[GUIDE] Getting Started with Android (UPDATED 2016 for Nougat)

[MikeNM]

Great tutorial!!!

Coming back to Android after three years with an iOs device, not by choice, has been simply wonderful!

Thanks soooo much for helping me navigate through this process another time with a new smartphone!

Mike

 

[ChevyN49]

Re: [GUIDE] Getting Started with Android (2014), Part III: Managing Contacts

How do I delete pdf files off my droid

 

[Mc Damian Osita]

Re: [GUIDE] Getting Started with Android (2014), Part III: Managing Contacts

please i have a nec docomo N-06D. I tried upgrading for andriod os 2.3.6 to 4.2.2 but it didnt work... now my google play store cant download or update application.. seems it tampered with my system file.. i have formatted the tab so many times.. and if the battery runs out and the tab goes off and comes on it crashes "home, gallery,and all startup com files... please help me. thanks in Adv
[phone number redacted by Mod]

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: [GUIDE] Getting Started with Android (2014), Part III: Managing Contacts

How do I delete pdf files off my droid

Welcome to Android Central! Use a file manager app to select the file and delete it.

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: [GUIDE] Getting Started with Android (2014), Part III: Managing Contacts

please i have a nec docomo N-06D. I tried upgrading for andriod os 2.3.6 to 4.2.2 but it didnt work... now my google play store cant download or update application.. seems it tampered with my system file.. i have formatted the tab so many times.. and if the battery runs out and the tab goes off and comes on it crashes "home, gallery,and all startup com files... please help me. thanks in Adv
[phone number redacted by Mod]

Welcome to Android Central! You're better off creating a new thread in the General Help forum for your question, rather than adding it to the end of this thread. Good luck!

 

[Lnin0]

Was considering a jump to Android from Windows Phone and this article was a big help. I have some questions regarding contacts and mail.

Is this still the case with contacts - "There aren't any stock or native apps on Android devices that allow you to sync with other platforms"? All my calendar and contacts sit on Outlook.com where I would like them to remain. While importing them to Google is easy enough, it will be a pain to keep contacts synced between my phone and surface/pc. Can you not just set Android to use/sync contacts with any source you choose or do they force you to use Google contacts?

Can you link Facebook details/photos to existing contacts in your android people app? Can you filter out Facebook friends who are also not in your personal contacts? Can you link Facebook contacts to a personal contact regardless of an exact name match?

Can you use any email you want by default in Android or are you confined to gmail if you want a fully featured experience?

 

[_YoKolorMeBadd]

Was considering a jump to Android from Windows Phone and this article was a big help. I have some questions regarding contacts and mail.

Is this still the case with contacts - "There aren't any stock or native apps on Android devices that allow you to sync with other platforms"? All my calendar and contacts sit on Outlook.com where I would like them to remain. While importing them to Google is easy enough, it will be a pain to keep contacts synced between my phone and surface/pc. Can you not just set Android to use/sync contacts with any source you choose or do they force you to use Google contacts?

Can you link Facebook details/photos to existing contacts in your android people app? Can you filter out Facebook friends who are also not in your personal contacts? Can you link Facebook contacts to a personal contact regardless of an exact name match?

Can you use any email you want by default in Android or are you confined to gmail if you want a fully featured experience?

Well, I know you can move everything from iOS to Android and vice versa. You would have to find someone who had a Windows phone and moved to Android to really find out. But I'm going to guess and I'm not 100% on this; that you can move all your contacts etc to the Android platform.

 

[peroff]

Thank you.

 

[B. Diddy]

Was considering a jump to Android from Windows Phone and this article was a big help. I have some questions regarding contacts and mail.

Is this still the case with contacts - "There aren't any stock or native apps on Android devices that allow you to sync with other platforms"? All my calendar and contacts sit on Outlook.com where I would like them to remain. While importing them to Google is easy enough, it will be a pain to keep contacts synced between my phone and surface/pc. Can you not just set Android to use/sync contacts with any source you choose or do they force you to use Google contacts?

Can you link Facebook details/photos to existing contacts in your android people app? Can you filter out Facebook friends who are also not in your personal contacts? Can you link Facebook contacts to a personal contact regardless of an exact name match?

