Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Samsung Galaxy S21 / S21+ / S21 Ultra
- Thread starter kkh786
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Hey I say if you can justify using a 2nd phone go for it. As long as it not your daily I’m sure you will keep it
I could never use another android phone as my daily but as a 2nd phone it works great. Nice to use both and having the option to do so
The ultra is tempting but happy with the fold.
With all the phones I have had over the years I have never thought I need to run two simultaneously (only times it has happened was on a previous job I had a work phone.. incidentally an IPhone as well as my personal phone).Lolnow days its normal to have two phones.
now days its normal to have two phones.
I always move on my previous phones when I get a new one I am happy with (ala S21 Ultra) so I have no chance of going back, either by selling/trading in or passing on to someone who needs a phone.
In my mind.. running two phones.. it wouldn't be fair to either handset with divided loyalties (note, I am aware that phones do not have feelings
).
I currently have 3 phones but only the 12 pro max is a flagship phone. I also have an iPhone SE (2016) and galaxy note 4.
I have very strong bond with my previous phones. Still using my s9+ along Note10+. S6, s7edge and iphone4 somewhere in my room.
â›” i kinda wish people would focus more in contributing to this thread with android based resources especially to those who have been in the game for a while
things like how best to customise the newly acquired S21
software updates and/or their accompanying improvements or deterioration
hidden tweaks
some recommended (free) Android apps to further enhance the new device user experience
this continued focus on trying to convince to buy or not to buy or how bad one is against the other i think is just numbing
if one is not happy with Samsung its fine
same is the other way round iPhone wise
things like how best to customise the newly acquired S21
software updates and/or their accompanying improvements or deterioration
hidden tweaks
some recommended (free) Android apps to further enhance the new device user experience
this continued focus on trying to convince to buy or not to buy or how bad one is against the other i think is just numbing
if one is not happy with Samsung its fine
same is the other way round iPhone wise
Last edited:
So far the big change for me is I gave up the Samsung internet browser and went with Duck Duck Go. I use Safari on my iPhone. The reason I switched was that reviewers said that the ad block app that works with the Samsung browser hasn’t been updated in quite some time. I noticed that myself.
I see some ads through Duck Duck Go. But it supposedly smacks down trackers.
I haven’t jumped on a messaging app yet. My photos and files are backing up to both Google Photos /Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. I’m still evaluating which of the two I prefer. I keep defaulting to Google when I’m in a rush because of long familiarity.
With iPhones it’s just so easy to default to iCloud. But my photo backups are also going to Google. The frustrating thing for me is that the photos I take on my S21 Ultra can take up to a day to be accessible to my iPhones even though it’s the same account. There must be a setting I’m missing. It used to take just a few seconds.
Last edited:
I have been reading around that as I am pretty determined to go with the S21 for now and get a break from the iPhone.
My research has been around how effectively I can use it with my Mac as I will be keeping that from the Apple world.
So far I have effectively migrated all my iCloud contacts. Thanks to an iOS app called ContactsSync (to those interested). Apple no longer makes this process easy at all it seems.
Mainly also been looking for the best software to sync my essentials like music and photos as I am someone who has been keeping my data locally as opposed to the cloud.
You might want to note that Google drive will be introducing a free size cap soon as to how much you can store there. I think I have read that somewhere.
I pay for all my cloud storage. I wasn't paying for One Drive at first but already exceeded the free amount so I had to pony up for a paid account.
I'm not using a computer for anything other than games right now so I don't sync across devices. My calendar and contacts on all my phones are kept on Google.
I don't maintain a stored library of music anymore and haven't really since giving up my Zune and my pocket computer that I forget the name of, so I'm pretty much just using Apple Music. I had Google Music and Spotify but my husband nuked our paid family accounts on all but Apple Music with my agreement.
I have collected a lot of music over the years.
Am sitting on almost in excess of 1TB. All carefully curated into albums and it’s artworks.
I am one who has kept using iTunes to do this kind of management despite others calling for its demise.
So any best reference to some software that would sync all that with my soon to be Android device is welcome.
Failure of which my current iteration of the iPhone will be a default iPod with all my comms moving to the S21.
Lol that feeling likely won't go away even if you do pick up an S21 Ultra. They always come out with something that will look intriguing enough that it might pique your interest. I know that's definitely been the case for me. Lol
I’m already paying £1.59 a month for google drive storage. I would have just upgraded my google drive storage it regardless of whether I was going to buy a flagship android phone or not. As for computer options I will explore this week about how the S21 integrates with the mac as I use a MacBook Air as my personal computer. However whatever the outcome is we have a desktop PC that my husband mainly uses that I can use with the S21 ultra. I think will just spend the next looking into how I’m going to make everything work so I’m not scrambling around trying to do it after I get the phone.
My music is already uploaded to YouTube music as I ported it over from the sadly missed google play music. However I have no intention of using such a ghastly app. I will just you Apple Music as I already have a subscription. I’m still debating whether to go for 128GB or 256GB as it’s not my only device. I like to store music locally but in the past I used an SD card to do that.
Best app for music sad its gone. Overall youtube premium subscription is too good to be true for the small price you pay.
Google Music ... I could not believe that went. That said, I've taken the time to look into Youtube Music and ... it works. I was able to download my massive music library that I had originally put into Google Music on Youtube Music - even on my iPhone. But I MUCH prefer Google Music's ui.
I originally went from Yahoo Music to Google Music back in the day. Left Google for Apple years ago - but my massive (30+GB) music library from my high school days still exists in Google. lol. Most of what I do today is Apple Music radio (X artist and similar).
I still pay for Youtube Family Red - me and 5 other lucky siblings get Youtube commercial free and now... Youtube Music for $14.99/mo.
I use Samsung Internet Browser… and there’s plenty of Adblock extensions you can choose from in order to block ads effectively. I believe I use Disconnect for Samsung Internet Browser.
But there’s plenty of Adblock option to choose from within Samsung Internet Browser. I use the beta version and I know this might sound blasphemy… but I prefer Samsung Internet Browser over Safari. Just for the customization and features it has.
256GB is my choice. I have learnt from here that a considerable chunk will be gobbled by the system.
I will then throw in my playlists in there. I would like to think I will find a way. And then some musical videos.
Pictures not so much.
I have never been swayed much by the camera even though it seems to be the selling point for most be it Android or iPhone. Anything that takes descent pictures I am at peace with it.
Oh I don’t mind paying for add free YouTube, background playback and the ability to download videos for off line viewing. I was so jealous of those who had access to YouTube red before it was rebranded to YouTube premium. I’ve been subscribed to YouTube premium since it became available in the uk in 2018. The YouTube features are worth the asking price. The google play music subscription was a bonus.
About pictures I have a question. In the past I used an SD card and set that as the default storage option for my pictures. I also backed up to google photos. However the point is that the pictures where not taking up any physical space on the phone. Now that there is no option to use an SD card is there an option to use cloud storage like on the iPhone so that it doesn’t physically store the pictures on your phone?
Well I'm talking in the mid 2000s here... so I may be dating myself. <cough>. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_Music
Well, there's no settings similar to iCloud Photos where it can optimize storage of photos stored on the iPhone and I don't use Google Photos. I think you'll most likely have to manually delete photos on the phone when it's uploaded on Google Photos. However, I prefer having my photos stored in iCloud. Although, there's no more SD card support... I have one of those Dual Flash Drive with USB-C. It's been useful with transferring photos to iCloud.
Google photos prompts me to delete photos off my device to save room occasionally.