Apple iPhone user migrating to Android needs advice

[Guest ceanth]

Hello all,

long time apple iPhone user (well since the 3gs) I decided to give android a go and bought a htc hero.

I must admit I am very impressed with android, the widget based interface is brilliant compaired to the icon based approach that apple have.

I intend to fully migrate to android (seen the light so to speak) however in order to do this I need to take three main aspects and find them on android

1. Keyboard: the apple iPhone keyboard is much better then the Heros, the main problem I have with heros keyboard is the tiny spacebar. I always end up hitting the . Button. I currently have shapewriter which is a fun way of inputting but does anybody recommend another keyboard? Even the default hero keyboard with a longer spacebar would be great.

2. Browser: I do 90% of my Internet browsing from my iPhone, heros browser is quite good but I'm finding it a little difficult to move around however once loaded up the page moves around extremely fast. Does anybody have recommendation for browers?

3. Music: I haven't really looked at music just yet, I figured I wouldn't invest in a 32gb memory card just yet but any tips relating to the music player itself would be great.

Much appreciated

-c

[Guest jevel]

I actually logged in here today with the same mission; I'm an iPhone user checking out Android for the first time, and I find a few small things I would like to ask more seasoned users about.

One thing I never thought about with my iPhone was to turn WiFi og GPS on or off. I just left it on, and still had enough battery to last me through the day. With my Android handset, I will have to keep turning things on and off to preserve battery life if I want the battery to last a full day.

I checked the Battery History section under the Spare Parts application, and it tells me the WiFi has been on 100 % and running 100 %. I have the notion that on my iPhone the WiFi would go to sleep when not used. Why doesn't it do this on the Android?

Also I find that the menus stutter a little at times, and I constantly find myself repeatedly trying to pull down the status bar as it seems to ignore my finger at times. Any advice?

Apart from that I'm really impressed with the speed of the platform and the supportive community. I've found a lot of good (and free) apps on the Market. Impressive.

As an answer to one of the questions of the OP; when it comes to the browser, I find that Dolphin does a better job than the builtin browser.

-KJ

Edited June 1, 2010 by jevel

[Guest craigcrawford1988]

3. Music: I haven't really looked at music just yet, I figured I wouldn't invest in a 32gb memory card just yet but any tips relating to the music player itself would be great.

What sort of tips? It opens, it plays... You need to be more specific.

One thing I never thought about with my iPhone was to turn WiFi og GPS on or off. I just left it on, and still had enough battery to last me through the day. With my Android handset, I will have to keep turning things on and off to preserve battery life if I want the battery to last a full day.

I checked the Battery History section under the Spare Parts application, and it tells me the WiFi has been on 100 % and running 100 %. I have the notion that on my iPhone the WiFi would go to sleep when not used. Why doesn't it do this on the Android?

Try the following from the homescreen:

Menu button > Settings > Wireless & networks > Wi-Fi settings > Menu button > Advanced > Wi-Fi sleep policy

Experiment with the choices there.

In regards to the GPS, usually you can leave it disabled and an app will give you the choice to enable it or even ask you. No need for it on all the time :(.

Also I find that the menus stutter a little at times, and I constantly find myself repeatedly trying to pull down the status bar as it seems to ignore my finger at times. Any advice?

That's usually a problem with the device itself and not Android. Though the stock homescreen is pretty sluggish, so I recommend trying another.

[Guest tomjo7]

Hello all,

long time apple iPhone user (well since the 3gs) I decided to give android a go and bought a htc hero.

I must admit I am very impressed with android, the widget based interface is brilliant compaired to the icon based approach that apple have.

I intend to fully migrate to android (seen the light so to speak) however in order to do this I need to take three main aspects and find them on android

1. Keyboard: the apple iPhone keyboard is much better then the Heros, the main problem I have with heros keyboard is the tiny spacebar. I always end up hitting the . Button. I currently have shapewriter which is a fun way of inputting but does anybody recommend another keyboard? Even the default hero keyboard with a longer spacebar would be great.

2. Browser: I do 90% of my Internet browsing from my iPhone, heros browser is quite good but I'm finding it a little difficult to move around however once loaded up the page moves around extremely fast. Does anybody have recommendation for browers?

3. Music: I haven't really looked at music just yet, I figured I wouldn't invest in a 32gb memory card just yet but any tips relating to the music player itself would be great.

Much appreciated

-c

You will be impressed if you update your hero to 2.1, unless you already have it..

Regarding the keyboard the stock Android keyboard has always been good enough for me, spacebar takes up around a third of the bottom line.

Browsers, I just use the stock android one although dolphin browser is meant to be good apparently, if you want to play flash files though, the Skyfire browser would be best.

Regarding the music, I would 100 per cent plead with you to get 'cubed'. By far the best music player I have seen on android, or any phone for that matter.

Have a look here for ore information: Cubed Review

I actually logged in here today with the same mission; I'm an iPhone user checking out Android for the first time, and I find a few small things I would like to ask more seasoned users about.

One thing I never thought about with my iPhone was to turn WiFi og GPS on or off. I just left it on, and still had enough battery to last me through the day. With my Android handset, I will have to keep turning things on and off to preserve battery life if I want the battery to last a full day.

I checked the Battery History section under the Spare Parts application, and it tells me the WiFi has been on 100 % and running 100 %. I have the notion that on my iPhone the WiFi would go to sleep when not used. Why doesn't it do this on the Android?

Also I find that the menus stutter a little at times, and I constantly find myself repeatedly trying to pull down the status bar as it seems to ignore my finger at times. Any advice?

Apart from that I'm really impressed with the speed of the platform and the supportive community. I've found a lot of good (and free) apps on the Market. Impressive.

As an answer to one of the questions of the OP; when it comes to the browser, I find that Dolphin does a better job than the builtin browser.

-KJ

The wifi sleep option in settings would be best for you, because you can change the timeout on wifi connection.

Menu stutter does happen from time to time on my phone, but nothing major. What phone do you have? And what version of android are you using?

[Guest HustlinDaily]

For keyboard, I use Swype which I find the way a touchscreen keyboard should be. I also hear that Ultimate Keyboard is very good.

For music, try out bTunes. It is similar to the iPhone music app.