48 hours with Android, now I'm torn

[roxics]

So on Monday I sold off my iPhone 6 and bought an LG V10. My buddy and co-worker got one and I was impressed with the manual photo and video controls. I've been wanting a 4K shooting phone for a while and add manual controls and raw photos and I was sold.

Now I've had the phone for 48 hours and what I thought I'd like about it I don't care for and what I didn't think I'd like I do I like. For example. The video quality isn't as good as the HD quality from my iPhone 6. Even when I set the phone to HD it stutters with image stabilization whereas the iPhone looked like it was on a steadicam when I would shoot it. 4K mode is worse with a constant wobble to the image I don't see with 6S footage online. Granted I'm a steady shooter, I do video production for a living. As for manual controls. Cool, but I'm realizing it's almost too much for a phone. What I shoot with my phone is home videos, I want to shoot quickly and not mess with controls. So I'm mostly using it in auto mode which defeats the purpose of wanting the phone. That's kind of disappointing.

On the flip side, I really love the way Android stores images. iOS throws everything in the camera roll. Android puts things in different folders depending on the app that acquired the image. Photos and videos I shoot go in the camera folder, images downloaded from the tumblr app go in the tumblr folder, images from Chrome go in a photos folder and so on. This is so much better consider Apple tried to force us to use the new Photos app on mac which wants to take everything off the phone and put it all together even though some of it is photos shot by me and some downloaded from online.

I also love that you can pretty much save videos from anywhere on Android. HTML5 video somewhere on the web, just hold down and save video. It's these things that have me torn.

However I'm having a really hard time with simple things on Android. Email for example, there are no little numbers that pop up next to the email icon to tell you when you have new emails. Either with the gmail app or the mail app. The mail app won't even check for new mail faster than every 15 minutes. Super frustrating. There are also no notifications on the lock screen. Nothing that quickly tells me I got a new text message unless I'm using my phone at the time it comes in. At least that icon has the little numbers though.

I'm really missing the hardware mute switch the iPhone has. I've had my phone go to silent accidentally when I didn't want it to, and be on sound when I didn't want it to. It doesn't help that on this particular model the volume buttons are on the back of the phone which is really awkward to use. It keeps changing my ringer volume as well (which isn't loud enough to begin with at max) when I change my main volume. I can't figure out why it's doing this. There are four different volume controls and they seem to randomly change at different times.

Getting to the camera quickly is also frustrating. Supposedly you can hold down the lower volume key to quickly launch it but that doesn't work most of the time. There doesn't seem to be an easy/quick way to get to it from the lock screen either and I did that kind of stuff all the time with the iPhone when I need to take a quick picture. Finger print scanner is also difficult to use (being on the back) and doesn't work sometimes. Have to keep repositioning the finger.

I can see some of the things people might like about Android, but I'm trying to figure out how anyone deals with it on a daily basis with such simple things being so difficult to do.

I really want to like this phone and there are things I love about it. As I mentioned. Certain apps are also better than iPhone versions whereas most others aren't. I want to give it a couple more days, but right now it's looking like this is going back to the store for a 6S or 6S Plus.

What has been your experience with Android, any tips?

 

[Mxbzz]

However I'm having a really hard time with simple things on Android. Email for example, there are no little numbers that pop up next to the email icon to tell you when you have new emails. Either with the gmail app or the mail app. The mail app won't even check for new mail faster than every 15 minutes. Super frustrating. There are also no notifications on the lock screen. Nothing that quickly tells me I got a new text message unless I'm using my phone at the time it comes in. At least that icon has the little numbers though.

You might want to try Nova Launcher -- it has the functionality to add app badges and allows you to customize the look.

I use the Gmail app and my emails seem to push just fine. Maybe it's just a setting somewhere?

There are some lock screens you can download from the app store that can display notifications on the lock screen (CM Locker, Next Lock Screen by Microsoft, etc).

