Fleeing the sinking webOS ship

[Bishounen]

Hey all,

As most of you no doubt know, HP has basically given up on webOS. As a webOS user from launch week (Still using my launch week Sprint Pre 1 and it's in fair condition too!) I'm feeling betrayed, angry and hurt. I've invested alot both financially and emotionally into the webOS platform and it's just been murdered in front of my eyes.

I'm working through that pain, but since I've been holding on to an ever-aging phone and have had a massive upgrade discount sitting out there waiting for the Pre3 that never appeared, I'm looking to move on to something supported. As a Sprint customer my only choices are Android, BB, or dumb phone.

Since I'm not about to hitch my wagon to yet another dying platform, BB is out. I'm not really sure I want to just give up on smartphones altogether, so I'm thinking Android. but I have a few questions, and hopefully you all can help me out.

1. Recommended Sprint phone choices? I am leaning towards the HTC Evo 3D, but I really love physical keyboards (NOT a fan of virtual keyboards at all) so I'm not really sure about the 3D. Maybe the Evo with the slider? Not sure. Hopefully you all can make some good recommendations.

2. Transitioning from webOS to Android. I know there are a few of you that have done it already, hopefully you can help me avoid some pitfalls.
a. Is there an Android equivalent to webOS Synergy?
b. Moving data/contacts etc. How easy was the actual transition?
c. UI options. I've heard the "Sense" UI is good, but that some of the homebrew ones are even better. Suggestions?
d. Anything else you can suggest to make it easier.

Obviously there are those that will blindly cling to the idea of webOS being licensed out to some handset maker, but I'm done waiting and hoping. It's time to move on. Please help me make the transition with as little pain as possible, I can't handle any more phone-related emotional trauma.

 

[jamex]

You should get the Evo 3D. I use to think I couldn't do without a physical keyboard but now I wouldn't consider buying a phone that came with one.

Synergy is just a fancy word Palm used for sync. Android phones do the exact same thing with tons more customization options.

To move my data all I did was sign-in the gmail account.

I love sense UI and I am not interested in installing anything different.

After using Android I have come to realize that Webos was just terrible. It shouldn't even be considered a smartphone OS. The only good thing it was the cards which was sometimes annoying since I needed to keep them open for apps to continue running. The Evo 3D is an awesome phone and for the life of me i cannot understand why you guys held on to webos for so long. I left almost a year ago because even a blind man could see that this day was coming. I waited over a year for doc editing and guess what? It still doesn't have a single doc editing app. The OS is slow buggy and lacks a lot. HP is doing the right thing because it is just too late for Webos.

 

[Christophocles]

If you like keyboards and you are on Sprint and you want a new Android right now, get the Epic. That's an easy choice. Evo 3D has nicer specs but lacks a keyboard, and to me the keyboard is more important. If you are willing to wait a few months, then maybe you could get the Epic 2. Not sure if it's even been announced yet though.

 

[Bujin#IM]

I moved from webOS to Android, going from Pre to EVO to Nexus S. My wife describes my Nexus as a cross between a Pre and EVO. I like or quite a bit.

 

[sjamie]

I too feel your pain, my friend. I loved my launch day Pre minus and was holding on until the release of the mythical Pre 3. Once my 7th replacement Pre lost touchscreen functionality, I couldn't hold out anymore! I jumped over to Android and have been very pleased. There is definitely a learning curve but the transition was easier than I imagined. Android does sync/ your contact sources but not as well as Synergy did. Companies like Seidio make charging cradles for some phones like the 3VO but they are not as elegant as the Touchstone. Android is much more customizable than Webos with custom ROMS and various apps. I am really loving the plethora of apps!

My first Android phone was the 3VO but I've moved on to the Photon due to better call, audio, and speaker quality. You should be pleased with either phone overall.

 

[twcook]

I went straight from hardware keyboard to swype. Love it, would never go back.

 

[johnj2803]

I am on the same boat as the OP.

not to hijack this thread, hopefully you guys can recommend phones for Verizon and AT&T too.

 

[kurioskurion]

Leave Sprint...

 

[VickMackey#AC]

You should get the Evo 3D. I use to think I couldn't do without a physical keyboard but now I wouldn't consider buying a phone that came with one.

