Somewhat nervous-moving from iphone to GS3

[anon(692098)]

Here's a question I don't see asked or answered often in 'switch' threads. On the iPhone you can control music and other functions using the inline remote on the earbuds. Is there an equivalent feature / function on the GSIII? Specifically using either earbuds I already have (iPhone specific) or other earbuds can I simply start the music player by pressing the button on the remote, increase/decrease volume and skip/rewind tracks? I don't care so much about voice control but that would be a bonus.

 

[Jon_Cox]

I'v had every version of iPhone and many android devices at the same time. Right now I have a 4s and S III.
iOS 6 is not complete and the hardware specific features are not yet being shown.
Rumors and pictures of new iPhones have been wrong pretty much every single time so making a decision on that makes little sense.
iTunes Match at a whole $25 per year is much more capable than Google Music Manager. It allows you upgrade all of your music to 256k AAC which is worth it just for that. Plus even if you are no longer an iTunes Match member you can keep your upgraded music. Also Music Manager did not match a lot of my music while iTunes Match would upload songs it couldn't find. iTunes match does not upload all your music as Music Manager does. It only uploads songs it can't find which are very few.
For the OP, there is a tremendous amount of bloatware on the S III placed there by the carrier and the manufacturer. This slows the phone down and uses resources. You won't be used to this as an iPhone user because Apple does not allow the carriers to do this. So I would look into some of the tutorials about how to root and remove or freeze these apps. You also won't be use to app stores, selection, and quality. Google Play is a mess and is full of garbage making it very hard to find real apps instead of apps that are named similarly. Consider looking at the Amazon store instead. Do not expect all of your Android apps to have the same functionality or look as the same app on iOS.
If you are using iCloud you can get some syncing going as there are several apps that do this. But they only work with a small amount of iCloud features.
I'd be interested to know what issues you are having with Gmail on your iPhone. You should follow the instructions Google provides for setting this up not the built in Apple setup. if you are using the Gmail app on your iPhone then stop because its slapped together garbage.
Look into the Apex and Nova launchers. You may want to use one of those. I do think you should root and freeze the huge amount of bloatware on these phones but you may not want to go to a new launcher until you have learned what comes on the phone.
Finally don't sell your iPhone just yet if you can. Try Android for a few weeks to be sure you like it. Some people like tinkering with their phones and others want them just to work so they can get on with their lives. iOS does that for you by design. If there is functionality you want that it doesn't provide then jailbreak it and look into cydia apps.

Good points. I'd say if you are a 4S owner you are seeing much if not all of what will be available in iOS 6. At this point it will be about refinement of running processes. I'd also say that the new phone will also have features exclusive to it. Probably baked into iOS 6 running on those devices.

I use Apex. Love it. I never bought a many tracks from iTunes but I have heard that Match is pretty nice, and it's only 25 bucks a year. Too late now.

 

[Jon_Cox]

Here's a question I don't see asked or answered often in 'switch' threads. On the iPhone you can control music and other functions using the inline remote on the earbuds. Is there an equivalent feature / function on the GSIII? Specifically using either earbuds I already have (iPhone specific) or other earbuds can I simply start the music player by pressing the button on the remote, increase/decrease volume and skip/rewind tracks? I don't care so much about voice control but that would be a bonus.

The in-line remote on the earbuds that come with the GS3 do the same. Even works with Spotify. The sound quality is ok. I prefer my Incase earbuds. Great bang for the buck.

 

[Mobimop]

I have placed an order for a red GS3 with AT&T, and now I'm wondering how painful is it going to be trying to move itunes playlist to GS3 (my computers are iMac and Macbook pro).

I bookmarked the Android file transfer download for Mac, but I'm wondering if I may need something else? AT&T has a file transfer on their site too, but not sure how good it is. Trying to learn the Android lingo and understanding the difference with iOS is becoming a challenge. Ice cream sandwich, Jelly Bean and other assorted terms is making me giggle, but a nervous giggle nevertheless.

I guess in the end, it will be ok. But I am anticipating a major hair pull trying to convert everything to Android. Anything else that I may encounter? The only thing that I will be moving over is music, photos and contacts.

TIA

Cindy

The Google Music Manager works great on my Mac, after I installed it I was able to upload all of my iTunes music however it didn't detect my playlists. It has a great option if you plan to purchase from iTunes in the future you can have it automatically upload the song. Good Luck!

 

[anon(692098)]

I've also read good things about iSyncr, there is a free and paid version in Play. It will copy playlists over from the description as well as podcasts from the description.