However, with your V10, I believe the intent for the always-on secondary screen was to show you notifications. The V10 might also have an LED which is customizable to show different colors depending on the notification (LightFlow)

I'm really missing the hardware mute switch the iPhone has. I've had my phone go to silent accidentally when I didn't want it to, and be on sound when I didn't want it to. It doesn't help that on this particular model the volume buttons are on the back of the phone which is really awkward to use. It keeps changing my ringer volume as well (which isn't loud enough to begin with at max) when I change my main volume. I can't figure out why it's doing this. There are four different volume controls and they seem to randomly change at different times.

I am also a fan of the hardware switch on the iPhone, but I've never encountered the issues you're having. I have an S6 Edge so my volume buttons are on the side of the phone. I use Llama to auto-silence my phone based on area (Llama uses cellular tower IDs to identify where you are, and I haven't noticed any battery impacts)

Getting to the camera quickly is also frustrating. Supposedly you can hold down the lower volume key to quickly launch it but that doesn't work most of the time. There doesn't seem to be an easy/quick way to get to it from the lock screen either and I did that kind of stuff all the time with the iPhone when I need to take a quick picture. Finger print scanner is also difficult to use (being on the back) and doesn't work sometimes. Have to keep repositioning the finger.

This I can't help with-- my S6 Edge is a simple double-click of the home button, as well as being the fingerprint sensor.

I can see some of the things people might like about Android, but I'm trying to figure out how anyone deals with it on a daily basis with such simple things being so difficult to do.

I really want to like this phone and there are things I love about it. As I mentioned. Certain apps are also better than iPhone versions whereas most others aren't. I want to give it a couple more days, but right now it's looking like this is going back to the store for a 6S or 6S Plus.

What has been your experience with Android, any tips?

By now you've probably noticed how many alternative applications I've suggested that might alleviate some of your issues-- this is the gift and curse of Android. There are so many great apps that can enhance your experience, that it can easily be overwhelming to many.

My only advice is to keep an open mind on how Android / the V10 handles certain functionalities-- try as hard NOT to compare it to how iOS would handle it. There is no right or wrong, it's a matter of getting used to how each OS works. Android is never going to be iOS and vice versa, so if you're unable or unwilling to adapt to the Android UI, you'll never be happy with the V10.

Maybe try another Android device? I mean, worst case scenario is that you gave Android a legitimate try and have your own experiences, and switch back to the iPhone. That is a HUGE step over the naysayers who won't even touch Android but will criticize Android users when given the chance (and vice versa).

 

[nathdogg]

The email number notification/lockscreen notification sounds like it could be a setting that might be turned off, as both work perfectly on my galaxy s6. I'm not sure if this differs from handset to handset, but I understand your frustration. One thing that annoys me with the mail app is that I can't select all and Mark as read. I have to select/tick every email one at a time, then mark as read.

As a last resort I would suggest a factory reset to see if that sorts the problem with your notifications.

As for the email polling, I'm not sure there is much you can do about that with the default mail app. If the account you are using doesn't support push then the minimum seems to be 15mins. Have you tried any other email clients? As this may be possible with them. I wouldn't be able to suggest which ones as the stock app works ok for my needs.

 

[BlueGoldAce]

The majority of your complaints can be fixed with alternate apps, launchers, etc. The majority of the software can be changed to fit your needs and wants.

The hardware is what you are stuck dealing with. Personally, I do not like LG hardware or software. I would recommend a Moto, Nexus, or Samsung (s6 or note 5) over your current phone.

 

[Flow39]

The majority of your complaints can be fixed with alternate apps, launchers, etc. The majority of the software can be changed to fit your needs and wants.

The hardware is what you are stuck dealing with. Personally, I do not like LG hardware or software. I would recommend a Moto, Nexus, or Samsung (s6 or note 5) over your current phone.

I'd recommend a Nexus or Moto X as well over any LG phone. The software is nasty to deal with-bloated and RAM hungry. Stock is 10x better in my opinion.

