So I'm thinking of making the switch from iOS

[shinndigg]

I ordered a 4S last week from AT&tT and it should be coming tomorrow. However, after playing with the Galaxy S II at Best Buy, I can't imagine spending another year or two on an iPhone sized screen. I'd really like to make the switch, but there are a few things holding me back...

1) iTunes. I already have a lot of TV shows and music purchased from iTunes. I love being able to buy music directly on my phone. Upon further research, it seems like I will be able to use the Amazon MP3 store to download music directly to my phone. Is that what most people use (I also use Spotify, so I don't actually buy too much music.)

2) Most of my friends and family have iPhones, so I lose iMessage and Facetime. They are all kind of technophobes and won't be leaving Apple's walled garden any time soon. So I guess there isn't much I can do about this?

3) Build quality. Say what you want about Apple, they don't skimp on build quality. Even my iPhone 4, which is a year and half old, feels solid and doesn't have a scratch on it. Since I'm looking at the Galaxy S II or Skyrocket, I'm worried the plastic is going to feel cheap and not age well. The S II demo unit at AT&T was literally taped together.

Basically, I want an Android because I like to tinker with and customize my electronics and the bigger screen is a huge plus. Also have always wanted a phone with Swype. 4G isnt a big deal to me, because I live primarily in Milwaukee and a suburb about an hour west of Chicago, and I don't believe either area is covered by LTE. If I did get an LTE phone though, would the battery life still be poor in not LTE coverage areas?

Also, how difficult would it be to get Android 4.0 on my phone before the official update, whenever that may come?

If anyone has anything else to say about why I should or should not switch, let me know.

 

[anon(631531)]

I ordered a 4S last week from AT&tT and it should be coming tomorrow. However, after playing with the Galaxy S II at Best Buy, I can't imagine spending another year or two on an iPhone sized screen. I'd really like to make the switch, but there are a few things holding me back...

1) iTunes. I already have a lot of TV shows and music purchased from iTunes. I love being able to buy music directly on my phone. Upon further research, it seems like I will be able to use the Amazon MP3 store to download music directly to my phone. Is that what most people use (I also use Spotify, so I don't actually buy too much music.)

2) Most of my friends and family have iPhones, so I lose iMessage and Facetime. They are all kind of technophobes and won't be leaving Apple's walled garden any time soon. So I guess there isn't much I can do about this?

3) Build quality. Say what you want about Apple, they don't skimp on build quality. Even my iPhone 4, which is a year and half old, feels solid and doesn't have a scratch on it. Since I'm looking at the Galaxy S II or Skyrocket, I'm worried the plastic is going to feel cheap and not age well. The S II demo unit at AT&T was literally taped together.

Basically, I want an Android because I like to tinker with and customize my electronics and the bigger screen is a huge plus. Also have always wanted a phone with Swype. 4G isnt a big deal to me, because I live primarily in Milwaukee and a suburb about an hour west of Chicago, and I don't believe either area is covered by LTE. If I did get an LTE phone though, would the battery life still be poor in not LTE coverage areas?

Also, how difficult would it be to get Android 4.0 on my phone before the official update, whenever that may come?

If anyone has anything else to say about why I should or should not switch, let me know.

I'm in the same boat with you. Customizing is why i might change to Android. FaceTime can be dealt with by using Tango, assuming that it's available for Android. My limited research has led me to believe that HTC phones may be a better quality than Samsung, so if like me, you have AT&T, then i would look at the Vivid. I've come to realize that straight out of the box, Android phones have more customizing than a jailbroken iPhone4S, or whatever the next iPhone will be called. I'm not into jail breaking or rooting. I just want a good customizable phone, right from the get go. I believe that an Android phone would fill that bill. Just my personal opinion.

 

[EvilMonkey]

You'll probably find the sticky at the top of this forum helpful: http://forums.androidcentral.com/general-help-how/137252-apple-users-guide-android.html

In a nutshell though:

1. You can still use iTunes using Doubletwist if you like, or you use several other sources (there's Google Music and Amazon MP3 for example), and of course you can import your songs from iTunes if you want.
2. Yes, you will lose iMessage and Facetime, but (if you can) convince your friends/family to switch to Skype. They'll be amazed as they can then make Skype video calls, on their iPhone, and they can call people who don't use an iPhone and both parties don't have to be on wifi to do it. Facetime is way too limited, since it basically requires both parties to be on wifi and on iPhones.
3. Not an issue

If you get an LTE phone but don't live in an LTE area, you would just turn that off (so it doesn't scan for a 4G signal) and you wouldn't have to worry about 4G diminishing the battery life.

I'm sure you'll be able to get ICS (Android 4.0) on your phone prior to any official update, but you might have to root and install a custom ROM or something. I'm frankly not familiar enough with that particular phone or the ICS ROMS right now, so someone else can pipe in on that.

