Coming back home to Android

[coggster]

OK so I have my HTC One ordered and it should be with me after the Bank Holiday (I am in the UK). I want to take advantage of all your expertise and have a great list of helpful hints, tips and general advice.

I have been on iOS for the last year or so and have decided that even though I have an Apple related ecosystem with my Mac, MacBookAir and iPad the iPhone just isn't for me. So I am coming back to Android where I feel most at home. To do this I had a month long debate between the HTC One and the S4 (I have actually changed my mind many times as to which device I was getting and was sure it would be the S4 for a week there!), they are both awesome devices but what made me decide on the One was the internal storage, I do a lot of tube commuting so need some internal storage for that time and not having to worry about an SD card, the speakers and the smooth experience on the OS. That was really it.

OK so the point is I have been away from Android for ages so would like to take the advantage of all you lucky people who have been with Android for ages and already have the One in your hands. So if I could ask for you to leave a comment with your best piece of advice for a new One owner. That can be a must do once I have the device, a must download app that makes the most of the One and its' hardware, anything you think someone back to Android should know or a combination of any or all of them. Basically any help you can give to make this transition back to Android from iOS would be great and really appreciated.

I hope you Mods think this is the right location for this post, I contemplated many different forum areas but though the One forum made most sense as that is the device I am getting and it is the advice of the One owners I would like. Thank you in advance for any help you can give me and I look forward to much interaction on the AC forums.

 

[coggster]

WOW! Nothing?!

No-one on here can think of a single thing that would help someone coming back to Android on the One? I bet if I have put "the S4 is better because..." there would have been hundreds of replies. I am sad now

 

[Jennifer Stough]

There is a pinned thread in the forums somewhere for ios users gone android. I'm sure if you search a bit you can find it. It has a ton of helpful information.

Sent from my Verizon Droid DNA

 

[coggster]

There is a pinned thread in the forums somewhere for ios users gone android. I'm sure if you search a bit you can find it. It has a ton of helpful information.

Sent from my Verizon Droid DNA

Thanks. I was hoping for specifically hints and tips related to the HTC One and what the new OS version brings to this device and anything people have felt useful to get the best out of the pretty awesome sounding device. I have book marked the thread you speak of and it was written a fair while back so not the most up-to-date information and I got that without having much knowledge of the OS as it stands. I have listened to all of the podcasts for several months now. Just trying to make the switch as seamless as possible and be prepared for......well....I don't know, hence asking.

 

[sfla99]

I just switched from iOS to the One, here are a few helpful items that got me going.

1. Backup iPhone and install htc sync which can access the iPhone backup and do a full import, which consists of all contacts, non drm songs etc.

2. Gather all of your favorite passwords or you will end up like me trying to remember the obscure login details.

3. Android has evolved, I used to feel as though being on android the experience was sub par to iOS or the apps did not exists that I was using o the iPhone, good news, most if not all commercial apps are now available so create a list of early downloads u will need.

4. Battery will go down fast on the first day, don't be alarmed, let it get very low and give it a nice full charge and in a day or two you should be seeing good numbers ( that is once the first few days of being unable to put this thing down wear off ).

5. If the 3 x 4 item grid in the apps section freaks you out it can be changed to a more normal 4 x 5.

6. Since the task bar on the the bottom is always there, you can only customize the bar from within the apps section, once here you can create folders etc.

7. Blink feed is not going away, but you can set a new home screen if you do not like it.

8. Zoe's are fun, and the gallery view of your photos will impress you, especially when you see your first pre made video **** full of transitions and music.

9. You can hide the (for me) annoying share bar in the browser, it has to have been an AT&T add on cause its fairly annoying and ugly.

10. If you log into google play from a desktop with the same google account as your phone, you can click to buy of install an app and it will instantly be sent to your phone and installed, this is really cool simple but cool.

11. Boom sound is nice, and even though on the S4 forums they say it makes no difference when your using headphones they are wrong, beats is a more than the speakers, it's a definition of how sounds is equalized, compress and more, and best of all is that it does this same digital processing in the output of your headphones.