 

[roxics]

Thanks for all the tips. I will see what I can do. I've installed Nova Launcher right now but it doesn't seem to be all that different than what came with the phone, just less icons per screen.

The problem with going to a different phone is that I can only trade it in once. Even then with a restocking fee. So if I did decide to get rid of it, I'm not sure I'd want to take my chances with another Android phone. Even if it ultimately proved to be better, I just wouldn't know till I used it for a few days and if I didn't like it as much I'd be stuck.

Let's not forget that the biggest reason I even switched to this particular phone was because of the camera with full manual video and photo controls. Which as far as I understand, no other Android phone has. At least for video. Not to mention the removable battery, SD card slot and rugged build quality. It was a complete 180 from an iPhone and even a lot of other current flagship android phones that are getting more iPhone-like. Otherwise I would have never even made the switch to Android. It was this phone in particular that captivated me. If I'm just going to go to another phone that has auto controls for video, non-removable battery, no SD card slot and fragile design, I might as well just go back to a trusted iPhone.

But I'm going to continue to try to work with this phone for a couple more days. Just to give it a good try and stick with it if I can get it to work well enough for me.

 

[Fanaticalism]

Thanks for all the tips. I will see what I can do. I've installed Nova Launcher right now but it doesn't seem to be all that different than what came with the phone, just less icons per screen.

The problem with going to a different phone is that I can only trade it in once. Even then with a restocking fee. So if I did decide to get rid of it, I'm not sure I'd want to take my chances with another Android phone. Even if it ultimately proved to be better, I just wouldn't know till I used it for a few days and if I didn't like it as much I'd be stuck.

Let's not forget that the biggest reason I even switched to this particular phone was because of the camera with full manual video and photo controls. Which as far as I understand, no other Android phone has. At least for video. Not to mention the removable battery, SD card slot and rugged build quality. It was a complete 180 from an iPhone and even a lot of other current flagship android phones that are getting more iPhone-like. Otherwise I would have never even made the switch to Android. It was this phone in particular that captivated me. If I'm just going to go to another phone that has auto controls for video, non-removable battery, no SD card slot and fragile design, I might as well just go back to a trusted iPhone.

But I'm going to continue to try to work with this phone for a couple more days. Just to give it a good try and stick with it if I can get it to work well enough for me.

I would've purchased a Samsung as it seems that it addresses all the things you were looking for from your iPhone.

Quick launch camera from anywhere with double tapping the home button
Auto-create folders in gallery depending on source
Manual camera controls
Notification Badges + lock screen notification cards

I can understand your rationalization of going back to what is guaranteed to work for you if your giving the things you mentioned.

As far as email sync, not all mail services support push via the stock mail app. If you use yahoo, you would need to download the yahoo mail app.

Someone mentioned Nova launcher but you need to download the Tesla Unread notification application for it show the badges.

 

[s0nicpr0s]

The quick launch shortcuts for the camera and quick-memo+ are activated by double tapping the volume keys. At least on the G4. There is an option with the camera shortcut that will snap a picture as quickly as it can (sometimes very quickly, other times there's a bit of a lag).

 

[John Mcgregor]

Thanks for all the tips. I will see what I can do. I've installed Nova Launcher right now but it doesn't seem to be all that different than what came with the phone, just less icons per screen.

The problem with going to a different phone is that I can only trade it in once. Even then with a restocking fee. So if I did decide to get rid of it, I'm not sure I'd want to take my chances with another Android phone. Even if it ultimately proved to be better, I just wouldn't know till I used it for a few days and if I didn't like it as much I'd be stuck.

Let's not forget that the biggest reason I even switched to this particular phone was because of the camera with full manual video and photo controls. Which as far as I understand, no other Android phone has. At least for video. Not to mention the removable battery, SD card slot and rugged build quality. It was a complete 180 from an iPhone and even a lot of other current flagship android phones that are getting more iPhone-like. Otherwise I would have never even made the switch to Android. It was this phone in particular that captivated me. If I'm just going to go to another phone that has auto controls for video, non-removable battery, no SD card slot and fragile design, I might as well just go back to a trusted iPhone.