I was able to confirm last night that using my iPhone specific earbuds the S3 indeed recognized them and allowed me to play/pause but nothing else. I'm assuming that, and not to doubt Jon_Cox, that Android specific earbuds will allow FF/RW as well. I also have to say that the screen in better than the S2 and very comparable to my iP4. I'll be saving up for September, right now I'll be getting an S3 unless the iP5 makes toast using it's 4.5"+ screen.

 

[barskin]

The in-line remote on the earbuds that come with the GS3 do the same. Even works with Spotify. The sound quality is ok. I prefer my Incase earbuds. Great bang for the buck.

Can they skip/rewind tracks? I had that function on a premium BlackBerry headset, and I would love to have for my SG3.

 

[jimbo1mcm]

I been switching back and forth from ios to Android for a couple of years. Lots of investment in both ecosystems now. Couldn't find hardware that was as reliable as Apple. Plus, it's easy to go to an Apple Store and get help when needed. That said, just recently I went from an iPhone 4 to an HTX One X. I thought that finally someone had come up with decent enough hardware that I could make a long term switch. Wrong. My HOX was plagued with issues, both hardware and software. As was the replacement. So I went back to Apple with a 4S. Liked it, it was snappy. Just boring and even when running the beta3 of iOS6, still very boring. The news maps functionality was good but not enough. In addition, I have definitely converted and definitely prefer the larger display form factor.

Luckily a few weeks ago my wife decided she wanted my iPhone. So I began to reevaluate the Android devices that were available. I got a Pebble Blue Galaxy S3. Zero issues thus far and it's a great phone. I'm running the Apex Launcher and battery life has been fantastic. Also, since I uploaded almost 99% of my music to Google Music for free, I can stream it whenever I like. I don't have to pay for it like I did with iTunes Match. I'm now here for good, especially given what I've seen rumor-wise of the hardware. Like I said, in my opinion iOS 6 is not a big upgrade at all.

I think you'll like it. It's a definitely a challenge to switch and I think a lot of people have no idea how difficult a decision it really is. When Jelly Bean comes to the GS3 you'll find it pretty close- if not more so- fluid than iOS. Just don't force it and take time to find the easiest way for YOU to do what you need to do. How well you transition is really up to you.

Side note- I can't get Android File Transfer to work on my MacBook Pro. Won't recognize my device even though I've set my GS3 to share via USB. I'll try Kies.

re: Android File Transfer make sure you select PTP on your phone, not Media. It works perfectly on my MBP.

 

[bigstormgirl]

Got my new S3 yesterday, got activated and have been playing around with it since. Almost feels like I'm starting over. But when I figure something out, it's a little exciting! Figured out how to actually text with the right app (phone came with 3 different messaging type apps, finally figured out which one to use, lol), and was able to move my music from iTunes to the phone using the Android transfer files. Most of the music did move over, but I figured out the all the files with .M4p extensions did not move to the phone (protected?). There is around 80 songs with this extension, so I'm trying to figure out how to do this. If any ideas, I would love to hear it. Also, a few ringtones didn't move over either. These were ones that I made a while ago, but not sure why the phone didn't accept it.

As far as the phone itself, I really like it. Love the big screen, got the hang of moving the icons around, pulling down the nav bar and other things that I never had to do with the iPhone. My husband really likes it too. He was pretty impressed. Now he wants one!

Luckily, I haven't had any problems with it. The garnet red is a real nice color. I hate to cover this beauty up, but I really should get an Otter Box. Really loving the 4G LTE. So much faster than 3G.

I have to admit, the learning curve isn't as bad as I thought. As of right now, the S3 is a keeper. Thanks everyone for their input, I really appreciate it!!

 

[icwhatudidthere]

You're correct, the m4p files are protected iTunes audio files. You'll either need to upgrade them if Apple still offers that and you feel like paying. Or the brute force method would be to burn them to CD as an audio CD then rip them back to your computer. It's only 80 songs so that's maybe 3-5 CDs? Not too bad. There are probably methods of stripping the the DRM as well.

 

[johnj2803]

I have used double twist on my Mac to transfer my itunes music to my s3. I copied over my songs and playlist. You might want to look into that too

 

[snookiesnoo]

Yup. Once you download the Music Manager App it pretty much takes care of everything. Took a while to upload all of my music but it's been great. Be confident, it will be ok. Issues I have seen relate to Windows software compatibility issues. I felt the same way when I was first looking at switching to the dark side from Apple, and I work for them.

In other words you work in an Apple store.

