New to Android: a few newbie questions

[Marute]

So I just got my first Android device coming from Windows Phone 7.8 - a Nexus 5 - and I'm really pleased so far! I know, I know, a Nexus 6 may come out soon but this was the perfect purchase for me.

Anyway, as I'm new to Android there are a few things I need some help to do.

1. The first thing is synchronizing the Facebook pictures my contacts use to my contacts in the People app. How can I do this? I don't need to synchronize all my Facebook friends, only the profile pictures of the contacts I have actually stored on my phone.

2. Synchronizing the calendar. I own a Surface 2 tablet which I use as my primary calendar. It is synced with Facebook and synchronized with my Windows Phone as well. Is there a way I can get the Microsoft calendar to appear on my Nexus 5? I am used to a configuration where the calendar on the tablet and on the phone would be similar and I could create/delete events on both devices and they would show up.

3. Do the icons on Android show a little number when there is something new or are all notification informations placed in the notification screen?

4. Can I edit what options are available in the quick settings menu?

5. Everytime I try to type something, the notification screen asks me to choose input method. Why is this?

Other than that, anything you'd recommend I download? Apps, widgets etc.?

 

[B. Diddy]

Congratulations on the Nexus 5! It's a terrific phone.

To sync Facebook contact photos, you need to use a 3rd party app. Try Sync.ME.

Syncing an Outlook or Windows calendar to an Android device can be a little challenging. There's no native syncing available. You could try a 3rd party program like CompanionLink if you need to keep them synced. If you're willing to transition completely to Google Calendar, you could export your current calendar to a .csv file, then import it into Google Calendar: Transfer calendars between Outlook and Google Calendar - Outlook

The basic Android interface doesn't have the unread count on the icon. This can be achieved using 3rd party apps like Notifyer.

You can't edit the Quick Settings options. I prefer Power Toggles, which allows you to place a customized toggle bar on the homescreen, in the notification shade, or on the lockscreen.

Do you have any other keyboards installed? Go to Settings>Language & Input, and tap Default. Then select the keyboard you want as your default keyboard. Does it still give you that prompt when you're typing?

See more beginner info here: http://forums.androidcentral.com/general-help-how/399060-guide-getting-started-android-2014-a.html

 

[raptir]

Do you have any other keyboards installed? Go to Settings>Language & Input, and tap Default. Then select the keyboard you want as your default keyboard. Does it still give you that prompt when you're typing?

The Nexus 5 by default has both the Google Keyboard as well as Google Voice Typing enabled. If you disable it down to a single keyboard you will not get the notification, but it's meant to just be an easy way to switch keyboards. There's no real reason to want to get rid of it.

 

[Marute]

Thanks for the replies all of you. It was very helpful!

The only 2 things causing me trouble are the calendar and Google Now.

Has anyone successfully synced the Windows 8.1 Calendar app with a calendar app in Android?

My problem with Google Now is that I would like to use it to tell me how the trains go between my home and my university. I set it up with all the right settings, but I take the bike from my home to the train station and the train from there. It's a short bike trip and I could do it with my eyes closed so I don't need Google Now to tell me the route. I can choose public transportation all the way and it will show me the trains (yes!), but it will also show me the buses from my home to the train station, which is just idiotic and prevents me from seeing the actually trains properly (no!) and it adds another 20 minutes to the total travel time. I can then change my home address to the address of the station itself, thinking that would make Google Now happy, but then it constantly informs me how to get from where I am (my actual house) to "home" (the station), showing the same buses again and ignoring the trains I would like to see completely. I can disable my position to prevent this, but that also disables the entire commute system, including the trains. -.- So Google Now is really eager to tell me a lot of things I don't need to know while it obscures the information I actually need.

The only thing I want to do: Have Google New tell me only how the trains run between my home station and the station where I have to get off. No bike routes, no buses, no advice on how to get from where I am to my home station like I don't know my own city! Can this be done? If not, I'm afraid Google Now holds no functionality for me. :/

Edit: In short: I don't want Google Now to use my position (because it gives me useless information), only the positions I feed to it.

Also, is there a way to disable the Google Now home screen while keeping Google Now active? It has a nice widget and I can access it by holding the home button anyway, so I don't really need it as a home screen itself.

 

[Marute]

I have managed to sync the calendar by using the Outlook.com app from Play Store. Anyone who can help me with Google Now?