Synergy is just a fancy word Palm used for sync. Android phones do the exact same thing with tons more customization options.

To move my data all I did was sign-in the gmail account.

I love sense UI and I am not interested in installing anything different.

After using Android I have come to realize that Webos was just terrible. It shouldn't even be considered a smartphone OS. The only good thing it was the cards which was sometimes annoying since I needed to keep them open for apps to continue running. The Evo 3D is an awesome phone and for the life of me i cannot understand why you guys held on to webos for so long. I left almost a year ago because even a blind man could see that this day was coming. I waited over a year for doc editing and guess what? It still doesn't have a single doc editing app. The OS is slow buggy and lacks a lot. HP is doing the right thing because it is just too late for Webos.

Couldn't agree more. Anyone that thinks webos was a powerful os is delusional. I'm glad I left when I did. And for the keyboard freaks, try swype or swiftkey in landscape before you knock vkbs. Its not for everyone but I am def a convert

 

[Moscow Desire]

Never buy a "phone" from a company that doesn't make phones. Although the palm was innovation at the time, as always, it wasn't their core business, and unfortunately, users are tossed to the wayside.

It's like buying a refridgerator from Chrysler...............

 

[goosta]

I just switched from an original Palm Pre to a Nexus S a couple days ago. Best Buy had it for free, so I couldn't pass it up (got one for my wife and one for myself).

The transition was pretty easy. I transferred my pictures to my computer for storage. When it came to exporting my contacts, I did some googling and found a tip that helped:
Palm Pre contacts to Google g mail contacts - Page 2 - Support Community

Following those steps, I was able to quickly get a vcf file of all my contacts. I imported that file into my gmail contacts, and it synced over to the Nexus S flawlessly.

I didn't use the calendar app on my pre, so I can't comment on that. If you have any txt messages you want to save...I think the only option is to open them and copy paste into an email. So that's kind of a pain.

As far as getting used to Android - it's has been a smooth transition for me. For the first couple days, I kept trying to swipe things like you do in webOS. But, it was pretty easy to pick up on how Android works. It seems like night and day for me now when I compare the 2 phones. Android is so much more customizable - I love it! Having multiple home screens to customize with widgets and shortcuts is great. Overall I am very happy so far.

 

[srkmagnus]

1. Recommended Sprint phone choices? I am leaning towards the HTC Evo 3D, but I really love physical keyboards (NOT a fan of virtual keyboards at all) so I'm not really sure about the 3D. Maybe the Evo with the slider? Not sure. Hopefully you all can make some good recommendations.

HTC Evo 3D and Photon are the two new high-end phones you should be looking at if you don't get a qwerty keyboard. Otherwise, the Replenish and Motorola XPRT. There's not too much support for these two devices in terms of hacking development; but the community that is currently working on the Replenish on this forums seems like a tight-nit group. that's a good thing.

2. Transitioning from webOS to Android. I know there are a few of you that have done it already, hopefully you can help me avoid some pitfalls.
a. Is there an Android equivalent to webOS Synergy?
b. Moving data/contacts etc. How easy was the actual transition?
c. UI options. I've heard the "Sense" UI is good, but that some of the homebrew ones are even better. Suggestions?
d. Anything else you can suggest to make it easier.

Obviously there are those that will blindly cling to the idea of webOS being licensed out to some handset maker, but I'm done waiting and hoping. It's time to move on. Please help me make the transition with as little pain as possible, I can't handle any more phone-related emotional trauma.

a. No. But, there are many apps that will help you transition without a problem. Look through some of the most popular phone forums (Evo, Evo3D) for stickies dediciated to Palm users. You'll find some great information in there to help you transition to the Android OS.
b. You can import contacts by syncing with Gmail now, or saving contacts as a .csv file.
c. Different many OEMs have their own UI built into the phone. Motorola has Blur (or its newest rendition), HTC has Sense, Samsung has Touchwiz and then theirs the Vanilla, which has not OEM enhancements.
d. Play with the phone in store to get a grip on how it looks, feels and functions. Also, browse through the forums and take a look at what people are saying (reviews) and the type of support it has by visiting the different threads for each device. If you are into the the Palm Homebrew then you'd likely want a phone with good developer support to hack. HTC Evo3D and Photon are going to have the most developers support in this area, imo -- this is assuming you go with a newer phone and not an older one like the Epic, Shift or OG Evo 4G.

