Features Missing from my iPhone - Help!

[mwatson2]

Recently swapped to a GS4 from well, all of my old iPhones. I'm mostly happy, but there are a few features I REALLY miss and I hope you guys can help me out here because I'm confident with all the open-endedness of android there are tweaks for this.

1. 360? rotation - This is a pain in my ***, whether it's in my car charging or I'm in bed plugged into my charger I hate the fact I can't rotate everything upside down.
2. Calling with fewer clicks - When I click a contact I'm used to it beginning to call instead of getting another option or two(text,call,email,etc). Is there a calling app or feature to make it more like iOS?
3. Video messaging - I use chompSMS b/c I was used to biteSMS on my iPhone so maybe that's a factor, but what is the deal with me not being able to record a video and send it? From what I've read I would have to reduce the video quality prior to sending any video message which is obviously extremely inconvenient if I'd like top quality video at any other moment. Maybe I just have the wrong settings somewhere? (Could I use Tasker for this?)

Again, I haven't had my GS4 for long so this is coming from an untrained perspective rather than an OS basher . I appreciate your help!

 

[srkmagnus]

Recently swapped to a GS4 from well, all of my old iPhones. I'm mostly happy, but there are a few features I REALLY miss and I hope you guys can help me out here because I'm confident with all the open-endedness of android there are tweaks for this.

1. 360? rotation - This is a pain in my ***, whether it's in my car charging or I'm in bed plugged into my charger I hate the fact I can't rotate everything upside down.
2. Calling with fewer clicks - When I click a contact I'm used to it beginning to call instead of getting another option or two(text,call,email,etc). Is there a calling app or feature to make it more like iOS?
3. Video messaging - I use chompSMS b/c I was used to biteSMS on my iPhone so maybe that's a factor, but what is the deal with me not being able to record a video and send it? From what I've read I would have to reduce the video quality prior to sending any video message which is obviously extremely inconvenient if I'd like top quality video at any other moment. Maybe I just have the wrong settings somewhere? (Could I use Tasker for this?)

Again, I haven't had my GS4 for long so this is coming from an untrained perspective rather than an OS basher . I appreciate your help!

1. Regarding screen rotation, there should be something within the system settings (Menu > System Settings > Display) that allows you to rotate additional degrees. Rotation may not, however, work for every app. This is more of an app setting than it is with the Android OS. Android can certainly handle rotated apps - app developers need to enable the feature for it to be done. One argument why rotation may not be present in certain apps is the UI design/layout when the device is rotated from Portrait to Landscape and not being user friendly.

2. Long press the home screen and add a direct dial widget for a particular contact. This should place the call or get you to the dialer app without having to navigate through the action lists (text, email, call, etc.).

3. I don't send videos through text, so I can't be of much help here. Looking through Handcent SMS I don't see settings for video file limits. I will keep an eye out for a solution to this problem and will let you know what I find.

Other than the above, how are you liking the GS4? You picked a great device and will hopefully enjoy it more as you become more familiar with the device.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Recently swapped to a GS4 from well, all of my old iPhones. I'm mostly happy, but there are a few features I REALLY miss and I hope you guys can help me out here because I'm confident with all the open-endedness of android there are tweaks for this.

1. 360? rotation - This is a pain in my ***, whether it's in my car charging or I'm in bed plugged into my charger I hate the fact I can't rotate everything upside down.
2. Calling with fewer clicks - When I click a contact I'm used to it beginning to call instead of getting another option or two(text,call,email,etc). Is there a calling app or feature to make it more like iOS?
3. Video messaging - I use chompSMS b/c I was used to biteSMS on my iPhone so maybe that's a factor, but what is the deal with me not being able to record a video and send it? From what I've read I would have to reduce the video quality prior to sending any video message which is obviously extremely inconvenient if I'd like top quality video at any other moment. Maybe I just have the wrong settings somewhere? (Could I use Tasker for this?)

Again, I haven't had my GS4 for long so this is coming from an untrained perspective rather than an OS basher . I appreciate your help!

I can only add to magnus, he covered everything pretty well.
Rotation is typically 0, 90, and 270. And like he said, it is more up to developers than anything.

Sent from a SlimROM S3.

 

[garublador]

I don't know if it works on all GS4's but on my Verizon GS4 I can swipe left on a contact to text them and right to call them. If you tap on a contact you'll get a list of options.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I don't know if it works on all GS4's but on my Verizon GS4 I can swipe left on a contact to text them and right to call them. If you tap on a contact you'll get a list of options.

Great idea!!!
That should be a Samsung Stock thing. And I think you have to be closer to one side or the other for it to work. It used to be anywhere on the contact line.

I haven't had stock in so long I am forgetting some aspects.

Sent from a SlimROM S3.

 

[garublador]

Great idea!!!
That should be a Samsung Stock thing. And I think you have to be closer to one side or the other for it to work. It used to be anywhere on the contact line.

Thanks. I stumbled across it recently and it's pretty convenient. Mine won't work if I try to start by swiping on the picture for the contact (which is a bit weird) or on the little column of letters on the right (which is probably good), but anywhere else seems to be fair game.

 

[mwatson2]

Wow, thanks guys.

1. I guess I may be out of luck . I feel that a 180? portrait is what I would use the most and I can't seem to get any of my music apps to pull that off.

2. @garublador - That tip is perfect! Thanks so much, solved my problem dead on.

3. For some reason I must send video messages more often than most haha. I'm genuinely curious if there's a tasker option to change video quality based on launching the(or a 3rd party) camera app because that could be a good workaround. I appreciate you guys looking into it.

@srkmagnus - I was always big on jailbreaking and tweaking my iphone so as you can imagine I'm in heaven. There's still a love/hate with the screen size. I now feel like iPhone screens are too tiny when I hold one, but on the other hand I do get annoyed when I'm using my phone with one hand and have to make some funky maneuver to touch the top left corner. I'd say zero buyer's remorse, but I'm not sure I'd go suggesting an Android over iPhone to my friends and family just yet because of how simple and straightforward many things on the iPhone were.

Thanks all!

 

[srkmagnus]

@srkmagnus - I was always big on jailbreaking and tweaking my iphone so as you can imagine I'm in heaven. There's still a love/hate with the screen size. I now feel like iPhone screens are too tiny when I hold one, but on the other hand I do get annoyed when I'm using my phone with one hand and have to make some funky maneuver to touch the top left corner. I'd say zero buyer's remorse, but I'm not sure I'd go suggesting an Android over iPhone to my friends and family just yet because of how simple and straightforward many things on the iPhone were.

Thanks all!

I agree with you in that iPhone maybe easier to use; many family and friends that are not tech savvy can use iPhones rather than Android devices, at least that's what I've experienced.

If you have further questions let us know, we're here to help .



Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2