Recently switched: what Android equivalent is there to these iOS features?

[CZroe]

I just got an Xperia Play 4G running Android 2.3 Gingerbread so that I could use my Sony-Ericsson MBW-150 Music Edition bluetooth wristwatch with it and I'm finding that there doesn't seem to be a way to do many things I could do in iOS that seem like common-sense things to have in any smartphone OS. For example, where is the notes application? I had to run to grab breakfast for everyone before a meeting and just had to make a voice recording instead (no time for pen and paper). Though I am sure that the Android Marketplace is over-run with them, I see no base notes, notepad, or other notes app. Furthermore, I doubt a non-native notepad app would integrate with the built-in search capabilities of the phone as well. On iOS, I wrote notes daily, especially work related, and a few letters typed on the Spotlight search page would link me right to it.

Where is the option to show a battery percentage in the status bar? This was only introduced in iPhone OS 3.0 on certain devices, though it was always capable of determining it in earlier versions on all models to generate 20% and 10% notices. Indeed, one only needed to enable it on a supported device, like an iPhone 3GS, and then load the backup on an unsupported device, like an iPhone 3G, to enable it on the unsupported device. This is because the only limitation is in what options are presented on what devices. Android doesn't seem to have this option no matter what even though I can see the percentage on the lock screen while charging. Applications that put the percentage in the upper left must always be running in the background, lowering total battery life and wasting screen real estate. I mean, who wants it AND the original battery icon on their screen at all times?! I'm annoyed enough that the OpenWatch application always leave an icon there despite it not being used for any application functions. Ugh.

Next up: Timer alarm. The alarm clock application on iOS had a timer and a stop-watch function. I used the timer all the time. Yesterday, I cooked something in an oven and needed a timer and could not find any simple way to set 10 minutes without expressly creating an alarm for 11 minutes from the current time, which is not something I want to do every time some little task happens that I want to set an alarm for. I used the function constantly on my iPhone and I am going to miss it. For example, I work graveyard shifts and often find myself more tired than I can bear. I will frequently set a timer for 10, or 15 minutes in case I fall asleep on my break so that I can make sure I can return to my duties on time. Because I can take my breaks at any time, doing this dynamically without creating and deleting alarms for specific times is crucial. It's even more appreciated when I decide that want to add another minute or two (also frequent)! I especially liked that I could chose a real alarm sound or something less jarring and more discrete, like crickets, right there when setting it.

Using SMS GV Extensions on my Jailbroken iPhone, I could tie Google Voice's free SMS service into the phone's native text messaging. Apple's own iMessage combines their free messaging service with the phone's native text messaging for iDevices and I just assumed that Google's Google Voice app on Android was capable of this all along without hacking anything. Indeed, it does have an option to receive them in the native messaging app, but no option to reply from the correct number, free or otherwise, without using a Google Voice app or email! This means that your SMS history does not show any replies and that useability with a poor signal suffers. You can't even write an SMS message in the GV app if there is no good network connection, which further exacerbates the "no notepad" problem (can't easily type it elsewhere and save for later). It seems like such an obvious function that it only half-implemented and, thus, remains useless. I refuse to pay for carrier text messaging as I am opposed to the very idea that it is anything different than data!

Am I just missing something or is Android seriously missing a notepad, battery percentage in status bar, timer alarm, and external messaging integration? Is this a patent issue?

 

[vshah]

notes - look up "color note." third party apps do integrate with built in system wide search. press the search key, hit the icon to the left of the search bar, and then hit the settings icon in that. you can choose which apps to search from all that support it.

battery percentage is an option on many custom roms, but not an option on most stock android builds. you could put a widget on your homescreen with the battery percentage if you wanted.

for a timer, download "stopwatch & timer", it works just fine

GV - no way that I know of to integrate it with your regular SMS. that would be nice.

 

[Fire&Blood]

All of them are avialable but you have to resort to customizing, either 3rd party apps or custom ROM's. But why did you get the Xperia play? Many better devices out there.