 

[anon(631531)]

You'll probably find the sticky at the top of this forum helpful: http://forums.androidcentral.com/general-help-how/137252-apple-users-guide-android.html

In a nutshell though:

1. You can still use iTunes using Doubletwist if you like, or you use several other sources (there's Google Music and Amazon MP3 for example), and of course you can import your songs from iTunes if you want.
2. Yes, you will lose iMessage and Facetime, but (if you can) convince your friends/family to switch to Skype. They'll be amazed as they can then make Skype video calls, on their iPhone, and they can call people who don't use an iPhone and both parties don't have to be on wifi to do it. Facetime is way too limited, since it basically requires both parties to be on wifi and on iPhones.
3. Not an issue

If you get an LTE phone but don't live in an LTE area, you would just turn that off (so it doesn't scan for a 4G signal) and you wouldn't have to worry about 4G diminishing the battery life.

I'm sure you'll be able to get ICS (Android 4.0) on your phone prior to any official update, but you might have to root and install a custom ROM or something. I'm frankly not familiar enough with that particular phone or the ICS ROMS right now, so someone else can pipe in on that.

I'm really curious about that Doubletwist thing. I have a MacBook Pro. Will i be able to download songs into iTunes, then plug in my Android device, and have them appear in an .mp3 format on an Android phone? I want to have the ability to use my Android phone as an mp3 player.

 

[pazzo02]

I'm really curious about that Doubletwist thing. I have a MacBook Pro. Will i be able to download songs into iTunes, then plug in my Android device, and have them appear in an .mp3 format on an Android phone? I want to have the ability to use my Android phone as an mp3 player.

Most Android musid apps will play .m4a (iTunes) songs, so don't worry about them having to be mp3. The problem you may run into is with DRM protected songs. Back when songs were 99 cents on iTunes, they were all DRM protected, meaning you could only play them on an Apple device or in iTunes. If you have music that falls under this category, you'll have to upgrade those songs to iTunes Plus. Go into the iTunes store and search iTunes Plus and it will tell you what songs and how much it will cost (usually 30 cents per song).

 

[elvisgp]

Most Android musid apps will play .m4a (iTunes) songs, so don't worry about them having to be mp3. The problem you may run into is with DRM protected songs. Back when songs were 99 cents on iTunes, they were all DRM protected, meaning you could only play them on an Apple device or in iTunes. If you have music that falls under this category, you'll have to upgrade those songs to iTunes Plus. Go into the iTunes store and search iTunes Plus and it will tell you what songs and how much it will cost (usually 30 cents per song).

Or u can just use Google music to sync all of ur iTunes music onto ur phone. U can also buy music for Google's music store in the android market. As fro movies, Google also has a movie renting service in the market. If u happen to buy a gs2 then u can also rent and buy movies and TV shows through Samsung's media hub, which comes pre installed on ur device.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[anon(631531)]

Thanks for the info guys. I've never bought music from iTunes. I have over 8gbs of songs & ringtones, that i put on iTunes from an sd card that went with my old BB9000. Google Music sounds good. I can create a music site just like iTunes, then plug in an Android device, and upgrade or sync right from there. What about creating a back-up for everything on the phone? That would be awesome, and i wouldn't need iTunes at all.

 

[EvilMonkey]

What about creating a back-up for everything on the phone? That would be awesome, and i wouldn't need iTunes at all.

There's a few ways too do that, but if you're just worried about backing up your music (which are just files) you can just connect it to a computer with a USB cable and just copy them. Unlike the iPhone, you can just copy files back and forth from the phone just like it's a flash/thumb drive. Welcome to freedom.

Hope that helps.

 

[anon(631531)]

There's a few ways too do that, but if you're just worried about backing up your music (which are just files) you can just connect it to a computer with a USB cable and just copy them. Unlike the iPhone, you can just copy files back and forth from the phone just like it's a flash/thumb drive. Welcome to freedom.

Hope that helps.

Sweeeet! So, if i have all my tunes & photos on the sd card, and i want to attach a particular ringtone to a contact, i guess that i have to put that ringtone & photo into the phone's memory before i can attach it?

 

[EvilMonkey]

Sweeeet! So, if i have all my tunes & photos on the sd card, and i want to attach a particular ringtone to a contact, i guess that i have to put that ringtone & photo into the phone's memory before i can attach it?

Are you asking if it has to be on the phone's memory (rather than the SD card) before you can use it as a ringtone for a contact? If that's the question, then no. It can reside on the SD card just fine. No need to move it from there to the phone's memory.

 

[anon(631531)]

Are you asking if it has to be on the phone's memory (rather than the SD card) before you can use it as a ringtone for a contact? If that's the question, then no. It can reside on the SD card just fine. No need to move it from there to the phone's memory.

That's what i was asking, and thanks for the answer. On my old BB, i had to move it to the phone's memory( what they called "on board" memory ). I'll have to start learning some new terminology