Going from an iPhone to Android...

[itsmecaitlin]

So, this is my first post on this forum and I'm hoping to get some feedback from you all...

I'm currently using an iPhone 4 and I'm eligible for an upgrade. I originally was going to wait until the iPhone 5 came out, but based on what I've seen/read... I'm not seeing any major differences other than a larger screen and a better camera. I'm starting to get bored with my iPhone and I want more customization options. I'm about 95% sure I'm gonna go with the Samsung Galaxy S3, but before I do I'd like to be somewhat prepared for the switch.

1. My main concern I have is my music. I have over 1,000 songs on my iPhone right now and a lot of them I bought directly from iTunes. Are the purchased songs going to create any problems for me as far as xferring them onto the other phone? Do you just drag and drop? Do I need a certain app to convert them? Also, do I absolutely have to have a SD card for storing my music/pictures/etc or what are my other options?

2. I'm really looking forward to customizing this phone, so can anyone recommend some useful apps that I should start out with and what all you can actually change appearance wise on an Android? I'm looking for customization apps, apps that will help with the battery usage, and any other Android apps that you think might be beneficial.

3. I've seen a lot of talk about rooting, and I'm not exactly sure what it means. I'm assuming it's like jailbreaking an iPhone, but I've never actually done that with mine or any of my previous iPhones. Is it hard to do? What are the benefits of rooting? Because the Galaxy S3 is so new, should I wait before trying to root it?

4. For those of you that went from an iPhone to an Android, what are the main changes that I will have to get adjusted to? What are the pros and cons of both type of phones?

I'm sure there's other threads just like this one, but I didn't feel like searching this huge forum for my answers lol.

 

[royalrider33]

If music is important, stay with your iphone. The itunes/iphone/usb into a car stereo is a perfect music system. I switched recently and that is what I miss. Now I have to use a aux cable and find songs by using my phone. Dangerous and annoying. Still looking for a functional music program for my droid charge. Anyone can chime in if they know of one.

 

[aysiu]

For iTunes, I use iSyncr and Poweramp. Great combo.

 

[jefboyardee]

I've seen a lot of talk about rooting, and I'm not exactly sure what it means. I'm assuming it's like jailbreaking an iPhone

From what I’ve read, jailbreaking an iPhone gives you customization powers similar to what you already have with a stock Android. And rooting an Android gives you access to everything, powers like you already have on a PC or Mac.

I’ve never iPhoned or rooted, but that’s what I hear.

 

[breadnatty08]

Welcome to the forums, itsmecaitlin!
Making the switch can be troublesome especially if you have a lot of media stored in iTunes or a lot of apps purchased from there.
Aysiu mentioned some great apps for swapping your music from iTunes to Android. I've never done it so can't comment.
One thing about Android is there are plenty of phone options but the SGS3 does have an SD Card to store music on. You can also use the internal storage. I believe there are options for 16 and 32Gig.
You can find lots of threads for useful apps around here. It's all about what you want to do. New keyboard, launcher, music app, calender app, widgets? We got it all. Each person has their own needs, just take a look around here.
Rooting is comparable to jail breaking, but not the same. It's similar to having admin access on your PC. It allows you to change the ROM, change/modify system apps or install other apps which require root access.
Take a peak at this thread:
http://androidforums.com/faqs/443432-what-root-being-rooted-mean.html

 

[chanchan05]

Many things you can do only on a jailbroken iPhone = things you can do on an unrooted Android. So yeah, jailbreaking and rooting isn't exactly the same.

The music isn't a problem if they're recently bought since iTunes removed DRM. You can just copy and paste them into the Android mass storage.

 

[!on]

People ask about rooting without knowing what they want it for in the first place. So we should leave that for later....

Like others have said if music is important (& it is your only music player) then I'd stick with iphone.

If you do go android then yeah, you can just find your album folders or files in your itunes music folder & drag them to your music folder in the SD card.

