Wife has IPhone, I will Have Android... Help Please with Cross-Device Issues/Solutions

[ViennaGambit]

Hey guys, been a dedicated iphone guy since the start, but the new IP5 just left me bummed... Returned my IP5 yesterday just within the 30 day window (using my old IP4s now) and plan on either going SG3 or the Note 2 in the next 2 weeks... Very very excited

With that said, my wife (and majority of my buds) is an Iphone 5 user and the one thing I'm worried about is losing the ease of communication between our devices... Can any of you provide some feedback on how you've found dealing with a spouse/significant other/friend who has an Iphone? Can you put my worries at ease or will it really be a pain in the ass for the both of us and something we just need to deal with...? Honestly, it will be a major suck if the wife has to download a bunch of apps and use them just to communicate with me for free - I love her to death, but she is not a tech savy women.

There are also a few other things I am worried about with the switch. I have tried searching, but really could not find any concrete answers, so I appreciate any help and advice you can provide.

What I need a work-around for is:

-How do I text with her for free like we did through Ichat over non-wifi? We text and picture message A LOT and this is a big issue. Is there an application that we will BOTH have to download and use, or can she still text me with Imessage and I just use something else to respond to her for free? Again, thr major issue is that we have been spoiled by free texting in Imessage and I don't want to lose that...

-How can we video chat as we did with Facetime? Do we just use Skype? Can she still Facetime call me and when I answer the Android will use a program to video chat back with her?

-What is the best (most stable) way to import my contacts/calendars/music/pics from Itunes?

-Do I lose visual voice mail on Android? What is the most stable and reliable way to get this?

-Will my android automatically connect with the bluetooth in my car?

-Does android automatically connect to known wifi when I enter a known area?

Thanks in advance for the help - I'm sure many of these questions have been covered already, but I could not find them - feel free to send me in the correct direction.

Now the next big question is do I go SG3 or Note 2...

 

[rrulander]

Hey guys, been a dedicated iphone guy since the start, but the new IP5 just left me bummed... Returned my IP5 yesterday just within the 30 day window (using my old IP4s now) and plan on either going SG3 or the Note 2 in the next 2 weeks... Very very excited

With that said, my wife (and majority of my buds) is an Iphone 5 user and the one thing I'm worried about is losing the ease of communication between our devices... Can any of you provide some feedback on how you've found dealing with a spouse/significant other/friend who has an Iphone? Can you put my worries at ease or will it really be a pain in the ass for the both of us and something we just need to deal with...? Honestly, it will be a major suck if the wife has to download a bunch of apps and use them just to communicate with me for free - I love her to death, but she is not a tech savy women.

There are also a few other things I am worried about with the switch. I have tried searching, but really could not find any concrete answers, so I appreciate any help and advice you can provide.

What I need a work-around for is:

-How do I text with her for free like we did through Ichat over non-wifi? We text and picture message A LOT and this is a big issue. Is there an application that we will BOTH have to download and use, or can she still text me with Imessage and I just use something else to respond to her for free? Again, thr major issue is that we have been spoiled by free texting in Imessage and I don't want to lose that...

-How can we video chat as we did with Facetime? Do we just use Skype? Can she still Facetime call me and when I answer the Android will use a program to video chat back with her?

-What is the best (most stable) way to import my contacts/calendars/music/pics from Itunes?

-Do I lose visual voice mail on Android? What is the most stable and reliable way to get this?

-Will my android automatically connect with the bluetooth in my car?

-Does android automatically connect to known wifi when I enter a known area?

Thanks in advance for the help - I'm sure many of these questions have been covered already, but I could not find them - feel free to send me in the correct direction.

Now the next big question is do I go SG3 or Note 2...

I think I might be able to answer some of your questions and put your worries to rest.
I have been on android for over a year now after switching back from the iPhone. I would choose android hands down from then on, but my fiance on the other had has a iPhone and cant upgrade to android till November 1st.
Note all of the suggestions below are just how I do it and who knows if its the best way.

- You can text for free using a app called textFree. you can get it from the play store and she can get it from the app store. I use this app to text from my tablet and phone so the messages are on both devices. Love the app and you can make phone calls with it also.

- Use Skype for the free video chat. Works great and is quite stable on ICS.

-The best way to backup your contacts is go to your @me account and go to the contacts and back them up (export them) to your computer and then make a gmail account and import them. The other way is make a new Gmail account and it will ask you if you want to import calander / contacts / email from another account, just input your @me account info and Google will do all the work. If you have any questions about that just PM me and ill be glad to help.

-For visual voice mail on the android system i use YouMail. Have used it for over 3 years now and love it.

-Bluetooth will pair the same way with your car as your iPhone did.

-Yes android will connect to known WiFi auto just as the iPhone.

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Android Central Forums

 

[ViennaGambit]

Excellent! Thank you very very much for the advice and help.

Now just to sell my wife on using text free...

Quick question - If my friends send out a group text through Imessage, will this work on Android?

Thanks again.

 

[rrulander]

if they use your phone number or textfree number you will receive the message, but if they do not have unlimited SMS plan the message will count against them.
I message works by using apple servers via internet access to transmit messages via apple products. When iMessage detects that the receiving party is not a apple product it sends the message through normal SMS channels.

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Android Central Forums

 

[badbrad17]

To the OP...

You can sync contacts with Google Contacts from iTunes. I sync my iCloud calendars using a slick third party app (Smooth Cloud Sync)... works great. There are also apps for syncing iTunes music (but didn't want that so didn't investigate them). I mostly listen to podcasts on my mobiles and went with a standalone podcatcher/player called DogCatcher. Complicated but competent.

I have found no way to sync Reminders and Notes. I have moved to Google Tasks, but there are no good iOS/Mac OS clients (I simply use the web interface - of course your screwed without a connection. I use Tasks on Android which is an excellent client with offline capability. There are numerous Notes apps that sync Android/iOS/Etc., Evernote being the clear leader here, but I have simply created a new list in Tasks for notes. I really liked BeNote but it does not sync. For things I really can't afford to miss I use calendar entries.

I found a great program for syncing called Companion Link which works with my Google account. I can sync back and forth from my phone to a number of different platforms on my computer (I use Outlook) and back from my computer to my phone. It isn't an app, but a program you install onto your computer.
Android Sync Software - Sync contacts, calendar, tasks and notes -- CompanionLink Software

Works with iOS and Windows. It syncs all of your calendar events, contacts, notes, tasks etc. from Outlook to your Google calendar then to your phone. works very well for me, but may not cover all of your needs. It's $40 but there is a 14 day free trial to try it out.

 

[badbrad17]

Give it a go.

 

[Dragon Ninja]

My wife has an iPhone 4 and I have a GS3. We use Voxer for walkie-talkie like functions, text, and I believe it does mms. For video chat we use Tango. Both are free


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[Va1ha11a]

To text each other you could also use Gtalk, free and linked to your google account.