Another one back to iPhone after trying Android..

[mattopotamus]

You know what, you just describe why people like Android better than IOS. You had the "ability" and "freedom" to change what you didn't like! I mean you was forced to like what IOS gave you so you think that how thing "suppose" to be!

Even with all of the customization, an open app drawer is simply the most functional and practical way to go.

 

[adder7712]

People actually use Kies? ._.

I don't. I only use it to update my phone when I was running stock ROMs.

Even that, it's a pain to use.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I agree with a lot of what you've said OP, especially this in one of your next posts:


Backing up an Android device is a terrible experience. It's a total joke that you need to root your device to make a decent backup. It really does become this massive time wasting hobby, needing to mess with and tweak a device to get functionality that should be there out-of-the-box. And then you get people telling you to get this app, or that app to get basic functionality that you want, then you get them, find they do what you were looking for... but then do other things terribly. For example, I had people on here tell me to replace Chrome on my N7, as it was really laggy, jerky etc, with Boat Browser, saying that it would be much smoother- it was a lot better than Chrome (thanks to those who suggested it). Then I was getting incredibly frustrated with the stock Jelly Bean keyboard. If I ever mistyped letters early in a word and it autocorrected the word to something incorrect, but close enough that I'd only need to change the last one or two letters of the word, I'd then backspace over those last couple of letters... and it would revert to the incorrect typing I'd written earlier. This happened so often that I'd avoid using the N7 for anything longer than a few words. Then I tried Swiftkey, which was slightly better, but isn't the godsend from typing heaven that people make it out to be, and found that it wouldn't autocorrect anything when used in Boat Browser.

Also the colour scheme is nasty, I agree. iOS, Windows and OS X are so much easier on the eyes. I thought I'd like Holo, but after a while I really got over how dark and muddy-looking everything was (I don't think the N7's washed out screen helped here). Dark grey keyboards on black backgrounds, white letters on black backgrounds, grey buttons, sickly shades of green in the Play Store... yeah I wasn't a fan. I much preferred the light Holo theme that popped up from time-to-time in certain apps, although the bright blues on white backgrounds could get hard to read on the washed-out N7 screen.

Before I get attacked, some parts of iOS look pretty bad too- e.g. the skeuomorphic apps like Game Centre and Find My Friends (shudder), but on the whole, I find the lighter colours and themes of iOS much easier on the eyes.

I would like to point out it has gotten better and you can no make backups of your phone. Plenty of tolls out there and they do not require root access. You hook your phone to your computer run it. The phone will alert you to a back up being made and it will ask if you would like to password protected it and then it is made. When you restore a back up it will prompt you for a password. Leave blank if no password and it restores everything.

 

[Tinmania]

I would like to point out it has gotten better and you can no make backups of your phone. Plenty of tolls out there and they do not require root access. You hook your phone to your computer run it. The phone will alert you to a back up being made and it will ask if you would like to password protected it and then it is made. When you restore a back up it will prompt you for a password. Leave blank if no password and it restores everything.

What is so bad about the built in backup to google that no one seems to even mention it? That is all I used after I wiped my N4 and started from scratch. To me it was even easier than iOS. Soon as I signed into Google it asked if I wanted to restore and I said yes.

I should note that I had to have camera roll backups turned off on my iPhone and iPad. 5GB, shared, didn't cut it.




Michael

 

[Rodimus Prime]

What is so bad about the built in backup to google that no one seems to even mention it? That is all I used after I wiped my N4 and started from scratch. To me it was even easier than iOS. Soon as I signed into Google it asked if I wanted to restore and I said yes.

I should note that I had to have camera roll backups turned off on my iPhone and iPad. 5GB, shared, didn't cut it.




Michael

Honestly I find nothing wrong with Google. It is all I really use any how. The biggest pain in the rear for me is getting all the home screen and ring tones set back up. I need to just get a back up made from nova launch and save it to dropbox.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

What is so bad about the built in backup to google that no one seems to even mention it? That is all I used after I wiped my N4 and started from scratch. To me it was even easier than iOS. Soon as I signed into Google it asked if I wanted to restore and I said yes.

I should note that I had to have camera roll backups turned off on my iPhone and iPad. 5GB, shared, didn't cut it.




Michael

I think Google restore is damn good. They just need to handle apps better, and give us more control of what apps to restore. Other than that it's quicker and more reliable than iCloud.