I have tried various ways of syncing itunes playlists etc to android but they're either pitifully slow or they screw up the library (a common one is making tracks from compilations into albums of their own - duplicates). BUT: if you just drag & drop things as they came in the first place (ie: a two CD album should be two albums, do not try to merge them into one) then it's all gravy.

Don't worry too much about missing artwork or tagging, android apps can do that, in fact so far I think Player Pro is the best music player as it finds cover art very easily. There are tagging apps, but provided your music is tagged correctly (differentiate artist albums from comps) in itunes, it will all go smoothly.

Honestly dragging albums onto android is easy but the nothing beats the convenience of itunes sync.

 

[matttye]

So, this is my first post on this forum and I'm hoping to get some feedback from you all...

I'm currently using an iPhone 4 and I'm eligible for an upgrade. I originally was going to wait until the iPhone 5 came out, but based on what I've seen/read... I'm not seeing any major differences other than a larger screen and a better camera. I'm starting to get bored with my iPhone and I want more customization options. I'm about 95% sure I'm gonna go with the Samsung Galaxy S3, but before I do I'd like to be somewhat prepared for the switch.

1. My main concern I have is my music. I have over 1,000 songs on my iPhone right now and a lot of them I bought directly from iTunes. Are the purchased songs going to create any problems for me as far as xferring them onto the other phone? Do you just drag and drop? Do I need a certain app to convert them? Also, do I absolutely have to have a SD card for storing my music/pictures/etc or what are my other options?

2. I'm really looking forward to customizing this phone, so can anyone recommend some useful apps that I should start out with and what all you can actually change appearance wise on an Android? I'm looking for customization apps, apps that will help with the battery usage, and any other Android apps that you think might be beneficial.

3. I've seen a lot of talk about rooting, and I'm not exactly sure what it means. I'm assuming it's like jailbreaking an iPhone, but I've never actually done that with mine or any of my previous iPhones. Is it hard to do? What are the benefits of rooting? Because the Galaxy S3 is so new, should I wait before trying to root it?

4. For those of you that went from an iPhone to an Android, what are the main changes that I will have to get adjusted to? What are the pros and cons of both type of phones?

I'm sure there's other threads just like this one, but I didn't feel like searching this huge forum for my answers lol.

1. You can just mount your phone as a drive on your PC/Mac and then copy/paste your songs over. You don't need a MicroSD card. The S3 has 16GB built in flash storage, with some places selling a 32GB variety and a 64GB to be offered soon. Depends on carriers, country etc, but might be worth looking up information in your local area. The S3 also comes with 50GB free Dropbox storage.

2. Launchers are going to be the main thing you use to customise the UI. You can download different launches, which basically change the look and functionality of the actual home screens themselves. You can then download whatever widgets and apps you like to customise/decorate your phone.

3. I would definitely wait before trying to root it. The S3 can do a lot of the things that you would need to jailbreak an iPhone for out of the box, so you might find that you don't need to root.

4. The main changes are that you can customise pretty much everything. Android can be a little harder to use because of all the options. Whereas the iPhone does things in one particular way, you'll usually have many options on Android. Some people prefer the iPhone way. It's really down to the individual.

 

[itsmecaitlin]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

If music is important, stay with your iphone. The itunes/iphone/usb into a car stereo is a perfect music system. I switched recently and that is what I miss. Now I have to use a aux cable and find songs by using my phone. Dangerous and annoying. Still looking for a functional music program for my droid charge. Anyone can chime in if they know of one.

I think I'm still gonna go with the Galaxy S3, but keep my iPhone and use it for music in my car (which has a AUX hook-up). Simple enough for me.

For iTunes, I use iSyncr and Poweramp. Great combo.

I read about iSyncr and it seems really simple, so I think I'll try that. Thanks!

1. You can just mount your phone as a drive on your PC/Mac and then copy/paste your songs over. You don't need a MicroSD card. The S3 has 16GB built in flash storage, with some places selling a 32GB variety and a 64GB to be offered soon. Depends on carriers, country etc, but might be worth looking up information in your local area. The S3 also comes with 50GB free Dropbox storage.