But I'm going to continue to try to work with this phone for a couple more days. Just to give it a good try and stick with it if I can get it to work well enough for me.

Just return it and end your pain.

 

[mrex]

Thanks for all the tips. I will see what I can do. I've installed Nova Launcher right now but it doesn't seem to be all that different than what came with the phone, just less icons per screen.

It let you choose how many icons, columns/rows, dock icons etc... you want to have. Just change it from the settings of the Nova launcher.

The problem with going to a different phone is that I can only trade it in once.

I ques the real problem is not the phone but that you just have to learn how to use it. Default settings and apps are just defaults. Most of the things you can change from the settings and get better apps from playstore. Now when you have installed Nova, have you tried to change settings from the app to customize it? For example the numbers of the icons on the screen/dock? Or activated Tesla unread msg from the settings of Nova?

Let's not forget that the biggest reason I even switched to this particular phone was because of the camera with full manual video and photo controls.

Dont know about lg cam app, but in playstore there are several good apps for the cam.

But I'm going to continue to try to work with this phone for a couple more days. Just to give it a good try and stick with it if I can get it to work well enough for me.

Yes, you should play with it and its settings. If you try differend settings, the phone wont be broken, but you may find some cool things you never knew you are able to do...

 

[hallux]

However I'm having a really hard time with simple things on Android. Email for example, there are no little numbers that pop up next to the email icon to tell you when you have new emails. Either with the gmail app or the mail app. The mail app won't even check for new mail faster than every 15 minutes. Super frustrating. There are also no notifications on the lock screen. Nothing that quickly tells me I got a new text message unless I'm using my phone at the time it comes in. At least that icon has the little numbers though.

My Nexus 6P has notifications on the lockscreen (see the attached screenshot) and allows you to unlock directly to the app posting the notification. As for the badges, it's all in how you use the device, Android has the pull-down notification shade that has all your mail alerts. As you can see in the screenshot, there is a count of unread messages in the notification also. I've never found myself wanting those badges but I've also never used an iPhone for my personal device. Samsung devices have the badges on some icons, but then you have to deal with Samsung's overlay/garbage. The stock mail app is a manufacturer decision, the Nexus 6P doesn't have an "email" app, one of my Exchange mailboxes is handled through the Gmail app and syncs just fine, the other is handled through Divide (MobileIron).

Getting to the camera quickly is also frustrating. Supposedly you can hold down the lower volume key to quickly launch it but that doesn't work most of the time. There doesn't seem to be an easy/quick way to get to it from the lock screen either and I did that kind of stuff all the time with the iPhone when I need to take a quick picture. Finger print scanner is also difficult to use (being on the back) and doesn't work sometimes. Have to keep repositioning the finger.

Nexus 6P has double-tap on the power button to get to the camera, from any screen (even screen off) and I find the fingerprint scanner to work great.

Any device other than a Nexus is the manufacturer's take on Android. Nexus devices don't have some of the fluff that other devices have, but there are apps to get you much of that functionality if you miss it.

The Photos app on my Nexus filters/sorts the photos by source (screenshot/camera/etc).

Oh, and the long-term updates you're used to on iPhones? Yeah, the Nexus will get the latest version of Android for at least 2 years, can't say the same for Samsung, LG, HTC.

 

[maxsix]

I'd recommend a Nexus or Moto X as well over any LG phone. The software is nasty to deal with-bloated and RAM hungry. Stock is 10x better in my opinion.

Here's yet another opinion for the OP's consideration.

I mindfully challenge myself to remain open and embrace both Android & iOS Smartphones.

Putting my money where my mouth is, to use a common expression, I've maintained four dedicated phone lines concurrently since 2007 for the express purpose of using, enjoying, and keeping current with both Android and iOS. Each of which I've used heavily in every version since they were released to the public.

