Leaving my iPhone for Galaxy S5 questions

[lemonfugu]

I recommend using the play store because there are benefits to using strictly stock Android. For example, if you're in to pop music and such, free albums monthly. Discounted apps that Amazon or Samsung would never offer. And no malware for the most part. To transfer your iTunes music, use a pc and save your files to your computer, then use the age old drag and click method to transfer the files. I recommend Google Play music because you can sync your pc to your Android account and your music is uploaded to the cloud instantly. I do it all the time. Also with the Google play music website, you can download ALL of your music as zip files for whatever you want. Even purchased music from iTunes or Google play. I know you can sync outlook accounts easily in the settings menu, and tap account. Boom, your stuff should be there. But for your contacts I am not certain. My wife came from a Windows phone to Android and issues with the contacts. I would go to your carrier store and ask them to transfer the contacts for you. Should be free.

 

[SteveBrettell]

Samsung provide a "Easy Transition" app to help clear up a lot of problems.

 

[Circa58]

I tried the new Windows phone when it first came out, and,,, you wanna talk about a huge jerk circle of wasted time... i jacked with that phone for 2 weeks and then finally took it back, I got the iPhone 4 and everything was transferred and running in 20 minutes, no joke!

When I read the posts about get this program for this and that program for that, it concerns me a little. I'm a M.E / Sales Engineer so understand stuff and I'm sure I can figure this out, but jack'n around with this program and then the next program etc, I must say, I'm not looking forward to that part of it.

I tried to drag and drop all of my 6500 songs into Google play and it kept locking up, so I tried smaller bites of info, and I just could not get it to take and load into Play without it freezing. If Play is their best option, then i may be done before I start. My music collection will only grow more and more over time. I'm no a defeatist by any means, I've been self employed since 1988 in a commission only business so I just want to shrink the learning curve as much as possible

 

[AZgl1500]

Samsung has an app called Smart Switch that can transfer all of your iPhone stuff directly to your Samsung phone.


* Smart Switch by Samsung

 

[ultravisitor]

OK after many years of Blackberry and then iPhones I have decided to get a S5 when my contract expires on October 2nd. I have messed with my sons S5 and my wifes new iPhone 6 and since I had them side by side I decided to switch to the S5.

Honestly, if you're moving to Android from an iPhone, I would recommend either a Nexus or a Moto X. I'm pretty sure those will provide more of a satisfying experience for you.

 

[Jim_in_VA]

phssst!! ..Galaxy S5 is a great choice for a Android phone

 

[msm0511]

I tried the new Windows phone when it first came out, and,,, you wanna talk about a huge jerk circle of wasted time... i jacked with that phone for 2 weeks and then finally took it back, I got the iPhone 4 and everything was transferred and running in 20 minutes, no joke!

When I read the posts about get this program for this and that program for that, it concerns me a little. I'm a M.E / Sales Engineer so understand stuff and I'm sure I can figure this out, but jack'n around with this program and then the next program etc, I must say, I'm not looking forward to that part of it.

I tried to drag and drop all of my 6500 songs into Google play and it kept locking up, so I tried smaller bites of info, and I just could not get it to take and load into Play without it freezing. If Play is their best option, then i may be done before I start. My music collection will only grow more and more over time. I'm no a defeatist by any means, I've been self employed since 1988 in a commission only business so I just want to shrink the learning curve as much as possible

Do you use Windows or Mac?

 

[Circa58]

Do you use Windows or Mac?

Windows

 

[msm0511]

Windows

I switched to Android after 6 yrs with iOS last week, and I'm still not sure which I prefer. Most of the things I miss though are because I use a Mac. The integration between iOS and OS X works much more seamlessly. Back on topic though.

One app that works really well for me is NiLS. Once you get it set up you never really know it's there, but offers things that my M8 doesn't natively do. It allows your display to light up when you get notifications and gives you swipeable actions on the notifications. It also lets you decide which notifications you receive. It's pretty easy to set up and use. Boxer is the best mail app I've found. I don't use Exchange so I don't know how well it works with it, but it does support Exchange. To transfer music I've been using an app called Airdroid. It's super easy. Download the app and register. Then go to airdroid.com from your computer and sign in. From there you can drag and drop your files from iTunes to the music app in Airdroid. It automatically transfers the music to your device over wifi. It's been more work to get the phone to work the way I want it to, but there are more options available. With iOS it's Apple's way or the highway.

 

[Circa58]

Thanks MSM, I knew it would not be overly simple to make the switch, but really music emails and MS Office Mobile, Adobe , Youtube, Facebook, a couple of Engineering converters programs, DropBox, Linkedin, GasBuddy, Pandora, ,, those are pretty much all i sue...

but thanks again for the suggestions, I will try your suggestions initially.

Regarding the Windows Phone, it was funny that it would not communicate with Outlook and the Exchange server could not communicate, GoDaddy said it was teh phone and Windows said it was GoDaddy

 

[Nerf72]

My advice is to take read the instruction book.
Serious answer btw, go and find the user guide for the S5 and Android (I think google do one) and sit with your phone and just go through all of the options, settings and tricks. Its a huge help
Also, give it a chance and time.Its not IOS, so it will be different

For the music, Google uses "Music Manager" which i found simple to use. It has an option to scan your itunes so i'm a little lost as to why you are drag and dropping?

