Questions for Android users also familiar with iOS

[stanw]

I'm thinking of switching from a Note3 to the large iPhone. I have some concerns regarding how some things work in iOS.

1. If I am inside an app, like a web browser, watching a video, etc. and someone sends a message in Hangouts, how are you notified? On my Note3 I see the icon/notification at the top of the screen, what does iOS do to notify you of activity in another app?

2. Anyone know if Google Now remembers locations you have been to, and suggests drive times, and things in close proximity to you like it does on Android?

3. Can you access all of your personally uploaded songs in the cloud with the Google Play app like you can on Android?

Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[JH-]

I'm thinking of switching from a Note3 to the large iPhone. I have some concerns regarding how some things work in iOS.

1. If I am inside an app, like a web browser, watching a video, etc. and someone sends a message in Hangouts, how are you notified? On my Note3 I see the icon/notification at the top of the screen, what does iOS do to notify you of activity in another app?

Depends on your settings. It can either be a brief banner or a popup.

2. Anyone know if Google Now remembers locations you have been to, and suggests drive times, and things in close proximity to you like it does on Android?

Not sure

3. Can you access all of your personally uploaded songs in the cloud with the Google Play app like you can on Android?

Yes. And you can pin them.

Thanks in advance for any info.

Answers above.

 

[tbayrgs]

I'm thinking of switching from a Note3 to the large iPhone. I have some concerns regarding how some things work in iOS.

1. If I am inside an app, like a web browser, watching a video, etc. and someone sends a message in Hangouts, how are you notified? On my Note3 I see the icon/notification at the top of the screen, what does iOS do to notify you of activity in another app?

You have three choices. The first is to have an Alert pop up in the middle of the screen, including info and some options, depending on the app. The second is to have a small banner scroll down from the top of the display which gives you a preview of the message as well and will allow you to take action (i.e. quick reply to a Message or dismiss it). These will stay at the top for a few seconds then scroll away. You can also dismiss it manually immediately by swiping it up. The third option is to have no active notification, though you can still have it reside in your Notification Center (aka, notification panel or shade).

I've included a screenshot of an example of the notification settings for an app.

2. Anyone know if Google Now remembers locations you have been to, and suggests drive times, and things in close proximity to you like it does on Android?

It does but to be honest, notifications seem to be hit and miss. I used to get notifications suggesting times to leave for a particular destination but I haven't lately and didn't change any settings. I've been running the iOS 8 beta for a while though and this might have something to do with it. Honesty, not sure.

Google Now does still work though, in nearly the exact same fashion as it does on Android, one notable exception of course being that you can't activate it by voice from the home screen. If you open the app though, you can use 'OK Google' voice activation.

3. Can you access all of your personally uploaded songs in the cloud with the Google Play app like you can on Android?

Short answer, yes. You can download for offline listening as well. The app functions in pretty much the same fashion as it does on Android.

Thanks in advance for any info.

Response embed in bold blue.

 

[stanw]

1. Can you specify how long the notification banner stays up for?
2. How do notifications on the lock screen work? Do the banners display on the lock screen as things come in?
3. After taking a photo/video can you choose to upload the individual file to Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, etc.?

Thanks!

 

[tbayrgs]

1. Can you specify how long the notification banner stays up for?
2. How do notifications on the lock screen work? Do the banners display on the lock screen as things come in?
3. After taking a photo/video can you choose to upload the individual file to Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, etc.?

Thanks!

1. No, can't customize how long the banner stays up. I'd guess it's about 5 seconds. The banners only appear when the phone is unlocked.

2. No banners on the lock screen, notifications appear in a scrollable list format and are actionable--i.e. swipe left on a Message and you have button to dismiss or reply. Also, Notification panel is accessible from the lock screen, will only show notifications that you allow on the lock screen.

3. Previous to iOS 8, where you could share from the Photos app (included videos) was limited to what Apple specified. For example, right now when I go to share a photo from the Photos app, my only choices are Message, Mail, iCloud Photo Sharing, Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr. With the new extensibility functionality in iOS 8, this could include any app--will be up to app developers. Of course, you could always share within other apps (i.e. Instagram, Vine, Google+, etc).

 

[stanw]

1. Where do downloaded images from webpages appear?
2. Is there any reason that you have to connect an iPhone to a Mac via USB? Can you transfer photos/videos/music and do everything without connecting to a Mac?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Cryates]

1. Where do downloaded images from webpages appear?
2. Is there any reason that you have to connect an iPhone to a Mac via USB? Can you transfer photos/videos/music and do everything without connecting to a Mac?

