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In only three weeks, I completely abandoned iOS devices for Android

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4Zc47.gif
 

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
https://www.google.com/intl/nl/chrome/devices/chromecast/

Though they only released the SDK a week or so ago, so it'll be a short while until apps outside of Google and Netflix/Hulu/HBO support it.

I looked into this, but it doesn't seem to do what I want, which is to play movies I have on my PC on my tablet without loading them onto the tablet. Like, streaming or whatever from the PC to tablet.

I feel like this is a thing, but what is this thing called?
 

reKon

Banned
https://www.google.com/intl/nl/chrome/devices/chromecast/

Though they only released the SDK a week or so ago, so it'll be a short while until apps outside of Google and Netflix/Hulu/HBO support it.

Yeah things are going to get crazy. The only app that will always be missing is the Amazon prime video app for obvious reasons.

Being able stream google music through my tv connected to my system with any android device is great with a device that tiny and portable.
 

Zoopa

Member
Android has gotten so much better since Version 4. Offers everything I need (integrated encryption / VPN) and all the apps I want. I don't really like to play games on my mobile though, only stuff like scrabble, chess etc. What I like most about it is the customisability and widgets.

The only thing I hate is that Google doesn't offer updates for my Galaxy Nexus anymore. The reason I bought a Nexus device in the first place was that I don't need custom roms. In my opinion, 18 month of support isn't much better than Samsung and HTC, especially since Android 4.4 is only a minor release.
 

SmokyDave

Member
To the people saying they are heavily invested in Apple's mobile games: What games are you talking about? I can't tell if i'm missing out because I only have access to Google Play, or you people are assholes and don't realize that mobile games are mostly garbage.

This is a serious question.
Check out the monthly iOS threads on gaming side.

It just seems like every time there's a new 'man, you should play this' game, it's not on Android. The latest example being 'Threes'. The Simogo games are only on iOS, and I think that's the case for the Cave shooters and, well, most well liked mobile games to be honest.
 

ukas

Member
I looked into this, but it doesn't seem to do what I want, which is to play movies I have on my PC on my tablet without loading them onto the tablet. Like, streaming or whatever from the PC to tablet.

I feel like this is a thing, but what is this thing called?

DLNA/uPNP?
 

Kinitari

Black Canada Mafia
I looked into this, but it doesn't seem to do what I want, which is to play movies I have on my PC on my tablet without loading them onto the tablet. Like, streaming or whatever from the PC to tablet.

I feel like this is a thing, but what is this thing called?

It has a few different names, but DLNA streaming works.

And you can do it no problem. There are quite a few DLNA compliant apps. Samsung might even have some bloatware that does it.
 

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
It has a few different names, but DLNA streaming works.

And you can do it no problem. There are quite a few DLNA compliant apps. Samsung might even have some bloatware that does it.

This is why GAF is awesome. Thanks, bro. I may get some use out of this tablet after all.
 

Vyer

Member
My 2013 Nexus 7 hardly gets used since getting an iPad Air. It's a nice tablet, but all the little things add up for me, particularly when it comes to software/apps.

iOS got knocked a lot for this when iPad first started up, but the Nexus 7 feels more like a 'big phone' than any other tablet I've used.


I replaced the 3GS with a Samsung Galaxy S II and used that for well over a year.
...
I also got the first Nexus 7, which was a lot better, but too suffered a lot from sluggishness. .

Honestly, if you used a Galaxy and more specifically last gen's Nexus 7 (which had performance issues but was fairly representative of current Android) you have enough experience that switching devices really isn't as drastic as your OP makes it out to be. I think it's a lot tougher to go from only iOS and never using Android before to using it as your only device (and vice versa).
 

Xis

Member
Until android does smart playlists natively I have to stay with iOS for my phone.

For my tablet I have a Kindle Fire HDX and have been really happy with it. (Mostly used for books/comics/video/Internet).
 

Aiii

So not worth it
Honestly, if you used a Galaxy and more specifically last gen's Nexus 7 (which had performance issues but was fairly representative of current Android) you have enough experience that switching devices really isn't as drastic as your OP makes it out to be. I think it's a lot tougher to go from only iOS and never using Android before to using it as your only device (and vice versa).

The previous two times the switch was never made. The OG Nexus 7, esp. the 16GB, had alot of speed issues, to the point where you couldn't flip the device and have a huge delay until the actual screen flip. As far as the Galaxy went, I kept an iPod Touch 4th gen (or 3rd, the first one with retina) and an iPad around at all times.

In this case I've completely abandoned iOS, the iPad is gone, the iPhone is around, but turned off in a closet somewhere.
 

Halcyon

Member
My 2013 Nexus 7 hardly gets used since getting an iPad Air. It's a nice tablet, but all the little things add up for me, particularly when it comes to software/apps.

iOS got knocked a lot for this when iPad first started up, but the Nexus 7 feels more like a 'big phone' than any other tablet I've used.

