Tutorial: Moving from the iPhone to Android without totally destroying the Apple Ecosystem (2 Viewers)

[TonyD]

Well after I installed the thing I changed the settings back to just apple.

 

[MartinM]

Hello to all,
I am considering buying a Note II which will complement my iMac, MacBook Air, and iPad 4th gen. It will replace my iPhone 4.
Like everyone here, I am concerned at the payoff for the huge screen which appeals to me in comparison with the iPhone 5 which I regret to say, feels dated and uninspiring despite it's undoubted strengths as a complementary tool to my other Apple devices.
I have numerous questions, some of which Ron has been able to answer already (though if I do buy the phone I may need help putting the suggestions into practice)
My principal concerns are to sync my photos across all devices..
It looks as though Google+ will handle that for new pictures. Dropbox is my expected solution for the thousands I already have.
To sync my .me mail account across all devices (I also have an Hotmail account which I expect to abandon due to sync difficulties) I want to be able to edit mailboxes from any device and find the changes sync throughout.
I want to access all my files, and where necessary edit them. I anticipated doing this using DropBox and the CloudOn app installed on both iPad and Note II.
I have a number of iBooks which are important to me and cannot see a way to access them on the Android device. Does anyone know if this is possible?
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts and comments.. Is it reasonable to try and incorporate the Android device into an otherwise Apple environment? Are there better ways of dealing with the issues above? And are there other issues I should be considering?
Many Thanks,
Martin

 

[Hanson]

It sounds like you already figured out the processes for most of your issues. Check out Ron's tutorial on how to get your email to sync across all devices including editing folders. It's on the first page of this thread. Google + can sync photos and well as Dropbox, although I would blow through the default 2GB on Dropbox whereas Google + has some limit I am not close to approaching. The one drawback to Google + is that only pictures taken from the camera app will sync. If you have screenshots or have edited pictures, they will not sync. Dropbox indiscriminately syncs everything.

I haven't tried some of the services like SkyDrive for docs. I don't really do much of that, and if I have any notes and such, I use Evernote because it syncs across everything. I just copy/paste from it when I need to create a finalized document. What document program do you use?

As far as iBooks is concerned... the books you purchased are locked to your Apple account. If you have epub files that you can transfer, there's an app called Moon + Reader that can read epub files. The Nook app can do that as well.

Andy Ihnatko recommends using Kindle or Nook and not using iBooks because the latter is trapped to the ecosystem. Kindle and Nook have apps across ecosystems and can be accessed across Android and iOS.
I wholeheartedly agree with that.

 

[MartinM]

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US of A!
I'm not sure whether I've got it figured, or whether my ideas are the best ones. However, I have spent two or three days researching before making the move, and based on all I've seen, have done something I really didn't expect to be doing.. I've moved from the iPhone!
My Note 2 will arrive on Saturday.
So I'll without doubt be seeking help and advise from you folks over the weekend.
I hope I've done the right thing..

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Hi Martin!

First of all, I never got the opportunity to officially welcome you here
after I referred you from conversations we had on another site. Hope
you had a nice Thanksgiving.

It's a scary thing moving away from the familiar. I did not know whether
I made the right move going from the iPhone to Android. In fact, during
my initial first 4 weeks, there were moments I was planning to go back
to AT&T, return my Galaxy SIII and exchange it for the iPhone 5.

Well, now several more weeks later I am so happy with Android that
I moved up to the Galaxy Note II, as you are about to do. Fortunately
for you, there was no process of going to the GS3 only realizing you
wanted something bigger and then pay out of contract for it.

....but that should kind of tell you how happy I am with my Android,
particularly the Note II. It's an amazing phone. I love the huge screen
and using the stylus pen. For the first time in a long while, I feel as if
I am using something functional. I am not confined by the things that
Apple wants me to do.

It will take a few weeks to reach a level of confidence with your new
phone. You have to get through the first few days of learning how to
do things a new way. Then you need to get through the frustration of
not being able to easily sync all your Apple devices, that is, until you
learn all the workarounds. Once you figure out how to do all the things
that are a bit inhibitive, then you can concentrate on all the new things
you can do on your Android phone that you couldn't on the iPhone.

