Brand new to Android (Note 2) from iOS... a few general questions?

**brnact** · 12-08-2012, 11:57 PM

Hi guys! Excited to get started with Android, I've had iPhone for 3 years now so am looking forward to something different. Obviously they are completely different, so I'm hoping you folks can help me out with a few basic questions that I've noticed so far:

1) Are any of the stock ATT or Samsung apps any good? I can' t seem to delete them, should I just hide them? Right now I'm using the stock email and calendar apps, they seem ok...

2) Do you folks use Google Play or the Samsung music player for locally stored music? Google Play is taking FOREVER to upload songs from my PC, is that normal? I do have kind of a slow connection, 5/1 I think.

3) How do I move music files onto the phone? Just drag files into the drive that shows up when I hook the phone up to my PC via USB? Will the phone know the difference of photo and audio and video files and sort accordingly?

4) Stock internet browser, or Chrome? Also when I click a link it asks if I want to open with Chrome, Internet, or Pop Up browser... is Pop Up Browser and Internet the same app?

5) No autocorrect?!

6) When I was reading an email earlier someone had included a phone number. I clicked it wanting to text, but it called them without asking. Holding the number brings up the text editor, not more options (iPhone would ask if you want to call or text if you held it down)... is there any way to text directly from a number? (like on iPhone)

7) Is there anything like Apple's photostream on Android? When I take a pic on the phone it'd be nice if it showed up on my computer automatically.

Many thanks! I'm sure I'll have a lot more but hopefully will figure it out as I get used to it; I'm fairly tech savvy.

**piizzadude** · 12-09-2012, 01:01 AM

Originally Posted by brnact

Hi guys! Excited to get started with Android, I've had iPhone for 3 years now so am looking forward to something different. Obviously they are completely different, so I'm hoping you folks can help me out with a few basic questions that I've noticed so far:

1) Are any of the stock ATT or Samsung apps any good? I can' t seem to delete them, should I just hide them? Right now I'm using the stock email and calendar apps, they seem ok...

It is all a matter of preference. I use K-9 mail mostly, but the stock calender.

2) Do you folks use Google Play or the Samsung music player for locally stored music? Google Play is taking FOREVER to upload songs from my PC, is that normal? I do have kind of a slow connection, 5/1 I think.

Google play and it does take a bit depending on connection and number of songs. There are TONS of others in the market

3) How do I move music files onto the phone? Just drag files into the drive that shows up when I hook the phone up to my PC via USB? Will the phone know the difference of photo and audio and video files and sort accordingly?

yeah you can just drag and drop the music player should pick them up without issue. You will have 2 different drives though if you have a SDcard slot. Mine are labeled "card" and phone. Where you put them doesnt matter. I just want you to be aware. Yes, the phone will get the differences between files and play them with the default player you have for the file.

4) Stock internet browser, or Chrome? Also when I click a link it asks if I want to open with Chrome, Internet, or Pop Up browser... is Pop Up Browser and Internet the same app?

I actually use 3. Chrome is the primary, the others have uses. No popup browser is just what it says. It is a separate window that pops up with the content from a link. Think of opening the link in a new (smaller) window. It has its uses, but I never have it as the default.

5) No autocorrect?!

There is on mine, check your settings. Also, Swiftkey is a better keyboard especially for autocorrect

6) When I was reading an email earlier someone had included a phone number. I clicked it wanting to text, but it called them without asking. Holding the number brings up the text editor, not more options (iPhone would ask if you want to call or text if you held it down)... is there any way to text directly from a number? (like on iPhone)

I honestly can't answer this one, i will take a look later

7) Is there anything like Apple's photostream on Android? When I take a pic on the phone it'd be nice if it showed up on my computer automatically.

Yep, sign up for dropbox and have it autosync. You then install it on on your computer and it will show up there. Great for backups too, and not just limited to photos.

Many thanks! I'm sure I'll have a lot more but hopefully will figure it out as I get used to it; I'm fairly tech savvy.

Welcome to Android and to Android Central, feel free to ask anything!

**brnact** · 12-09-2012, 01:09 AM

Thanks so much!

By autocorrect, I meant a feature where pressing space after a misspelled word automatically "guesses" the correct word and fixes it for you. It worked fairly well on iOS most of the time. I've read Swiftkey has this feature though, but you lose the top row of numbers? I really like that.

What's the difference between Swiftkey paid and free?

