Why can't it just read a CD as a single album with a single artist name and a single album name?

I have to say....iTunes does ripping and transferring way better than Kies.

Are there alternatives to Kies?

I have a load of stuff I want to put on the S3, but I haven't been successful yet. I could have "transferred" a CD or 2 quite easily, I'd say, but manually checking the artist and album name for each track where multiple results came in was painful and so I gave up during the ripping process.

There is an option in Kies to import an iTunes playlist, but when I tried that it brought over every playlist, I didn't get the option of picking just one. I share an iTunes library with my wife, and I don't want/need here playlists on my phone, so bring all of them over was a pain in the arse.

If it's just music why don't you use Google Music? You'll need a US proxy to sign up, then download the apk

waynegalway

Just an update on Kies.....

I gave up on trying to import stuff from iTunes, and the apps that are supposed to help with this didn't work (and as far as I can make out, they only import playlists, and I was hoping they'd bring over entire albums).

But...

I had another go at Kies. Its not too bad, but has its issues:

I found that if you're ripping a CD into it, it works reasonably well. The main issue is with finding the album info and artwork. If you rip an original album, you should be okay, but where I ran into a problem was with compilations....

Rather than rip it as a single folder with a single album name, it threw up every album that the songs were originally from and created multiple folders rather than one folder.

For example, I ripped a Rory Gallagher best of, and all of a sudden, I had 9 Rory Gallagher albums each with one or two tracks on them. Very messy compared to iTunes. I had to manually set the track info for each track so that all the files were contained in a single folder again.

I then tried ripping a straightforward album, and it worked quite well.

So overall, I think i'll be ripping my CDs again rather than getting into the iTunes playlist method, but I'm not looking forward to changing the track info as necessary.

Anyone know if there's a better way to rip music into Kies?

srsly78

Just don't bother using Kies, it isn't needed. Rip your cds using any program you want, make sure they have the metainfo and the album pic etc. Then just copy onto phone as you would any other files.

waynegalway

srsly78 wrote: »

Just don't bother using Kies, it isn't needed. Rip your cds using any program you want, make sure they have the metainfo and the album pic etc. Then just copy onto phone as you would any other files.

Thanks

That's the thing, I'm only very new to android, So i have a lot to learn. I downloaded the Android file transfer app to my mac, and after a while playing around with it, i found that my s3 had to be in "camera" mode on the usb for the mac to pick it up.

When the phone was connected to the file transfer app, the window looked very scary compared to what i was used to in itunes.

Is it just a matter of dragging and dropping a ripped folder into the music folder of that window?

srsly78

I don't use macs. Copying files to the device should not be a big deal, on a PC it's the same as copying to a usb flash drive.

You do not need an "android file transfer" app, all you need is the right driver so that the mac detects the phone and mounts it as a usb storage device. Installing Kies should have given you the right driver.

Donnelly117

srsly78 wrote: »

I don't use macs. Copying files to the device should not be a big deal, on a PC it's the same as copying to a usb flash drive.

You do not need an "android file transfer" app, all you need is the right driver so that the mac detects the phone and mounts it as a usb storage device. Installing Kies should have given you the right driver.

macs have the most awkward USB system ever...you can't look through the files of a device like you can with windows. I downloaded kies but unfortunately the drivers didnt come with it for android file transfer. I dont know if this is an apple problem or a samsung problem but i hope one of them comes up with a fix for it because its bugging the **** out of me

waynegalway

Donnelly117 wrote: »

srsly78 wrote: »

I don't use macs. Copying files to the device should not be a big deal, on a PC it's the same as copying to a usb flash drive.

You do not need an "android file transfer" app, all you need is the right driver so that the mac detects the phone and mounts it as a usb storage device. Installing Kies should have given you the right driver.

macs have the most awkward USB system ever...you can't look through the files of a device like you can with windows. I downloaded kies but unfortunately the drivers didnt come with it for android file transfer. I dont know if this is an apple problem or a samsung problem but i hope one of them comes up with a fix for it because its bugging the **** out of me

If you Google "android file transfer for mac" you should find an application that will recognise your s3. The trick is to pick the "camera" file transfer setting on the phones usb manager, not the default "media" file type (even if its media in the sense of music, the mac will only pick up the phone as a usb drive if it's in camera mode)

Hope that helps

JacksonHeightsOwn

I have a macbook as well and have to admit I do find it a bit awkward with my Android phone

The only things I miss are itunes and one other small thing

The NEXT button on the keyboard. You know when you're filling in a log in for a forum and you type your username. With ios you tap the next button and it brings you to the next box. I've yet to find a keyboard on android that does the same thing. SwiftKey has something similar but it's still not as good

Besides that, I don't miss a single thing about ios

bd250110

I thoroughly recommend Doubletwist and AirSync, no messy wires, no problems. Doubletwist looks and feels a lot like iTunes and works in a similar way, it can handle music, Podcasts and lot's more.

I love my Nexus, but I feel Google's philosophy on how we use devices is wrong. Apple takes the view that we might like to collect and use our data across multiple devices, PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, but keep it in one place. Apple makes it easy to do this, iCloud, iTunes and Photostream make the PC/Mac essentially the hub, with peripheral iDevices feeding off it. Google takes the view that each divice is independent in its own right, but a slave to the cloud, basically google controls user data as opposed to user experience. The philosophy goes that we want to "share" everything directly from the device, so they make this super easy. Both philosophies have their drawbacks. For me, keeping all my data in one hub and synced across multiple devices and platforms makes more sense than a plethora of devices with multiple cloud connectons and sharing options.

srsly78

Err google music is a cloud music service just like you described. The thing is you are not forced to use it.