 

[postmortemIA]

battery percentage is in notification area. you can tell what % is left by looking at battery icon

 

[Puddle Jumper]

BattStatt is a good widget if you want to see the battery percentage.

https://market.android.com/details?...1bGwsMSwxLDEsIm5ldC5iYWphd2EuYmF0dGVyeXBybyJd

Why do you need to use Googlve Voice through the native messaging app? The Google Voice app can completely replace it.

Android isn't like iOS in the sense that an app must be included by default to be fully integrated into the system, any third party app can achieve the same level of integration.

You really should not judge Android by the Xperia Play as it has received generally poor reviews and Sony is not one of the leading Android manufacturers. Samsung for example includes a note app by default along with many other tweaks to improve the user experience.

 

[Raduque]

battery percentage is in notification area. you can tell what % is left by looking at battery icon

It is not very accurate in most stock roms.

As for the other shortcomings.... well, that's what you get for buying an Xperia Play. It's a multimedia consumption and gaming device, not a productivity device. On my HTC myTouch4G Slide, I have note-taking and stop watch/timer capabilities on the stock rom. Most Samsung and Motorola devices include note apps in the stock rom, as well. Color Note is a great app though.

 

[CZroe]

Thanks, everyone. I'm still a bit frustrated, but I'm going to live with it and investigate all alternatives. I'm also wondering if Ice Cream Sandwich will address some of this.

notes - look up "color note." third party apps do integrate with built in system wide search. press the search key, hit the icon to the left of the search bar, and then hit the settings icon in that. you can choose which apps to search from all that support it.

battery percentage is an option on many custom roms, but not an option on most stock android builds. you could put a widget on your homescreen with the battery percentage if you wanted.

for a timer, download "stopwatch & timer", it works just fine

GV - no way that I know of to integrate it with your regular SMS. that would be nice.

Thank you very much. I found a battery percentage customizations from a HTC phone but I doubt I am going to run custom ROMs on this due to losing access to exclusive apps.

All of them are avialable but you have to resort to customizing, either 3rd party apps or custom ROM's. But why did you get the Xperia play? Many better devices out there.

I'm a gamer, it has exclusive games, it has physical game controls, it is getting Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, it supports HSPA+, and it was free with contract. Though the bootloader is freely unlockable and Cyanogen Mod is supporting it, I can't unlock the bootloader without losing the ability to run exclusive software and other DRM-protected apps. Despite the reviews, the consensus is still that it is "by far" the best gaming phone. I especially look forward to classic gaming on it, though I have been disappointed by the latency in the controls and the screen dimming and device locking while playing games.

battery percentage is in notification area. you can tell what % is left by looking at battery icon

What you mean to say is that I can see a crude representation from which I might be able to extrapolate a percentage. Obviously, that's not good enough for everyone. In fact, Apple thought it was something they could arbitrarily restrict to sell iPhone 3GS upgrades to iPhone and iPhone 3G users by not presenting the option to enable it on the pre-3GS buyers, so I'm not the only one who feels that way! Just like this phone is perfectly capable of it, so were the previous iPhones. The setting app simply checked the hardware and chose not to present the user with the option. Unlike Android, you didn't have to hack the ROM to enable it. Jailbreaking wasn't even required. To enable it on the earlier devices, you simply enabled it on a newer one and loaded the backup back onto the older device from iTunes.

BattStatt is a good widget if you want to see the battery percentage.

https://market.android.com/details?...1bGwsMSwxLDEsIm5ldC5iYWphd2EuYmF0dGVyeXBybyJd

Why do you need to use Googlve Voice through the native messaging app? The Google Voice app can completely replace it.

Android isn't like iOS in the sense that an app must be included by default to be fully integrated into the system, any third party app can achieve the same level of integration.

You really should not judge Android by the Xperia Play as it has received generally poor reviews and Sony is not one of the leading Android manufacturers. Samsung for example includes a note app by default along with many other tweaks to improve the user experience.