12. The TV app is just amazing, and now also serves as my backup harmony. What's even cooler is that once you set it u and it lead the shows u like it can actually remind you abut shows via calendar alerts and change the channel for you and more very cool. I even use it to change the tv settings in a number f the conference rooms I leverage at work.

13. Default notes app has integration with Evernote which is nice.

On a side note I have found some amazing apps since coming to android, here a a few:

Google Keep - I love note taking apps and I just found the simplicity of this one to be amazing, I have been using it more than Evernote as of late.

Safe in Cloud - nice looking and functioning cloud based password keeper.

Feedly - while not android specific, I have been a long time of flip board and discovered this app through a review of the One, its a fine reader.

UCCW - Ultimate custom clock widget, if your a tinkerer then you will like this widget as it allows you to customize a clock widget to our liking with extensive options and the ability to show battery info, calendar info, date, weather and more.

Battery Widget Reborn - as the title suggests its an extensive look into the life of our battery and how much time is ramming etc.

Antec quick settings, since the one comes pre loaded with Android 4.1.2 this will give you a right side pull down options just like 4.2.2.

Lastly, Snapseed - the is like taking you photo editing to next level, while the default camera has an incredible number of options and filters this is just a cool app.

There you go, enjoy

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[coggster]

You sir/madam are epic! Thanks for the information. I appreciate it as some of the points I wasn't aware of 1 and 9 are going to save me a ton of time. The clock app sounds like my sort of thing too, as does the Antec app. I just need the phone to arrive now!
Thanks again.

 

[SCjRqrQCnBQ19QoYCtdl]

Get a launcher. Nova/ADW/Apex. Much better than sense 5. If you want to keep blinkfeed you can by creating a shortcut activtiy to it.

Other than that not much. Load the apps you like.

 

[CSI Guy]

Glad to have you aboard Coggster. You will love the HTC ONE. It is fast, flows smoothly, killer screen, Can see screen in bright daylight, fantastic camera, and has 32 gigs out of the box. PS, give her a good charge when you get it and with normal use, you will get all day battery. IMHO

 

[Squeeze Play]

Glad to have you aboard Coggster. You will love the HTC ONE. It is fast, flows smoothly, killer screen, Can see screen in bright daylight, fantastic camera, and has 32 gigs out of the box. PS, give her a good charge when you get it and with normal use, you will get all day battery. IMHO

That's a big feature for me - being readable in full daylight.

 

[coggster]

Get a launcher. Nova/ADW/Apex. Much better than sense 5. If you want to keep blinkfeed you can by creating a shortcut activtiy to it.

Other than that not much. Load the apps you like.

Yeah I have the apps ready and waiting. I would have liked it if you could purchase apps without a device attached to the google ID though as I could have purchased everything I wanted and be ready to go.

Glad to have you aboard Coggster. You will love the HTC ONE. It is fast, flows smoothly, killer screen, Can see screen in bright daylight, fantastic camera, and has 32 gigs out of the box. PS, give her a good charge when you get it and with normal use, you will get all day battery. IMHO

Thanks! I am looking forward to it. The 32gb onboard was a massive thing for me. I have plenty of dropbox storage and have google music all with unlimited data so that isn't an issue. I do a lot of commuting though so need some space for music, films, books and apps.
I am not so sure about the full day of battery. My office has less signal than the moon so I drain battery really quick if I leave it searching for a signal. Of course every now and again it gets reception and stuff comes through which teases me into leaving the phone trying. At least I can leave it plugged in charging if needed. I would just rather not decrease the life of the battery that way.

That's a big feature for me - being readable in full daylight.

I agree totally. The screen looks so much nicer than anything else I have seen, no I haven't seen loads of Android devices so there are probably others just as nice out there. Plus I do just like the minimalistic look of Sense even though I probably will use a launcher or put a ROM on when a good, decent stable one is out there.