going to galaxy S4 from Verizon/Samsung Droid Charge?

[paulwall8742]

The Charge came out in late spring/early summer of 2011...I got mine that Christmas and have not had too many problems with it until recently (last maybe 3-6 months) battery life pretty much non existant crashes forced reboots not picking up 4G when im in an area unless i restart then it will pick it up generally glitchy.

anyway, I still have tax money squirrelled away and I talked to Verizon and I can upgrade to the Galaxy S 4 today for 199.99 after i get my fifty dollal rebate ( 249 +30 activation in the store, then i get my rebate back) anyway I really like my Samsung phone and am familar with the touchwhiz UI so it seems logical to upgrade to another samsung phone...ive seen some uis of other phones (motorolla, HTC) and am not really impressed....anyway...is this a good logical step?

my questions are.

there are pictures and files saved on my charge that I want to save...to import on the new Galaxy...but im having trouble moving them to the SD storage..is there even an option to move pictures to the sd card?

and do you know if the 32GB external SD card that came default with my Charge is compatiable with the Galaxy S 4?

* As far as I know my external SD card is good...I havent had anything pop up about it. admittedly I havent used my external SD card much. as the Droid Charge is tge first smartphone ive owned I guess im not as App Savvy as other people.

when I last checked I had 26 apps on my Charge (Facebook, Youtube, Pandora, Netflix, Banking apps, misc.) they all fit comfortably on the 2GB internal phone memory of my Charge. (I saw the S 4 comes with 16 GB internal but its only about 8-10GBs free...and people are complaining about app space...when that is like 2-3Xs the space I have now.)

Ive read that you cannot save Apps from the Samsung Galaxy S line of phones (including the new S 4) to the External SD Cards anyway, Is this true? I heard Samsung/Verizon released an update where it is now possible?.. and if you can't Im able to move certain apps to my SD card on my charge if I put the SD card with the apps stored on them into a Galaxy S 4 would the S4 let me access the apps? (in essence by passing the S4's inability to store apps on the SD card by preloading (so to speak) moving the apps I want to keep on the Card prior to loading it into the S4?) *

(im posting this on the charge forum and Galaxy S 4 forum, so I aplogize if this is seen by someone twice)

any help is appreciated...thanks.

 

[jnaught]

I made the jump from the Charge to the GS4 last month - had the exact same issues the last 6-9 months with Charge, first year was great - your world is about to change! lol The GS4 is a MAJOR step up. As for your pics and files, I would advise getting an account with a cloud service (I use Picasa in tandem with Google Drive - Drop Box is also good, but more expensive) and routinely uploading your pics there. That way, if you ever switch phones, lose your phone, etc. you won't lose any of your pics. It also allows you to view all of your pics on any device on which you've installed the app.

 

[Golfdriver97]

The Charge came out in late spring/early summer of 2011...I got mine that Christmas and have not had too many problems with it until recently (last maybe 3-6 months) battery life pretty much non existant crashes forced reboots not picking up 4G when im in an area unless i restart then it will pick it up generally glitchy.

anyway, I still have tax money squirrelled away and I talked to Verizon and I can upgrade to the Galaxy S 4 today for 199.99 after i get my fifty dollal rebate ( 249 +30 activation in the store, then i get my rebate back) anyway I really like my Samsung phone and am familar with the touchwhiz UI so it seems logical to upgrade to another samsung phone...ive seen some uis of other phones (motorolla, HTC) and am not really impressed....anyway...is this a good logical step?

my questions are.

there are pictures and files saved on my charge that I want to save...to import on the new Galaxy...but im having trouble moving them to the SD storage..is there even an option to move pictures to the sd card?

and do you know if the 32GB external SD card that came default with my Charge is compatiable with the Galaxy S 4?

* As far as I know my external SD card is good...I havent had anything pop up about it. admittedly I havent used my external SD card much. as the Droid Charge is tge first smartphone ive owned I guess im not as App Savvy as other people.

when I last checked I had 26 apps on my Charge (Facebook, Youtube, Pandora, Netflix, Banking apps, misc.) they all fit comfortably on the 2GB internal phone memory of my Charge. (I saw the S 4 comes with 16 GB internal but its only about 8-10GBs free...and people are complaining about app space...when that is like 2-3Xs the space I have now.)

