From apple to android

[sourceninja]

So I pulled the trigger sunday on a Nexus 4 to replace my iphone 4. I don't really use my phone all that much (personal and work email, calendaring, ssh to work for minor things, some music streaming and maps in the car, a few games, and some minor apps for netmask calcs and other tools.

Any suggestions for making the transition?

 

[gorcorps]

Are you having problems? Your post gives no details or things you need help with, so honestly I suggest go use it and come back when you have something we can help with.

 

[lopri]

Yay you're following my steps. (thank you again, jpeyton) I won't elaborate for fear of trolls but the transition isn't hard at all. Good luck.

Oh and gorcorps is right you will get better help by being more specific.

 

[Mopetar]

I doesn't sound like you were all that heavily invested in iOS as a platform, so I don't see any reason why you should have a bumpy transition. It also doesn't sound as though you used a lot of apps, but even if you did there's going to be something on Android that's similar (or the same in the case for a lot of really popular apps) to what you used before.

I'd just suggest using it as is for a while to see what you think. If there're some things about the UI you don't like, you can probably find some ROM that provides the type of experience you're looking for or will let you customize things enough to get to where you want to be.

 

[pm]

As a person who regularly bounces back and forth between iOS and Android, I could never understand why we debate them so much. They are both similar enough and the transition isn't really bad at all. I think the hardest part is transferring the data over. After that, actually using either one, is pretty easy.

 

[Mopetar]

They are both similar enough and the transition isn't really bad at all.

Depending on the type of apps that you use, it might be pretty painless if they're mostly 'cloud' apps. Might also be useful to stick to those types as much as possible if you want some easy mobility between platforms.

 

[Bateluer]

As a person who regularly bounces back and forth between iOS and Android, I could never understand why we debate them so much. They are both similar enough and the transition isn't really bad at all. I think the hardest part is transferring the data over. After that, actually using either one, is pretty easy.

The transition can be rough/expensive if you're accumulated a number of paid apps on one platform or the other.

 

[lopri]

Well, the OP isn't really debating anything - S/he is just new to Android and looking for advice.

One thing I'd like to suggest is to put the whole phone under Google's 2-step authentication. It adds a layer of protection in case you forget the phone or lose it - by disabling your personal account on the phone from afar, it blocks access to your data and privacy by unknowns.

 

[pm]

The transition can be rough/expensive if you're accumulated a number of paid apps on one platform or the other.

True. I forgot about that.

I have been on iOS for ages, but whenever Google does one of their "10 apps for $1.00" things , I buy pretty much everything that I see every day that they do it. So pretty much I have the same exact apps for both platforms.

 

[sourceninja]

Well, the OP isn't really debating anything - S/he is just new to Android and looking for advice.

One thing I'd like to suggest is to put the whole phone under Google's 2-step authentication. It adds a layer of protection in case you forget the phone or lose it - by disabling your personal account on the phone from afar, it blocks access to your data and privacy by unknowns.

Exactly, I'm not really having problems with my iphone, in fact I really like my iphone and I still recommend it to friends and family if asked. I simply decided to switch to the much less expensive (I don't do contracts) nexus 4. So I'm really just looking for advice on the things to expect/quirks of android. I'm also making a deliberate choice to separate myself from apple for non-technical reasons (replacing my macbook with a linux notebook).

I see lots of talk when I search about things that I would never worry about with iOS like battery/power management apps. So I was just wondering if there was anything that would snap into your head like "Oh, you probably are going to need to know this!".

Basically, trying to cut down on the learning curve of googling tweaks and fixes for annoyances. There is a whole new world open with custom roms, not being tied to a single app store for installing software, etc. I'm kinda excited to get my new phone.

 

[boomhower]

Subscribed. I'm making the same transition this week from iOS to Android.

 

[zsdersw]

As a person who regularly bounces back and forth between iOS and Android, I could never understand why we debate them so much.

The same could be said of Windows v. MacOS or Intel v. AMD from years and decades past... yet there has been a lot of "debate".

 

[vshah]

you could start by going to contacts.google.com and making sure your contacts are all synced to google properly.

 

[SAWYER]

The whole app invested excuse is sort of dumb.

 

[sourceninja]

you could start by going to contacts.google.com and making sure your contacts are all synced to google properly.

That was actually good advice. I didn't think about this. My google contacts are a huge mess. I have my work cut out.

