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What would you do first!

Sharkz44

Sharkz44

Newbie
So I'm coming from an IPhone 4S to a Samsung Galaxy 3. New phone will be here tomorrow. Been reading all the reviews for cases and screen protectors/if I need one.

Also been looking at all the customizing you members do to your phones and must say WOW! Don't see all that on the Iphones ;).

So my question for all the pros here, What are the top 5 paid or free apps that are most suggested? And what are the top 5 customizations you would suggest or do to your new Samsung Galaxy 3 first?

Off to read more in the sticky section.

:D
 
A case is real helpful. Screen protectors are not needed unless you have keys or rocks in your pocket with phone.

I would learn how to use Google services first. Two good starts are the Google drive and Google plus for automatically uploading your photos. Google keep is great for keeping up with things, making lists, notes. Building your contacts and using Google calendar. All that will keep you busy for a while.

Have fun
 
What might be better is if you tell us the top 5 apps you use on your iphone and people offer android alternatives :)
Welcome to the forum and android btw and youre doing the right thing reading up first :beer:

P.s. 1st customisation id make is a 3rd party launcher (i use Nova Prime) :)
 
Thanks for the responses. I really want to be able to fully customize the phone like I have seen here on the forums. Lock screens, home screens, widgets, etc. This is so awesome how much freedom you have with the Android OS just from reading. Can't wait to dive in.

Lets see phone use.... I live on my phone and like to use any Apps that makes my life easier. Not much into the social media or picture taking. For me its all about business.

1) I need an app/widget to connect my Road runner email to the phone. Tons of emails RR, Yahoo, Gmail. I get a couple hundred a day along with IM's
2) Something to sync my bookmarks from my pc to the phone. Back and forth so if I add one on either device? Not sure that possible.
3) App/widget for podcasts
4) Something for moving files between PC and phone
5) App/widget for Office/excel working.
 
#2 what browser do you use on the pc mate?
#3 there are a lot to choose from lol
#4 im terrible with computers so the easiest way i find is having an SD card and using a usb card read/writer on the PC (i know there are much more advanced [over my head] options though lol) :thumbup:
 
my top apps are nova launcher,root explorer,titanium backup,mobile odin, and juice defender. those are my apps only a rooter may have some of these
 
Yeah if you end up rooting the phone (and you seem the typa guy who eventually will lol) that opens up a whole new box of apps like Kev says :beer:
 
Oh I'm going to root the sucker :D. I had the original Droid years ago and I rooted that phone. It was such a different phone after that. I just have to read up and make sure I understand everything to root it. Years ago I know you could brick your phone. Not sure about nowadays.

I'm ashamed to say I use IE on my pc. I keep saying I'll switch to Chrome but still haven't.

For me my ultimate goal is to rid the phone of any bloatware and make sure it runs like a speed demon. Time is very valuable for me so my phone needs to perform.... fast and efficient.
 
Then youll probably put Cyanogen or AOKP on it pretty early on to remove samsungs stuff and have it running like the powerful phone it is lol.
I dont know how to sync IE to the phone tbh.
If you start using Chrome or Firefox (think theres more) browser on the pc and on your phone, theyll completely sync including open tabs.
Tbh i dont like Chrome much on the phone and the fact that it doesnt support Flash.
I dont use a pc so i use Dolphin browser on the phone. Again, there are a lot of choices there and unlike iphone, you can set them as default :)
 
Sharkz44 said:
Thanks for the responses. I really want to be able to fully customize the phone like I have seen here on the forums. Lock screens, home screens, widgets, etc. This is so awesome how much freedom you have with the Android OS just from reading. Can't wait to dive in.

Lets see phone use.... I live on my phone and like to use any Apps that makes my life easier. Not much into the social media or picture taking. For me its all about business.

1) I need an app/widget to connect my Road runner email to the phone. Tons of emails RR, Yahoo, Gmail. I get a couple hundred a day along with IM's
2) Something to sync my bookmarks from my pc to the phone. Back and forth so if I add one on either device? Not sure that possible.
3) App/widget for podcasts
4) Something for moving files between PC and phone
5) App/widget for Office/excel working.
Click to expand...