 

[mattopotamus]

I may be wrong, but a google backup does not back up call logs, messages, apps. It just backs up contacts and setting right?

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I may be wrong, but a google backup does not back up call logs, messages, apps. It just backs up contacts and setting right?

It also back ups apps. On a fresh install it will proceed to re download everything you had up to at least the version you had. Now it might take a while depending on the number of apps. For my last one took around 2 hours to finish but I have some large apps.

 

[mattopotamus]

It also back ups apps. On a fresh install it will proceed to re download everything you had up to at least the version you had. Now it might take a while depending on the number of apps. For my last one took around 2 hours to finish but I have some large apps.

Does it back up app data or just redownloads them?

 

[Tinmania]

I may be wrong, but a google backup does not back up call logs, messages, apps. It just backs up contacts and setting right?

Back up my data. If you check this option, a wide variety of your personal data is backed up automatically, including your Wi-Fi passwords, Chrome bookmarks, a list of the apps you’ve installed on Google Play, the words you’ve added to the dictionary used by the onscreen keyboard, and most of your customized settings. Some third-party apps may also take advantage of this feature, so you can restore your data if you reinstall an app.

If you uncheck this option, your data stops getting backed up, and any existing backups are deleted from Google servers.

http://support.google.com/nexus/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2818754&topic=2812438&ctx=topic


Michael

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Does it back up app data or just redownloads them?

Apple data is not backed up. You have to do that yourself. There are plenty of tools out there that do not require root.

 

[Tinmania]

Apple data is not backed up. You have to do that yourself. There are plenty of tools out there that do not require root.

From what I understand app data, or settings, can be be backed up if the developer uses that feature. That said most of the apps I use don't really have data that is local. Most of the ones that do have their own backups for it.

That said I don't think I am going to bother with a backup up. Google's is fine for me. I am rooted too. Maybe I will look into a USB solution that backs up to my mac. That was the only way I could do a full backup on my iPhone anyway (iTunes manual backup).



Michael

 

[Belmont31R]

A couple more things I forgot to mention that annoyed me a lot on the S3.


1. VoiceMail- I HATED calling the number it gave me for voicemail, and not having a visual representation of voicemail. Then you have to type in number codes to navigate and make inputs to your VM box. More than once I accidentally deleted messages people left that I'd have liked to save. IOS voicemail is WAY better.

2. In the call log on the S3 it would include people I text. So if I texted 5 people in one day it was showing all these people I text. Call log should be for phone calls only.



As to some of the other stuff people have been posting about....I never said the S3 isn't a good phone, and if turning your phone into a hobby or endlessly tinkering with it is your thing then Android is better for you an than any IOS device.

I'm not sure how Google restore works but I did do a factory restore on my phone before I gave it to my wife, and I did put my Google account email in there on startup to get some of the apps I paid for back so she could use them. It never asked to restore or gave me that option.

In the end I realized all I need is a simple to use phone that is enjoyable when I do use it, and I just happen to fall into the IOS camp. I like tinkering with computers, and as I said built my own computer this year, and have upgraded my laptop. I watch a lot of tech based youtube channels regularly....just don't feel like expending so much energy for a phone I use mainly for like 5 things: texting, phone, weather, internet, and streaming music or talk radio while driving. I watch youtube on my laptop or desktop. Occasionally I watch them through the TV which has a built in YouTube app. I have no idea why people would want to watch a nice 1080P video on a 4 or 4.8" screen when they usually have such better options available. I might occasionally watch one on a phone if its a short video and I'm not doing anything else at the time like waiting in the car when I pick the kids up or whatever. It's not something that is going to make or break a phone for me nor is playing games on the phone with a full size BlueTooth controller.

So I think it's fair to say neither phone is better than the other in a general sense but each phone is better for certain market segments. IOS is better for people like me who want something that is simple and works well for what it works well at, and Android is better for people who like to tinker and treat their phone like a hobby always chasing the next best thing. Android fans have new phones coming out every month it seems so it's a logical thought process to want to have the same thing software wise as well. Just off the top of my head theres there Nexus 4, Note II, HTC DNA, and Droid Maxx HD...maybe a couple others. It's an endless supply of new phones and the next best thing sort of culture.

