Are these iPhone features available in the Galaxy 3?

[NJRonbo]

Hello everyone!

iPhone 4 user here getting close to possibly jumping ship and purchasing my first Android device. After seeing several co-workers with their Galaxy S3, I have the feeling that the upcoming iPhone 5 is going to fall quite short.

So, I have a few questions for all of you about some of the things I enjoy the most about my iPhone. Most have to deal with alerts, since I always need to get my information FAST and often capsulized.

1. How are the alerts on the Galaxy? Do you get a nice sized banner across the top of the screen every time an email or Facebook message comes through? Does the banner stay in place long enough for you to be able to read it? Is it well detailed?

2. On the iPhone I installed an AP NEWS app. It sends push notifications to my home screen whenever there is breaking news. Is there something like that for the Galaxy? When breaking news happens, I want to be instantly alerted. I do know there is a news ticker that can be added to the home screen, but I would rather have push notification with either vibration or audio.

3. Is there a weather app that can send push notification banners to the home screen whenever there is a weather warning for the area?

4. In chat, can you dictate your message? If so, how good is the dictation?

5. Can you program the phone not to ring during sleeping hours but then turn back on in the morning?

7. This is probably more a question for former iPhone users, but how good is email on the Galaxy? From brief looks, it seems very plain. Are people happy with the GMAIL on the Galaxy and if not, are there 3rd party email apps available or on the way? Personally, I am hoping for Sparrow to come to Android.

8. When composing an email, in the TO field, can you write to anyone in your contact list just by typing their first name? Apple pulls names from their contact list. Does Galaxy do the same?

And here is the mother of all email questions, probably best answered by an experienced former iPhone user...

9. My Apple email has several mailboxes. Is there a way not only to keep Apple mail on my iMac synced with the Galaxy, but have all the individual mailboxes synced as well?


That's about all I can think of at the moment. I will probably have more questions in another day. Appreciate the help here.

 

[davidmanvell]

Hello everyone!

iPhone 4 user here getting close to possibly jumping ship and purchasing my first Android device. After seeing several co-workers with their Galaxy S3, I have the feeling that the upcoming iPhone 5 is going to fall quite short.

So, I have a few questions for all of you about some of the things I enjoy the most about my iPhone. Most have to deal with alerts, since I always need to get my information FAST and often capsulized.

1. How are the alerts on the Galaxy? Do you get a nice sized banner across the top of the screen every time an email or Facebook message comes through? Does the banner stay in place long enough for you to be able to read it? Is it well detailed?

Notifications is one of Androids strongest features. Basically you can do all sorts of things through notifications, hang up calls, message some one back, skip to next song, have it read one or several lines of text messages, basically all the common function of whatever app is activating the notification can be controlled from within the notification bar. Next release of the OS 4.1 (Jelly bean) supposedly expands it further but not too sure what more it can do.

2. On the iPhone I installed an AP NEWS app. It sends push notifications to my home screen whenever there is breaking news. Is there something like that for the Galaxy? When breaking news happens, I want to be instantly alerted. I do know there is a news ticker that can be added to the home screen, but I would rather have push notification with either vibration or audio.

Yes a variety of news apps will push news to the notification bar. you can also install widgets to have them right on the home screen live. There are thousands of news apps and they all work slightly different from each other but most offer these abilities.

3. Is there a weather app that can send push notification banners to the home screen whenever there is a weather warning for the area?

Yes as with question 2 above same thing. pick you weather app and configure it how you want in this regard and in other ways. Same things by adding widgets to the home screen if you want.

4. In chat, can you dictate your message? If so, how good is the dictation?

Very good speech to text. Next release of the OS 4.1 (Jelly bean takes it one step further though. Currently you talk into the phone and it records it and sends it to the server and the server sends it back the text of what you spoke. Next OS release builds the speech to text into the OS itself so you don't have to go to the server with it. Really speeds it up. the text to speech learns from your speech to improve itself. If you don't like that text to speech ability however you can always install a different one. Like with the messaging and news and weather apps they are all replaceable components with Android. Almost everything is with the OS.

5. Can you program the phone not to ring during sleeping hours but then turn back on in the morning?

Yes. Via an app. Or by using the NFC tags (Easiest way)., Just set your phone on the NFC tag and have it reconfigure your phone settings.

7. This is probably more a question for former iPhone users, but how good is email on the Galaxy? From brief looks, it seems very plain. Are people happy with the GMAIL on the Galaxy and if not, are there 3rd party email apps available or on the way? Personally, I am hoping for Sparrow to come to Android.

Both Android and Gmail are made by Google. You can bet your sweet a$$ that work well together Yes tons of other email apps as well. take your pick.

8. When composing an email, in the TO field, can you write to anyone in your contact list just by typing their first name? Apple pulls names from their contact list. Does Galaxy do the same?

Yes. You can also text to an email address, group lists etc. Pretty much anything you can think of. You can also set up quick icons to launch text messaging to a particular person/group or dial a number etc. Completely configurable however you want it. Or you can just speak the persons name. Or double tap the home button and say Call David Manvell and it will look up that person in your contacts and dial them. The list goes on and on...

