WP convert - keep me from throwing this thing against the wall!!

[Steven Jepson]

Hey all.

Quick intro - I'm an unabashed Windows Phone lover. I've held onto my Lumia 950XL through all of the MS debacle, but major problems with productivity have forced me to go 'Droid (I refuse to go to the dark side. ). So I've purchased the Note 9.

So far, I'm impressed with it overall, but there are a few things that are driving me nuts. Here's what I've done so far to customize:
- Office apps
- Cortana (remapped the Bixby button)
- SquareHome2 launcher (a very nice Metro feel with 'live-ish' tiles)
- Business Calendar (more on that later)

So here are the two main things that grate my cheeze:

1) I have successfully paired a number of Bluetooth devices (Vivitar speakers, Arctic P311 headset, Plantronics Voyager Legend headset), but I cannot listen and respond to texts through the headsets. Pairing went fine and I can listen to music, but no texts.

2) I switched to Business Calendar because of reading that Samsung Calendar and Outlook Calendar won't sync. My main mail client is Outlook (and mail is no problem), but calendars won't sync, and this will be a MAJOR pain when I start school (college professor) and I have to check two-three calendars to be on top of my appointments.

For a so-called "productivity" phone, this is completely unacceptable. Not to yell at 'droid peeps, but Windows Phone did this SEAMLESSLY.

Please help before I head back to the store and give the damn thing back. ;P

SBJ

 

[Fast-T]

Regarding #2 : Samsung built in apps work perfectly with Outlook, Office 365 and Exchange. Whatever you have read is wrong.
But as a die hard MS user, why don't you use Outlook for Android anyway?

Can't help you with #1 . I am using Google Assistant and can do anything through my galaxy buds and also the Bose. Might be a Cortana limitation?

 

[srgonu]

For 2, even though Samsung email has integration with Outlook and office 365, company limitations apply at some work places. Even at my work place, admin doesn't allow us to use Samsung email and I have to install Outlook which doesn't sync my calendar with native calendar. But for seamless integration with your windows laptop, you can use Microsoft launcher and use phone app (comes default now on latest windows) to integrate and sync almost everything and even Cortana should work fine.

 

[Fast-T]

For 2, even though Samsung email has integration with Outlook and office 365, company limitations apply at some work places. Even at my work place, admin doesn't allow us to use Samsung email and I have to install Outlook which doesn't sync my calendar with native calendar. But for seamless integration with your windows laptop, you can use Microsoft launcher and use phone app (comes default now on latest windows) to integrate and sync almost everything and even Cortana should work fine.

You can link your Samsung Calendars in the Outlook app to show up within Outlook via the settings page. I am in the same boat. My employer does allow Outlook only and linking my Samsung Account family calendar works well.

 

[Steven Jepson]

I appreciate all the assistance, but the calendars won't sync. I have stuff that I put in my Outlook calendar that doesn't show up in the Samsung/Google/Business calendars. HELP!!!

 

[cknobman]

on 2. Outlook calendar never did sync properly for me but I have gotten the Samsung calendar to work just fine and show all my events from every platform (Google, Microsoft, Samsung)

 

[B. Diddy]

Do your Bluetooth headphones allow you to trigger Google Assistant by pressing any of the buttons? If so, then say "Show me my last messages" and see if it offers to read them to you. If it does, then it should also ask you if you want to respond, which should then let you dictate a response.

 

[Steven Jepson]

Do your Bluetooth headphones allow you to trigger Google Assistant by pressing any of the buttons? If so, then say "Show me my last messages" and see if it offers to read them to you. If it does, then it should also ask you if you want to respond, which should then let you dictate a response.

My question is: why should I have to press a button on the phone to be able to have a text read?
I've taken Cortana off of the phone and re-paired my Plantronics Voyager Legend. I can send a text without a problem. But hearing them never happens; just a notification that I have one.
Tomorrow is my first week on this phone. I've solved the calendar problem by just sticking with Outlook. But the hands-free issue may be a make or break. I will be on the road and need to answer texts without having to hold the phone. And in many states/cities, I can get a ticket for doing that. I'll have another week to decide if I want to keep it or not.
Please HELP!

 

[Fast-T]

If your headphones do not support Google assistant and you do not want to use "Hey google, read my text messages" command, use this link for alternatives:

https://www.lifewire.com/have-android-read-texts-outloud-4158005

There is no reason to hold your phone or push a button on it. Google is the most advanced voice assistant on this planet (for the better or worse).

 

[B. Diddy]

My question is: why should I have to press a button on the phone to be able to have a text read?

Sorry, I meant one of the buttons on the headset, not the phone. I've had headsets that have that functionality. There might be headsets that have an always-listening feature, but I'm not aware of one at this time.

But the other thing you can do is make sure Voice Match is turned on, and then while the phone is in your car, say "Hey Google, show my messages. It should read the messages to you, either over the phone's speakers or the car stereo.

 

[Steven Jepson]

GOOD NEWS!!!!!
TellItToMe is THE app to get hands-free working!!!
It still needs some tweaking, but it now works.
So I'll now be a MS person on 'Droid.

Thanks for everyone's help!

SBJ

 

[wilsodw]

I have been using Read it to me for a couple of years also with Note 9 and now S10e. It also works with FB messenger and such by allowing answer back with voice. I too use thePlantronics Voyager Legend.

 

[11B1P]

Having Cortana read your text messages on Android never worked like WP. I too miss that feature. Glad to hear you fixed your issue.

I too tried the MS launchers but decided to let them go. I don't remember if any of them gave you Live tiles like WP. I finally decided since WP was dead, I decided to go all in with Google.