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5 Year Windows Phone User Moving To Android

Kuolemanlaakso

Kuolemanlaakso

Newbie
Hello all. I've had a Samsung Ativ S Windows Phone 8.1 for 5 years, because i've not been in a position to replace it and it's been a trusty device, if not OS. I'm getting a new phone tomorrow on Android and i'm completely new to the platform, I was hoping for some tips and advice on how to make the most of the experience?
 
Stay mentally flexible, there's going to be lot of fundamental 'muscle memory' issues involved as you changeover -- things you've instinctively been doing on your Win Phone that will have a different name and/or be in a different menu that will temporarily vex you. I'd suggest when you get your new Android phone to use a for a day or two to just get accustomed with it, then sit down and just look at every option and setting in your phone's Settings menu. You'll need to use the Settings menu initially just to set things up of course but after a short while you're going to want to customize and optimize your phone to suit your particular needs. Depending on just which phone you're getting and/or your carrier, there may or may not a lot of things relative to specific features your phone might have that others do not, and that will typically be evident in your phone's Settings menu. Also keep in mind to not change too many things at once, or at least be keep track of what you do change because occasionally disabling some function you don't ever plan on using will result in disabling other functionality that might be tied to it (if a warning message pops up pay attention to its wording, and don't forget there are often menu options with their own sub-menu options).
 
svim said:
Stay mentally flexible, there's going to be lot of fundamental 'muscle memory' issues involved as you changeover -- things you've instinctively been doing on your Win Phone that will have a different name and/or be in a different menu that will temporarily vex you. I'd suggest when you get your new Android phone to use a for a day or two to just get accustomed with it, then sit down and just look at every option and setting in your phone's Settings menu. You'll need to use the Settings menu initially just to set things up of course but after a short while you're going to want to customize and optimize your phone to suit your particular needs. Depending on just which phone you're getting and/or your carrier, there may or may not a lot of things relative to specific features your phone might have that others do not, and that will typically be evident in your phone's Settings menu. Also keep in mind to not change too many things at once, or at least be keep track of what you do change because occasionally disabling some function you don't ever plan on using will result in disabling other functionality that might be tied to it (if a warning message pops up pay attention to its wording, and don't forget there are often menu options with their own sub-menu options).
Click to expand...

That sounds like a sensible approach, yes. I'm sure it'll take me a few weeks to be fully comfortable with it. I was wondering, on my old phone I could simply drop music from my laptop into the music folder to transfer it. I am aware that it isn't that simple on iOS, can I do this with Android? I'd guess yes due to Android being customisable, but it's something I was wondering about nonetheless. I used my old phone as a music device and i'd like to do the same with the new phone.
 
There is a built-in standard music player app. I just like doubleTwist.
 
Kuolemanlaakso said:
That sounds like a sensible approach, yes. I'm sure it'll take me a few weeks to be fully comfortable with it. ...
Click to expand...
Yeah, there's always a learning curve getting used to something new, and don't forget smartphones are pretty complicated and even once you do get comfortable with it, some update/upgrade could change the user interface enough that you need to re-educate yourself all over again.
Also, when you install an app, or even with the ones that come pre-installed, be sure to dig into the Settings menu of each app. There's often a lot of options that might benefit you there too. Oh and one thing that's kind of bizarre is there's no default name nor location for app 'settings' menus. Might be named 'settings' but some developers prefer to use 'options' or 'preferences'; and to add additional vagueness, with some apps that settings menu might be designated by or just be a sub-menu in either a three horizontal dots icon, or a three vertical bars (a.k.a 'hamburger'), or a gear icon in either the top, bottom, left, or right corner. So just be prepared to do a little sleuthing looking for the menu, a good thing being you don't typically need to access the settings menu very often as it's more of an initial set up/configuration thing.

Your choice for a OnePlus 6T should work out well for you. Looking online it's getting some really good reviews.
 
lvt said:
How did you manage to survive those long 5 years with a Windows phone? ;)
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Haha, good question. To be honest with you, i've not really cared to use it for anything other than the basics so it has served me well as a device, even if the Operating System was garbage. I was never a heavy app user so that wasn't the thing to put me off, and I realised that I wanted to have a phone that could do everything and didn't want to limit myself to a closed environment again, so Android made the most sense. I've had an Android before but it was so long ago, it doesn't count! That time it was the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro, which if I remember correctly had android 1.6 on it, that upgraded to 2.1. I hated it, but then that was a long time ago!

My girlfriend has an iPhone XR, which I think is a nice device, however I dislike the style of iOS from what i've seen.

I've already ordered my OnePlus wireless bullets, having read some good reviews. Not a bad price for something I know for sure will have no compatibility issues :)
 
svim said:
Yeah, there's always a learning curve getting used to something new, and don't forget smartphones are pretty complicated and even once you do get comfortable with it, some update/upgrade could change the user interface enough that you need to re-educate yourself all over again.
Also, when you install an app, or even with the ones that come pre-installed, be sure to dig into the Settings menu of each app. There's often a lot of options that might benefit you there too. Oh and one thing that's kind of bizarre is there's no default name nor location for app 'settings' menus. Might be named 'settings' but some developers prefer to use 'options' or 'preferences'; and to add additional vagueness, with some apps that settings menu might be designated by or just be a sub-menu in either a three horizontal dots icon, or a three vertical bars (a.k.a 'hamburger'), or a gear icon in either the top, bottom, left, or right corner. So just be prepared to do a little sleuthing looking for the menu, a good thing being you don't typically need to access the settings menu very often as it's more of an initial set up/configuration thing.