I just like the simple to use environment Apple has setup, and I don't have to spend hours researching how to do specific things like rooting the phone and then being nervous as heck I was about to brick my phone. iCloud works for me, and I've never had a single problem with it. iTunes works for me, and is the best stock software out there for smartphones. Again I don't want to spend hours and experimenting with all kinds of different programs and apps to do what Apple products do well right off the bat. The poster above who said it right. Someone would have an issue with something on an Android device, and you get 10 different apps or program suggestions which all bring on their own set of issues. To me it's like a cat chasing it's own tail. I guess people have endless amounts of time to do all that, and there are forums full of people devoting all their free time into this.

Last thing for now is the screen size thing people bring up. When you actually put both phones side by side, and compare them I think IOS makes better use of the screen size. The keyboard and menu doesn't take up as much room so for something like text messaging you end up getting only about a 1/4" more space to see text messages that have already been sent. And that's between a phone with a 4" screen vs. 4.8". Not every Android phone has that big of a screen, and something like the Nexus 4 has on screen buttons with a smaller screen than the S3 so you'll probably end up with less space to read prior text messages than the iPhone 5.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

A couple more things I forgot to mention that annoyed me a lot on the S3.


1. VoiceMail- I HATED calling the number it gave me for voicemail, and not having a visual representation of voicemail. Then you have to type in number codes to navigate and make inputs to your VM box. More than once I accidentally deleted messages people left that I'd have liked to save. IOS voicemail is WAY better.

2. In the call log on the S3 it would include people I text. So if I texted 5 people in one day it was showing all these people I text. Call log should be for phone calls only.

Just going to point out some things there. First off it is very easy to free VVM on any android phone. Just get Google voice and have it set up to use it as your voice mail. I have been using GV for well over 2 years now just as voice mail. First on my blackberry and then on my Android phone. 100% free. It works really well on android with full push syncing. Also shortly after a voice mail is placed it will convert it to text so you can read the message. now text voice mails are flacky at best but generally good enough for you to get the jest of the message.

2. Now your call log thing. That is going to fall under touch wize crap. Stock android does not do that. Also there are a lot of 3rd party dailers out there that would not do that.

Just going to point that out.

Now if you used Google voice I will say you will find Apple VM complete at utter crap compared to what Google offers.

 

[cynics]

A couple more things I forgot to mention that annoyed me a lot on the S3.


1. VoiceMail- I HATED calling the number it gave me for voicemail, and not having a visual representation of voicemail. Then you have to type in number codes to navigate and make inputs to your VM box. More than once I accidentally deleted messages people left that I'd have liked to save. IOS voicemail is WAY better.

2. In the call log on the S3 it would include people I text. So if I texted 5 people in one day it was showing all these people I text. Call log should be for phone calls only.



As to some of the other stuff people have been posting about....I never said the S3 isn't a good phone, and if turning your phone into a hobby or endlessly tinkering with it is your thing then Android is better for you an than any IOS device.

I'm not sure how Google restore works but I did do a factory restore on my phone before I gave it to my wife, and I did put my Google account email in there on startup to get some of the apps I paid for back so she could use them. It never asked to restore or gave me that option.

In the end I realized all I need is a simple to use phone that is enjoyable when I do use it, and I just happen to fall into the IOS camp. I like tinkering with computers, and as I said built my own computer this year, and have upgraded my laptop. I watch a lot of tech based youtube channels regularly....just don't feel like expending so much energy for a phone I use mainly for like 5 things: texting, phone, weather, internet, and streaming music or talk radio while driving. I watch youtube on my laptop or desktop. Occasionally I watch them through the TV which has a built in YouTube app. I have no idea why people would want to watch a nice 1080P video on a 4 or 4.8" screen when they usually have such better options available. I might occasionally watch one on a phone if its a short video and I'm not doing anything else at the time like waiting in the car when I pick the kids up or whatever. It's not something that is going to make or break a phone for me nor is playing games on the phone with a full size BlueTooth controller.

So I think it's fair to say neither phone is better than the other in a general sense but each phone is better for certain market segments. IOS is better for people like me who want something that is simple and works well for what it works well at, and Android is better for people who like to tinker and treat their phone like a hobby always chasing the next best thing. Android fans have new phones coming out every month it seems so it's a logical thought process to want to have the same thing software wise as well. Just off the top of my head theres there Nexus 4, Note II, HTC DNA, and Droid Maxx HD...maybe a couple others. It's an endless supply of new phones and the next best thing sort of culture.