Why do you have both a Nexus 7 and an iPad Air.
 
Well, now I need to figure how to get it to work with my Win PC and Android tablet. I'm sure there's a setting or app or something.

My Xperia Z1's Movie app automatically syncs itself to all the (DLNA-enabled/compatible) devices wirelessly connected to my local network. So all I would need to do is make sure that streaming is enabled in my Windows Media Player, move any movies supported by my phone (mp4, etc) to the directory I have assigned in my WMP playlist and then when I check the Movie app in my phone, I would see my PC's name there. It's only just a matter of tapping it to see all the movies I've set in my PC and then stream it.

I love it.
 
Probably going to jump back to Android with my next phone. I had an OG Droid, then a Samsung Android phone, and then jumped to the iPhone 5 because both of those devices were jank central and I was sick of jank.

I've been happy on the iPhone but disappointed at how limited and controlled everything is. At least once a day I am frustrated by Apple's draconian control of how you use your device, mostly around email and sharing. If the default apps didn't suck then I wouldn't mind having restricted app use, but because the default apps -- especially for email, the function I use on my phone most often -- are horrible, it's frustrating.

I picked up a Nexus 7 whenever that came out and I've been really impressed with Android 4+. My old phones were always shit carrier and manufacturer ware that never updated on time so I never experienced the latest versions of Android, or if I did get it, it was packed with bloat and garbage. The Nexus program and "Play Editions" didn't exist back when I was in the ANdroid ecosystem, so I didn't know what I should expect.

Probably going to jump back to Android with my next phone, and might also jump to TMobile from Verizon.

The only thing I'll miss is iMessage / Messages. Even though iMessage/Messages is a piece of shit, buggy app that has no features (and I'm astounded people on iOS still think it's good... it's like when your BlackBerry friends used to all rave about BBM, not knowing that BBM was years behind everything else), I will miss it because my primary computing environment is OSX, and it's damn hell convenient to send texts to the majority of my friends from my computer.

Until android does smart playlists natively I have to stay with iOS for my phone.

Google Music? I switched to Google Music on my iPhone because it's just better than iTunes and whatever other streaming options there are.
 
For me it was the other way around.

I used android for a long long time and since last year I got an iPhone 5.

Everything feels so much snappier, the apps are much prettier and the battery holy shit. That is the ultimate deal breaker.

But I gotta admit, after trying the HTC One of my girlfriend Android has come a long way.

ops: A jailbroken iPhone is the best phone there is.
 

Vyer

Member
The previous two times the switch was never made. The OG Nexus 7, esp. the 16GB, had alot of speed issues, to the point where you couldn't flip the device and have a huge delay until the actual screen flip. As far as the Galaxy went, I kept an iPod Touch 4th gen (or 3rd, the first one with retina) and an iPad around at all times.

In this case I've completely abandoned iOS, the iPad is gone, the iPhone is around, but turned off in a closet somewhere.

Sure, but still the previous (relatively recent) experience with both phones and tablets is going to help with the transition IMO.

Why do you have both a Nexus 7 and an iPad Air.

I've had both Nexus 7's. I was interested in the form factor and wanted to spend some more time with Android. When I decided to go back to the bigger screen the thought was that maybe my kid could use the N7 as well so I'd keep it around but he never really does.
 

Ephemeris

Member
I embrace my new Android brethren.

Why do you have both a Nexus 7 and an iPad Air.

A better comparison would be, N7 and Retina Mini.

iPad Air and N7 is fine. I have a similar setup (4th gen iPad and 2013 N7). Size difference plays a role in what I want to do at the moment.
 

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
My Xperia Z1's Movie app automatically syncs itself to all the (DLNA-enabled/compatible) devices wirelessly connected to my local network. So all I would need to do is make sure that streaming is enabled in my Windows Media Player, move any movies supported by my phone (mp4, etc) to the directory I have assigned in my WMP playlist and then when I check the Movie app in my phone, I would see my PC's name there. It's only just a matter of tapping it to see all the movies I've set in my PC and then stream it.

I love it.

I just downloaded Bubble PnP. HOLY SHIT. It works. I feel like I just saw an airplane take wing for the first time...lol.

I can now watch Archer from any room in the house.

(Okay, so if anybody knows of a comic app that isn't ass, I will take my my dislike for my tablet).
 

bob page

Member
I made the switch last March and haven't looked back once. I think the missteps of iOS 7 made my decision easier but I really had no reason to stay with Apple and the hardware, services and ecosystem felt bland. The release of the Chromecast and it's API means I'll be selling my Apple TV soon as well.

I'm using a HTC One and Nexus 7 right now. The HTC One is probably the best phone I've ever owned (and best built), even over my iPhone 4 and 5. I do wish the N7 had the Mini's aspect ratio (which I also previously owned), but overall it's a more productive device as a tablet.
 

