new android user could use help

[Suppoko]

Sorry if these have been posted before and I know searching is my friend.

I have had an Iphone since it came out and loved it but I made the switch to the S3 for a couple reasons mostly due to the battery dying on my 4 and no date in sight for the 5. I got the 3 and I enjoy it thou I don't get the purpose of the widgets since they don't have what I would call must use info. MY questions are these.

1. Why are there certain apps I can't stop from running no matter what i do?

2. When I clear my ram from the task manager and it kills 47 apps 95% I have never started and then those same apps jsut start running again. Why won't they just go away??

3. Why am I not getting text messages from iphone users?

4. What is a root and is it useful?

5. How do I get swype to understand more words? Somple words such as try and even word are never reckognized.

Thanks for all the help in advance I appreciate it, I enjoy the big screen but these little problems bother me enough that I may head back to the dark side with the 4S.

 

[davidmanvell]

1. Why are there certain apps I can't stop from running no matter what i do?

Don't worry about them. This was the hardest thing for me to understand but basically most apps tie themselves to the OS and seems to start at random. They do this for a number of reasons, maybe the app is a messenger program and needs to see if there are messages on the server or maybe the app is used by another app. Just understand that having them running does not hurt the phone in any way. If the phone runs out of memory it turns them off. They don't really take up much CPU power as they are really just sitting there doing nothing and having them running means if you do want to use them they are quicker to load.

2. When I clear my ram from the task manager and it kills 47 apps 95% I have never started and then those same apps jsut start running again. Why won't they just go away??

See above

3. Why am I not getting text messages from iphone users?

That I am not sure of. text messages all use the same standard formats and do not matter which carrier or phone they come from. While it is possible that the person who has the phone has a messaging app issue or is not in range of a tower, it could be something wrong with one of the carriers (Verizon, ATT, Sprint etc) or the communication between them. If you are getting texts from other people then texting is working on your phone. Texting in general is not 100% reliable. I am pretty sure almost everyone has sent a text and someone got it like days later and crap like that. Can you verify that texting from other sources is working? Can you text your own number?

4. What is a root and is it useful?

Most carriers like Verizon, ATT, Sprint etc don't put the straight up Android operating system on their phones. they modify the software to add their own built in apps and customizations. They make the phone look or act differently and add different skins to it. That's why you see people post what carrier they are on in addition to other issues.

Rooting means you take the entire operating system off the phone and install a different one. Many people put the standard straight Android OS on their phones and there are also hundreds of others ones out there as well. Some of them are fast and simple and some are really feature laden and some are just drop dead gorgeous.

People root their phones because they want to change the look, feel and functionality of their phone. Also some carriers don't always release new versions of the OS as quickly as others do. For instance right now on the G3 you can't get jelly Bean (Android 4.1) on the phone from any of the carriers but you can get it by rooting the phone and putting someone elses version on there. Also my Droid X phone is an older phone and Verizon no longer is releasing upgrades for it (#$%^& $%^#!). They stopped at version 2.3. The only way to get the new OSs on it is for me to root the phone.

5. How do I get swype to understand more words? Somple words such as try and even word are never reckognized.

There are tons of different keyboards you can use and try out. you can download others as well. Try the one called Swiftkey for example. It is one of the better ones and whips the crap out of the stock keyboard that come with the phone.

One of the advantages of Android is the entire OS can be easily replaced. Don't like the browser? Change it. Don't like the keyboard? Change it. Don't like the email program? Change it. You get the idea.

 

[UserName872]

Sorry if these have been posted before and I know searching is my friend.

I have had an Iphone since it came out and loved it but I made the switch to the S3 for a couple reasons mostly due to the battery dying on my 4 and no date in sight for the 5. I got the 3 and I enjoy it thou I don't get the purpose of the widgets since they don't have what I would call must use info. MY questions are these.

1. Why are there certain apps I can't stop from running no matter what i do?

2. When I clear my ram from the task manager and it kills 47 apps 95% I have never started and then those same apps jsut start running again. Why won't they just go away??

3. Why am I not getting text messages from iphone users?

4. What is a root and is it useful?

5. How do I get swype to understand more words? Somple words such as try and even word are never reckognized.

Thanks for all the help in advance I appreciate it, I enjoy the big screen but these little problems bother me enough that I may head back to the dark side with the 4S.

(3) I'm willing to bet you had iMessage on before switching to the GS3? That means apples server is still identifying you as having an iPhone to other iPhone users when they try to text you. I had this happen to me before and had to move my SIM back to my iPhone and under settings, messages make sure I turned iMessage off.

 

[exwifeusesiphone]

(3) I'm willing to bet you had iMessage on before switching to the GS3? That means apples server is still identifying you as having an iPhone to other iPhone users when they try to text you. I had this happen to me before and had to move my SIM back to my iPhone and under settings, messages make sure I turned iMessage off.

Exactly what I was thinking....Obviously Apple doesn't think anyone would actually ever switch to another phone, or they would have that update better!

 

[Suppoko]

(3) I'm willing to bet you had iMessage on before switching to the GS3? That means apples server is still identifying you as having an iPhone to other iPhone users when they try to text you. I had this happen to me before and had to move my SIM back to my iPhone and under settings, messages make sure I turned iMessage off.

The sim card is different in the S3 I can't switch them. Other suggestions?

 

[SUroot]

1. Why are there certain apps I can't stop from running no matter what i do?

You don't need to stop them running. Read the "RAM. Who Cares?!" link in my signature

2. When I clear my ram from the task manager and it kills 47 apps 95% I have never started and then those same apps jsut start running again. Why won't they just go away??

See previous answer.

3. Why am I not getting text messages from iphone users?

They know you're Android now. They can't associate with you any more.

4. What is a root and is it useful?

root is a Linux term. It is a user. On a Linux computer, the root user is the user that can do anything. It is a super user. The equivalent on Windows is the Administrator account. It can be useful, but you're not ready for this yet.

 

[Robmoo]

The sim card is different in the S3 I can't switch them. Other suggestions?

I was having the same problem and read this message. I was able to turn off iMessage on my iPhone4 without having to mess with a sim card. I found my missing messages on the iPhone and turning off iMessage worked.

I also downloaded Swiftkeys3. It works well and is very customizable.

 

[Suppoko]

Thanks a bunch guys really appreciate the help

 

[UserName872]

Thanks a bunch guys really appreciate the help

Did you get it figured out? I did learn that the above post is correct... If you just place your iPhone on wifi and turn iMessage off you should be set.

 

[Zoandroid]

Rooting means you take the entire operating system off the phone and install a different one.

Not exactly. Rooting is just the process of gaining administrator access on the device, just like using administrator access on Windows or on a Linux computer.

Although the only current method of rooting the Verizon Galaxy S3 does involve replacing the OS the phone came with using a 'rooted' copy of that same OS, on other Android devices root (administrator) access can be achieved without changing the OS at all. The term used for replacing an entire OS is commonly known as "flashing a (custom) ROM".

Just wanted to clarify those 2 terms.