From iPhone 4 to GS5 - contact/cal, music, podcast, recommendations
Hardware/environment:
Switched from iPhone 4 (ios 7.something) to GS5 (g900v running android 5.0). Both on Verizon. I am currently running a 64bit win 7 PC. I have gmail and a work (non-exchange) and personal email through my dsl providers. I'm running outlook 2010 (part of office 2010).
History:
I went from outdated flipphone & ipod to outdated iphone 4 and thought I had it made. My experience was strictly ios (read: very limited options), so looking at android offerings is like drinking from a firehose - I need some help to narrow this down. I think android is the better system, but I must rapid start-up or I'll have to go with what I know (and often hate) because it just works and I don't have long to make this work. My first preference is free - I had 2 paid apps on iphone, and only because the free versions were so good I was convinced to upgrade for more options - like wireless or dropbox syncing.
The problem:
Here's my dilemma - I like the gs5 and the options to customize, but I also like things to just work, and I know how to work the iOS environ so that my information is where it is supposed to be when it is supposed to be there (i.e. icloud sync of contacts, calendars). I simply must have wireless sync of contacts and calendar to MS Outlook (or equivalent, if necessary). I also must have a way to listen to podcasts, and a way to listen to music.
Requirements and Requests:
1. My contacts & calendar were syncing through iCloud with MS Outlook without issue. I have to have wireless (preferably cloud) syncing for these; this is REQUIRED. I tried syncing through google, but they apparently stopped supporting outlook-google syncing a couple years ago.
3. My music was syncing through itunes (largely imported from various sources pre-iphone), and my podcasts were wirelessly syncing via podcast app on wifi connection. I just need something similar - I have 18 gigs of music, so ability to create playlists is needed, but aside from toying with playlists for roadtrips, workout, etc, I don't listen to much music. I really liked the ios podcast's ability to download without being connected to a computer - thus downloading the podcasts while I sleep. Give me your best shot here - I think I would prefer something with a more itunes-y experience but tbh I don't know the options.
3. Notifications: These are driving me nuts because they all sound the same. With iOS I had contact-specific notifications (audio and vibration) for calls and texts, and specific settings for text/mms/voicemail, apps, game and email arranged with different notifications (audio, vibration, both, or none) depending on what it was.
Miscellaneous things:
*iMessage let me send/receive way-too-long "texts" as one message so when my fiancee/sister/mom sent me a rant, list, directions, or whatever else, it came through unified. I've noticed that the message+ nad the message apps both break these messages into actual text messages - anything out there to compete with the imessage? (mostly curious here)
* I'm a belt holster nerd. Had a ballistic case on my iphone, got an otterbox (defender?) when I upgraded because it came with a holster. Don't like the otterbox because of the tiny gap between the case's screen protector and the actual screen makes it harder to input. Any suggestions?
* on ios i could tap the top of the screen to instantly return to the top of a page - is there a way to do that on gs5?
Hardware/environment:
Switched from iPhone 4 (ios 7.something) to GS5 (g900v running android 5.0). Both on Verizon. I am currently running a 64bit win 7 PC. I have gmail and a work (non-exchange) and personal email through my dsl providers. I'm running outlook 2010 (part of office 2010).
History:
I went from outdated flipphone & ipod to outdated iphone 4 and thought I had it made. My experience was strictly ios (read: very limited options), so looking at android offerings is like drinking from a firehose - I need some help to narrow this down. I think android is the better system, but I must rapid start-up or I'll have to go with what I know (and often hate) because it just works and I don't have long to make this work. My first preference is free - I had 2 paid apps on iphone, and only because the free versions were so good I was convinced to upgrade for more options - like wireless or dropbox syncing.
The problem:
Here's my dilemma - I like the gs5 and the options to customize, but I also like things to just work, and I know how to work the iOS environ so that my information is where it is supposed to be when it is supposed to be there (i.e. icloud sync of contacts, calendars). I simply must have wireless sync of contacts and calendar to MS Outlook (or equivalent, if necessary). I also must have a way to listen to podcasts, and a way to listen to music.
Requirements and Requests:
1. My contacts & calendar were syncing through iCloud with MS Outlook without issue. I have to have wireless (preferably cloud) syncing for these; this is REQUIRED. I tried syncing through google, but they apparently stopped supporting outlook-google syncing a couple years ago.
3. My music was syncing through itunes (largely imported from various sources pre-iphone), and my podcasts were wirelessly syncing via podcast app on wifi connection. I just need something similar - I have 18 gigs of music, so ability to create playlists is needed, but aside from toying with playlists for roadtrips, workout, etc, I don't listen to much music. I really liked the ios podcast's ability to download without being connected to a computer - thus downloading the podcasts while I sleep. Give me your best shot here - I think I would prefer something with a more itunes-y experience but tbh I don't know the options.
3. Notifications: These are driving me nuts because they all sound the same. With iOS I had contact-specific notifications (audio and vibration) for calls and texts, and specific settings for text/mms/voicemail, apps, game and email arranged with different notifications (audio, vibration, both, or none) depending on what it was.
Miscellaneous things:
*iMessage let me send/receive way-too-long "texts" as one message so when my fiancee/sister/mom sent me a rant, list, directions, or whatever else, it came through unified. I've noticed that the message+ nad the message apps both break these messages into actual text messages - anything out there to compete with the imessage? (mostly curious here)
* I'm a belt holster nerd. Had a ballistic case on my iphone, got an otterbox (defender?) when I upgraded because it came with a holster. Don't like the otterbox because of the tiny gap between the case's screen protector and the actual screen makes it harder to input. Any suggestions?
* on ios i could tap the top of the screen to instantly return to the top of a page - is there a way to do that on gs5?
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