Ive read that you cannot save Apps from the Samsung Galaxy S line of phones (including the new S 4) to the External SD Cards anyway, Is this true? I heard Samsung/Verizon released an update where it is now possible?.. and if you can't Im able to move certain apps to my SD card on my charge if I put the SD card with the apps stored on them into a Galaxy S 4 would the S4 let me access the apps? (in essence by passing the S4's inability to store apps on the SD card by preloading (so to speak) moving the apps I want to keep on the Card prior to loading it into the S4?) *

(im posting this on the charge forum and Galaxy S 4 forum, so I aplogize if this is seen by someone twice)

any help is appreciated...thanks.

I have a friend who has the Droid Charge, and he hates it. His upgrade can't come fast enough for him.

But, to your questions:
1. Easiest method would be connect your phone to your PC. then go into your phone, and pull all the pics out and place them on a file in your PC. Simple drag and drop. This does 2 things: Makes it easier to put files on your new phone, and forces a copy to be made (always a good thing)

2.32 GB card should work. No reason it shouldn't. However, I would advise getting a fresh one anyway. SD cards have a lifespan of 3 or 4 years, depending on use. Even as simple as getting another 32 GB high quality one should suffice.

3. App space is a concern for people, because apps are getting bigger. But for the most part, that is just games. Some productivity apps too, but games are the biggest culprit.

4. The inability to move apps to the SD card is really more Android 4.0 than Samsung. Samsung has released that they will begin support for an app to Sd card feature. Here is the thing: App developers have to integrate it into their app. If they don't, it won't do anyone any good. Separation of app data causes the OS to load apps slower anyway.
4b. I would assume that if you saved an app on your charge the S4 would probably not read it. The assumption is more erring on the side of caution.

5. I think the biggest things for you to be concerned about is like I said before consider getting another card. If you choose to not go with one, make a back up of everything on that SD card. Just in case. There has been a rash of threads about losing data in some way, shape or form. If you do back that stuff up, great, and get in a habit of once a month updating your back up on your PC.

Hope you get the device soon. Let us know how it goes!!

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Golfdriver97 already got most of this, but here's my 2? anyway...

The Charge came out in late spring/early summer of 2011...I got mine that Christmas and have not had too many problems with it until recently (last maybe 3-6 months) battery life pretty much non existant crashes forced reboots not picking up 4G when im in an area unless i restart then it will pick it up generally glitchy.

anyway, I still have tax money squirrelled away and I talked to Verizon and I can upgrade to the Galaxy S 4 today for 199.99 after i get my fifty dollal rebate ( 249 +30 activation in the store, then i get my rebate back) anyway I really like my Samsung phone and am familar with the touchwhiz UI so it seems logical to upgrade to another samsung phone...ive seen some uis of other phones (motorolla, HTC) and am not really impressed....anyway...is this a good logical step?

Of course it is! As far as I'm concerned, the S4 is a logical step coming from ANY phone!

my questions are.

there are pictures and files saved on my charge that I want to save...to import on the new Galaxy...but im having trouble moving them to the SD storage..is there even an option to move pictures to the sd card?

As previously mentioned, easiest way is hook up to computer using USB cord and backup your photos/vids/etc that way, then just do the same when you get the phone and copy them back. Alternatively, you could also install a file browser like Astro or ES and manually copy and past the files from your internal storage to SDCard.

and do you know if the 32GB external SD card that came default with my Charge is compatiable with the Galaxy S 4?

* As far as I know my external SD card is good...I havent had anything pop up about it. admittedly I havent used my external SD card much. as the Droid Charge is tge first smartphone ive owned I guess im not as App Savvy as other people.

Yup, should work just fine. As Golfdriver mentioned, it's a good idea to replace those every few years anyway (i.e. whenever you get a phone), but if it's working fine, go ahead and use it. The one thing I suggest to anyone is never rely on flash media such as SDCards for permanent storage, they're just not reliable enough. If you got something you want to preserve, be sure to backup your SDCard to PC every now and then.

when I last checked I had 26 apps on my Charge (Facebook, Youtube, Pandora, Netflix, Banking apps, misc.) they all fit comfortably on the 2GB internal phone memory of my Charge. (I saw the S 4 comes with 16 GB internal but its only about 8-10GBs free...and people are complaining about app space...when that is like 2-3Xs the space I have now.)

