Contemplating Move to Android - still have questions

[robjulo]

I've been researching moving to Android. I'm trying to thoroughly research this because I have a significant number of Apple products in the house including several iPads, iPod Touch a Macbook Pro and an iMac. Here are the areas that are important I was/am confused about, some of which I think I have answers for.

iMessage - very important because my daughter only has an iPod touch. Google hangouts seems like it is the answer. We've tested the text messaging and video chat and it seems to work well so problem solved. A couple of remaining questions though (not as critical for me). Does hangouts (or any other app_ allow for an SMS text to show up on my iPad? IE, if someone texts me will it show up on my iPad, like iMessages does. If a group message is sent from iMessage, can I respond with my Android phone to the entire group?

Facetime - again important because my daughter has an iPod touch. Google hangouts seemed to work well.

Music - seems like Google Play is the answer. My understanding is that I can get Google play to monitor my music library so that if a new purchase is made and downloaded to my music, it will show up in Google Play automatically - correct?

Photos - I'm still confused on this one. I want a situation similar to photostream where everything is automatically synced. I thought about dropbox. I can easily use automator on my iMac to monitor my dropbox folder and automatically import photos in Aperture (which then automatically get into the photostream). However, my understanding is that the dropbox App will not auto-upload photos from the Android Phone unless you open the App - correct? So I also researched Google Drive and/or Google+ photos and I am confused. I've read that photos will auto-upload (without opening an App) via Google+ photos. Is there a way to get those same photos to sync on my local machine so that Aperture can monitor that folder and auto-import the photos? I have a local Google Drive folder (which seems to work just like Dropbox) but photos in Google+ don't show up in Google Drive, as far as I can tell.

I appreciate the help.

 

[joggy]

iMessage - very important because my daughter only has an iPod touch. Google hangouts seems like it is the answer. We've tested the text messaging and video chat and it seems to work well so problem solved. A couple of remaining questions though (not as critical for me). Does hangouts (or any other app_ allow for an SMS text to show up on my iPad? IE, if someone texts me will it show up on my iPad, like iMessages does. If a group message is sent from iMessage, can I respond with my Android phone to the entire group?

Facetime - again important because my daughter has an iPod touch. Google hangouts seemed to work well.

Not sure on these as I don't use Facetime or iMessage. Since they are Apple apps though, I'm guessing you will need to switch on over to Hangouts for this to work as you wish.

Music - seems like Google Play is the answer. My understanding is that I can get Google play to monitor my music library so that if a new purchase is made and downloaded to my music, it will show up in Google Play automatically - correct?

Yes

Photos - I'm still confused on this one. I want a situation similar to photostream where everything is automatically synced. I thought about dropbox. I can easily use automator on my iMac to monitor my dropbox folder and automatically import photos in Aperture (which then automatically get into the photostream). However, my understanding is that the dropbox App will not auto-upload photos from the Android Phone unless you open the App - correct? So I also researched Google Drive and/or Google+ photos and I am confused. I've read that photos will auto-upload (without opening an App) via Google+ photos. Is there a way to get those same photos to sync on my local machine so that Aperture can monitor that folder and auto-import the photos? I have a local Google Drive folder (which seems to work just like Dropbox) but photos in Google+ don't show up in Google Drive, as far as I can tell.
.

Dropbox will sync photos automatically, so there is no need to open the app

 

[zkSharks]

I really enjoy the Google+ Instant Upload feature. It keeps your videos and photos synced in a private album on Google+, and from there you can share them if you wish. If you get a new device or something happens to the one you have and you must reset it, the 'Instant Upload' album will re-appear on your phone with the pictures that were synced in the past. Hangouts is fantastic, and will give you the iMessage functionality you're looking for, but as far as I know there isn't any way to get it to communicate with iMessage users. If you know others who use Google+ or would be willing to, it's a very nice experience.

The bottom line is that with Android, you can do just about everything you could possibly want to do, but you may have to switch over to different services/products (Google+ for Hangouts and such, Play Music All Access for music and online radio, Google Drive for documents/files) if you want to get the full, unbridled Google and Android experience.

Chrome is a nice browser for Android with many features, but at times it can be a bit sluggish and not as snappy/responsive as one might like. I still use it most of the time and don't plan to switch soon. Google should be bringing its new Blink rendering engine to the mobile version of Chrome soon (if it hasn't already), which should help them advance the browser more effectively.

 

[Scott Kenyon]

Dude, here's what I have for you.

