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Help Help an Ex Blackberry user make the android switch

A

aa2k

Lurker
I got a Samsung Skyrocket last week after seeing the Blackberry hour glass one too many times. I will say this for BB, when i got my blackberry bold 2 years ago, I LOVED it. Making the switch to android on the other hand has definitely been love/hate....*

LOVE
The screen-gorgeous colors, video looks amazing and the ability to zoom in and out, scroll, etc so easily wow

Web browser-there is no comparison, though im still annoyed with being sent to a lot of mobile sites

Home screen customization

Swype interface- still sorely miss my physical QWERTY but love swype and the ease of correcting typos *

HATE
Lack of cut/paste ability in e-mail apps-This is a giant PITA! *I remember when i opted for BB this was an issue with both iOS and android. *I assume iphone has solved this issue since i can cut and paste from my ipad (a gift-I'm anti-apple) without an issue (with the added benefit of appointment and address recognition to easily add to my calendar/contacts). The only way i can do this from my gs2 is if i reply/forward the email. *Is there something im missing?*

Push email-miss seeing that notification light up minutes after sending an e-mail with the almost instant response of my recipient. *Oh and while we're at it,

No Notification LED-Really Samsung, WTF? I do have the work around Noled app, but it seems to be hit or miss

Abysmal battery life-enough said

Please help before i run back to the AT&T store for the tragically retro bold 9900 or worse, an iPhone
 
to copy and paste, long press the first word in the section you want to copy, then drag the second blue arrow to the end of where you want to copy. I don't have any problems with POP email, but maybe that's because all my emails are gmail.
 
I agree. I just recently switched over from BB to Android. The LED notification is what I miss the most. Now I just have to get used to looking at my phone more often rather than relying on a light that obviously blinking. But with a phone like this, I'm alway on it now.

I don't use the email stock app anymore, Gmail app is much better and instant. You could reply inline to copy and paste things. I have 3 gmail accounts so it works out for me.

As for copy and paste in emails, or in texts in general, you could do that. Whenever you edit text with the blue arrow, touch it, and there will be a selection screen with choices to copy and paste.

And as for battery life, well what can you expect from a dual core phone with the capabilities. I expected it not to last enough compared to BB, but you could work around a lot more things to maintain it. Here's a few tips from another post: http://androidforums.com/android-lounge/358953-tested-battery-saving-tips.html

Overall I'm experience the exact things you are. Switching over is giving me a whole new different experience and it's fun lol.
 
In some cased copy paste is

Menu.more.select text (that is Gmail)

Others it requires long pressing

I have not had issues with phone numbers addresses etc

As long as they are proper format the phone seems to recognize (555-555-5555 vs 555.555.5555)

Battery life will be good some days and worse others.

The basic tips alone will provide better battery for sure.

Mine varies 10-20 hrs depending on how much I use it
 
Thanks for the replies! I think i am going to call att about the battery issue. Ive only had the phone about a week and at least twice its been so hot I couldnt pick it up even though it was sitting idle (not on the charger). Also, in the last 3 daysthebattery life has been 5 hours, 6 hours, and worst today at 4 hours again while it is sitting idle with no active programs and most of the battery draining settings off. My feeling is that it might be defective.

Good to hear about the gmail app. Ive been using the stock email app as i have a variety ofdifferent e-mail accounts and like thati canview them all in one place, but maybe i'll have to figuresomething out with gmail instead.

I know there's an adjustmentperiod, i just hope im as happy with this as i was with my bb once it is over.

Another quick question, i had a great password keeper on the bb, is there something like that for android, i would prefer it be constrained to the physical device and with some sort of security lock. Just thought id ask :)
 
I too am a long time Blackberry user and found that Universal Password Manager, available for free in the Market, works pretty much the same way.
(It'll be the one with the big orange padlock for an icon)
 
came from a 9900..

loved my bb and still do... hence i kept it for work..

i've paid for a few apps to get it the way i want with some tweaks ..

sms unread counter puts how many unread emails i hav ein gmail.. i had to download a tweaked APK to get this to work with gmail since gmail's last update messed it up for the notification to show the count..

i forwarded my @rogers.com emails to gmail so i get proper push email..

i hate it still but got used to it..

yahoo mail app doesn't let you seperate the accounts so that's annoying and samsungs push email is a joke! it takes 15-30mins to push email.. i even set ALL the schedules to PUSH all the time..

i've downloaded roms and installed kernals to get pretty good battery life..
try the Skycream sandwhich rom + Faux123's kernel or the nexmod2.0 ROm + faux123's kernel..

i am at 65% from 7:30am - 5pm.. not bad..

if u have more questions let me know ; > it took me a WHILE to get it to where i wanted it on my android to make it a smooth transition from BB
 
Thanks so much for your reply, i'm an android newbie and a bit technologically inept so excuse the DQs...

I'm impressed by the increase in battery life. Do you need to be rooted to install the roms and kernels (gotta google that later)? Can you get those from the android market? Is the installation process just like installing an app?

I think I'm going to have to go with forwarding the rest of my e-mail accounts to gmail (not thrilled as i don't like the interface), just trying to decide if I want to make new accounts, set up filters or just use my main account...