 

[Puzzlegal]

I just gave up on a Pre upgrade and jumped to the Moto Photon July 31st. So I feel your pain, mine is still fresh. Here's what I've learned so far.

1. Recommended Sprint phone choices? I am leaning towards the HTC Evo 3D, but I really love physical keyboards (NOT a fan of virtual keyboards at all) so I'm not really sure about the 3D. Maybe the Evo with the slider? Not sure. Hopefully you all can make some good recommendations.

No one seems to use landscape sliders. I think they are awkward in the hand. My advice is to either hold out for a portrait keyboard or to jump in and try a virtual keyboard. I am using swype, which isn't too bad, although I miss having a real keyboard. But swype is very good for typing one-handed (one-fingered) when my Photon is propped up on my old Pre touchstone. It turns out that the Photon kickstand is well-positioned to stick to the magnets in the touchstone, making that my current "dock".

The Moto XPRT has a decent physical keyboard, but it's behind the times in specs, and was the day it was released. I wonder if I would be happier with it, but there's a much more vibrant community supporting the Photon, and other "high-end" phones. The XPRT is mostly used by blackberry refuges. (although perhaps that will change.) There's a rumored upgrade tot he XPRT coming soon. People are debating whether the fuzzy leaked photos show a slider or a candy bar. If you can hold off on upgrading, it might be worth checking that out.

2. Transitioning from webOS to Android. I know there are a few of you that have done it already, hopefully you can help me avoid some pitfalls.
a. Is there an Android equivalent to webOS Synergy?
b. Moving data/contacts etc. How easy was the actual transition?
c. UI options. I've heard the "Sense" UI is good, but that some of the homebrew ones are even better. Suggestions?
d. Anything else you can suggest to make it easier.

a. Yes, there's an equivalent to Synergy. It's not as seemless in merging duplicates, but it does the job.

b. So long as you don't mind giving all your personal information to Google, it is pretty easy. Do you use Homebrew? If yes, before you ditch the Pre, make sure you have the patch that turns all your contact info into a vcard file that it will email anyplace. Then save that file on a computer, go into Gmail's web interface, look for "upload contacts", and you are set. It seems to have preserved all the address info, as well as notes and birthdays. (There may be some way to do this without Homebrew, but this is dead easy. It does take a really long time to crate the file if you have a lot of contacts. Be patient.)

Alternatively, the Sprint Store can transfer your contacts (and don't even do it through Google) but their procedure loses some secondary info like notes. Also, it's good to have the vcard file knocking around as a backup.

c. Can't help you with that. I'm not wild about the UI on the Photon, but it's okay. I have installed "perfect task switcher", which gives a card-like way to flip through your running apps, and to close them. It works pretty well. It gives you the choice of making a donation, accepting ads, or neither. I found the ads really annoying, and am currently using "neither", but I plan to toss them a few bucks, as it's a good app.

d. The folks here have been extremely helpful. Ask lots of questions. Play with stuff. A few apps I recommend you start with are:

K9 email -- better than the stock email, better than the Pre's email, very flexible if a little opaque. Free.
Perfect Task Launcher (see above) -- it will ease the transition
Go Contacts -- Combines contact and phone functionality. More poweful but less conventient than what was on the Pre. For instance, when you search using it, your search includes stuff in the comments fields, not just first and last names. Once again I can search for all the plumbers in my address book. Free

Other stuff I've installed and would recomend:
250+ Solitaire -- I had this on my Treo, and am happy to have it back. Supported by ads. If only a paid ad-free version were avaialble it would be perfect.
Battery Circle by Adrien Ulrich -- Free. The Photon has a weird quirk where it only reports battery power in increments of 10%, and some of the battery monitors are limited by that. This one is not, and gives battery life in 1% increments. It puts a little circle in your status bar with this info.
Date Status Bar by modded logic -- there's a free version that shows an ad when you set it, but I coughed up a buck to buy the ad-free version, mostly to support the developer. It works just like the little date in the Pre's status bar, except that you can modify the format (in all the ways that required homebrew on the Pre.) A really simple tiny widget that does the job.
FlightView -- oddly different interface from the version on the Pre, but it has the same functionality, and is nicer in some ways. I forget the cost. It wasn't expensive.
Netflix -- whoo hoo! Works great if you have a good data connection.
Smooth Calendar -- Free, An attractive little calendar widget that shows your next few appointments.
Tapatak -- free, the forum software that everyone on Android uses. The interface is more flexible but less elegant than the interface on the Pre.
Twisty -- free implementation of text adventure games. Someone started to port "Zork" to the Pre, but never finished. This appears to be a fully functional app. I just have to mention it for completeness.