Can you use any email you want by default in Android or are you confined to gmail if you want a fully featured experience?

Sorry for the very late response! To my knowledge, there still are not any stock or native apps that sync with other platforms. This doesn't mean there aren't 3rd party apps for the job, but many if not all of these kinds of apps are imperfect in some way. Syncing between Outlook and Google has always been problematic, and I've never heard of a sync program that is 100% error-free. A lot of this may have to do with all of the different data fields that Outlook has that don't correspond to what Google uses.

Facebook contact syncing is currently problematic because Facebook removed the ability in their API to sync contacts. Sync.ME is one alternative.

You can use any email you want, either in the stock Email app or in the Gmail app. I find that Gmail in the Gmail app syncs much more quickly and efficiently than other email providers, though.

 

[gooner21]

Is there an updated one of these for marshmallow ? I'm a Windows Phone user thinking of making the switch in the next few weeks (Samsung S7 Edge) so would be good to read up on some of the basic navigation/descriptions before I make the jump so I'm not totally clueless when I turn it on

 

[B. Diddy]

I'm afraid I haven't gotten around to adding the Marshmallow bits to the guide--sorry! To be honest, there aren't a whole lot of huge differences in Marshmallow when it comes to navigating around (and different phone manufacturers always change menus around as well--my guides are based on Nexus devices, and Samsung phones have a significantly different menu). If you read through this guide, much of it will still apply to Marshmallow.

 

[B. Diddy]

Is there an updated one of these for marshmallow ? I'm a Windows Phone user thinking of making the switch in the next few weeks (Samsung S7 Edge) so would be good to read up on some of the basic navigation/descriptions before I make the jump so I'm not totally clueless when I turn it on

Welcome to Android Central! Sorry, I've been dragging my feet a bit about updating this for Marshmallow, because it gets trickier and trickier to modify this existing thread. I'll probably work on it in the next couple of months. I was also waiting for Marshmallow to start appearing on more devices (which finally seems to be happening).

 

[rustymarange53]

Rooting

I need to know what all apps I need and how to root my phone I have a ZTE prestige

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! This isn't really the best thread to ask your question. Please see the response in your other thread: http://forums.androidcentral.com/other-zte-android-phones/724955-rooting.html#post5423012

 

[B. Diddy]

The guide has been updated for Nougat! Man, this is the only reason why I wish Google would slow down introduction of new Android versions -- it takes a while to update this thing!

 

[11B1P]

I'm glad it's here. I've been using Windows Phone since the WP7 HTC Trophy. With MS' immediate future on enterprise, the black Friday deal at Vzw and the Gear S3, I'm switching to a GS7. I've been studying this guide and spending my time over here vs Windows Central.

 

[B. Diddy]

Glad to hear it!

 

[11B1P]

How about updating it to remove all of the old info? Kinda streamline the articles a bit. Take me for example. I'm switching to a GS7 this weekend. It will be my first time on the Android OS. I need the most current info on the ways to do stuff in Android. Are there people that are going to switch to Android, going to get a device that is old enough, that the original info will pertain to them? The people that may be using an older device that the info pertains to, is already familiar with the OS and possibly wouldn't benefit from the old info.

Thoughts?

 

[B. Diddy]

Thanks for the input! In the most recent revision, I did start removing some of the really old stuff. But since there are still quite a few devices out there running older versions like KitKat, I still wanted to make sure this guide covered as much ground as possible for the majority of users. You ask for the most current way, but that would imply Nougat, which still only has about 0.3% penetration so far. The next time I revise this (probably some time next year), I will most likely remove more of the older stuff.

 

[11B1P]

Thanks for the input! In the most recent revision, I did start removing some of the really old stuff. But since there are still quite a few devices out there running older versions like KitKat, I still wanted to make sure this guide covered as much ground as possible for the majority of users. You ask for the most current way, but that would imply Nougat, which still only has about 0.3% penetration so far. The next time I revise this (probably some time next year), I will most likely remove more of the older stuff.

Cool. I'm still an Android-virgin!