**piizzadude** · 12-09-2012, 01:39 AM

SwiftKey hand down is the best at that and you can use number just by long pressing the letter in the top row.

Sent from my X-Band Modem... TY Genesis

**piizzadude** · 12-09-2012, 01:42 AM

I honestly forget the difference between the two but it isn't much the free one functions just like the paix, the difference might just be the themes.

Sent from my X-Band Modem... TY Genesis

**piizzadude** · 12-09-2012, 01:44 AM

Btw I just checked and if you long press on a phone number it gives you the option to send a text to the number

Sent from my X-Band Modem... TY Genesis

**jdub1981** · 12-09-2012, 08:55 PM

Isnt swift key very similiar to the stock sammy keyboard? My keyboard has 3 words that appear above the keyboard.

**piizzadude** · 12-09-2012, 09:51 PM

yeah it is and actually it is the same in the Note 2, I am sure there are differences but I do not know what they are

**Xopher** · 12-10-2012, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by brnact

Hi guys! Excited to get started with Android, I've had iPhone for 3 years now so am looking forward to something different. Obviously they are completely different, so I'm hoping you folks can help me out with a few basic questions that I've noticed so far:7

Welcome to Android! One of the great things about the platform is that it is very flexible. Pretty much, everything is an application, including the home screen (launcher). That means you can pretty much change anything to sit your needs. It's also one of the drawbacks, since other operating systems have set ways to do things. With Android, you have to configure it to what you want.

1) Are any of the stock ATT or Samsung apps any good? I can' t seem to delete them, should I just hide them? Right now I'm using the stock email and calendar apps, they seem ok...

Most of the stock apps work well enough. If something doesn't work for you, there are always options. With email, the stock Gmail app works fine for me. I have found that K-9 Mail and MailDroid have some better options. Some people have found Touchdown to be better for work email.

If you have a preloaded app that you don't want, you have a couple of choices: Go into Settings, Application Manager, All, click on the application and choose Disable. If you have rooted your device to give you full system access, you can either Freeze the app, or completely remove it.

2) Do you folks use Google Play or the Samsung music player for locally stored music? Google Play is taking FOREVER to upload songs from my PC, is that normal? I do have kind of a slow connection, 5/1 I think.

Personally, I just use Google Play Music for my music collection. It does take a while for the music to initially upload (it does it in the background at a low priority, and only when the computer is idle). Once the music is in the cloud, it can be played directly, or downloaded to play locally.

3) How do I move music files onto the phone? Just drag files into the drive that shows up when I hook the phone up to my PC via USB? Will the phone know the difference of photo and audio and video files and sort accordingly?

There are some apps that will sync your iTunes library, but I haven't tried any of them.

4) Stock internet browser, or Chrome? Also when I click a link it asks if I want to open with Chrome, Internet, or Pop Up browser... is Pop Up Browser and Internet the same app?

The stock browser works fine for me. On my Nexus 7, I also have the xScope Browser loaded (since Chrome doesn't play Flash files). If you want Flash in the stock browser, you'll have to side last it.

The popup Browser is a separate browser that opens up in a small window, allowing you to see two things at once.

5) No autocorrect?!

Autocorrect is built into the keyboard. The keyboard is just another app on Android, and there are plenty of options out there. The stock keyboard should show three choices while you type (or swipe across the keys). SwiftKey is another awesome keyboard that not only suggests words, but also suggests the next word to type. The predictive texting capability is a really neat feature, and sometimes a little freaky to see it almost be able to complete sentences for you.

If the keyboards installed aren't fitting your style, try out a few of the other ones available.

6) When I was reading an email earlier someone had included a phone number. I clicked it wanting to text, but it called them without asking. Holding the number brings up the text editor, not more options (iPhone would ask if you want to call or text if you held it down)... is there any way to text directly from a number? (like on iPhone)

Which email application? Different applications may give different options.

When I hold on a number in the Gmail app, it gives me options to call or send an SMS.

7) Is there anything like Apple's photostream on Android? When I take a pic on the phone it'd be nice if it showed up on my computer automatically.

Dropbox has a feature where it will automatically upload photos as soon as you take them. If you have Dropbox on your computer, they will download automatically to it.

**nanoweewee** · 12-10-2012, 09:58 AM

I would definitely disable att smart wifi. It was the culprit that made me can't connect to some wifi network.

I basically disabled most att apps except for My att and att messages.