Help me smoothly move to Android

Doz007

Doz007

Doz007

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Joined
30 Jul 2008
Posts
713
Well after years of being an iOS, Blackberry, Windows Phone & WebOS user I've finally bitten the bullet & ordered a Sim Free Nexus 5! :D

I've got a lot of questions about the switch and would like some advice/answers from long term Android experts.

  • Does Android have a native Cloud back up system ala iCloud?
  • I'll still be using an iPad as my tablet device of choice and have a few Airplay devices around the house, does Android have an Airplay app/hack?
  • Can I pay via NFC in stores using Google Wallet?
  • Is it possible to get rid of the notification bar at the top of screen, I don't like how cluttered it becomes on Android
  • Battery life, will having news and football apps etc sending push notifications kill the battery? I'm used to getting push notifications on iPhone and the battery still lasting a day.
  • Is it possible to get the Moto X voice recognition and voice commands etc from the phone being off/screen locked?
  • Can I store & backup photos to Google without posting them on Google+?
 
Doz007 said:
  • Does Android have a native Cloud back up system ala iCloud?
Click to expand...


  • For photos you can use dropbox or Google+ backup. For documents you can use Google Drive. Wifi passwords/ apps/ contacts etc are linked to your Google account

    Doz007 said:
    [*]I'll still be using an iPad as my tablet device of choice and have a few Airplay devices around the house, does Android have an Airplay app/hack?
    Click to expand...

    http://www.knowyourmobile.com/android-apps/18049/best-airplay-apps-android-tried-and-tested

    Doz007 said:
    [*]Can I pay via NFC in stores using Google Wallet?
    Click to expand...

    Not yet, maybe/hopefully soon.

    Doz007 said:
    [*]Is it possible to get rid of the notification bar at the top of screen, I don't like how cluttered it becomes on Android
    Click to expand...

    Maybe with a custom rom, but not on stock. It is one of the most useful features IMO. It becomes cluttered with 3rd party apps using it, however you can usually stop them being in the notification area in the app options.

    Doz007 said:
    [*]Battery life, will having news and football apps etc sending push notifications kill the battery? I'm used to getting push notifications on iPhone and the battery still lasting a day.
    Click to expand...

    It will use some battery, biggest drains are location services and screen time. Battery life will be dependant on device. With the 5 being new it is still a bit of a unknown.

    Doz007 said:
    [*]Is it possible to get the Moto X voice recognition and voice commands etc from the phone being off/screen locked?
    Click to expand...

    Not totally sure, I think there are some apps out there that try to emulate it but are batery killers.

    Doz007 said:
    [*]Can I store & backup photos to Google without posting them on Google+?
    Click to expand...

They default to a private folder, only become posted if you chose to post them :)
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the detailed reply. :)

Excellent news on the Airplay compatibility. I didn't expect Android Airplay to be so easy to achieve!

Anything else that I've missed? The Nexus 5 is due to arrive Monday so I've got a couple of days to prepare for the switch. Anyone aware of any Android 'quirks' that I should know about?

I'm just looking into Google Music All Access, are you able to download songs for offline listening?
 
cymatty said:
Maybe with a custom rom, but not on stock. It is one of the most useful features IMO. It becomes cluttered with 3rd party apps using it, however you can usually stop them being in the notification area in the app options.
Click to expand...

you can use go launcher for different themes and to also hide the notification bar :)
 
Yeah, I really like the Window's Phone approach to the top bar. Hidden but only a swipe down from the top is required to see your battery status etc.

Another thing that I've thought about is the email app. Does the standard email client allow multiple inboxes to be added and viewed in a single unified inbox? Also, does it download email images automatically?
 
Yes, there's a combined view option. As for images, initially no, but once you mark the sender as safe then it will.
 
Doz007 said:
Thanks for the detailed reply. :)

Excellent news on the Airplay compatibility. I didn't expect Android Airplay to be so easy to achieve!

Anything else that I've missed? The Nexus 5 is due to arrive Monday so I've got a couple of days to prepare for the switch. Anyone aware of any Android 'quirks' that I should know about?

I'm just looking into Google Music All Access, are you able to download songs for offline listening?
Click to expand...

Your recently listened to music gets cached on the phone, you can choose to permanently keep them on the phone by "pinning" them and as said if you unsubscribe to all access you lose access to the songs that you did'nt upload/buy from Google Music.
 
Doz007 said:
Yeah, I really like the Window's Phone approach to the top bar. Hidden but only a swipe down from the top is required to see your battery status etc.

Another thing that I've thought about is the email app. Does the standard email client allow multiple inboxes to be added and viewed in a single unified inbox? Also, does it download email images automatically?
Click to expand...

I don't use the email client, i have setup gmail to check my other POP3 email account so all my emails appear in the gmail app.
 
DIABLO said:
Your recently listened to music gets cached on the phone, you can choose to permanently keep them on the phone by "pinning" them and as said if you unsubscribe to all access you lose access to the songs that you did'nt upload/buy from Google Music.
Click to expand...

Sounds good. As I have a Lumia 925 at the moment, I've got an Xbox Music subscription so how does the google music all access app compare to the big competitors in terms of UI and song selection?

DIABLO said:
I don't use the email client, i have setup gmail to check my other POP3 email account so all my emails appear in the gmail app.
Click to expand...

Excellent, I wasn't aware of this functionality and it sounds perfect! I guess that's my Sunday morning sorted :)

All this talk of launchers is confusing, can I just use a third party launcher to hide the task bar but keep everything else stock Kit Kat?
 
Why not stick with the notification bar to start with? It's a fairly useful thing, it'll only become cluttered if you allow it to.
 
Yeah, that's probably going to be the route I take first to be honest. If it does all get too much, I'll look to hide it later on.

How is the standard Android keyboard these days, I used a friends briefly way back in 2.1 and I can't say I was impressed. Is Swiftkey still far and away the best touchscreen keyboard?
 
If normal typing, then SwiftKey is still the popular choice. If you prefer swiping, then I found Swype to be the most accurate. Both keyboards costs however, but there is the stock Google keyboard which is good enough.

If you have an Xbox music subscription, there's an official app for Android if you wish to stick with it.
 
Doz007 said:
Excellent, I wasn't aware of this functionality and it sounds perfect! I guess that's my Sunday morning sorted :)

All this talk of launchers is confusing, can I just use a third party launcher to hide the task bar but keep everything else stock Kit Kat?
Click to expand...

You set it up on the gmail website in the settings.
 
As there's a keyboard discussion going on, is there anyone who still prefer the 3x4 layout? I've just got myself an S4 and was delighted to see that 3x4 is still available. Being partially sighted, I prefer to see 12 dials than 26 letters. T9 dictionary is a bit different on the S4 though. You have to long-press each letter group to spell a new word, which takes a bit longer than before, but once entered, T9 remembers it automatically (no pull-down menu required).
 
Monserrat said:
As there's a keyboard discussion going on, is there anyone who still prefer the 3x4 layout? I've just got myself an S4 and was delighted to see that 3x4 is still available. Being partially sighted, I prefer to see 12 dials than 26 letters. T9 dictionary is a bit different on the S4 though. You have to long-press each letter group to spell a new word, which takes a bit longer than before, but once entered, T9 remembers it automatically (no pull-down menu required).
Click to expand...

3x4 is a great, I find it useful one handed, very occasionally whilst driving (shhh!) as I can mostly touch type now with the 3x4 layout on my Xperia Z1 :) I'm sure the dictionary on my phone is based around you manually typing the word in two or three times in your sentence etc. and it automatically adds it .
 
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