Any other kernels (lol) of wisdom you want to share would be great!

johentie said:
came from a 9900..

loved my bb and still do... hence i kept it for work..

i've paid for a few apps to get it the way i want with some tweaks ..

sms unread counter puts how many unread emails i hav ein gmail.. i had to download a tweaked APK to get this to work with gmail since gmail's last update messed it up for the notification to show the count..

i forwarded my @rogers.com emails to gmail so i get proper push email..

i hate it still but got used to it..

yahoo mail app doesn't let you seperate the accounts so that's annoying and samsungs push email is a joke! it takes 15-30mins to push email.. i even set ALL the schedules to PUSH all the time..

i've downloaded roms and installed kernals to get pretty good battery life..
try the Skycream sandwhich rom + Faux123's kernel or the nexmod2.0 ROm + faux123's kernel..

i am at 65% from 7:30am - 5pm.. not bad..

if u have more questions let me know ; > it took me a WHILE to get it to where i wanted it on my android to make it a smooth transition from BB
Click to expand...
 
Thanks so much for your reply, i'm an android newbie and a bit technologically inept so excuse the DQs...

I'm impressed by the increase in battery life. Do you need to be rooted to install the roms and kernels (gotta google that later)? Can you get those from the android market? Is the installation process just like installing an app?

yes you have to be rooted.. XDA Developers is down right now due to the petition for SOPA, but should be up shortly. I would give u a link right now otherwise. but there is a very easy one click process to root the skyrocket.. there is a thread called ALL IN ONE for newbies in the skyrocket forum and the guy was nice enough to list ALL The ROMS and ways to root the skyrocket.. helped me a lot

Trust me i didn't want to diverge from the stock as much as possible.. so i just installed the faux123 kernel and it sucked my battery .. it only lasted 8 hours on light use!

i took the plunge and tried different ROM's and even though the nexmod ROM is an AOSP or AT&T based ROM it works well.. might not be a big deal for you if ur already on AT&T.. i chose the AOSP version caause i absolutely HATE the 4G and LTE icons for AT&T.

to install the rom is pretty easy.. just download ROM Manager from the marketplace, they have a free version i bought the paid version to get full access..

it explains everything in that thread i mentioned in XDA.. if i try it'll be confusing ; >

but yes once everything is setup it's easier..

another thing i missed about my BB is the update process or swithcing OS'.. on an android the market place does not remember everything u installed unless it was paid.. so all the free apps u gotta find and re download.. u can download titanium back up (again paid) to back up all your data and ur apps, so that everytime u download and install a new ROM u can just restore..

just remember to NANDROID back up (option in Rom Manager) your CURRENT ROM before you install a new one cause if something goes wrong you can always revert back to the ROM you had..also remember to wipe everything before installing a new rom.. the instructions for the ROM are usually in the thread that the developer makes for his/her ROM.

again just read the thread i mentioned..

I think I'm going to have to go with forwarding the rest of my e-mail accounts to gmail (not thrilled as i don't like the interface), just trying to decide if I want to make new accounts, set up filters or just use my main account...

yes i HATE gmail!!!! i HATE how they thread their emails.. i get registrations from a volleyball clinic i run, and it groups ALL emails with subject Registration, which i hate.. i like how BB separates all emails in the inbox..

Gmail does do a good job on using different emails as defaults.. so RIGHT within Gmail i can use my @rogers.com address to reply back to people.and setup multiple emails to reply with.. but i still made different gmail accounts for each email address i have so i can create seperate email icons on my home screen (using SMS unread count app).

Any other kernels (lol) of wisdom you want to share would be great!

i just came from BB as well.. i've had the skyrocket for about 3.5 weeks now and i have tried the "Da-G" (i think it is) kernel and it was pretty good as well..
 
Johentie, wow, thanks! It's all still a bit over my head, but your explanations and experiences have really helped, i'm going to check out the XDA developers thread like you mentioned and then give it a whirl.

oh and thanks for the warning about the lack of app backup at the android market, I thought it would just keep track of everything for you, but since it doesn't I'll start making a list and maybe even look into titanium backup.

Oh one last question, with the seperate gmail accounts, does that mess up your contacts list (duplicates)?
 
aa2k said:
Johentie, wow, thanks! It's all still a bit over my head, but your explanations and experiences have really helped, i'm going to check out the XDA developers thread like you mentioned and then give it a whirl.

oh and thanks for the warning about the lack of app backup at the android market, I thought it would just keep track of everything for you, but since it doesn't I'll start making a list and maybe even look into titanium backup.

Oh one last question, with the seperate gmail accounts, does that mess up your contacts list (duplicates)?
Click to expand...

no problem.. if u have any questions just add me on BBM.. whoops haha jk, i miss doing that!!

as for contacts from what i found out is that you can choose if u want to sync contacts from whatever app has contacts (i.e twitter, fb, gmail, yahoo mail etc).

i just keep my default email contact list sync'd to the phone and the rest turn sync off..

i made that mistake of not turning off sync and i needed a really long washroom break to delete duplicates etc, the apps i downloaded to clean duplicates up didn't work too well..
 
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