Help me switch?

[Deleted User]

You guys probably see this very regularly. Sorry if this is the wrong section:

So, I currently us an iPhone 4. It's a fine phone (like really, fine. 5/10 fine.) but I'm looking to upgrade. Been intently following the Nexus 5 rumors since a month and a half ago, and I gotta say; I'm more or less hooked. The only thing I'm worried about is if the battery life will be better than my iPhone 4; otherwise the 350$ sitting in my bank account basically already has a sticker on it saying "Property of Google Inc."

Anyways, here's the thing. I'm a little bit into the iOS eco-system and need some alternatives to some iOS applications and functionalities so that I won't be "missing" things when I switch over, so;

I need an alternative to:

- Emoji. Preferably, I'd kill to have the exact same Emoji that iOS6 has. It's pretty important that it works cross-platform seeing as I want my Nexus 5 to be able to send and recieve Emoji's to my girlfriend's iOS6 device.

- iMessage. I dont really need the messaging portion of this replaced, but moreso the fact that you can send audio clips and video clips easily and quickly. Anyone know of an Android app that lets you send files, videos, and audio clips to other Android, iOS, etc. devices?

- Using my phone as an access point for my laptop(s) and other devices. My iPhone does this pretty damn well. I could care less for the Bluetooth component of this, but I certainly need to be able to share my connection over USB, as well as over Wi-Fi.

- Do game developers share their games cross platform? More specifically; me and my girlfriend play a game called "Dark Legends". She uses an iOS device and I will be using an Android device. Will we be able to play together?

Thanks to any and all answers!

 

[funkylogik]

No idea but good luck. I know there are a LOT of ex-ipeeps on here so you should get some advice.
Welcome too the android community and im jealous of your phone choice :beer:

 

[mikedt]

You guys probably see this very regularly. Sorry if this is the wrong section:

So, I currently us an iPhone 4. It's a fine phone (like really, fine. 5/10 fine.) but I'm looking to upgrade. Been intently following the Nexus 5 rumors since a month and a half ago, and I gotta say; I'm more or less hooked. The only thing I'm worried about is if the battery life will be better than my iPhone 4; otherwise the 350$ sitting in my bank account basically already has a sticker on it saying "Property of Google Inc."

Anyways, here's the thing. I'm a little bit into the iOS eco-system and need some alternatives to some iOS applications and functionalities so that I won't be "missing" things when I switch over, so;

I need an alternative to:

- Emoji. Preferably, I'd kill to have the exact same Emoji that iOS6 has. It's pretty important that it works cross-platform seeing as I want my Nexus 5 to be able to send and recieve Emoji's to my girlfriend's iOS6 device.

Android doesn't do emoji natively AFAIK, although most Japanese and Chinese phones do, however there are several keyboards and plug-ins that should work with emoji sent and received, to and from iOS devices.

- iMessage. I dont really need the messaging portion of this replaced, but moreso the fact that you can send audio clips and video clips easily and quickly. Anyone know of an Android app that lets you send files, videos, and audio clips to other Android, iOS, etc. devices?

iMessage itself is proprietary to Apple devices and nothing else. However you both could use something like Gtalk or Skype or WeChat.

- Using my phone as an access point for my laptop(s) and other devices. My iPhone does this pretty damn well. I could care less for the Bluetooth component of this, but I certainly need to be able to share my connection over USB, as well as over Wi-Fi.

Android does that no problem. However with some carrier supplied subsidised phones it's disabled, unless you pay an extra tethering fee. This is something you'll have to check with your carrier.

 

[Deleted User]

Android doesn't do emoji natively AFAIK, although most Japanese and Chinese phones do, however there are several keyboards and plug-ins that should work with emoji sent and received, to and from iOS devices.

Thats no problem seeing as Emoji wasnt even native to iPhone and I had to download it on the AppStore (or atleast I did initially.) Downloading new keyboards is no problem to me; as long as I don't have to root my phone or anything to do this and it's just sitting there in the App Store for me. That is where it is, right?