Finally, don't root the phone. These days the performance boost isn't need as the hardware is usually excellent and it voids warranty and is risky. I wouldn't rush to install a new launcher either. Just give it time with touch-wiz.

Good luck

 

[AZgl1500]

* PDF Manual Samsung Galaxy S5 270 page



* Tips for a Newbie, what they need to know



50 Galaxy S5 Tips, Tricks and Hidden Features

 

[UKgalaxy]

I made the switch from a iPhone 5 to a S5 only a few weeks ago and haven't looked back. Yes it takes a bit of time to get used to a new OS and I'm still probably only using about 25% of the phones capability but I'm still learning. One thing that stands out for me after years of iOS is just how basic and boring it is, even with the latest iOS 8 it's hard to see any real change. Android is just so much more open and usable.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[kaklon275]

Honestly, if you're moving to Android from an iPhone, I would recommend either a Nexus or a Moto X. I'm pretty sure those will provide more of a satisfying experience for you. the same as my idea, GS5 is not a good selection for U

 

[Feldon]

Honestly, if you're moving to Android from an iPhone, I would recommend either a Nexus or a Moto X. I'm pretty sure those will provide more of a satisfying experience for you.

the same as my idea, GS5 is not a good selection for U

Saying that Brand B is better than Brand A without listing any reasons doesn't really inform the OP on their decision.

Personally I can't see buying a Motorola just because of 2 decades of horrifically bad UI on their phones. Even if they've got it all sorted out now, there are just so many choices out there.

 

[indigogrl79]

I actually traded my iPhone 5 in for the Galaxy s5. I was going to get the iPhone 6........ but I realized I'm tired of the same ol' thing. Glad I made the best choice! I love this baby. =]

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Feldon]

Another thing I forgot to mention...

On iPhone, I believe you have two choices of text-to-speech for the built-in apps (Male and Female) and one choice on Google Maps (Google's default high-rez woman's voice it comes with).

When I first tried out Google Maps on the Samsung S5, I was shocked at the atrociously bad sound quality on the voice. She sounds like a 2-pack a day smoker speaking from the bottom of a well.

Go to Settings -> Language and input -> Text-to-speech Options.

There are two choices there, the Samsung and the Google. Once you pick one, click the Gear icon next to the voice, choose Install voice data, choose your Language. The basic quality Google female voice is 8MB and already installed. You have the option of downloading the high quality female voice which adds another ~200MB.

I'm now looking at the Play Store at other TTS options, trying to find a decent male voice. I wish they'd add a category for TTS rather than it being mixed in with dictation software and other junk. Ivona seems to have good voices, but sadly the only realistic male voice is of a boy. I think it would raise some eyebrows if the voice coming out of my phone is a little kid.

 

[Feldon]

I find the Android notification sounds for Messaging and Alarms to be pretty indistinct and not ear-catching.

Fortunately you can get a ZIP file here of all the iOS7 sounds:
http://nexus5.wonderhowto.com/how-t...fications-system-sounds-your-nexus-5-0154288/

then follow the instructions here:
http://androidcentral.com/adding-your-own-custom-sounds-android

Connect your phone to your PC, create a "Notifications" and "Ringtones" folder and drag-and-drop the ogg music files in there. You can safely ignore the complex instructions of putting your phone into Recovery mode and all that. Just create folders and drag-and-drop. You should also rename the sound files as the names are rather generic.

 

[ultravisitor]

Saying that Brand B is better than Brand A without listing any reasons doesn't really inform the OP on their decision.

If he wants to know, he can ask. I simply wanted to point out other options that may be more suited to him in case he hadn't considered them. I didn't want to flood the thread needlessly.

Personally I can't see buying a Motorola just because of 2 decades of horrifically bad UI on their phones. Even if they've got it all sorted out now, there are just so many choices out there.

So...even though Motorola's UI was bad 5-10-20 years ago and their recent history demonstrates a commitment to a clean, near-stock build of Android, you're considering the phones that currently utilize builds of Android that many or even most people consider horrifically bad? Makes Sense.

And that's not even getting into the situation involving Android updates. iPhone users are used to getting the latest version of iOS in a prompt fashion. No one with Android can claim that except for users of Nexus and current Motorola phones. Perhaps GPE users, too.

 

[Feldon]

So...even though Motorola's UI was bad 5-10-20 years ago and their recent history demonstrates a commitment to a clean, near-stock build of Android, you're considering the phones that currently utilize builds of Android that many or even most people consider horrifically bad? Makes Sense.

And that's not even getting into the situation involving Android updates. iPhone users are used to getting the latest version of iOS in a prompt fashion. No one with Android can claim that except for users of Nexus and current Motorola phones. Perhaps GPE users, too.

I was not aware that Motorola phones are pretty much stock and get updates largely on Google's schedule rather than the carriers, so thank you for informing me of that fact. I will say Motorola will have to work hard to gain my respect again, but it sounds like maybe they are trying.

Most people I asked said that the current state of the art is a race between HTC One/M8 and Samsung Galaxy S5. I didn't look far beyond that. Oh well I can't complain about the S5 so far now that I have gotten most of my ducks in a row on settings. If AT&T makes me wait 2 months longer for Android L, then I might owe you a drink.