Here's what I'm currently using:
1) Nexus 5 & 6
2) Moto X Pure
3) LG V10
4) iP6+/iP6S+

The LG V10 is rapidly becoming my favorite of the entire group. For a wide variety of reasons. So much that it may soon be considered my primary smartphone.

Make up _your_ mind based on your personal usage and experiences, but only after you've challenged yourself to learn and accept the differences.

If you don't learn all the goodness that Android offers today, as opposed to letting others influence your outlook, you're only cheating yourself.

Android is different!
Yes, I know you know that...
But give yourself the benefit of the doubt and learn Android... Then judge it.

Cheers

 

[LovingTeddy]

oh man, I hate the little red badges to death. I just hate it so much and the fact some of the red badges you cannot get ride of (i am looking at the system update notification), i decided to not use my iPhone all together. It is just annoying....

That is being said, I have no problem with GMail app with my Android phone. Notification appears on your notification sheet and lock screen as well. Android 5.0 and above has lock screen notification.

Also, with Android phone, you get notification lights. LED lights will brink different color depends on notification type, it is really lovely and awesome. I also love twisting gesture launch Camera and chop chop gesture to open flashlight with my Moto X 2014 and Moto X Play

 

[hallux]

Also, with Android phone, you get notification lights. LED lights will brink different color depends on notification type, it is really lovely and awesome. I also love twisting gesture launch Camera and chop chop gesture to open flashlight with my Moto X 2014 and Moto X Play

Not every Android phone has the notification LED, and an app is needed to get different colors. That app can cause wakelocks (interfering with Doze on Marshmallow unless they fixed it) and the Ambient Display in Marshmallow, which is similar to Moto Display. The Nexus 6P has a camera shortcut also, double-tap the power button and that can be used to launch ANY camera app (by setting a different default) rather than the Motorola camera only.

 

[LovingTeddy]

Not every Android phone has the notification LED, and an app is needed to get different colors. That app can cause wakelocks (interfering with Doze on Marshmallow unless they fixed it) and the Ambient Display in Marshmallow, which is similar to Moto Display. The Nexus 6P has a camera shortcut also, double-tap the power button and that can be used to launch ANY camera app (by setting a different default) rather than the Motorola camera only.

Yes.. The main point is notification system on Android is much more advance than iOS...Notification sheet on iOS is complete joke and that red notification badge is ugly as hell

 

[Blaze4G]

Not every Android phone has the notification LED, and an app is needed to get different colors. That app can cause wakelocks (interfering with Doze on Marshmallow unless they fixed it) and the Ambient Display in Marshmallow, which is similar to Moto Display. The Nexus 6P has a camera shortcut also, double-tap the power button and that can be used to launch ANY camera app (by setting a different default) rather than the Motorola camera only.

Most Android phones flagships or mid to high end has a notification light or something to atleast compensate for the lack of one (ambient display). Also you don't need an app for different colors. Some apps default to some colours while many apps allows you to choose a colour within its settings.
For me:
Email = blue
WhatsApp = green
WhatsApp group = white
Snapchat = yellow
Etc.
I.e. I have no app for notification light control.

 

[VertPin]

Any luck, OP?

 

[ackmondual]

Started off with a Samsung Galaxy s2, then moved on to a gs4 2 years ago. I enjoyed both. Especially the GPS. I'm up for "renewal", but I'm holding onto my Galaxy s4. When the battery dies, I'll replace it.

My main reason for going Android back in 2011 was I wanted a large screen phone. I can't recall if the 4" iPhone was out then, but that nor a 3.5" wasn't cutting it. Also wanted an app called Androminion that was Android only (which to this day, I've played over 1600 games of!). I like being able to set "shortcuts" onto a main page, and putting them anywhere. Widgets were also handy too, if not really necessary.

I still kept my iPod Touch 3, 4, and now 5 as gaming devices. There's still a backlog of games I'm trying to get through. My gs2/4 were my workhorses. If those went dead, I lose internet, email, GPS, etc, so it was nice to not put all your eggs in one basket.