3 [devices] is the magic number.
It’s been a few days with an Android phone and I admit, I like it.
It hasn’t “rocked my world” as much as people told me it would, it defiantly isn’t as stable as iOS, I have to use antivirus yet there is something about the software, customisation, size & weight of the device that’s perfect. There’s a couple of apps I’m missing but I’ve found them on iPad just fine, the Dropbox sync is brilliant (I got an extra 50gb of free space too!) and I’m enjoying the added customisation and features.
Some features are slightly gimmicky or just don’t have a use case, I now understand why Apple doesn’t utilise NFC today - I can’t use it anywhere! The facial recognition stuff is ok at the best of times and is only available in the Samsung apps (don’t get me started about the Samsung apps, you cant delete them! I thought this was a “do what you want OS”) however its nice to see the potential of the future.
I titled this post “3 is the magic number” because the last few days I’ve walked round with my S4, iPad Mini & MacBook Pro Retina and found a different use for all, they’ve kept in sync via Google Apps & Dropbox and each has ran out of battery at a separate time (someone build a better battery, PLEASE!)
Day 1 with Android
Its now been 24 hours with my first ever ‘droid’ and im still using it, with the iPhone locked away in a draw and feeling boring in comparison to the S4.
Setting up the phone was simple, logging in via my Google Apps account instantly synced all my Contacts, Calendar & Mail meaning I was up and about straight away, I could also use this same account to begin downloading Apps and Widgets to setup my various home screens which I’ve now changed 4-5 times to perfect my layout.
My initial thoughts we’re “wow this is big”, but now I couldn’t see myself using a smaller phone again, the extra space opens you up to a world of extra functionality, bigger better apps and true multitasking (something that I missed on the iPhone).
The default Samsung Keyboard is not the best; auto correct is not automatic, you have to hit space after every word in Swype mode and I didn’t find it too fast however a quick search of the Play store on my Mac and I found Swift Key, so I went to install and then discovered over the air installs - hitting install on my laptop instantly installed the app on my Android, nice!
I’ve had a few issues, iMessages are still being delivered somewhere, even though I’ve logged out on my iPad & Macbook meaning anyone with an iPhone who messages me I dont receive them, you can’t use Lock Screen widgets if you use a Passcode or Patten to lock the screen (I understand why however it would be a nice feature) and none of the gestures (gimmick or not) such as Smart Pause where looking away from the screen pauses the video) or Smart Scroll where glancing down the screen automatically scrolls the content are working, even though they are switched on - I wonder if this is a problem with the front camera & sensors or something simple in the software.
One question I do have though, is if I cant work it out where do I go for help, I have a feeling im going to be missing the incredible Genius Bar & Apple Store experience.
Moving sides.
My life is surrounded by Apple products, I have an iPhone 5, I’m on the go with my iPad Mini, use a Macbook Pro Retina as my Laptop and watch movies on an Apple TV.
But Today I made a crazy decision, to dump my iPhone and move to Android so I upgraded to a sexy new Galaxy S4.
Ive decided to post about how I get on, what I find great, what I find bad and if I get the iPhone back out the draw, time will tell.