I just like the simple to use environment Apple has setup, and I don't have to spend hours researching how to do specific things like rooting the phone and then being nervous as heck I was about to brick my phone. iCloud works for me, and I've never had a single problem with it. iTunes works for me, and is the best stock software out there for smartphones. Again I don't want to spend hours and experimenting with all kinds of different programs and apps to do what Apple products do well right off the bat. The poster above who said it right. Someone would have an issue with something on an Android device, and you get 10 different apps or program suggestions which all bring on their own set of issues. To me it's like a cat chasing it's own tail. I guess people have endless amounts of time to do all that, and there are forums full of people devoting all their free time into this.

Last thing for now is the screen size thing people bring up. When you actually put both phones side by side, and compare them I think IOS makes better use of the screen size. The keyboard and menu doesn't take up as much room so for something like text messaging you end up getting only about a 1/4" more space to see text messages that have already been sent. And that's between a phone with a 4" screen vs. 4.8". Not every Android phone has that big of a screen, and something like the Nexus 4 has on screen buttons with a smaller screen than the S3 so you'll probably end up with less space to read prior text messages than the iPhone 5.

Oh brother. You had the phone for how long and you didn't set up some kind of visual voicemail?

IOS visual voicemail is good? Please explain to me how I forward a voicemail using it. Or better yet how do I get the voicemail sent to me as a text when I'm in a meeting....that stuff would be really useful for me with my iPhone.....(hint: S3 can do that, at least on ATT, any android can set up visual voicemail via Google voice)

 

[Belmont31R]

Why doesn't it do that how it comes out of the box?


I guess another reason why I prefer IOS. Don't have to keep downloading stuff to get basic functions and hunt out how to do things.


Nice to know, though. Ill mess with it on the phone since my wife is using it, and try to set it up for her.


*****

Alright installed Google Voice, and went through the setup (with an errror!) and did a test voice mail. Nothing showed up in the Google Voice app, and it's not integrated into the stock phone app at all. So you have to switch back and forth between apps?

 

[mattopotamus]

Why doesn't it do that how it comes out of the box?


I guess another reason why I prefer IOS. Don't have to keep downloading stuff to get basic functions and hunt out how to do things.


Nice to know, though. Ill mess with it on the phone since my wife is using it, and try to set it up for her.


*****

Alright installed Google Voice, and went through the setup (with an errror!) and did a test voice mail. Nothing showed up in the Google Voice app, and it's not integrated into the stock phone app at all. So you have to switch back and forth between apps?

Image

Likewise when trying to set up google voice voicemail and can't use AT&T voicemail b.c it's not supported on 4.2

 

[ilovemyiphone12]

I'm unable to restore my phone to a backup file on my computer. It won't show up in itunes. Could anyone help me with this? I know it contains everything because I used "Wondershare Date Recovery for itunes" and can see it... text message too...!!! but it charges a fee to "recover" it for me. Any suggestion on how to do this myself?

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Likewise when trying to set up google voice voicemail and can't use AT&T voicemail b.c it's not supported on 4.2

that bug has been fixed and that would only effect the Nexus devices seeing as they are the only ones who can even have 4.2 right now.

Why doesn't it do that how it comes out of the box?


I guess another reason why I prefer IOS. Don't have to keep downloading stuff to get basic functions and hunt out how to do things.


Nice to know, though. Ill mess with it on the phone since my wife is using it, and try to set it up for her.


*****

Alright installed Google Voice, and went through the setup (with an errror!) and did a test voice mail. Nothing showed up in the Google Voice app, and it's not integrated into the stock phone app at all. So you have to switch back and forth between apps?

Image

Question is did you set it up right? I never did it threw the app but instead followed the direction online that changed how AT&T automatically forwards all missed/rejected calls to my google voice number for a voice mail.

I have had zero issues with it and i have used it across 2 android phones. Now not sure how it should integrate into my call log. I have it as yes a 2nd app but it shows the number of messages right on the icon. It has never been an issue for me.

Also rerun the app. That might fix the entire problem. You might of gotten some bad data on the first set up. That is a lot more data that is pushed down to the phone so chances are a lot greater that something when wrong as it was parsing threw the data which I am willing to bet is a very very long string that is going to be broken down to xml format by the phone then ripped appart. 1 bad char can cause a crash.

 

[mattopotamus]

that bug has been fixed and that would only effect the Nexus devices seeing as they are the only ones who can even have 4.2 right now.





Question is did you set it up right? I never did it threw the app but instead followed the direction online that changed how AT&T automatically forwards all missed/rejected calls to my google voice number for a voice mail.