For a more specific clarification, I was doing a bit of searching and came upon this article: ( How to Use Emojis on Your Android Device | Android.AppStorm ) and would love to be able to use the keyboard seen in the section under "Type Emojis on Other Keyboard", and it seems that "Kii Keyboard" has the exact same Emoji setup as iOS6 (as mentioned in the picture), and I'd love to get at that. I don't have to root my phone to get that, right? (Sorry for probably obvious questions, changing keyboards is an entirely new thing to me)

iMessage itself is proprietary to Apple devices and nothing else. However you both could use something like Gtalk or Skype or WeChat.

That's understandable and the functionality of iMessage itself isnt quite the idea I'm after, but moreso the ability to send videos, audio and files and view them on the device itself right away. Does Gtalk, Skype or WeChat offer this?

Android does that no problem. However with some carrier supplied subsidised phones it's disabled, unless you pay an extra tethering fee. This is something you'll have to check with your carrier.

My carrier (Rogers) did this no problemo with my iPhone 4, so I don't see it being an issue with the N5. Just to verify, the sharing options should be in the settings, correct?

Replied in bolds; thanks a lot for you help! Just looking for a bit more clarification.

 

[mikedt]

Replied in bolds; thanks a lot for you help! Just looking for a bit more clarification.

For emoji, yup if you follow what's in the Appstorm blog, you should be OK. Root is not required. I do use emoji myself, but within the WeChat app.

Gtalk and Skype can certainly do audio, video and file transfers. WeChat does audio, image and video, but not file transfers. There's probably other options as well, but I'm not familiar with them. WeChat is actually Chinese, but Tencent seem to be really promoting it worldwide now.

If sharing or tethering is available you'll see it in settings. If you had it on the iPhone, it should be available on the Android phone. I know that certain carriers do lock it out, unless you pay an extra tethering free.

 

[Deleted User]

For emoji, yup if you follow what's in the Appstorm blog, you should be OK. Root is not required. I do use emoji myself, but within the WeChat app.

Gtalk and Skype can certainly do audio, video and file transfers. WeChat does audio, image and video, but not file transfers. There's probably other options as well, but I'm not familiar with them. WeChat is actually Chinese, but Tencent seem to be really promoting it worldwide now.

If sharing or tethering is available you'll see it in settings. If you had it on the iPhone, it should be available on the Android phone. I know that certain carriers do lock it out, unless you pay an extra tethering free.

So of the total of known issues so far, the tethering issue seems to be totally remedied as well as the one about my cross-platform game issue with this article ("Dark Legends" now available on Google Play Store ).

Unfortunately, upon looking deeper, the Emoji and video/audio sending is becoming quite the issue.

Thanks for your help so far, I definitely appreciate it.

With Emoji, it seems that all the apps that natively support it require a phone number to use (something my gf doesnt have currently as she uses her iPod to contact me), so those apps are ousted. As far as emoji keyboards go, they're rather buggy and either dont work in some environments or only send them and dont recieve them properly (Kii)... Rooting may be my only option here (heres to hoping its a painless process).

As far as the sending videos and audio, I took a look into Skype and, atleast for iOS, it appears I cant do this. Thats also an issue as it must work both ways (definitely a weird issue to be bringing up on an Android forum, eh? :afraid: ), so there'll have to be some alternative found to that too... I was hoping this were the easier to solve of the two though...

 

[mikedt]

So of the total of known issues so far, the tethering issue seems to be totally remedied as well as the one about my cross-platform game issue with this article ("Dark Legends" now available on Google Play Store ).

Unfortunately, upon looking deeper, the Emoji and video/audio sending is becoming quite the issue.

Thanks for your help so far, I definitely appreciate it.

With Emoji, it seems that all the apps that natively support it require a phone number to use (something my gf doesnt have currently as she uses her iPod to contact me), so those apps are ousted. As far as emoji keyboards go, they're rather buggy and either dont work in some environments or only send them and dont recieve them properly (Kii).

Main problem with emoji, although you might be able to send it, there's no guarantee that the recipient will be able to see it, unless their OS or software supports it. AFAICT it's only Windows 8 and Mac OS X Mountain Lion and iOS 6 that supports it natively. In Japan, where emoji originated, most phones do have it.
If you're using a proprietary closed IM such as WeChat that has emoji, where you have to use their app, it always works.