1) I use the stock email app for my yahoo mail, and gmail for my other accounts

2) Google Chrome will sync bookmarks to and from all devices running chrome.
4) Airdroid, much better than kies imo
5) Office Pro (there are cheaper options also, just search office in the play store)

***Best app i have every paid for is SwiftKey!*** 2nd best is Next Launcher
Google Keep is great and syncs to all devices with Keep on them. Love Dropbox and Google drive too.
 
Because I run a few different business online I use three different emails. I'm wondering if its even possible to find a widget to check all three emails and bring them together so I don't have to check each one individually? Probably not....

Hbryder your the second one now to suggest Google Keep. I'm off to research and read more about that. Sounds like I really should that one. Thanks..
 
You're going to want to use chrome for bookmark integration. It's kinda spooky at first when something you searched for at work shows up in your phone. Likewise, keep this in mind before you search for quadriplegic midget porn on your phone ;)
 
Thanks for the tip. I should be ok as I work out of my office at home.

Besides its not midget porn I'm afraid of, something much worse... :rofl:

Side note: How secure is Airdroid. Some of the files I transfer are confidential.
 
Sharkz44 said:
1) I need an app/widget to connect my Road runner email to the phone. Tons of emails RR, Yahoo, Gmail. I get a couple hundred a day along with IM's
Click to expand...

I just use my GMail app. You can import your Yahoo email into Gmail. This may not be the most satisfactory solution for you, but it works for me. I configure my Gmail to reply and shows my other email account in the From field.

2) Something to sync my bookmarks from my pc to the phone. Back and forth so if I add one on either device? Not sure that possible.
Click to expand...

If you use Chrome on both your PC and your phone, it is done automatically.

4) Something for moving files between PC and phone
Click to expand...

I just use a micro-USB cable.

5) App/widget for Office/excel working.
Click to expand...

I use QuickOffice.
 
Thanks for the Link! That is perfect for what I'm looking for. Hopefully it works as advertised.

Thanks again bud, you saved me a lot of time of trial and error.
 
Thanks for the link. I'm still on the fence for cases. I would like something thin and not obtrusive. But then the protection of the phone is more susceptible to damage from a drop. Still on the fence for now.
 
That's easy - root it!

Custom recovery I'd recommend Philzs.

Then you want Titanium Backup (recommend pro version if you get into changing ROMs a lot), plus a File Explorer with root permissions - I use Root Explorer but ES File Ex and Solid also look good.

Office app I'm impressed with Kingsoft Office so far and its free.

Others I use most (some paid):
Tapatalk
Touchdown email (at time had to buy it for work IT policy reasons)
PowerAmp
Light Manager
Pure Grid Calendar
Nova Prime
Drop box
Folder sync
Triangle Away
Mobile Odin

Should keep you busy ;)
 
Saltire thanks for the apps list. I look thru them. I actually prefer to pay for Apps and widgets. My reason for this is because one I like supporting the author so they will continue to build more and I can't stand anything to do with ads. I realize not all free appz have ads but would just prefer to pay a few bucks instead.

FedEx was just here.... Time to start playing tomorrow morning. Have plans for tonight.
 
Enjoy man.
Top tip.. in Developer Options, change the two "animation scaling" settings to .5x or even turn them completely off. Makes things more snappy :thumbup:

Im the phone shop troll who changes them to 10x on the demo units :)
 
funkylogik said:
Enjoy man.
Top tip.. in Developer Options, change the two "animation scaling" settings to .5x or even turn them completely off. Makes things more snappy :thumbup:

Im the phone shop troll who changes them to 10x on the demo units :)
Click to expand...

Now we know who is messing with the phones ;).

My goal is to root the phone get comfortable with it. If it passes all my tests I think I will purchase the S4 next month. I almost purchased the S4 to start with but didn't want the expense if the phone was hype coming from an IPhone like I did.
 
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