Why? Well, other apps do not integrate that well. For example, the Xperia phones include a "Timeline" view full of all contact-related communications in a stacked 3D card view. It shows native SMS, but not Google Voice SMS. Also, I do receive the occasional message through my native text messaging and I would like to reply to it and have it come from my GV number ("You texted the wrong number, jerk! -CZroe"). It was easy to identify with SMS GV Ext because I set incoming GV SMS to have "-gv" at the end. I already described an issue with the GV app not even allowing me to compose a message just because my signal was weak where the stock messaging app would and would either keep trying to send it or would queue it up with an indicator and a "resend" option. The iPhone GV app also had this problem but SMS GV Extension fixes it because the native app will error out and let you resend later while the GV app will fail and wipe your message. It seems to fix other application errors too. I remember once when the GV app on iPhone would just say "Not sent" when texting my sister but worked fine when texting everyone else, but SMS GV Extension allowed the native SMS function to work perfectly all along. I don't even discuss the shortcomings of the GV app interface. Let's just say that there is no way a native text messaging interface would ever wipe your reply just because you got another message while writing it, which is something GV took AGES to finally fix in the official app.

It is not very accurate in most stock roms.

As for the other shortcomings.... well, that's what you get for buying an Xperia Play. It's a multimedia consumption and gaming device, not a productivity device. On my HTC myTouch4G Slide, I have note-taking and stop watch/timer capabilities on the stock rom. Most Samsung and Motorola devices include note apps in the stock rom, as well. Color Note is a great app though.

"It's a multimedia consumption and gaming device, not a productivity device" describes the iPhone, just the same and this is where my expectations come from. It's not unreasonable.

I'm not wondering why the specific phone didn't include it; I'm wondering why Google doesn't have an equivalent as a part of the basic Android experience.

 

[Oyeve]

My vibrant has a timer in the stock clock app.

 

[makken]

Notes - If your phone didn't come with a native notes app (really?) you're just gonna have to find one on the market. Color notes is a good option as mentioned.

Batt % - Easiest way is to flash a custom ROM. On some phones, if you have root access, you may be able to modify a few system files (ie. change the .png for the battery icon) to include %. That's going to be dependent on your phone tho (check xda developers for more info)

Timer - If your native clock app doesn't have a stopwatch or timer (really really? I think im going to stay away from Sony phones) you're going to have to use a 3rd party app. You can quickly set an alarm via voice actions tho (press and hold the search button, then say "set alarm for 15 minutes from now)

GV - you're kinda stuck until google decides to not half ass the android GV app; or open up some APIs so other devs can make their own GV apps.

 

[manly]

The battery % in statusbar from CM looks so crappy on my HVGA screen that I turned it off. The graphical battery meter is less informative, but at least it's not as fugly.

 

[Spineshank]

For GV, if someone sends me a text to my GV number and I reply to it via the messages app it goes to them from my GV number.

 

[abaez]

The native messaging app? I don't think so as it doesn't receive GV texts. AFAIK only the GV app can reply to texts to your GV number. Unless you're on Sprint of course.

 

[CZroe]

For GV, if someone sends me a text to my GV number and I reply to it via the messages app it goes to them from my GV number.

This works because you are replying to a Google Voice forwarding number ("406 number"). You are still sending them from your mobile number and getting billed for them. You can set up that kind of forwarding with ANY mobile phone by logging into GV from a PC (no app required).

The native messaging app? I don't think so as it doesn't receive GV texts. AFAIK only the GV app can reply to texts to your GV number. Unless you're on Sprint of course.

Oh, but it does. I am on AT&T and here is how I did it:
In the Google Voice app, press the menu key and go to "More" then pick "Settings." Under "Sync and Notifications," select one of the following two options:
"Only via the Google Voice app"
or
"Also via the messaging app"

This is my first experience with Android and I only know that it works on Gingerbread.

Voila. Google Voice messages will be received via the native messaging app. My Sony Ericsson MBW-150 wrist watch will give me a text notification and a print out exactly like a native text message. The only issue is that replies will come from my mobile number and not my Google Voice number and I will acrue charges.

 

[soccerballtux]

This works because you are replying to a Google Voice forwarding number ("406 number"). You are still sending them from your mobile number and getting billed for them. You can set up that kind of forwarding with ANY mobile phone by logging into GV from a PC (no app required).

hm. they should seriously set it up so that GV, when installed and logged in, syncs those 406 forward numbers to each contact so that you can text them with the built in messaging app; and then have it integrated together with Google Voice like iOS5 messaging app is where it auto converts to iMessage if they're on and sends text if not.