And here is the mother of all email questions, probably best answered by an experienced former iPhone user...

9. My Apple email has several mailboxes. Is there a way not only to keep Apple mail on my iMac synced with the Galaxy, but have all the individual mailboxes synced as well?

Should be easy. Just add the email address settings to your phone. You may need to know the Pop/SMPT, IMAP, Exchange settings etc. But once done just tell it which email addresses you want to sync and how often or immediately etc. Apple email is no different than any other type of email server.

That's about all I can think of at the moment. I will probably have more questions in another day. Appreciate the help here.

 

[Szadzik]

GS3 is a smartphone and you can achieve anything you want.

It also alows you to replace systems apps like email, Messaging, Phone, etc., etc., and that means that if you do not like how something works, you choose something more suited to your needs. No more limitations.

 

[McBuzz]

S3 > all. And this is coming from an apple fanboi.

 

[NJRonbo]

Can Mail, Weather, News notification banners be pushed to the lock screen so I don't have to unlock the phone to read them?

Been searching for an answer on this but the results I have received don't seem very clear on whether this can be done.

 

[wayneholbrook]

Hello everyone!

iPhone 4 user here getting close to possibly jumping ship and purchasing my first Android device. After seeing several co-workers with their Galaxy S3, I have the feeling that the upcoming iPhone 5 is going to fall quite short.

So, I have a few questions for all of you about some of the things I enjoy the most about my iPhone. Most have to deal with alerts, since I always need to get my information FAST and often capsulized.

1. How are the alerts on the Galaxy? Do you get a nice sized banner across the top of the screen every time an email or Facebook message comes through? Does the banner stay in place long enough for you to be able to read it? Is it well detailed?

Notifications is one of Androids strongest features. Basically you can do all sorts of things through notifications, hang up calls, message some one back, skip to next song, have it read one or several lines of text messages, basically all the common function of whatever app is activating the notification can be controlled from within the notification bar. Next release of the OS 4.1 (Jelly bean) supposedly expands it further but not too sure what more it can do.

2. On the iPhone I installed an AP NEWS app. It sends push notifications to my home screen whenever there is breaking news. Is there something like that for the Galaxy? When breaking news happens, I want to be instantly alerted. I do know there is a news ticker that can be added to the home screen, but I would rather have push notification with either vibration or audio.

Yes a variety of news apps will push news to the notification bar. you can also install widgets to have them right on the home screen live. There are thousands of news apps and they all work slightly different from each other but most offer these abilities.

3. Is there a weather app that can send push notification banners to the home screen whenever there is a weather warning for the area?

Yes as with question 2 above same thing. pick you weather app and configure it how you want in this regard and in other ways. Same things by adding widgets to the home screen if you want.

4. In chat, can you dictate your message? If so, how good is the dictation?

Very good speech to text. Next release of the OS 4.1 (Jelly bean takes it one step further though. Currently you talk into the phone and it records it and sends it to the server and the server sends it back the text of what you spoke. Next OS release builds the speech to text into the OS itself so you don't have to go to the server with it. Really speeds it up. the text to speech learns from your speech to improve itself. If you don't like that text to speech ability however you can always install a different one. Like with the messaging and news and weather apps they are all replaceable components with Android. Almost everything is with the OS.

5. Can you program the phone not to ring during sleeping hours but then turn back on in the morning?

Yes. Via an app. Or by using the NFC tags (Easiest way)., Just set your phone on the NFC tag and have it reconfigure your phone settings.

7. This is probably more a question for former iPhone users, but how good is email on the Galaxy? From brief looks, it seems very plain. Are people happy with the GMAIL on the Galaxy and if not, are there 3rd party email apps available or on the way? Personally, I am hoping for Sparrow to come to Android.

Both Android and Gmail are made by Google. You can bet your sweet a$$ that work well together Yes tons of other email apps as well. take your pick.

8. When composing an email, in the TO field, can you write to anyone in your contact list just by typing their first name? Apple pulls names from their contact list. Does Galaxy do the same?

Yes. You can also text to an email address, group lists etc. Pretty much anything you can think of. You can also set up quick icons to launch text messaging to a particular person/group or dial a number etc. Completely configurable however you want it. Or you can just speak the persons name. Or double tap the home button and say Call David Manvell and it will look up that person in your contacts and dial them. The list goes on and on...

And here is the mother of all email questions, probably best answered by an experienced former iPhone user...

9. My Apple email has several mailboxes. Is there a way not only to keep Apple mail on my iMac synced with the Galaxy, but have all the individual mailboxes synced as well?

Should be easy. Just add the email address settings to your phone. You may need to know the Pop/SMPT, IMAP, Exchange settings etc. But once done just tell it which email addresses you want to sync and how often or immediately etc. Apple email is no different than any other type of email server.

That's about all I can think of at the moment. I will probably have more questions in another day. Appreciate the help here.

I'm still using the 4s and about to pull the trigger on the S3. Fantastic post / answer. Thanks for taking the time out to write this. Just learned a lot about android just by reading this post.

