GS3 Questions & Concerns

[ThePinkChameleon]

Hi everyone - I've been reading up a bit on the S3, possibly interested in moving to it from my 4S. I have some questions and hopefully you guys here can help me out

1) The blackberry usb's to bb dm, iphone with itunes...is there something that the S3 usb's to the computer with to back up all data as well?

2) I've been reading alot of issues with the device staying connected to wifi - i currently have a Linksys N router, prob 3+ yrs old. Anyone with this router that doesn't have any wifi issues?

3) Staying connected to 3g/4g - is this really a huge issue that alot of you are facing?

4) the "call standby usage" eating up battery. When I went to Verizon yesterday, the rep's phone also showed this as very high usage as well - at the time his battery was at 92% with approx 2-1/2hrs of usage, i didn't catch how long off charger.

5) I also couldn't get a straight answer as to battery life - right now on my 4S I get an average of 2 full days on standby with an overall usage of 8-8 1/2hrs. So with the S3, how close could I come to that? Will approx of 4/5hrs usage a day need me to charge every night? Just to add, at home i'm hooked up to wifi at all times - very rarely when i go out do i use the data portion of my phone, so 99.9% of my data usage is on wifi.

6) Because i can't shop the google play store, the most important apps that i use daily are: CVS, dunkin donuts, Keeper, Evernote, TuneIn radio(free versh), and PeriodDiary. I'm sure these are prob avail, but are they compatible & functioning properly with the S3. I've heard even tho some apps are avail for a device doesnt mean it works properly after dwlding.

7) i have a Gmail acct as well as an AOL email. does AOL email play nice with this device? My AOL is my main email addy, so def a neccessity for me.

I know alot of my questions could wind up to extensive replys, so I TIA for any info that you could give me. Looking at the device in the Verizon corp store i went to yesterday did not seem to be functioning properly, so i will have to go to a different corp store in my area to check it out again. I like the idea of a larger screen and being able to place widgets on screen where you would like. I've heard the os on this device is similar feeling to iOS, but the keyboard suggestions was to dwld SwiftKey3 for a better typing experience. I dont plan on rooting my device - i just want to use it out of box as is (boring i know LOL) and just set up my screens as need be, along with the few apps I use as well.

So AGAIN, thank you to anyone who can help me out

 

[PsYcHoNeWb]

Hi everyone - I've been reading up a bit on the S3, possibly interested in moving to it from my 4S. I have some questions and hopefully you guys here can help me out

1) The blackberry usb's to bb dm, iphone with itunes...is there something that the S3 usb's to the computer with to back up all data as well?

2) I've been reading alot of issues with the device staying connected to wifi - i currently have a Linksys N router, prob 3+ yrs old. Anyone with this router that doesn't have any wifi issues?

3) Staying connected to 3g/4g - is this really a huge issue that alot of you are facing?

4) the "call standby usage" eating up battery. When I went to Verizon yesterday, the rep's phone also showed this as very high usage as well - at the time his battery was at 92% with approx 2-1/2hrs of usage, i didn't catch how long off charger.

5) I also couldn't get a straight answer as to battery life - right now on my 4S I get an average of 2 full days on standby with an overall usage of 8-8 1/2hrs. So with the S3, how close could I come to that? Will approx of 4/5hrs usage a day need me to charge every night? Just to add, at home i'm hooked up to wifi at all times - very rarely when i go out do i use the data portion of my phone, so 99.9% of my data usage is on wifi.

6) Because i can't shop the google play store, the most important apps that i use daily are: CVS, dunkin donuts, Keeper, Evernote, TuneIn radio(free versh), and PeriodDiary. I'm sure these are prob avail, but are they compatible & functioning properly with the S3. I've heard even tho some apps are avail for a device doesnt mean it works properly after dwlding.

7) i have a Gmail acct as well as an AOL email. does AOL email play nice with this device?

I know alot of my questions could wind up to extensive replys, so I TIA for any info that you could give me. Looking at the device in the Verizon corp store i went to yesterday did not seem to be functioning properly, so i will have to go to a different corp store in my area to check it out again. I like the idea of a larger screen and being able to place widgets on screen where you would like. I've heard the os on this device is similar feeling to iOS, but the keyboard suggestions was to dwld SwiftKey3 for a better typing experience. I dont plan on rooting my device - i just want to use it out of box as is (boring i know LOL) and just set up my screens as need be, along with the few apps I use as well.

So AGAIN, thank you to anyone who can help me out

1. All wireless my friend. With Google Music and other apps of that nature all of your content is available wirelessly with no issue. No need to connect to your PC ever.

2. I have had no issues with WiFi. This could be a hit or miss issues where is affects some but not others. I have a Linksys as well but only a year or so old and it works perfectly fine.

3. Never had an issue worth mentioning. If you live in a good signal area you should be okay. If you don't have 4G just disable it. Only issue I have is after I flashed a custom ROM and that's fixable easily enough with a patch.

4. Call standby usage is a bug. Doesn't actually affects battery life, when Samsung coded it they put a decimal point one space too far over. This has been well documented and there are fixes for it rooted or not.

5. Battery life has been great for me. I can get a full day to day and a half with moderate usage. That ranges anywhere between 1.5 to 2.5 of screen on time. With accounts syncing every hour.

6. I haven't seen one app that are well known like most of those that won't work. I can't speak for apps like CVS or Dunkin but I am confident that you will be fine with apps.