Your choice for a OnePlus 6T should work out well for you. Looking online it's getting some really good reviews.
Click to expand...

Sorry for the double post, i'm not sure how to reply to two people in the same message. Thank you very much for all of the information, really. I did extensive research into devices, and the negatives most people talk about on the 6T aren't really an issue for me, and all the positives plus the price point made it an easy choice :)
 
Kuolemanlaakso said:
i'm not sure how to reply to two people in the same message.
Click to expand...

Highlight the text in each message that you want to reply to and then use the 'quote' link, instead of the 'reply' link. Then you should see at the bottom of the new post box a link to 'insert quotes'. That will add both to the same message and you can reply all in one post. :)

One thing to watch with Android as you get into it. There are a bazillion apps that do the same thing, with similar names, with widely varying reviews. Even for long-time Android users, it gets daunting to figure out which is the best or does exactly what you want. The easiest way to figure it out is to ask the user community (here preferably ;) ) and we'll tell you which sux and which rulz. :D
 
My most favorite app to install is Nova Launcher, from the play store.
It basically let's you personalize your home screen, from icons, icon sizing, app drawer customization, widgets, etc... You'll also need to install Tesla Unread from the play store that works with nova for showing unread badges on your app icons.
Also keep in mind you can install different icon packs also from the play store with tons available...
 
^^^^ First things I set up! Regular stock icons are yucky.
 

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^^^tons of good advice. Where iOS and formally Windows Phone present a prepackaged user experience, Android, through launchers, themes, apps, etc., allow you to largely tailor your experience the way you like. Android doesn't usually have any single right answer. There is no "best" messaging app or launcher. It all comes down to your preference. With that, my getting started advice is going to be a little more ambiguous. ;)
  1. Think of things you want your phone to do. Like, boy, it would be neat if... Then ask us if and how you can do that.
  2. Or in the opposite sense, think of things your phone does that annoy you... Then ask us if and how you can resolve that
I will offer 2 points of advice that may have been mentioned above, but are often traps for new Android users. Take the below advice with the same friendly option of asking us if you have a question on anything.
  1. Don't worry about battery maintenance, Android and your phone will do it for you. Battery monitoring apps are fine if you are curious, but you should avoid "battery savers" or "battery optimizers" or things like that. While there are some quirks and extremely targeted help around batteries, mostly, charge it when you need it.
  2. Don't worry about free memory. Free memory in Android is wasted memory. Unlike windows, Android is designed to run at or near full memory capacity. It makes if faster and saves battery. Like batteries utilities, if an app promises to optimize, manage, free up, kill unused tasks, or anything like that, don't install it.
 
Kuolemanlaakso said:
I have a rather simple question that may be obvious, but how do I change the apps that appear on the bottom line of my home screen?
Click to expand...
There ya go. :D That area is usually referred to as the dock. You should be able to long press (press and hold) on the icon you want to remove and drag it off the dock. You can also drag other apps you want onto it in the same way.

*note: The functionality varies from launcher to launcher, and each OEM has their own launcher. I believe One Plus uses the stock (Android default) launcher.
 
Kuolemanlaakso said:
Hello all. I've had a Samsung Ativ S Windows Phone 8.1 for 5 years, because i've not been in a position to replace it and it's been a trusty device, if not OS. I'm getting a new phone tomorrow on Android and i'm completely new to the platform, I was hoping for some tips and advice on how to make the most of the experience?
Click to expand...
Most people are upgrading their phone every year or two. My father n law held on to a flipphone for close 6 years. Phone was held together by duck tape 90% of calls were missed or dropped he would not part with that phone, his next phone was the first LG phone with a touch screen. Took him a while to get use to it , welcome to the world of Android
 
This is just an optional suggestion but with Android there's an underlying 'animations' feature that has to do with how apps and things appear on the display. You make things just 'feel' more responsive using an option in your Settings menu -- you need to enable a feature called Developer Options first so it then appears in your Settings, then change three items Window animation scale, Transition animation scale, and Animator duration scale. Here's a link to an article that has a good step-by-step, detailed explanation with graphics:
https://www.howtogeek.com/175033/how-to-speed-up-any-android-phone-by-disabling-animations/
Anyway, I believe the default is set to 1x. Try changing all three to .5x or off, and then see the difference in how things just feel snappier on your phone. If you want to get a better appreciation of how animations affect your phone, try setting those three items to 2x or even 5x. Then start up a few apps and use your phone for a minute or so to see what happens before going back to .5x or off.
 
The biggest difference I found, if you delete something that's located in multiple files through your device, it will delete that item throughout the device.
 
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