I'm using Android and I LOVE it! but I hate it. (1 Viewer)

[McPaul]

I never used my iPhone 4s. Well I used it, but only for necessary communication. I hadn't bought a new iPhone in the fall because I thought it was too similar and wanted to wait for the 6. But I also wanted a bigger screen, and was curious about Android after hearing from so many people that android is great.

I bought a Nexus 5, Stormtrooper edition.

I LOVE it! great colour, matches my style.It's thin and light but still grippy and I don't think it will fall out.

I LOVE having the big screen (I think everyone here knows about my vision problems) and like to have things big on the screen and thereby a lot of real estate.

I LOVE Google Now. This feature is absolutely BRILLIANT! and on the Nexus 5, it's right there! one swipe away and always listening to you, plus it knows what you need to know! It knows where you are so it puts up the weather. it knows where you commute to for work and otherwise so it puts up traffic info (I take transit, but still) I ordered a package online and it knew to put the the tracking info there. I went to Hawaii, all my plane stuff was there. This feature is the FUTURE. NO QUESTION!

I don't yet understand what everyone says about android and it's customizability, but I've had the phone a bit less than a month, so I'll figure it out I'm sure. The ecosystem is pretty sharp, I like it fine enough. Graphics are very snappy of course which is awesome. I can get my apple apps or reasonable facsimiles, and most apps look reasonably good, rather than a "stretched browser" like people tell me that Android is supposed to be like.

I have a fairly large iTunes library that consists of iTunes purchases and ripped CD's. While there are third party apps that can somehow put your iTunes on an Android, but the two ecosystems don't really go together well, and I don't really want to trust a third party app to something as valuable TO ME as my music collection. I want it to work smoothly and I want it to work effortlessly as one. it doesn't. It doesn't automatically fill space on your android phone, (this is important because Android phones are only 32GB max, and not 128GB like apple) and it darn well does not automatically randomize songs each time you sync it. Am I simply resistant to change? possibly. If you have a suggestion for me, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I'm Canadian. We don't get Spotify, we don't get Pandora. There's no iTunes radio here or Google play. Nothing. We have something called "Deezer" which is France based. I bought a short membership (a Costco sale) to try it out and so far it is HORRIBLE. Point being, I'm pretty much stuck with iTunes, which at this point is my preference, anyways, although I know I'm wasting money buying each of my songs/albums as opposed to a subscription based service, but we don't have anything adequate here for that, so the iTunes problem just isn't going away.

Along with iTunes, everything else in the apple ecosystem works equally as smoothly. I know that Android phones have better specs. of that there is no question. but a phone choice is about much more than specs. Ecosystem IS important to me, a music lover with no alternative option. I'd love to have both specs and ecosystem, but just can't.

there are MANY things to love about an Android phone. Especially the Nexus 5, which has the naked Android installed without Touchwiz or Sense. Google Now is absolutely the future of smartphones. I love having the huge screen and thin light phone, and I love the stormtrooper colour scheme. I gave it a good try, but at this point I'm thinking I'm going back to an iPhone 6.

I have been using Chrome/GMail on my desktop and iPad... and while it's got a lot of interesting features, I'm thinking of switching back to Safari/Mail. Again, Chrome may have the better "specs" but Safari is fully integrated to the ecosystem, and if I'm going with the ecosystem, I may as well go all the way...

 

[McPaul]

Oh! and "native" wireless charging!!! LOVE!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Going to state the obvious...

There are PROs and CONs to both iOS and Android phones.

My preference heavily leans towards Android for several reasons.

1. Customize the phone to your heart's content without jailbreaking
2. Removable battery. I always have the ability to switch out batteries when one runs low
3. Memory Card. I can buy a 16GB/32GB phone and expand it by another 64GB. That is huge!
4. Many different docks available for phone. Mini USB connection.
5. Android apps are generally free or greatly lower in price than iTunes counterpart
6. Screen size. iPhone looks like a toy next to an Android phone.

That being said, there is something about iOS that is hard to resist. As much as their
operating system is restrictive, it is beautifully implemented and less buggy than Jellybean/KitKat.
If you own other Apple devices, the manner in which the devices sync together is so much better
than having to use 3rd party methods on Android.

It will be a tough decision as to whether I am going to give up Android this year and go back to
the iPhone. If they do announce a nearly 6" screen -and- introduce a kick-ass smartwatch to go
with it, then I will be onboard.