EDIT:

I just tried viewing the Wiki entry for emoji on my Samsung phone with 4.1 Jellybean, and it does actually show most of it correctly. Although this phone was bought in Hong Kong, and emoji is popular in China. Not sure if all recent versions of Android support it or not. Maybe someone else with a non-Chinese or non-Japanese phone could check if emoji works or not. But my Mac with OS X Snow Leopard doesn't show it at all, just get a load of boxes, I believe it's the same for Windows 7 and older as well. Only Win 8 and OS X Mountain Lion supports it natively AFAIK. Will try Linux later.

 

[mrex]

Unfortunately, upon looking deeper, the Emoji and video/audio sending is becoming quite the issue.

Thanks for your help so far, I definitely appreciate it.

With Emoji, it seems that all the apps that natively support it require a phone number to use (something my gf doesnt have currently as she uses her iPod to contact me), so those apps are ousted. As far as emoji keyboards go, they're rather buggy and either dont work in some environments or only send them and dont recieve them properly (Kii)... Rooting may be my only option here (heres to hoping its a painless process).

As far as i know, Emoji has been in Android since JellyBean and you dont need to root. You only need to change language settings from your device. For example http://www.cultofandroid.com/19734/ But it is not so easy. If you pickup a phone from Samsung, for example their newest Note, you don't have a choice "android keyboard", you only have a choice "samsung keyboard". At least check the phone before buying that it lets you use emojis. Thanks to Samsung, again, they build their own version and forgot to add this one. Nexus is "from google" and it should have emojis like the predecessor had it too: http://droidkid.net/2013/05/22/enable-native-emoji-support-in-nexus-4-nexus-jelly-bean-devices/

 

[Deleted User]

Main problem with emoji, although you might be able to send it, there's no guarantee that the recipient will be able to see it, unless their OS or software supports it. AFAICT it's only Windows 8 and Mac OS X Mountain Lion and iOS 6 that supports it natively. In Japan, where emoji originated, most phones do have it.
If you're using a proprietary closed IM such as WeChat that has emoji, where you have to use their app, it always works.

EDIT:

I just tried viewing the Wiki entry for emoji on my Samsung phone with 4.1 Jellybean, and it does actually show most of it correctly. Although this phone was bought in Hong Kong, and emoji is popular in China. Not sure if all recent versions of Android support it or not. Maybe someone else with a non-Chinese or non-Japanese phone could check if emoji works or not. But my Mac with OS X Snow Leopard doesn't show it at all, just get a load of boxes, I believe it's the same for Windows 7 and older as well. Only Win 8 and OS X Mountain Lion supports it natively AFAIK. Will try Linux later.

As far as i know, Emoji has been in Android since JellyBean and you dont need to root. You only need to change language settings from your device. For example Cult of Android MobileAndroid 4.1 Tip: How To Activate And Use Emoji (Emoticons) | Cult of Android But it is not so easy. If you pickup a phone from Samsung, for example their newest Note, you don't have a choice "android keyboard", you only have a choice "samsung keyboard". At least check the phone before buying that it lets you use emojis. Thanks to Samsung, again, they build their own version and forgot to add this one. Nexus is "from google" and it should have emojis like the predecessor had it too: Enable Native Emoji Support on the Nexus 4 (Nexus 4.2 Devices) | DroidKid

Thanks for both of your replies.

I took a bit of a harder look and it seems that Android does indeed support Emoji's right outta the box, and can also send many different types of Emojis from different keyboards and even send the iOS6 ones (the ones I'm after most.)

However, all of them are black and white, and NOT like the iOS6 ones inwhere they are coloured. It appears that you can send them, but once they touch your message bar or reply field, they are black and white and "Android"-ized, though the iPhone user receives it just fine.

It seems that the problem here is the ".tff" file (I have no idea what that is unfortunately, it seems to do with fonts) does not support coloured Emojis (or characters) natively (atleast in 4.3; 4.4?... I can only hope but I won't hold my breath.)

Looking further into it, it seems someone has found a way to get the coloured iOS Emojis working, but it requires possibly a root or a custom ROM.