We're not talking about a coin. There's not two sides. Many people seem to think there is, but they're wrong.
You can use both Android and Apple stuff. You can use both Android and Apple stuff. You can use both Android and Apple stuff.
Many people in both camps forget this. Don't consider the need to completely migrate anywhere. You can still use the Apple ecosystem and Apple TV. Macbooks are still great laptops.
Here's my advice, take it for what it is. But a cheap Android phone, give it a try. Upload your music to Google Music, install hangouts or the new BBM thing. Try it out. You can buy a Galaxy Nexus for under $300 just to see if you want to use Android. If you do, awesome. If not sell the gnex and go with what works.
I am a very hardcore Android user. It works for me. I freaking love Android.
I am not you. For me, the best part of this OS is being able to make everything my own. Customizing every aspect of a device is awesome. That said, it's a big change from what you're used to.
Try it, don't marry it.
Good luck! If you have any questions or need help, ask me. I'm truly happy to help.
-Scott

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[robjulo]

I appreciate all the input. I will likely use dropbox for photos. The two-way sync (which Google+ and Picasa do not have) will allow me to get my photos back into the Apple ecosystem, which I'm sticking with for everything else. Dropbox's instructions on their website were misleading as they state the App must be opened to sync. After doing more reading, it is clear that is not true.

 

[anon5664829]

I appreciate all the input. I will likely use dropbox for photos. The two-way sync (which Google+ and Picasa do not have) will allow me to get my photos back into the Apple ecosystem, which I'm sticking with for everything else. Dropbox's instructions on their website were misleading as they state the App must be opened to sync. After doing more reading, it is clear that is not true.

I strongly suggest the HTC One or Nexus 4 over the S4 for someone switching. The S4 is just a bit laggy or stuttery. also it isn't that hard to make Android devices work with Apple devices so keep both

 

[robjulo]

Haven't pulled the trigger yet but thought I'd post for anyone with the same questions I had. Google Hangounts, in its current state is absolutely not a replacement for iMessages. I could not even save a photo sent by google hangouts to my phone. I tried out text plus and that seems to work ok for texting with an IPod touch.

 

[garublador]

Music - seems like Google Play is the answer. My understanding is that I can get Google play to monitor my music library so that if a new purchase is made and downloaded to my music, it will show up in Google Play automatically - correct?

Maybe. Google Play won't let you "pin" (access while not using data) songs to an SD card. You can only pin them to internal storage. I'm also not sure about how much synching is done from Google Play back to iTunes, so there may be manual steps needed if you want to have iTunes keep track of stuff like play counts, play lists or uploading songs from your phone back to iTunes. The impression I get is it's designed to replace iTunes, not work along side iTunes, but I could be wrong. If that isn't an issue then Google Play seems like a great service.

If you want to make your phone work with iTunes I've had good luck with iSyncr so far. It costs money ($4 for the synching app and $4 for the optional player if you want all of the reverse synching bells and whistles, but most players, including the Google Play music player will play the music) but it will upload Amazon MP3's you buy on your phone back into iTunes. It also allows you to upload photos back into iTunes. It has Tasker integration (a $3 app that allows you to automate almost anything on your phone) so you can automate WiFi synching if you want. Otherwise you have to kick off the synch manually either over WiFi or through USB. This is more of a method to get your Android phone to be part of your Apple ecosystem rather than transferring your Apple data to a Google ecosystem. There are advantages and disadvantages to both methods.

No matter what method you use just remember that you'll have to use some method to strip the DRM off of any iTunes purchase you made before April of 2009 to get it to play on your phone.

Photos - I'm still confused on this one. I want a situation similar to photostream where everything is automatically synced. I thought about dropbox. I can easily use automator on my iMac to monitor my dropbox folder and automatically import photos in Aperture (which then automatically get into the photostream). However, my understanding is that the dropbox App will not auto-upload photos from the Android Phone unless you open the App - correct? So I also researched Google Drive and/or Google+ photos and I am confused. I've read that photos will auto-upload (without opening an App) via Google+ photos. Is there a way to get those same photos to sync on my local machine so that Aperture can monitor that folder and auto-import the photos? I have a local Google Drive folder (which seems to work just like Dropbox) but photos in Google+ don't show up in Google Drive, as far as I can tell.

My Dropbox seems to synch photos without me doing anything. I think I had to open it once to get it kicked off, but it's done it automatically even after shutting my phone down and starting it up again. There are apps out there that automate synching with other cloud services as well if you prefer something else instead of Dropbox, but I've found that Dropbox works great on its own.