Advice? "Training Wheels" start on X & Android re: options

[FrankA1]

Embarrassing as it is, I'm fluent in several tech areas but working from home and not even needing a cell phone much I have gotten by with an old LG flip phone, now I have jumped in with the awesome Moto X and I feel like I'm back to trying to make DOS behave with the command line re: knowledge needed to follow the experience trail you guys have with the Google tools, the key apps etc...

I'll learn by immersion but can you throw an old salt a rope with some advice on what solid middle of the road areas to walk re: a new X activation on 4.4 and where I go from there re: no-brainer apps, no brainer Google tools, and music play / organize / pandora etc? Not coming from the iWorld, just newly stepping into AndroidWorld... tutorials, suggested youtubes etc? I'd like to keep it pretty simple but as well take advantage of this great platform.

Many of you seem to know this like the back of your hand... The cardboard box arrived today. I'll get there, thanks in advance for tips and advice!

 

[TechTinker]

I'm slightly confused about your post like the DOS behave command line? I'm not that techy so I dont know.
To Activate your X you have to talk with the carrier you purchased it on. And once you update to 4.4 do a factory reset so you don't have any issues. You can do a factory reset by going to settings > security > factory resest. It'll wipe everything.
Anyways. I find Google Play Music All Acess one of the best music solutions ($10 music subscription). Pandoras alright but they've been letting themselves down. Spotify has a great music collection, and I find it better.
QuickOffice is Googles Office solution though it needs better intergration with Google Drive (Google's "Dropbox" aka Cloud Storage. Plus with the Moto X, when you open your Drive app, you get greeted with 50GB of free storage for 2 years along with the lifetime 15GB storage). I bought OfficeSuite a year or so ago, thats alright. Microsoft should be coming with their office soon.
People like the keyboard SWIFTKEY a lot, I'm personally fine with Googles Stock Keyboard that comes with the phone.
No brainer apps depend on what you want to do with the phone. File Explorer, ES and Astro are Popular, theres also Solid Explorer, and one that looks great, forgot the name. Feedlys reccomended for RSS by most. Waze and Google Maps for well maps / driving. Don't forget about Moto's Assist app for "Do not disturb" and driving goodies. MX Player for playing videos. Supports a lot of types (Like a VLC for android, but better). And ofcourse if you want to ROOT your devices, Titanium Backup, Greenify, xPosed framework are all must haves.
Getting Started with Android.

 

[Rocketsaucev2]

Lol "TechTinker" I'm not that techy... Wut

-Moto X-

 

[B. Diddy]

Congratulations on your new X! Great choice. This thread is always a good place to start--it's a little out of date, but much of it is still valid: http://forums.androidcentral.com/general-help-how/31622-getting-started-android-tips-tricks.html

Some no-brainer apps to install (if they're not already preinstalled):

Google Drive (your cloud drive)
Google Play Music (put your entire music library--up to 20000 songs--into the cloud and access it anywhere)
Google Play Newsstand (acts as a free newsreader as well as a place to subscribe to magazines/newspapers)
Google Earth (because it's cool)
Google Keep (convenient note-taking)
Total Commander (a nice file explorer)
Android Central (of course)
GSam Battery Monitor (excellent battery stats app)
Power Toggles (versatile and lightweight toggle widget)

Have fun!

 

[anon(847090)]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uaHnfb31jM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMzfKr7zvCQ

 

[FrankA1]

I'm slightly confused about your post ... the DOS command line? I'm not that techy so I dont know.
Getting Started with Android.

TechTinker here's what I was referring to - Before Windows, before the graphical user interface on PC's, the days of "Disk Operating System", DOS (by Microsoft, mid 80's), and having to know many many commands and "switches" (using the " / " in commands etc) at the blinking DOS prompt in order to go to a file, execute a program, send something to print etc. Though decades ago I remember more of that stuff than the half a thimble's worth I know about Android, so thank you for your suggestions and thanks in advance to others with advice to share.

 

[morphodone]

Try the excellent @MKBHD YouTube videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yKXTr7KB40&feature=youtube_gdata_player

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJTlB_S7ct0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Posted via Android Central App

 

[TechTinker]

TechTinker here's what I was referring to - Before Windows, before the graphical user interface on PC's, the days of "Disk Operating System", DOS (by Microsoft, mid 80's), and having to know many many commands and "switches" (using the " / " in commands etc) at the blinking DOS prompt in order to go to a file, execute a program, send something to print etc. Though decades ago I remember more of that stuff than the half a thimble's worth I know about Android, so thank you for your suggestions and thanks in advance to others with advice to share.

Ok I knew about that, guess I got lost in the context.

And MKBHD is fantastic, you'll understand quick.

 

[FrankA1]

And MKBHD is fantastic, you'll understand quick.

Thanks everybody, and I'll watch the videos including MKBHD's - I watched some of his videos on the X when the X was first released, how different will the look and feel be as a newbie with my first Android firing up a new Moto X with 4.4 compared to the first wave of videos that were out after release with 4.2?

Re: the excellent question from above, "well, what middle of the road apps would you be needing?", how about a contact manager - Should I be looking at a google facility for that, or any good app suggestions for a pretty full featured contact manager? Thanks for turning on the lights for me...

 

[TonyStarks260]

Congrats on your purchase and welcome. Android is fun because is approachable for the first time smartphone buyer, but powerful enough to really let the advanced user tweak things to their liking. As far as managing your contacts, they will sync automatically with your gmail account, so there isnt really a need for an additional tool.

These forums are always a great place to discover new apps, a couple a always keep loaded on my devices are

Pocketcasts - excellent podcast utility
Tapatalk - the go to app for aggregating all the forums you follow
Android Central - should start coming pre installed on android phones
Press - solid reader app
Bleacher Report Team Stream - breaking sports news, scores and pretty much anything sports related

I'm more of a sports and tech follower so these apps give me quick access to the latest info. Once you start to get into your phone and get a feel for what you like to have on the go, play store searches will typically give you solid results. Otherwise head back in here and I'm sure youll find a bunch of people willing to help

 

[B. Diddy]

Android Central - should start coming pre installed on android phones

Aw yeahhhh!

 

[FrankA1]

As far as managing your contacts, they will sync automatically with your gmail account

Thanks Tony, I'm so used to "desktop - hard drive - non-cloud email" that I'm kind of thinking along the line of database / PIM type contact managers, but I do need to newly look at what the google services offer, this will be a great adventure like you said! Moto X pulled me out of the flip-phone cave...

 

[quality_sound]

I just wanted to thank everyone for the links and tips. I'm just moving over from a 5S (and only because Apple seriously screwed up their LTE implementation) and some of the info here has been extremely helpful. My biggest issue so far has just been finding my media, etc. I HATE cloud usage and not being able to just put my stuff on my phone and have it work is tedious. I know, you can customize this a lot more and that's a good thing, but some things are harder than they need to be. Navigating those things is what brought me here and I'm very happy to have found this forum.