7. Yes it will work. May take a little to get server settings but it should work fine.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Xparent SkyBlue Tapatalk 2

 

[tsells]

Regarding your question 7, I also have an AOL account and have found that an app called AquaMail does a better job than the stock email app to access AOL. You can use AquaMail for both your Gmail and AOL account.

 

[mesocyclonic]

Regarding apps: you can search for apps on the Google Play store on your computer (https://forums.androidcentral.com/e.../https://play.google.com/store&token=3_hpYH4J) to verify the apps you need are available. Some of them may have different names, but most major types of apps on iOS have corresponding versions on Android. Generally speaking, apps work on all phones. There are very rarely device-specific issues, but most devs are pretty good about updating their apps to fix these problems should they come up.

 

[ThePinkChameleon]

Thank you to everyone so far that have given me input. if anyone else has any other comments/suggestions/feedback I'd appreciate it as well

Also, mesocyclonic I will check out that link your provided!! Thanks

 

[ThePinkChameleon]

Ok, so i just had a few mins to browse on the google play store for a few of the apps i'd like which they have, only one of them the name is a little differet but same exact function. SO, forgive me for my question/concern here - i was looking at what permissions the apps are allowed to have, and well, honestly some of them really have me concerned. Mentioning having access to sms/mms and the phone where the app can access and make calls or send messages. Heres one of the permissions i copied from the dunkin donuts app:

" Allows the app to write to SMS messages stored on your tablet or SIM card. Malicious apps may delete your messages. Allows the app to write to SMS messages stored on your phone or SIM card. Malicious apps may delete your messages."

read contact data
"Allows the app to read all of the contact (address) data stored on your tablet. Malicious apps may use this to send your data to other people. Allows the app to read all of the contact (address) data stored on your phone. Malicious apps may use this to send your data to other people."

I've never used an android/droid device before (can ya tell lol) I am curious if these are things I should be concerned about & avoid apps that have this in their permissions list?

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Ok, so i just had a few mins to browse on the google play store for a few of the apps i'd like which they have, only one of them the name is a little differet but same exact function. SO, forgive me for my question/concern here - i was looking at what permissions the apps are allowed to have, and well, honestly some of them really have me concerned. Mentioning having access to sms/mms and the phone where the app can access and make calls or send messages. Heres one of the permissions i copied from the dunkin donuts app:

" Allows the app to write to SMS messages stored on your tablet or SIM card. Malicious apps may delete your messages. Allows the app to write to SMS messages stored on your phone or SIM card. Malicious apps may delete your messages."

I've never used an android/droid device before (can ya tell lol) I am curious if these are things I should be concerned about & avoid apps that have this in their permissions list?

The answer to your question lies within this listed feature of the app:

SEND A VIRTUAL GIFT CARD.
Know someone who needs a little pick-me-up? Now you can send them a virtual DD Card via text message, e-mail and even Facebook.

It's always a good idea to check permissions before loading an app, but generally speaking, an app from a reputable source such as DD probably isn't trying to steal your personal info do malicious damage to your phone (the negative PR if anyone were to discover that would be awful for them).

If the iPhone app has this same feature, then most likely similar permissions are present...

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Regarding your other questions, I wouldn't be too concerned about most of those items.

#1: I'm not really sure *exactly* what you're asking, but in short, no, there is no required software you have to use on the computer...ever. There are some computer apps (like Samsung's Kies) that you may want to use for various things like syncing files and running updates and such, but you can essentially do everything wirelessly.

#5: Simply put, 4G is a battery hog. If you strictly on WIFI or 3G, you may get those kind of results on the S3, but you won't when using 4G. That's not saying I can't get a full day out of a charge, but it would be hard to get a full 48 hours of standby time with 4G mobile data running. Having said that, I have a few friends with the 4S, and they honestly have about the same battery life I do.

 

[ThePinkChameleon]

The answer to your question lies within this listed feature of the app:
It's always a good idea to check permissions before loading an app, but generally speaking, an app from a reputable source such as DD probably isn't trying to steal your personal info do malicious damage to your phone (the negative PR if anyone were to discover that would be awful for them).

If the iPhone app has this same feature, then most likely similar permissions are present...

Thanks, and your prob right as far as the iPhone goes too. But, i was also seeing those particular ones on Keeper & PeriodTracker as well. I dont want to sound like a ParanoidPenny, but at the same time i want what ever i may install to be safe on my phone too

Regarding your other questions, I wouldn't be too concerned about most of those items.

#1: I'm not really sure *exactly* what you're asking, but in short, no, there is no required software you have to use on the computer...ever. There are some computer apps (like Samsung's Kies) that you may want to use for various things like syncing files and running updates and such, but you can essentially do everything wirelessly.

#5: Simply put, 4G is a battery hog. If you strictly on WIFI or 3G, you may get those kind of results on the S3, but you won't when using 4G. That's not saying I can't get a full day out of a charge, but it would be hard to get a full 48 hours of standby time with 4G mobile data running. Having said that, I have a few friends with the 4S, and they honestly have about the same battery life I do.

In regards to #1, basically i was asking if there was a program on the compt to be installed to usb the S3 and do a 'hard back up' of instead of just a wireless type. Like now, with my 4S, I use iCloud, BUT usually on a weekly basis i break open iTunes, usb and do a hard back up of my data on my phone as well. Thats what i was asking about.

Now, with 4G, i do understand because it "works" more that battery life would be less, not dramatically tho. I'm pretty sure i have 4G LTE in my area, but i think to conserve battery life on the S3 i'd turn off 4G TBH. But thats just me, i know some people would say no way, and leave it instead of trying to conserve more battery life.