I will be around monitoring your posts. Happy to help if I can.

 

[TonyD]

Hi Martin. Let am also welcome you aboard.
Quimber what an interesting name for a town.
I stil love my GS3 but have found the glass to be a bit easy to scratch.
I have one relatively deep one in the left face and one slight one near the top.
I had a protector but the day I was ready to put it on was the day it scratched.

 

[MartinM]

Thank you both for the welcome!
Having made the decision, I feel happier, and ready to get to grips with Android. My priorities this weekend will be to get as much syncing with my Macs and my mail accounts.. Providing those issues can be resolved, I'll be able to enjoy learning to get the most from the new device.
I have to admit, one of my regrets in moving is that the iPhones I've owned have looked as good after two years use as the day I bought them.. I suspect that the plastic body and the screen on the Note 2 will take a lot more looking after if I'm to say the same thing in two years time. I'm looking for the best protection accessories today!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Martin,

Just bought the Seidio Surface Case with holster for my Note II.

There are others who bought the active case.

Expensive. Wasn't fond of paying $55 for it, but the materials do
feel of the highest quality and I feel my phone is well protected.

 

[MartinM]

Thanks for the case info. I just bought http://www.gsm55.com/housse/samsung/samsung-galaxy-note-2-n7100/housse-etui-a-clapet-portefeuille-en-cuir-graine-noir-hcu-book-cow-black-note-2.html
I have created a gmail address ready for my phone tomorrow, and it was picked up immediately by my Mail server on the Macs using IMAP. Excellent!
However, when I try to sync my .me account into my gmail I enter the .me email address and password, the spinner does it's thing and then reports that it's not possible at this time.. If I click for help it tells me the password and account name don't match! Now I know that they do, so there's obviously a problem I'm missing.
Can you guys tell me what I need to do? And would I be better waiting to deal with the issue on the phone?

 

[MartinM]

Well, my Note 2 finally arrived today, several days late but worth waiting for.. This device is truly outstanding and although I love my iPad, I'm delighted I took the decision to leave the iPhone behind.
Thanks to the excellent advice here, I have everything synced, across Android, IOS and OSX.. It all worked like a dream.
It's no doubt going to take me a while to learn my way around Android and to make the most of this new beast, but it's potential is already becoming clear.. And it far exceeds the iPhone, if only because the screen size makes it practical for virtually all I'm likely to ask it to do. The screen quality is also excellent and comfortable to work with. I've already found suites of Apps which give me the capacity to use the device productively, and will no doubt find more as I get to know the 'Droid system.
Anyone hesitating as I did before making the jump... Don't. You won't regret it!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Martin,

Congrats on your new phone.

Day one and you are liking it already? That's odd. Some people
go through initial regrets.

I am soooo relieved you took advice and left the Apple ecosystem.

I think you are going to be very happy.

Here, go to the Play Store and download this:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kr.co.samsung.note_2

In addition to Phandroid, I hope you stay with us here. Nice having you.

 

[MartinM]

Thank you Ron,
I really expected a few pangs of regret too, but I finally feel I've found the combination of device and OS that makes sense in for a truly portable machine. The fact that it has synced so well with my Apple machines which I find excellent in their sector was a surprise.
I'll definitely stick around here, and if I can help anyone int he future and where possible hope to help others thinking of making the move.

 

[KeithAP]

Ron, or anyone, I have a question...

I just switched from an iPhone 4 to the HTC DNA. I am experiencing one annoying thing, using the same Blue Ant Q2 bluetooth headset I used with my iPhone, when voice calling with the DNA, I am getting a less than 50% success rate. The DNA never seems to understand the name I am saying. This was never a problem on the iPhone.

Does this sound like a DNA or general Android problem? Is it possible this headset works fine for iPhone but just doesn't get along well with the DNA?

If I just speak into the phone for voice to text dictation it seems to work fine.

-Keith

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Keith,

Hard for me to say. I don't have a DNA and quite frankly, I haven't used
my Note II to make any calls using voice yet. Still breaking it in.