 

[reno55]

I have used double twist on my Mac to transfer my itunes music to my s3. I copied over my songs and playlist. You might want to look into that too

I tryed double twist but found it kind of slow

 

[clborden]

I have used double twist on my Mac to transfer my itunes music to my s3. I copied over my songs and playlist. You might want to look into that too

Do you know if I could transfer my music to the SD card and not the internal memory using DoubleTwist? I tried DT and it went straight to the internal memory and filled it right up. I got all kinds of errors and such, so trying to avoid it if I can.

 

[LMaui]

Side note- I can't get Android File Transfer to work on my MacBook Pro. Won't recognize my device even though I've set my GS3 to share via USB. I'll try Kies.

I also came from iPhone a year ago. I have noticed with the Samsung phones that if you try a different USB port on your MacBook Pro it will suddenly work.

YMMV

 

[DavidsTech]

I use both the iPhone 4S and Galaxy S3. I like both but if I go to just one smartphone I will give up the 4S. The bigger screen, LTE and customization are just a couple of the things I like more about my Android smartphone.

I did get frustrated the first time I went to Android after using only iPhone's for a couple years. But I am glad I stuck with it because there is so much to it. Especially if you start Rooting your device and Flashing some of the amazing ROMs available. Goog luck.

 

[Lanhoj]

Personally since I'm a Notification junky, the one thing I immediately missed from iOS to Android were Badge Notifications!

Gladly though I recently figured out a way to do it--> http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=199709

Hope that helps seal the deal for you switching to Android.

 

[bigstormgirl]

I use both the iPhone 4S and Galaxy S3. I like both but if I go to just one smartphone I will give up the 4S. The bigger screen, LTE and customization are just a couple of the things I like more about my Android smartphone.

I did get frustrated the first time I went to Android after using only iPhone's for a couple years. But I am glad I stuck with it because there is so much to it. Especially if you start Rooting your device and Flashing some of the amazing ROMs available. Goog luck.

Not sure what rooting (similar to jailbreaking?) or flashing ROMs means, but I'm really liking my S3. I'm slowly figuring out all the functions and tweaking. Finally got my iTunes music moved over from my Macbook to the S3 (that was somewhat of a pain, but I had a feeling it would be).

The keyboard was driving me nuts! Got a new one that works better for me. Really like how you can really customize to your own liking, something you could not do with the iPhone.

I will admit that moving to the S3 has really put me out of my comfort zone. But, I don't regret it one bit. It's kind of fun to look at it and say "hey, what does this do?" and try it. There has been a lot of things that I have figured out by accident.

 

[bigstormgirl]

Personally since I'm a Notification junky, the one thing I immediately missed from iOS to Android were Badge Notifications!

Gladly though I recently figured out a way to do it--> http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=199709

Hope that helps seal the deal for you switching to Android.

Thanks for the link!

There is something else that I miss with the S3. When my husband texts me, I didn't really notice it on the S3 like I could with the iPhone. I'm not crazy about the little envelope in the notification bar next to the gmail notifications. I'm used to see his text on my screen when I turn on my iphone. Is there a way to get the S3 to show the actual missed text on your home screen when you turn on your phone? I haven't figured this out yet.

 

[Lanhoj]

...Is there a way to get the S3 to show the actual missed text on your home screen when you turn on your phone? I haven't figured this out yet.

You mean a pop-up Notification? Sure is - get a 3rd-party SMS App to replace the stock one like GO SMS Pro and enable the pop-up--> https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...e/apps/details?id=com.jb.gosms&token=fW-_qags

There's also Apps like NotifierPro that can give the pop-up a real "iOS" look--> https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...com.nlucas.iphonenotifications&token=dD_JXH7l

Or if you really don't want to ever miss his TXT's, you might want to try this one--> https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...e/apps/details?id=com.smsalert&token=lzV3nWel

I know it's an iPhone slogan but it applies more accurately to Android IMO "...there's an App for that"


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[bigstormgirl]

You mean a pop-up Notification? Sure is - get a 3rd-party SMS App to replace the stock one like GO SMS Pro and enable the pop-up--> https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...e/apps/details?id=com.jb.gosms&token=L3nT8Ttp

There's also Apps like NotifierPro that can give the pop-up a real "iOS" look--> https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...com.nlucas.iphonenotifications&token=oPfSjr09

Or if you really don't want to ever miss his TXT's, you might want to try this one--> https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...e/apps/details?id=com.smsalert&token=AAT0uS1v

I know it's an iPhone slogan but it applies more accurately to Android IMO "...there's an App for that"


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

That's exactly what I was looking for!! Thank you!!!!