Kavrocks

I'm quite astounded at the trouble people are having with a Mac and Android phone. I have a Mac and an Android phone and have experienced no problems at all with either in fact I find it much easier to use my Mac than a Windows computer with my Android phone.

My Mac instantly recognised my Android phone and the two work flawlessly ever since.

I don't have a Samsung but copying music over to my phone is as simple as sending it via bluetooth or dragging and dropping the music to the correct folder on my phone after plugging the usb cable in. There is no need for any file transfer app and there is no need for me to put my phone in any special usb mode either. I have never had to download a device driver for my Mac as it does it on its own when needed for me.

I also don't see how Mac's USB system is awkward either, you browse files on any usb connected external storage device just as you would browse a file on your local hard drive. It works the exact same as on Windows except Finder is much easier and nicer to use than Explorer.

chrisbonnie I wouldn't be surprised if Apple had that 'next' functionality patented so you wouldn't see it on another platform for years. Android Developers do have the option of adding in similar functionality to the 'next' functionality to their apps though.

srsly78

The newer phones have a fancier usb interface than the older ones (special "media device" interface rather than simple file storage), this is why people are missing drivers I guess.

ED E

chrisbonnie wrote: »

The NEXT button on the keyboard. You know when you're filling in a log in for a forum and you type your username. With ios you tap the next button and it brings you to the next box. I've yet to find a keyboard on android that does the same thing. SwiftKey has something similar but it's still not as good

My Xperia S(Ice Cream Sandwich) has a next button for filling forms. Tested in chrome and Stock browser so its a Keyboard/system thing I'd say. Using Xperia default. I suspect you could port it to whatever handset you like, input methods arent going to be hardware dependent.

Armonline

Just got a Galaxy S3 and am loving the screen and camera, but there is a lot I am missing from ios.

Notifications: prefer the way ios handles notifications especially with listing them on the lock screen.
Push email: can't find any easy way to have proper push email from Gmail instead of a battery savings frequent fetching.

Scrolling: miss the rubber banding scrolling in ios and scrolling a long list is sluggish on any android phone I have used even the S3 despite having fast processors. In ios it is always smooth.

Keyboard: default keyboard on S3 is not very good. Bought SwiftKey which is better but still looking for a way to have short phrases replace frequently used text such as using a 2/3 letter phrase from my email address.

Folders: way of creating folders in touch size is so un intuitive with having to select menu options and do different actions if adding a folder in the apps drawer and desktops

Given the flexibility of customisation of Android there may be add ons to get some of these functions, but it is irritating that they are not standard like ios.

srsly78

Lock screen notifications for android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.flydroid.FlyScreen

Donnelly117

Kavrocks wrote: »

I'm quite astounded at the trouble people are having with a Mac and Android phone. I have a Mac and an Android phone and have experienced no problems at all with either in fact I find it much easier to use my Mac than a Windows computer with my Android phone.

My Mac instantly recognised my Android phone and the two work flawlessly ever since.

I don't have a Samsung but copying music over to my phone is as simple as sending it via bluetooth or dragging and dropping the music to the correct folder on my phone after plugging the usb cable in. There is no need for any file transfer app and there is no need for me to put my phone in any special usb mode either. I have never had to download a device driver for my Mac as it does it on its own when needed for me.

I also don't see how Mac's USB system is awkward either, you browse files on any usb connected external storage device just as you would browse a file on your local hard drive. It works the exact same as on Windows except Finder is much easier and nicer to use than Explorer.

chrisbonnie I wouldn't be surprised if Apple had that 'next' functionality patented so you wouldn't see it on another platform for years. Android Developers do have the option of adding in similar functionality to the 'next' functionality to their apps though.

Im using a galaxy s3 on ICS...it is not recognized by my MacBook when connected as a media device. The only other option is to connect it as a camera...in which case it tells my it cannot read my device because the screenlock is on, even when it isnt.

Armonline

srsly78 wrote: »

Lock screen notifications for android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.flydroid.FlyScreen

Thanks, I already tried a couple of apps like this but all are clunky, buggy and don't work very well.

srsly78

Some googling found answer. Newer devices use a protocol called MTP and macs don't support this yet. So yes you need the "android file transfer" program (even tho this is not an android specific thing).

Instructions here: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/28/mac-os-x-requires-a-helper-program-to-connect-to-android-3-0-tab/
Yes that article is referring to tablets, but it's exactly the same issue you guys have with sgs3.

With a PC it should automatically detect the device and "just work" (gets the needed driver if missing).

Donnelly117

Donnelly117 wrote: »

Im using a galaxy s3 on ICS...it is not recognized by my MacBook when connected as a media device. The only other option is to connect it as a camera...in which case it tells my it cannot read my device because the screenlock is on, even when it isnt.

Rip everything using whatever program you want, then download file expert on your phone, download an ftp program on your mac and just send the files over wifi.

I rarely use my cable to transfer files because that would involve getting it.. Ftp is easy and quick.

DryCleanOnly

Donnelly117 wrote: »

Im using a galaxy s3 on ICS...it is not recognized by my MacBook when connected as a media device. The only other option is to connect it as a camera...in which case it tells my it cannot read my device because the screenlock is on, even when it isnt.

Try using Airdroid

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sand.airdroid&hl=en