 

[tammc]

yes you can have ur email etc on the lock screen. i use widget locker and have my music player, email etc on my lock screen. basically u can have any of ur widgets on ur lock screen so u dont have to unlock the handset

 

[clitrenta]

I switched from the 4S to the S3 as well. I wasn't a big fan of iPhones anyway but I can say the 4s is a nice phone. Still.... you simply CANNOT customise the iPhone like you can an Android phone. The ability to use widgets is huge. You sound like someone who likes their news and weather up front. I do to and now you get it right in your face. There are a huge number of apps that will provide you with widgets to do this. Try them all and pick your poison although be advised that the more frequent you have these widgets updating, the faster your battery will go down. This is also why your battery may not last as long as your iPhone so be prepared. Everything comes with a price . Just the same, I would rather throw my phone on the charger at work for a little bit if my phone provides me with all these nice things. I have an MSNBC app and that bad boy provides me with excellent notifications for breaking news. It's great. The fact that I get all of this on a large beautiful screen is icing on the cake. Just realize that unlike iPhone, Android is an open system and therefore, you will run into apps that actually make your phone run bad. You need to be selective with what you use and be willing to tweak and fine tune your phone until you get the desired result which can be a really good mobile experience.

 

[matttye]

Can Mail, Weather, News notification banners be pushed to the lock screen so I don't have to unlock the phone to read them?

Been searching for an answer on this but the results I have received don't seem very clear on whether this can be done.

Not exactly, but you can install apps that replace the lockscreen (widget locker, go locker), that allow you to put widgets on the lock screen. So, for example, you could put a mail widget on your lockscreen that shows you all of your emails. You could do the same for news and weather widgets.

The only problem with this as opposed to what you asked is that not every notification will get pushed there, you would have to choose the ones you think you'll most want to view from the lock screen.

By default, you can set four shortcuts on your lockscreen so that you can simply swipe to open up those apps, so it's very quick to get into your most used apps anyway.

 

[mac1679]

Can Mail, Weather, News notification banners be pushed to the lock screen so I don't have to unlock the phone to read them?

Been searching for an answer on this but the results I have received don't seem very clear on whether this can be done.

Here is a screenshot of my lock screen. At the top notice all the notification icons...



You can simply swipe down from the notification bar and it will bring up your notifications...




Then, for example, I could tap on that email notification and it will open email right from the lock screen.

I am a big apple fan (Macbook Pro, iPad) and former iPhone 4 owner. Once you go to an Android phone, you will feel like Neo in the Matrix.

 

[matttye]

Here is a screenshot of my lock screen. At the top notice all the notification icons...

View attachment 38396

You can simply swipe down from the notification bar and it will bring up your notifications...

View attachment 38397
View attachment 38398

Then, for example, I could tap on that email notification and it will open email right from the lock screen.

I am a big apple fan (Macbook Pro, iPad) and former iPhone 4 owner. Once you go to an Android phone, you will feel like Neo in the Matrix.

Do you have a third party lockscreen app?

I've never been able to access the notification bar on my international S3 from the lockscreen.

 

[cybertec69]

Can Mail, Weather, News notification banners be pushed to the lock screen so I don't have to unlock the phone to read them?

Been searching for an answer on this but the results I have received don't seem very clear on whether this can be done.

Yes you can.

 

[davidmanvell]

One thing you can do is put live wallpapers (Wallpapers that move and you can interact with) on your lockscreen. I know there is a stock quote live wallpaper and a weather live wallpaper. I know there are thousands more but have not bothered to research this. And yes you can replace the lockscreen with a new one too but I've not done so either.

 

[clitrenta]

What's nice is I found you don't even have to have a lock screen. Always hated that one extra step. When I'm done with the phone, I simply turn the screen off. When I want to do someething, I turn the screen on and I'm ready to go. No extra swipe. Unless you want to employ the extra security of a password protected lock screen, it seems like a wasted step to me.

 

[davidmanvell]

What's nice is I found you don't even have to have a lock screen. Always hated that one extra step. When I'm done with the phone, I simply turn the screen off. When I want to do someething, I turn the screen on and I'm ready to go. No extra swipe. Unless you want to employ the extra security of a password protected lock screen, it seems like a wasted step to me.

I keep the locked screen on to prevent my phone from butt dialing people

 

[clitrenta]

I don't think it will butt dial if you turn the screen off so why bother with the lock screen? Of course, if you're like my hubby and don't bothe to turn off the screen, then I guess it could be a problem

 

[TLDspectre]

I don't think it will butt dial if you turn the screen off so why bother with the lock screen? Of course, if you're like my hubby and don't bothe to turn off the screen, then I guess it could be a problem

I think some people's butts are more talented than others - they have this knack for being able to a) hit the power button, activating the screen and b) somehow manage to hit the phone icon and dial a contact!

 

[ylexot]

I think some people's butts are more talented than others - they have this knack for being able to a) hit the power button, activating the screen and b) somehow manage to hit the phone icon and dial a contact!

And they can do it on a capacitive screen through cloth!

+1 for not using a screen lock.

 

[clitrenta]

I think some people's butts are more talented than others - they have this knack for being able to a) hit the power button, activating the screen and b) somehow manage to hit the phone icon and dial a contact!

Now THAT'S talent!