Ive read that you cannot save Apps from the Samsung Galaxy S line of phones (including the new S 4) to the External SD Cards anyway, Is this true? I heard Samsung/Verizon released an update where it is now possible?.. and if you can't Im able to move certain apps to my SD card on my charge if I put the SD card with the apps stored on them into a Galaxy S 4 would the S4 let me access the apps? (in essence by passing the S4's inability to store apps on the SD card by preloading (so to speak) moving the apps I want to keep on the Card prior to loading it into the S4?) *

(im posting this on the charge forum and Galaxy S 4 forum, so I aplogize if this is seen by someone twice)

any help is appreciated...thanks.

1. The internal storage is going to be a big upgrade for you, but it sounds like you don't run too many apps anyway, so you may not even notice an immediate difference. High-def games and a few productivity apps are quite large (again, as Golfdriver97 noted), but for the most part the average user will have PLENTY of space with the 16GB version.

2. Apps-to-SD supported ended with Android 4.0 in general, it's not an S4 thing, but again, unless you're running apps that take up a lot of space, you shouldn't worry about it anyway.

3. The simple answer to your question about saving apps to the SD from the Charge and transferring to the new S4 is that it won't work. Even if the S4 natively supported app2sd, there's always a chuck of required data on the original phone itself. When you get your new phone, you'll just have to re-install your apps from the Play Store

 

[robrrtp]

Not much more I can add to the good advise listed above except that the S4 carries a different SIM card than the Charge (my last phone also), so make sure you use the Verizon backup service to save & transfer your contacts. Went without a hitch on my upgrade.

 

[paulwall8742]

well I did it. I dont regret it except it ate thru a good chunk of my reserce savings lol my droid didnt like backup assistant so thought id have do it the old fashioned way to get my contacts on my new phone but the verizon ppl had some mystery "machine" they hooked it up to and transferred my contacts over to. only thing I forgot to backup was my bookmarks for browsing fail on my part. I remember the important ones the ones I dont eh guess they weren't that important. alot ALOT! of new features and bells and whistles to get used to. even the 4G seems faster. only thing im reserve savings. kinda bitter sweet as the charge was one of my first smart phones. but it served its purpose. I have all my apps pretty much restored. and my charge didnt like the verizon backup i figured id havbummed about so far is in txt msg notifications I can no longer find the classic DDDDRRRROOOOOIIIIDDDDD sound. anyone know where I can get one at?

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Not much more I can add to the good advise listed above except that the S4 carries a different SIM card than the Charge (my last phone also), so make sure you use the Verizon backup service to save & transfer your contacts. Went without a hitch on my upgrade.

well I did it. I dont regret it except it ate thru a good chunk of my reserce savings lol my droid didnt like backup assistant so thought id have do it the old fashioned way to get my contacts on my new phone but the verizon ppl had some mystery "machine" they hooked it up to and transferred my contacts over to. only thing I forgot to backup was my bookmarks for browsing fail on my part. I remember the important ones the ones I dont eh guess they weren't that important. alot ALOT! of new features and bells and whistles to get used to. even the 4G seems faster. only thing im reserve savings. kinda bitter sweet as the charge was one of my first smart phones. but it served its purpose. I have all my apps pretty much restored. and my charge didnt like the verizon backup i figured id havbummed about so far is in txt msg notifications I can no longer find the classic DDDDRRRROOOOOIIIIDDDDD sound. anyone know where I can get one at?

1. Forget about Verizon's Backup Assistant! Just sync your contacts with Google (which it does by default) and you'll never have to worry about it again.
2. Regarding bookmarks, if you use Chrome browser, your bookmarks will also automatically sync with the cloud.

 

[paulwall8742]

I had Opera Mobile on my old phone. so no Crome cloud backup.

something I dont like, but its not uncommon with Verizon, I hadcit on my old Charge as well, is all the bloatware. Im not sure if its Google, The carriers, Samsung (phone manufacturer) or s combination of all three but they have double redundant preinstalled apps. for example the default browser AND GOOGLE chrome, email AND GMAIL ECT. I NEVER rooted my old charge because it was my first smartphone and I was leery of the whole rooting process and downloading stuff to your pc. but with this, im thinking bout toying with the idea. but I want to be on stock for awhile and see how it feels. with this phone just being released is there any info on rooting it? and I pay for the insurance plan so I know rooting voids the warranty will they know if it's been rooted? and then not replace if something goes bad in it?

 

[paulwall8742]

of course bloat may not be problem seeing ad I have 3Xs the internal space I had before