 

[soccerballtux]

The only issue is that replies will come from my mobile number and not my Google Voice number and I will acrue charges.

this is also confusing for the person you're chatting with.
Seriously this doesn't make sense. Why haven't they integrated all this together better?? This just further shows how poorly Google manages to execute their ideas. Not enough structured management. They can only ride on the "hip and cool and smart" bandwagon for so long, and that time has passed, IMO. They need to get their poo together like Apple.

 

[abaez]

If the messages come from your regular cell number then it's not really Google Voice. Just because the GV app allows you to send messages to the native texting app doesn't mean anything if you're going to have to pay for a texting plan and you reply with your regular cell number. Why even use GV then? It just adds a layer of complexity.

My original point stands in that the only app that can truly send/receive GV texts without needing a texting plan from your carrier is the GV app. I've saved hundreds of dollars the past few years using GV, so I don't really mind, but it would be nice if Google opened up the API so that other messaging programs can use it.

 

[CZroe]

Argh! Almost every file I try to download either takes me to a page full of text, or "fails" saying <Untitled> in the notification area and "<Unknown>" in the Downloads section. I take it that this is the browser being picky about MIME types but it seems like the vast majority of advertised are configured incorrectly so it's inexcusable that it isn't more tolerant of it. In particular, I can't get any SPC files to test a music player with an SPC plug-in (SPC files are memory dumps from the SNES' SPC700 sound processor that can be played back by emulating it). My brother bought a $1 app on App's App Store and has no trouble downloading hundreds of original game music packs without even jailbreaking (not sure why Apple allows an app that functions as a code interpreter).

Is it just me? The only mention I see of this online is some guy giving different examples that all fail for me even though he says it should only affect "old" versions of Android. AFAIK, Gingerbread is still the latest for phones, so it would still be a problem for ALL Android phones if it affects me, right? I tried getting it with Opera, which let+s me download it, but then I can't open the are file in my archive app. I think the MIME type is also recorded in the file system.

 

[jpeyton]

Evernote is my favorite notes app.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Battery &#37; indicator - get the App called "Battery Indicator" and run it. Puts your battery % in the top left.

Notepad program - Samsung includes a pretty exact copy of the Apple program with their phones. There's a ton of them in the Android Market.

Timer - does your clock app not have a timer? Mine (Samsung Galaxy S II) comes with one. Check the Android market.

 

[Ichinisan]

If the messages come from your regular cell number then it's not really Google Voice. Just because the GV app allows you to send messages to the native texting app doesn't mean anything if you're going to have to pay for a texting plan and you reply with your regular cell number. Why even use GV then? It just adds a layer of complexity.

My original point stands in that the only app that can truly send/receive GV texts without needing a texting plan from your carrier is the GV app. I've saved hundreds of dollars the past few years using GV, so I don't really mind, but it would be nice if Google opened up the API so that other messaging programs can use it.

It's just funny that you can do this easily on a jailbroken iPhone, but you can't do it easily on the "more-open and customize-able" Android OS.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Honestly I just use the Google Voice app for all Google voice texts and have never had a problem with it. Google voice isn't designed to do what you want re: the native messaging app so naturally it does not work well.

All of the other problems come down to a mediocre phone from a second tier manufacturer. HTC or Samsung both provide far more utilities like notepads and timers out of the box.

 

[CZroe]

Honestly I just use the Google Voice app for all Google voice texts and have never had a problem with it.

And what do you do when idiots keep texting your mobile number? Copying and pasting numbers/contacts or looking up people in a different app than you received the message from is the "problem" I'm describing and your scenario has the exact same problem. If you don't do that, they will continue texting the wrong number and getting you billed in the future. I can see how you could have "never had" the problem if you also use carrier text messaging and do not mind paying, but it is a problem for those of us who do.

Google voice isn't designed to do what you want re: the native messaging app so naturally it does not work well.

Mind telling me why it has the option to receive messages in the native text messaging app? Perhaps you thought I was talking about the forwarding options that can forward SMS messages to and from your mobile number (billed, of course). I was not. It has the option right there to receive the messages via your Android phone's native text messaging app, but you still can't reply without tedously managing between applications and contact lists. It is designed to do it HALF WAY which can only be intentional. My guess is that they left that out under carrier pressure, but there is no excuse now that iOS5 does this with their own free an integrated iMessage service.