I have a bunch of other apps, but this is what I recommend to everyone coming from the Pre.

There's a bunch of info in the "getting started" threads, and you should read it, it's extremely helpful.

 

[Treknologist]

I know you don't have an Android phone yet, but you may want to check out this link which gives you information on how to work with Android.
http://forums.androidcentral.com/general-help-how/31622-getting-started-android-tips-tricks.html
I've used every phone OS out there and Android is my favorite now. The flexibility it offers is great. If you like keyboards, there is an EVO with keyboard; however, I'd give a spin to the virtual keyboard on these phones. I used to be like you but now I'm completely used to the virtual keyboards.

I'd suggest you go play with these phones at a Sprint store to test them out and get a feel for them.

 

[Qoheleth]

For Sprint I'd recommend the Evo 3D myself, especially with the latest update.
But, if you want a physical keyboard then the Evo Shift 4G is the way to go. (It doesn't have the dual-core proc though)
As far as Synergy goes, you'll find a lot of things (anything owned by Google) are already connected because it's an Android phone. Facebook, LinkedIn, and others also link pretty quickly and give you the option of synching contacts (or not).
I hear some complaints about Sense, but it's working pretty well for me. It has it's own SDK as well, but you may not want to write so specifically.
Cyanogen Mod is also really good if you don't mind rooting and installing an "aftermarket" ROM.

 

[Christophocles]

No one seems to use landscape sliders.

Lies! This is the only type of phone I will buy for myself. If you want to use it one-handed, just use swype. Whenever I do this, I remember just how much I hate autocorrection. I would much rather type it right the first time than to go back and correct the autocorrector every few words. I don't use spellcheckers either for the same reason

I wish there were more high end phones to choose from with this form factor (I'm looking at you, HTC)

 

[Puzzlegal]

Th EVO 3D and the Photon have fairly similar specs. They have different overlays (sense vs. blur) but honestly, if you've never used an Androd phone I don't think you will be able to learn enough by playing with them in the shop to develop an informed opinion. I found the interface of every android mostly just "mysterious" until I got it home and started seriously using it.

The other main differences to most users will be:
Evo 3D has the prettier screen, even without the 3D feature
Moto screen is easier to read in bright sunlight
Moto has better battery life (in large part due to the less pretty screen)

Oh, and the Photon is a world phone, if you care.

 

[Lee_Bo]

I can't really add anything that hasn't already been said here. I can say that I had the OG Droid and loved the physical keyboard. Then I started using the virtual keyboard more and more and after switching to the HTC Incredible, I'll never go back to a physical keyboard again.

As for customization, Sense is nice. If you want to really make it your own, root it and flash a custom rom. There are many out there and my best advice would be to try a few and decide for yourself. I'm personally running CyanogenMod 7, but that may not be your cup of tea.

Any questions, please ask.

 

[anon(382406)]

I was a long time Palm fanboy (since the Treo 600, the first amazing smartphone), still check in with the news updates and sad to see the company go. I switched to the evo 3d at first, but it drove me nuts with poor signal and no keyboard (loved the Sense). I switched and got the Motorola XPRT, which is very similar in screen size and keyboard size to my Pre minus, but it didn't have the zip that the 3d's processor did. I finally settled on the Motorola Photon (had to exchange the first one because it was buggy), I am enjoying it, especially the strong radio. I've gotten used to typing on the onscreen keyboard and have very few errors when it's in landscape mode. In portrait I just use the microphone voice to text function and it works great! Good luck!

 

[malpha]

Had a webOS device since Sept '09, switched last month to Android with the Evo 4G because it was free. I post at the Precentral boards often, I have the same name over there.

