Help! Switched from iPhone and trying to setup my S4

[DavPen]

Hello, I hope someone can give me some advice. i recently switched to the S4 from being an iPhone user for years. (had a 4S). I love most of the features of the S4 but am having trouble with a couple of things.

I really liked the way the iPhone handled the push notifications. I know some people dont like it, but I like having them pop up on the lock screen. I have been fiddling with the Executive Assistant app to try and get that working. It just might be what I want. The problem I am having is that I need apps to send me notifications but they are not. My biggest problems are the ebay app and facebook. I sell online through ebay and rely on getting push notifications from that app,when someone places a bid or when an item sells... I have selected the notification check box for the app but still nothing.... Does the android os support this? Facebook also does not work that way either. I am used to it popping up on my screen. It seems like none of the apps that I am use to giving me push notifications are doing it.

Another big issue is voicemail. The iphone voicemail was good, it let me know as soon as I got one and I could click right on it and play it. Now I have to call my voicemail number, wait for the prompts and enter my passcode etc.... this is very frustrating for me. I think that the Visual Voicemail might be more like the iphone but I actually have to pay extra for that.. $2.99 a month....

I really do like the S4 overall as I have always jailbroken my iphones for the added customization which is what made me switch. And absolutely love the screen size compared to the iphones. They are much to small to be usefull.

Thanks for any advice you can give on these issues.

Dave

 

[prodigy1814]

Hello, I hope someone can give me some advice. i recently switched to the S4 from being an iPhone user for years. (had a 4S). I love most of the features of the S4 but am having trouble with a couple of things.

I really liked the way the iPhone handled the push notifications. I know some people dont like it, but I like having them pop up on the lock screen. I have been fiddling with the Executive Assistant app to try and get that working. It just might be what I want. The problem I am having is that I need apps to send me notifications but they are not. My biggest problems are the ebay app and facebook. I sell online through ebay and rely on getting push notifications from that app,when someone places a bid or when an item sells... I have selected the notification check box for the app but still nothing.... Does the android os support this? Facebook also does not work that way either. I am used to it popping up on my screen. It seems like none of the apps that I am use to giving me push notifications are doing it.

Another big issue is voicemail. The iphone voicemail was good, it let me know as soon as I got one and I could click right on it and play it. Now I have to call my voicemail number, wait for the prompts and enter my passcode etc.... this is very frustrating for me. I think that the Visual Voicemail might be more like the iphone but I actually have to pay extra for that.. $2.99 a month....

I really do like the S4 overall as I have always jailbroken my iphones for the added customization which is what made me switch. And absolutely love the screen size compared to the iphones. They are much to small to be usefull.

Thanks for any advice you can give on these issues.

Dave

I have Verizon GS4. I do not know of any way to bypass the voicemail prompts. However, you can easily bypass entering the passcode. Go to Call Settings, Voicemail Settings, change the voicemail number to *86,,[yourpasscode]#. The commas are also known as Pauses. You will see that the keypad will have a Pause key to let you enter it. Each time you access your voicemail, the passcode will be automatically entered.

 

[DavPen]

Thanks, I set that up and it does help.

Any ideas about the push notifications?

 

[robrrtp]

Can't help you with eBay, but my 1st suggestion would be to try another Facebook app like Scope or Friendcaster. Their notifications work fine for me & they just simply give me a better FB experience. Also, search the play store for lockscreen notifications (can't give you a particular suggestion, as that's not a need of mine

 

[physioprof]

I have Verizon GS4. I do not know of any way to bypass the voicemail prompts. However, you can easily bypass entering the passcode. Go to Call Settings, Voicemail Settings, change the voicemail number to *86,,[yourpasscode]#. The commas are also known as Pauses. You will see that the keypad will have a Pause key to let you enter it. Each time you access your voicemail, the passcode will be automatically entered.

Awesome! I had no idea that was possible!

 

[fotomatt1]

Why not set up a free Google Voice account? Free visual voice mail that works just like it did on the iPhone (and you don't have to pay Verizon for it). It will also transcribe your voice mail message so you can read it rather than play if you like.

Notifications should work for Facebook and eBay, so not sure what's going on there.

 

[Mellimel22]

Why not set up a free Google Voice account? Free visual voice mail that works just like it did on the iPhone (and you don't have to pay Verizon for it). It will also transcribe your voice mail message so you can read it rather than play if you like.

Notifications should work for Facebook and eBay, so not sure what's going on there.

+1. Besides Google voice. It's plenty of free visual voice mail apps in the playstore. Just pick one that best suits your needs.

Sent from my T-Mobile LG Escape using Tapatalk 2

 

[garublador]

Notifications should work for Facebook and eBay, so not sure what's going on there.

I'd expect Facebook to just not work as well in general. Facebook's Android app has been notoriously bad since Android has been out. They've made improvements but they always manage to mess something up. FWIW, my Facebook notifications don't work right, either. I'll get random notifications about past updates as if they were new, and it's the type of notification I have disabled, anyway.

 

[Nerelda]

Are you still having trouble with the ebay app not notifying you of bids or orders placed? I too am a seller on ebay. Granted I sell mostly BIN items, so I don't know about notifications for bids, but I've been seemlessly getting notifications about orders being placed and payments made (using Galaxy S4). I stay logged into my ebay app and get my notifications.

Just to be sure there is no miscommunication, here's how mine is set up:

Settings --> Notification Settings

Notifications - checked
Quiet Times - unchecked
Message Received - checked

There is also a Sounds/LED settings. On this page, I have:
Enable Sound - checked
Enable Vibration - checked
General notifications, buying, selling - all "default"

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Why not set up a free Google Voice account? Free visual voice mail that works just like it did on the iPhone (and you don't have to pay Verizon for it). It will also transcribe your voice mail message so you can read it rather than play if you like.

Notifications should work for Facebook and eBay, so not sure what's going on there.

+1000. Setup Google Voice for voicemail service. A lot more options than standard VM and it works just like VVM on the iPhones.

 

[General Tso]

+1000. Setup Google Voice for voicemail service. A lot more options than standard VM and it works just like VVM on the iPhones.

Are you sure that works with Verizon?

Posted via Android Central App

 

[General Tso]

Here's what I get when u try to set it up.


Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Are you sure that works with Verizon?

Posted via Android Central App

Yup, I've been using it for quite a while on Verizon...the automated setup in the GVoice app just doesn't work (I think that's just for Sprint), but anyway, here's a pretty good set of instructions:

[GUIDE] Google Voice on your Verizon GS3 - xda-developers

EDIT: I didn't do any of the stuff in step 3 of the above instructions (disabled forwarding) and it works fine with mine. If you use Google Voice for other purposes (as I do) and want to leave turned on, it shouldn't be a problem. When someone calls my cell phone and I don't answer, it gets sent straight to VM via Google Voice as intended, it does not attempt to ring the other lines I've setup for normal calls to my GV number.

Along with Google's own how-to, which is pretty much the same thing but not as detailed (be sure to expand the "for Verizon users" section):
https://support.google.com/voice/answer/165656?hl=en