2. Launchers are going to be the main thing you use to customise the UI. You can download different launches, which basically change the look and functionality of the actual home screens themselves. You can then download whatever widgets and apps you like to customise/decorate your phone.

3. I would definitely wait before trying to root it. The S3 can do a lot of the things that you would need to jailbreak an iPhone for out of the box, so you might find that you don't need to root.

4. The main changes are that you can customise pretty much everything. Android can be a little harder to use because of all the options. Whereas the iPhone does things in one particular way, you'll usually have many options on Android. Some people prefer the iPhone way. It's really down to the individual.

I just checked my music folder and it's showing I have 68GB worth of music... so looks like I'm gonna go with the 16GB version and get a SD card for more storage.

I've been looking at different launchers... from what I've read, Nova and Apex seem to be the most popular. What's the difference between the two or which is better?

 

[MachDelta]

I've been looking at different launchers... from what I've read, Nova and Apex seem to be the most popular. What's the difference between the two or which is better?

Nova and Apex are very, very similar and you really can't go wrong with either one. Personally i'm on Nova (Prime) but I could switch to Apex (Pro) and still have an almost identical setup. Try them both and pick the one that you feel more comfortable with.

 

[!on]

I just checked my music folder and it's showing I have 68GB worth of music... so looks like I'm gonna go with the 16GB version and get a SD card for more storage.

I think the highest card is 64gb, so you might wanna be selective with your music. It's best to keep all your media on the card, not the phone.

Itunes is capable of making 128kbps copies of your music for the very purpose of transferring to phone. This means less file size, but slightly lower quality. So you have the choice of quantity vs. quality.

 

[aysiu]

If you use iSyncr, you can have only certain playlists sync automatically to your phone. You don't have to put all 68 GB on at once.

 

[Nestafaria]

I just switched to the galaxy s3. Had every iPhone so far and first android. I haven't decided if I'm keeping it yet. I LOVE the phone and android.... But it just doesn't work as smooth. Apps crash and I lose signal a lot while driving......actually just about to post on that. I too switched bc I was bored with my iPhone.

Uploaded all my iTunes to google music without hassle.

 

[jhonb]

I went from an iPhone 4 to a Galaxy Nexus about four months ago. If you just want a smartphone that does things well, just stick with the iPhone. It is pretty much a flawless device. But if you want to move beyond the iPhones limitations, and you like to play and you want to stretch your smartphone experience, go android. But there are issues. Read through these forums, especially the ones that are dedicated to the phone you want. See if you can live with those issued.
My biggest issue with the GNex is battery life. You will get 9 million suggestions on how to tweak the GNex to minimize battery life, and you play and you play and you can improve it, but with my iPhone, it just gave me great battery life right out of the box, without doing a thing. This is just one example, people have all kinds of complaints and others don't. Read, Read, Read!

For me, after having two different iPhones, I will probably never go back. But not blind to the fact that things change. But for now, I have far more control over this phone than I would an iPhone. Steve Jobs does not have to rise up from the grave to approve every app you want to put on your phone. I purchased an unlocked phone so I am also not under the additional control of any provider.

 

[aysiu]

My biggest issue with the GNex is battery life. You will get 9 million suggestions on how to tweak the GNex to minimize battery life, and you play and you play and you can improve it, but with my iPhone, it just gave me great battery life right out of the box, without doing a thing.

This has been my experience as well, but I still love my Galaxy Nexus more than an iPhone. I can think of several reasons for this:

• The Galaxy Nexus has a bigger screen.
• My version of the Galaxy Nexus has CDMA and LTE. If I have both on, both radios are powered, and Android is constantly looking for which has the stronger signal. CDMA-only is better for battery life.
• Android has what people call "true multi-tasking," which I think is overrated and probably drains the battery faster than iOS's "non-true" kind, but I'm willing to deal with that in order to use Android over iOS.

I researched all the issues before I got my Galaxy Nexus, and when I got it, I also got a spare battery, knowing battery life would be an issue.