Thanks for your help.

1. The "Photos" app.
2. You can sync wirelessly to iTunes.

 

[tbayrgs]

1. Where do downloaded images from webpages appear?
2. Is there any reason that you have to connect an iPhone to a Mac via USB? Can you transfer photos/videos/music and do everything without connecting to a Mac?

Thanks for your help.

1. Photos app

2. I only use Macs at home so if your question is in regards to using Windows PCs, I can't help you there. In regards to plugging into a Mac, in theory, you don't ever have to plug in to a Mac to use the iPhone. I do periodically sync my iDevices with my Mac but only to backup the devices, sync my photo library on my iPad, and occasionally transfer video from our home library when I travel but it only requires that I plug in once to activate the ability to sync with my Mac over my wifi network.

You have to option to backup to iCloud instead of locally to a Mac and will be able to maintain any photo libraries wirelessly via the new iCloud Photo sharing. There are also many options for viewing home media libraries without downloading local copies to your phone (i.e. I use PLEX a lot when I travel and know I'll have access to decent wifi.) Music libraries can either by streamed or downloaded locally (iTune Match for $25/yr or as discussed previously, Google Play Music being 2 of the best options).

 

[stanw]

On my Note3 I use Dropbox to synch all photos/videos from the phone to a Dropbox folder on my Mac. I then have to manually go through the photos/videos on my phone and delete them after confirming they were synched to Dropbox. It is annoying, but works.

1. Can I also do this the same way on an iPhone with Dropbox?
2. Is Photostream Apple's version of what I am doing with Dropbox? Could I use Photostream over cellular to transfer all photos/videos from my phone so they are waiting for me on my Mac when I get home and then I can just delete them from the phone?

Thanks everyone!

 

[tbayrgs]

On my Note3 I use Dropbox to synch all photos/videos from the phone to a Dropbox folder on my Mac. I then have to manually go through the photos/videos on my phone and delete them after confirming they were synched to Dropbox. It is annoying, but works.

1. Can I also do this the same way on an iPhone with Dropbox?
2. Is Photostream Apple's version of what I am doing with Dropbox? Could I use Photostream over cellular to transfer all photos/videos from my phone so they are waiting for me on my Mac when I get home and then I can just delete them from the phone?

Thanks everyone!

1. I also use Dropbox, have used it on both my Android device and iDevices. I prefer using it as the auto upload functionality on Dropbox includes videos, something that Photosteam does not. And same as you, I have to manually delete any photos from my photo library on my phone that I don't want to keep there. All that being said, I may be migrating this process over to the new iCloud photo syncing...

2. Photostream is Apple's version of photo syncing between devices. As I mentioned, I forgo using it because it would still require that I manually transfer video to my Mac. Also, it's a bit wonky as it doesn't sync changes to photo's across all devices--i.e. if I edit a photo on my phone, it doesn't sync those changes to the photo on my Mac. Also, Photostream would only show the last 100 days worth of photos on your devices, I believe. This is all changing though with iOS 8 and the introduction of iCloud Photo sharing.

I admittedly don't know all details as it's still not fully live in the beta version but my understanding is that you'll now be able to keep your entire photo library synced across all devices. So, make a change on your iPhone and that change will appear on the photo on your iPad, Mac, etc. It should work infinitely better than Photostream. I don't know if iCloud Photo syncing will include video or not. If using iCloud isn't ideal, you will still be able to use your Dropbox upload.

 

[BoxerGT2.5]

Google nows functionality on iPhone is no where near what it is on android. I will get traffic updates to my office by the time I wake up on android. I rarely if ever get them on my 5s.

 

[tbayrgs]

Google nows functionality on iPhone is no where near what it is on android. I will get traffic updates to my office by the time I wake up on android. I rarely if ever get them on my 5s.

Agree on the notifications--getting them on my iPhone is hit or miss, not sure why it's so irregular. However, once you open the Google app, I get exactly the same info/cards I get on an Android.

 

[BoxerGT2.5]

Agree on the notifications--getting them on my iPhone is hit or miss, not sure why it's so irregular. However, once you open the Google app, I get exactly the same info/cards I get on an Android.

The cards are there no problem. The whole "I don't have to do anything it just knows what info is right at the time I need it" is lacking.