Now, you know what's NOT designed to do that? iOS with Google Voice. Guess what works seamlessly after a small jailbreak tweak? It ties the native messaging app that was never intended to interface with third-party apps and has no externally documented APIs to a locked-down official sandboxed Google Voice App Store app with no direct access to system level processes?

If demand/need made it happen on the more restrictive and closed iOS, I don't see any excuse for it not being done on the more "open" Android platform that is entirely driven by the very creator of the service we want integrated.

All of the other problems come down to a mediocre phone from a second tier manufacturer. HTC or Samsung both provide far more utilities like notepads and timers out of the box.

I want to agree with you, but the fact is that I expect *the Android platform* to have a damned notepad and timer if iOS does. Hell, every dumb phone I ever owned before did before the smartphone era (Qualcom crap-phone with a B&W text-only display, Samsung N400, Samsung VGA 1000, Motorola RAZR V3). Why the cop-out? Why should we give Android/Google the free pass and expect these things from the device manufacturer when Google themselves wants to control that part of the user experience and NOT doing so causes them to be unfavorably compared to the competition?

If HP computers suddenly started shipping without Windows Notepad and couldn't even open a text file because Microsoft decided that they didn't need a notepad application in the next version of Windows, I'd still say that *Windows* doesn't include something basic that it needs to meet my expectations (not HP). I'm not talking about a damned office suite here. I'm talking about something you may need to even get Windows set up right in the first place (reading readme.txt files from drivers and such to get basic hardware setup). Even that wouldn't be as bad as Android not including it because I know how to use TYPE *.txt | MORE on the command line.

 

[randomlinh]

It's just funny that you can do this easily on a jailbroken iPhone, but you can't do it easily on the "more-open and customize-able" Android OS.

So you can unify your GV SMS stuff w/ the built in imessage (or whatever it's called)? If this can be done, how are they doing it, and why hasn't this been copied yet!?

(though, personally, I prefer the separation since I use my GV for business)

 

[Puddle Jumper]

And what do you do when idiots keep texting your mobile number? Copying and pasting numbers/contacts or looking up people in a different app than you received the message from is the "problem" I'm describing and your scenario has the exact same problem. If you don't do that, they will continue texting the wrong number and getting you billed in the future. I can see how you could have "never had" the problem if you also use carrier text messaging and do not mind paying, but it is a problem for those of us who do.

Tell everyone you had to get a new cell number and give them all your Google Voice number. Don't try and get them to use a separate number for texting as most people can't deal with that, just route everything from Google voice. Then call your carrier and tell them to disable texting on your line.

I've used this approach for more than a year without incident and know many other people who have done the same.

Sony is the one who screwed up everything else on your phone, they add and remove whatever they like in the process of adding their crapware to Android. Like I said the Xperia Play got universally bad reviews and you would have a completely different experience with any high end Motorola, Samsung, or HTC phone.

 

[CZroe]

So you can unify your GV SMS stuff w/ the built in imessage (or whatever it's called)? If this can be done, how are they doing it, and why hasn't this been copied yet!?

(though, personally, I prefer the separation since I use my GV for business)

I wish I knew. iMessage may finally have a way for other apps to integrate (rumor has it that AIM is working on an app) but SMS GV Extension has done this for far longer than iOS5/iMessage. I've been using it all through the iOS4 generation. iOS4 did not have a public, documented API to do this through but there are no shortage of unofficial jailbreak apps that can edit your message history and it may be possible to simulate an incoming text on a system level.

I do know that it hooks into the push notifications from the official Google Voice app or email notifications (your choice). Push messages are often truncated and emails are often delayed (not if you set up Push Gmail as an Exchange server ). The push message popup is suppressed but you can still tell when a really long message has an elipses at the end (...). You can open up the GV app or email to see the rest. And can respond to it from whatever method you read it on but it will only go in your SMS history if you respond through the native SMS app. It does not use your carrier messaging at all. Indeed, Ichinisan has enabled Apple's own phone-style messaging on a jailbroken iPod Touch 4th gen and gets the same messages on it as his phone.