 

[RobertR]

I don't yet understand what everyone says about android and it's customizability, but I've had the phone a bit less than a month, so I'll figure it out I'm sure. The ecosystem is pretty sharp, I like it fine enough. Graphics are very snappy of course which is awesome. I can get my apple apps or reasonable facsimiles, and most apps look reasonably good, rather than a "stretched browser" like people tell me that Android is supposed to be like.

I have a fairly large iTunes library that consists of iTunes purchases and ripped CD's. While there are third party apps that can somehow put your iTunes on an Android, but the two ecosystems don't really go together well, and I don't really want to trust a third party app to something as valuable TO ME as my music collection. I want it to work smoothly and I want it to work effortlessly as one. it doesn't. It doesn't automatically fill space on your android phone, (this is important because Android phones are only 32GB max, and not 128GB like apple) and it darn well does not automatically randomize songs each time you sync it. Am I simply resistant to change? possibly. If you have a suggestion for me, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I'm Canadian. We don't get Spotify, we don't get Pandora. There's no iTunes radio here or Google play. Nothing. We have something called "Deezer" which is France based. I bought a short membership (a Costco sale) to try it out and so far it is HORRIBLE. Point being, I'm pretty much stuck with iTunes, which at this point is my preference, anyways, although I know I'm wasting money buying each of my songs/albums as opposed to a subscription based service, but we don't have anything adequate here for that, so the iTunes problem just isn't going away.

Install Nova Launcher and Widget Locker and you will be amazed at how customizable Android is. From the number of icons on screen to the way they scroll to the style of lock screen you want, it's all good. Regarding music, have you seen http://www.androidauthority.com/how-to-transfer-music-itunes-android-230232/ ? I'm a little confused about why you can't access music sources other than Itunes. I would have thought that if you can access the Internet, you can access Internet music.

 

[McPaul]

Thanks guys, I'll check out that nova launcher thing. I've seen your link, and doubletwist is a 3rd party solution. With apple, I can specify that music takes up say 100GB of space on my device, and that every time I sync, it randomizes the songs that are in that space. I don't have to use a memory card, as my i device has a ton of space already, and I'm not interested in swapping out several different cards. I want something that just works.

As for music sources, it's a combination between our CRTC, licencing issues and geoblocking which is essentially a fence which blocks access to anything cool. For the forseeable future, I'm stuck with itunes.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Motorola took the Google Now feature to another level with their Touchless Control feature. Simply speak the phrase "OK Google Now" and then speak a command or ask a question. I finally got my wife to use a smartphone after years of resisting, and she absolutely loves this feature on her Moto X (I have a Droid Maxx).

As for getting your music onto the phone, it's as simple as drag/dropping the music from your PC to the phone. There are third party apps that give you iTunes "synch" functionality, but I do not see the need for that.

I own an iPad and an Android phone, and I much prefer the Android device. My wife went to the Sprint store on her own to look at phones, and I encouraged her to look at the iPhone because it was similar to my iPad, which she would use when we travel. She ended up liking the Moto X, which made me happy since it is almost identical to my Droid Maxx. I was able to customize the phone to fit her needs quite easily -- the biggest issue was organizing her contacts, which we imported from her old flip phone into Gmail. We would have had the same issue had she selected an iPhone, as it wasn't a technical issue, but one of organization.

 

[McPaul]

Exactly. that's what I love about Google now. just a simple "ok google" and it's always listening and always on. Except when you're in another app.

What do you mean drag your iTunes onto your Android phone? Don't you need some kind of file management program? and what if your iTunes are way more than the size of your phone storage? you can't just put them all on it... you'll need a way to select which songs and albums go on it, which I would like to change up daily.

I downloaded Doubletwist, and also the nova launcher. I didn't see the point of double twist, and the nova launcher I didn't get it at all. Plus it screwed up my phone I think.

Are there any android apps you guys would recommend? maybe something that's not on iTunes? Thanks!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

If you attach your phone to your PC , it will show up as an external storage device. You can then simply copy music and movies to the phone like any other device.

 

[McPaul]

Tried moth USB modes and did some research. Apparently the nexus 5 can not be used as mass storage mode. Oh well.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Tried moth USB modes and did some research. Apparently the nexus 5 can not be used as mass storage mode. Oh well.

That's too bad. All three Android phones I've owned (two Motorola and one HTC) have been able to do this. I assumed it was a feature of ever Android device. I would try one of the many free iTunes to android sync apps out there. I searched the Play store for iTunes, and there is a bunch of them.