I have had zero issues with it and i have used it across 2 android phones. Now not sure how it should integrate into my call log. I have it as yes a 2nd app but it shows the number of messages right on the icon. It has never been an issue for me.

Also rerun the app. That might fix the entire problem. You might of gotten some bad data on the first set up. That is a lot more data that is pushed down to the phone so chances are a lot greater that something when wrong as it was parsing threw the data which I am willing to bet is a very very long string that is going to be broken down to xml format by the phone then ripped appart. 1 bad char can cause a crash.

I just figured if none of their phones had the version of android that they would not support it. I had that issue on the last nexus when 4.1 came out.

 

[Belmont31R]

that bug has been fixed and that would only effect the Nexus devices seeing as they are the only ones who can even have 4.2 right now.





Question is did you set it up right? I never did it threw the app but instead followed the direction online that changed how AT&T automatically forwards all missed/rejected calls to my google voice number for a voice mail.

I have had zero issues with it and i have used it across 2 android phones. Now not sure how it should integrate into my call log. I have it as yes a 2nd app but it shows the number of messages right on the icon. It has never been an issue for me.

Also rerun the app. That might fix the entire problem. You might of gotten some bad data on the first set up. That is a lot more data that is pushed down to the phone so chances are a lot greater that something when wrong as it was parsing threw the data which I am willing to bet is a very very long string that is going to be broken down to xml format by the phone then ripped appart. 1 bad char can cause a crash.

Reloaded the app, and got the same error message but I did go to the website for Google Voice, and had to enable her phone that way. So the phone uses Google Voice for voice mail now but its going to be two separate apps. Did a test voicemail and it popped up with the notification on her phone and if you click on the notification goes to the Google Voice app.

Thanks for the suggestions and help!

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Reloaded the app, and got the same error message but I did go to the website for Google Voice, and had to enable her phone that way. So the phone uses Google Voice for voice mail now but its going to be two separate apps. Did a test voicemail and it popped up with the notification on her phone and if you click on the notification goes to the Google Voice app.

Thanks for the suggestions and help!

I would not put it past the carriers blocking GV app from making all the changes. It always been flaky when I have tried it but I did it threw the direction from Google before I flipped to android so my sitting moved right over.

Hell I honestly have no clue what either my former Atrix 4G or current G Nexus standard voice mail system even work. I been on GV for so long that I like it being seperate. it just works better that way for me personally.

My favorit part of it is Voice to text part and that is something I do not want to give up.

 

[dojoman]

Why doesn't it do that how it comes out of the box?


I guess another reason why I prefer IOS. Don't have to keep downloading stuff to get basic functions and hunt out how to do things.


Nice to know, though. Ill mess with it on the phone since my wife is using it, and try to set it up for her.


*****

Alright installed Google Voice, and went through the setup (with an errror!) and did a test voice mail. Nothing showed up in the Google Voice app, and it's not integrated into the stock phone app at all. So you have to switch back and forth between apps?

Image

Yep this kind of things that pop up randomly on my SG3 that I had briefly made me go back to iOS. This and amongs many other issues mainly the horrible power button placement. Try pressing volume up without accidently pressing power. home button is not recessed so you accidently pressed it for no reason. You can tell Samsung did not think things carefully of hardware button placement.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

that bug has been fixed and that would only effect the Nexus devices seeing as they are the only ones who can even have 4.2 right now.





Question is did you set it up right? I never did it threw the app but instead followed the direction online that changed how AT&T automatically forwards all missed/rejected calls to my google voice number for a voice mail.

I have had zero issues with it and i have used it across 2 android phones. Now not sure how it should integrate into my call log. I have it as yes a 2nd app but it shows the number of messages right on the icon. It has never been an issue for me.

Also rerun the app. That might fix the entire problem. You might of gotten some bad data on the first set up. That is a lot more data that is pushed down to the phone so chances are a lot greater that something when wrong as it was parsing threw the data which I am willing to bet is a very very long string that is going to be broken down to xml format by the phone then ripped appart. 1 bad char can cause a crash.

Just wondering why you would use GV for voicemail instead of the AT&T messages app which sets up visual voice flawless?

 

[cynics]

Just wondering why you would use GV for voicemail instead of the AT&T messages app which sets up visual voice flawless?

I don't know all the options of GV but if it offers voice to text and I believe att makes you pay for that feature...I could be wrong I'm going off YouTube videos...