1. For phone choices, I'd say try the Nexus S or wait it out for the Galaxy SII. I'll be switching to the Nexus S myself next month. While I do prefer physical keyboards, I hate landscape sliders. For the keyboard, I use SwiftKey, but I'm nowhere as fast or accurate as I was with the Pre keyboard.

2.

a) Syncing hasn't been a problem. It's really good if you use Google accounts, which are all I use. It also has Twitter synergy, but I wasn't a fan of the way it was set up. You can also link accounts from different sources just like you can on webOS.

On the other hand, webOS backup options are better. Google only remembers the apps you actually paid for, you have to remember the other ones yourself or get something like Titanium Backup (which requires root - however, it is good).

b) All my contacts/calendars are on my Google account, so painless.

c) I hate Sense, well at least the launcher part. Two weeks with it and I flat out couldn't stand it. Especially since apparently it got fubar'd with Gingerbread, anytime you launched an app or two and went back to the homescreen, Sense had to reload. You're stuck with those seven pages, stuck with having your wallpaper scroll, stuck with no landscape, it was just a disappointment, frankly I expected it to be better. Fortunately, you're not limited to it, you can go to the market and get your own replacement launcher. I use Go Launcher Ex now....so much better! There's so many customization options! Haven't tried default AOSP or ADW Launcher yet.

Also, the notifications are weak. I really don't care that they take up an ounce of space at the top, you can't even change the track from a notification or swipe one away and leave the others (unless you get the latest cyanogenmod). The notifications from the official Gmail app are awful (wow, New Email...so informative) and the newest Gmail borked the third-party apps with better notifications, fortunately, I was able to do some restore magic and get it working. I use Gmail Notifier by the way, none of the ones in the market seemed to do what I wanted (they were more for people with labels). Also, whereas on webOS, most apps could be handled from the lockscreen natively through use of notifications, with Android, they have to write a special lockscreen widget.

I do not like the way Android handles multitasking. Blah blah, you don't have to see the cards, Android does it for you, yeah, it does and it does a crap job, too. "Oh thanks for closing that game I launched five apps ago, I wasn't ready for it to go away, especially since you just lost me all my progress, but clearly you know better than me, almighty Droid." There's that recent apps if you long press the home button behavior, but sometimes it won't have a recent app there. The best example of this is the browser. A lot of times on webOS, I would use my RSS app so that I'd flick through the articles and the ones I wanted to read the original article on, I'd send them in a new Browser Card. It's harder to do on Android and if, for example, you launch an article from your RSS feeder, go back to your rss feeder and then want to go back to the browser, well, don't go to your recent apps list looking for your browser, cause it won't be there. Your browser doesn't get added to the recent apps when you do that.

However, the sharing on Android is a lot better. Whereas with webOS, you had to handcode in the apps you were going to crossapp share to, there's some kind of plugin that lets you share to any app that supports being shared to, without you having to handcode in for each app.
If you used a Touchstone, I would check out Alarm Clock Plus, it has a really nice desk clock and you can stick the widget of your choice there.

d) There are a lot of good apps and things for Android, you can't really lie there. Forget having a decent Google Voice app (which webOS never managed, for various reasons), you've got Google Voice integration. I also use GrooveIP, which makes calls over wifi using Google Voice. It's a lifesaver at a house with bad Sprint coverage and no Airave. My app replacements:

Twitter: Used phnx/bad kitty on webOS, using Plume now
Browser: Using Opera Mini
Calendar: Calengoo
Messaging: Chomp
Google Reader: Used Feeder on webOS, using GoodNews now. A lot of the others are all focused on "pretty, magazine like crap", GoodNews looks nice but allows you to get down to business.
Music: On webOS, I used Koto Player for its simple elegance and ease of use, plus the developer threw in a ton of my requests so it basically worked exactly like I wanted a music player to work. On Android....NOTHING! Okay, right now I'm using Mixzing, but Android music players are a sorrowful disappointment. They are flat out ugly, with not even half the customization options of Music Player Remix or Koto Player, probably because they're too busy fapping over equalizers. I've tried over 10, probably over 15 of them. PowerAmp, PlayerPro, Meridian, Mixzing, DoubleTwist, Songbird, Winamp, 3, bTunes, RokuPlayer, if it comes up in the Market when you type "music player", I've tried it and hated it.