I don't mind rooting, but I dont want a custom ROM. Does anyone have any more information?

Also, the whole "sending videos, audio, and files" issue is still present

 

[mikedt]

Thanks for both of your replies.

I took a bit of a harder look and it seems that Android does indeed support Emoji's right outta the box, and can also send many different types of Emojis from different keyboards and even send the iOS6 ones (the ones I'm after most.)

However, all of them are black and white, and NOT like the iOS6 ones inwhere they are coloured. It appears that you can send them, but once they touch your message bar or reply field, they are black and white and "Android"-ized, though the iPhone user receives it just fine.

It seems that the problem here is the ".tff" file (I have no idea what that is unfortunately, it seems to do with fonts) does not support coloured Emojis (or characters) natively (atleast in 4.3; 4.4?... I can only hope but I won't hold my breath.)

Looking further into it, it seems someone has found a way to get the coloured iOS Emojis working, but it requires possibly a root or a custom ROM.

I don't mind rooting, but I dont want a custom ROM. Does anyone have any more information?

It's called "Apple Color Emoji", which is proprietary to iOS I believe. It's basically Unicode monochrome Emoji, but they've enhanced and coloured them. Probably protected by copyrights and patents and god knows what other IP, so no one else dare imitate it. I can't even do "Apple Color Emoji" on my Apple Macbook.

Also, the whole "sending videos, audio, and files" issue is still present

Sure you can use Skype and Gtalk to send and receive those types of files. Alternatively you could look into using something like Dropbox or Google Drive, especially if it's larger files you wish to share, send and receive. Thing with sending and receiving files via Skype, both parties have to be on-line at the same time, whereas with Dropbox or Google Drive, you upload it and you're done, and then other party can download at their convenience.

 

[Slug]

For exchanging audio/video/whatever a la iMessage, WhatsApp is a good choice. It's cross-platform, available for Android, iOS, WinPho etc.

 

[boyo1991]

well for tethering (connecting your device to a computer for internet) there are apps on the store. Cost a bit of money for good ones but work for all carriers and non rooted devices (similar to jailbroken I devices) the one I use is called "easytether pro" its 10$ but if you continue with android you don't need to pay it again like on some.. OTHER company

 

[Deleted User]

Sorry for the extremely late reply guys, things have been pretty busy lately and I haven't got the chance to pop in and type a reply.

It's called "Apple Color Emoji", which is proprietary to iOS I believe. It's basically Unicode monochrome Emoji, but they've enhanced and coloured them. Probably protected by copyrights and patents and god knows what other IP, so no one else dare imitate it. I can't even do "Apple Color Emoji" on my Apple Macbook.



Sure you can use Skype and Gtalk to send and receive those types of files. Alternatively you could look into using something like Dropbox or Google Drive, especially if it's larger files you wish to share, send and receive. Thing with sending and receiving files via Skype, both parties have to be on-line at the same time, whereas with Dropbox or Google Drive, you upload it and you're done, and then other party can download at their convenience.

Hrmm... Its weird that Apple is keeping it so tightly under wraps; but if what you say is true, why is it that Whatsapp and Kii Keyboard and custom ROMs and rooting and such can get access to those Emojis?

Also, Skype doesnt allow sending files for iOS, which is a problem. I am not sure if Hangouts does it; though I'm currently trying to try it out with Whatsapp... Wondering how i'd get Whatsapp on an ipod, but theres apparently a way.

For exchanging audio/video/whatever a la iMessage, WhatsApp is a good choice. It's cross-platform, available for Android, iOS, WinPho etc.

Thanks, will take a look into it! Hopefully will work okay on an iPod (it doesnt natively support it)

well for tethering (connecting your device to a computer for internet) there are apps on the store. Cost a bit of money for good ones but work for all carriers and non rooted devices (similar to jailbroken I devices) the one I use is called "easytether pro" its 10$ but if you continue with android you don't need to pay it again like on some.. OTHER company

Thanks, but I believe that the tethering feature is built into Android (or so the other posters say.) Also, if you're referring to Apple as the other company, it's free there too