Transition to Android

[the_workhorse]

Ok, so I need to get some mobile stuff off my chest and this forum is the place to help me in doing so. As I wrote in my introductory post a couple weeks ago I will be converting to the Android platform from BlackBerry. I am picking up the Galaxy S4 when big red makes it available and am looking forward to the S4 for many reasons. But I have to admit that I have some reservations in taking the leap from BB. There are some native BB OS features that I will really miss and I'm not sure if Android or the S4 have these features. I would like to list these out and maybe the good Android faithful can put my mind at ease by telling me of equally awesome or better features I will be using.

1) Bedside mode: I use this every night when I go to bed. This is great because you can disable the LED notification, dim the screen, and change the sound profile all in one step so you can sleep uninterrupted. You can also disable the radio too but I don't have that luxury as I am on call for work 24-7.

2) Calendar: More specifically, in the calendar function you can create alarms. This is really handy for me as my work schedule fluctuates depending on my semester school schedule. I know in advance my schedule and create wake up alarms for weeks or months at a time and never have to worry about changing it from time to time.

3) BBM: Need I say more.

4) Message integration: You can have all your various email accounts and even text messages and visual voice mail integrated into one inbox rather than having multiple inbox's to check.

Any helpful response is much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[kenorian]

I haven't missed 2, 3 or 4 - or have found alternatives.

Profile and alert management is an area the BBOS rocked. Yeah, I've got Lightflow and SmartActions (on my Motorola RAZR MAXX HD) and Quick Profiles but.... still not the same.

Got the LEDs working almost as good for notifications. Android has this weird way, though of combining alarm/system/notification/ring volumes so that they can't be isolated in an ideal way. All in all, I'm extremely happy to have made the move. What I've gained is worth much more than I've lost - have finally come to grips with the fact that there isn't a "perfect" device.

BTW, the the BB10OS has worse profile management and apps to control LEDs and notifications than my combination, above. i.e. no BerryBuzz.

 

[the_workhorse]

Thanks kenorian. The more I read and see the Galaxy S4 the more excited I become. It's just full of features I've never used before so I am sure you're right in the fact I won't miss the above mentioned features. As a matter of fact, I keep telling my wife I'm not much of an app guy and she replies, "because you've never had apps before!" So this also has me pumped to experience the slew of Android apps out there.

 

[Lanhoj]

...
the BB10OS has worse profile management and apps to control LEDs and notifications
...

Yeah that's among the main reasons I can't make my Z10 my primary device.
Until LED Notifications are better supported I just can't rely on it.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[Aquila]

1) Bedside mode: I use this every night when I go to bed. This is great because you can disable the LED notification, dim the screen, and change the sound profile all in one step so you can sleep uninterrupted. You can also disable the radio too but I don't have that luxury as I am on call for work 24-7.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...inglisch.android.taskerm&hl=en&token=11pQDA1L
This might be a good solution. Also, daydream mode in Android 4.2 and up sounds close also, although it won't handle the sound profile automatically that I know of. I know my Nexus 7 (I realize it's pretty different than the S4, but they're both 4.2.2 devices at the moment, well as soon as the S4 lands) switches into 'dock' mode in it's dock, does the daydream clock or patterns, etc. I typically turn off all data and wifi when I'm sleeping and just leave it so I can receive texts and phone calls only during that time.