 

[Eug]

1. Get the needed info from your Visual Voice Mail messages. You will lose them on Android. Also, you will probably need to contact your carrier to get the account changed from Visual Voice Mail to Android's Visual Voice Mail Plus or whatever.

2. If you use iCloud for some of your data, you will need apps on Android to sync the data. Unfortunately, these are not free apps. I sue SmoothSync apps to sync Calendar and Address Book (as I'm on a Mac at home).

3. Do you use iMessages? Cuz you can't on Android, so tell your iMessages friends. I personally just use MMS (and SMS), since it's cross-platform.

4. Do you use FaceTime? Cuz you can't on Android, so tell your FaceTime friends.

5. Etc.

 

[vshah]

That was actually good advice. I didn't think about this. My google contacts are a huge mess. I have my work cut out.

if they're in order on your phone then you could just take a backup of the online google ones, sync from your phone to google, and if everything looks ok, you're set. if not, restore from the backup and try something else.

 

[s44]

1. Get the needed info from your Visual Voice Mail messages. You will lose them on Android. Also, you will probably need to contact your carrier to get the account changed from Visual Voice Mail to Android's Visual Voice Mail Plus or whatever.

Depends on OP's location. If it's the US, he should use Google Voice for voicemail, turning off VVM altogether at the carrier level.

 

[bearxor]

The whole app invested excuse is sort of dumb.

Not really, it just depends on what you're looking for. I still haven't found a VNC/RDP client as good as iTeleport on the Play Store. So I think it just depends.

Suggestions are welcome, BTW.

 

[Zaap]

Not really, it just depends on what you're looking for. I still haven't found a VNC/RDP client as good as iTeleport on the Play Store. So I think it just depends.

Suggestions are welcome, BTW.

I really like Jump Desktop. No idea if it's "as good as iTeleport" since I've never used that one, but it gets the job done for me.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I know one of the things I missed when moving to Android was the reminder function of iOS. I found the "Life Reminders" app to fill this void well.

The next one I'm still trying to find a replacement for (though honestly I haven't tried very hard) is a free android app that is as functional as iOS's Do Not Disturb. I just want something simple that lets me set it to turn on automatically at a specific time, turn off at a specific time, have a white list, and also allow people who call multiple times within x number of minutes to come through. That's it.

I honestly like both OS's in their own way. I'd probably prefer iOS if Apple released a phone with a larger screen (4.3" would be nice, just not in one direction this time please!). I like the email much better on iOS but like the keyboard options on Android. I like the visual voice mail much better on iOS but Google Voice is a decent alternative. Both have their advantages.

 

[Eug]

The next one I'm still trying to find a replacement for (though honestly I haven't tried very hard) is a free android app that is as functional as iOS's Do Not Disturb. I just want something simple that lets me set it to turn on automatically at a specific time, turn off at a specific time, have a white list, and also allow people who call multiple times within x number of minutes to come through. That's it.

Motorola's Smart Actions app is pretty good, but it's restricted to Motorola devices.

So far I just use it to turn on WiFi when I get home (and turn it back off when I leave).

 

[vshah]

op, definitely use google voice for voicemail. it integrates really well with the nexus 4 dialer

 

[vshah]

I know one of the things I missed when moving to Android was the reminder function of iOS. I found the "Life Reminders" app to fill this void well.

The next one I'm still trying to find a replacement for (though honestly I haven't tried very hard) is a free android app that is as functional as iOS's Do Not Disturb. I just want something simple that lets me set it to turn on automatically at a specific time, turn off at a specific time, have a white list, and also allow people who call multiple times within x number of minutes to come through. That's it.

I honestly like both OS's in their own way. I'd probably prefer iOS if Apple released a phone with a larger screen (4.3" would be nice, just not in one direction this time please!). I like the email much better on iOS but like the keyboard options on Android. I like the visual voice mail much better on iOS but Google Voice is a decent alternative. Both have their advantages.

would be doable with tasker, but not user friendly at all and would require a lot of setup/configuration.

 

[dagamer34]

As a person who regularly bounces back and forth between iOS and Android, I could never understand why we debate them so much. They are both similar enough and the transition isn't really bad at all. I think the hardest part is transferring the data over. After that, actually using either one, is pretty easy.

In bouncing between iOS, Android, and Windows Phone, I've learned to value services that support multiple platforms and eschew anything that is iOS only.