Hope someone here has a better answer and can compare your phone
to the iPhone.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Just found an incredible app today....
For those that want to effortlessly sync all your contacts
from your Mac devices to your Android phone, may I introduce...
Smoothsync for Cloud Contacts
Wish I had found this app sooner. I had already managed to
find a way of importing all my contacts to my Android, but it
involved having to use Google as a go-between. Now, this app
effortlessly and immediately imports all your iCloud Mac contacts
over to your Android including any photos you have related to the
contact.
Pretty amazing.
There is also Smoothsync for Cloud Calendar that does the same
thing for calendar entries, but I am already using an effective workaround
that I don't need this particular app.
BTW, if installing either of these apps, be sure to look for a free
app addition called JBWORKAROUND which addresses some
Jellybean quirks.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Nice little tutorial for Android "newbies"

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Opinion: Why Android is Still Better than IOS

 

[Sam Posten]

Cool article, thanks. Despite being Android fans they aren't too over the top in their choices. Hard to argue with about half of those. There are definitely interesting things to Android if you are technically adept and care about them. Remove those from consideration if you are a non technophile tho and the list gets harder to swallow as a convincing whole. I like the argument for more free games. That's putting quite a spin on it. I think most people care about quality and fun than free, but there is definitely no denying that free is a way of life on the Android platform and that won't be changing any time soon. I also don't buy the Apple is 'Don't fix what isn't broke" theory. I'd say Apple has convincing reasons for the steps it too has taken forward with iOS, and fear of change is not one of them. I'd argue that starting with more things locked down and opening them as they can deliver consistent and manageable changes ia LOT smarter than creating a free for all that is going to have difficulties locking down and moving forward in a consistant way in the future. But, as with everything, we'll see.

 

[Hanson]

For me, the three biggest and most essential reasons Android is superior to iPhone is:
1) SwiftKey. You can substitute Swype here (if you're misguided), but the bottom line is, I type on my phone all the time, and a keyboard like SwiftKey is faster and easier to use than Blackberry keyboard (assuming you aren't one of those BB touch typists).
2) Larger screens. I have heard the arguments that a smaller screen and therefore a smaller phone are more ergonomic and easier to use. Which is fine if you're still using your phone to mostly make calls. But a larger screen is better for typing, reading, and watching. Playing games too. Basically, everything else. And the one-handed ergonomics arguments are overstated anyway. I still access 80%-90% of my functions on my Note 2 with one hand anyway. And now that I've mastered that,operating a 4.8" GS3 one-handed is effortless. Newsflash -- people can adapt and learn. Still not hearing that the 4" iPhone screen is an ergonomic nightmare from the iPhans after complaining endlessly about the ergonomic nightmares of the 4" Galaxy S and 4.3" Evo 4G (aka, The Hummer).
3) Since this article explains it better and more in depth than I have time for, here's a link:
http://droid-den.com/editorial/breaking-the-ecosystem-shackles-the-power-of-defaults-and-intents-in-android-2/
In a nutshell, Android is able to use any program as the default and any programs can share to others. This differs from the strict iOS policy where the privilege to share or become a default is limited to the few baked into the OS. So you can't tap on an address in iOS and have it open in Google Maps -- that can only be done with Maps. If you want to share an article, there are only a limited amount of set apps that can do so, and Pocket isn't one of them. If I take a picture on Android, I can share it out to Snapseed for editing and then from Snapseed share it to Google+ to post. This is the kind of flow that is not possible in iOS.

 

[Sam Posten]

On the final point, I agree Hanson, but this is a major philosophical difference not a capability difference. Apple could have simply opened it as Android has and called it a day. With the concept of privileges tho I expect this to be an area we see Apple evolve sooner rather than later. Pure android fans will howl at the closed nature of whatever Apple comes up with but I expect it will meet most users wants and desires while being considerably more easier to use and safer to boot. On the first, I'll just roll my eyes: I get that you are enamored with Swype but it's something only a technophile could really make a swing decision on and something so minor it's not even considered in the article Ron links. On the second, we know where I stand. I prefer to have a pocketable phone and a 10" tablet. I own 3 7 inch android tablets and have used my nephew's 4:3 iPad mini but I still prefer the full size iPad with or without retina to any of em. I sure don't see Apple making a gigantor phone, I was surprised at the longer 5 I can't see them going any bigger than that...