Halcyon

Member
I've had both Nexus 7's. I was interested in the form factor and wanted to spend some more time with Android. When I decided to go back to the bigger screen the thought was that maybe my kid could use the N7 as well so I'd keep it around but he never really does.

Makes sense
 

Kikarian

Member
Download Tasker for Android.

It completely opens up your android phone/experience. It can be a little complicated at first, but once you get the hang of it you will blown away at what's available to you.

There's a quite a lot of tutorials on YouTube on it.

It's what's keeping me from switching to iOS. Being a design guy, I really like Apple's design. Although you can get android to look good design wise, it feels too non-integrated.
 
Do you know how to download the WWE app on your Android device?

It can be a little bit tricky. Michael Cole showed me how.
 

snacknuts

we all knew her
The only thing I'll miss is iMessage / Messages. Even though iMessage/Messages is a piece of shit, buggy app that has no features (and I'm astounded people on iOS still think it's good... it's like when your BlackBerry friends used to all rave about BBM, not knowing that BBM was years behind everything else), I will miss it because my primary computing environment is OSX, and it's damn hell convenient to send texts to the majority of my friends from my computer.

The sooner everyone switches to Hangouts, the better off we'll all be. It's nice to see another iOS user acknowledge that iMessage is crap.
 
With Android updating and optimizing as it has these last few releases, compared to iOS, I wonder how Apple plans to keep up. Their OS is coasting by on its slight app edge and looking cool. (Which is enough I guess)
 

Jedeye Sniv

Banned
To the people saying they are heavily invested in Apple's mobile games: What games are you talking about? I can't tell if i'm missing out because I only have access to Google Play, or you people are assholes and don't realize that mobile games are mostly garbage.

This is a serious question.

I really can't be arsed to go through my purchased list and write down the 50 or so A+ games that I've played in the last year. But your post is typical of the uninformed mobile gaming douchebaggery so rampant on GAF. I think I've played more hours on my iPad last year than I did on console, make of it what you will.
 

northead

Member
[...] I also got the first Nexus 7, which was a lot better, but too suffered a lot from sluggishness. I didn’t care much about how “open” my device is, and I don’t want to spend hours upon hours rooting my device and installing custom mods to get the best experience, I’m lazy, I want a device that works well out of the box.

It was a nice read, it pretty much sums up my own experience too.
This is the only line I have to disagree with.

It's ok if you don't want to install custom ROMs, especially given their current release state, where none of them is on a final build and you need to upgrade every now and then - although ROMs like Paranoid Android thoroughly deserve to be used, since you only need to update betas less than once a week and their own system app does basically everything for you... but still.

Rooting, especially on Nexus devices (if you have a Windows PC in particular), is stupid easy. Like, 5 minutes easy, no more than that.
There are tons of great videos on how to do it, and whether you're on a Mac or Windows computer it's a no more than 10 minutes process. Once SuperSU is installed, just go and grab Xposed Framework.
It's kind of the same concept as Cydia on jailbroken iPhone, except it is already backed up by the whole Android OS itself. There's the beloved status bar tap to top too.

Download Xposed and its 'core' GravityBox module and enjoy. About a million, incredible and intuitive extra settings to get the absolute most out of a Nexus (and any other device really).

Highly, immensely recommended.
Here in case you needed anything!
 

DJ_Lae

Member
The Nexus 5 I bought a month back was my first real taste of an Android device, and after a small initial learning curve I ended up loving it.

Using my wife's iPhone 5 is just weird now, even ignoring how tiny the screen is.

There was an initial hesitation because I do own a bunch of content through the app store (I have an iPod Touch and iPad too) but I don't really plan on buying much stuff for my Nexus. I guess we'll see if I change my mind, of course.
 

Mindwipe

Member
I really do enjoy using Android a lot more than iOS nowadays. The Nexus 7 shits all over an iPad, because I can change the default apps, I can get to the file system and I can transfer stuff around in a way that's just a staggering pain in the ass on iOS due to Apple's stubborn nature.

But having said that, the best iOS apps are still a little bit better than the best Android apps - AlienBlue is still a better Reddit client than Reddit News (but getting there), and Twitteriffic/Tweetbot are still great compared to most Android clients. But that gap is getting much smaller now.

I'm not really finding that much difference gaming wise any more.

The saddest thing is I think Android will keep going forward. But I'm scared that Apple thinks iOS7 was it's "big bang". It wasn't. It was a fresh coat of paint on an OS that is stagnant functionality wise and is beginning to collapse under it's own contradictions. Look at Airdrop. What a fuckup that was. It's like bluetooth file transfer, but six years late and worse in every single concievable way.
 

Tabby

Member
I only like the design of the Apple iPhones.
I don't like how the homescreen looks like a mess, how you can't really customise you're phone (unless you jailbreak it).

I've always used Android phones, feel more comfortable with them. Don't like touchwiz? download a separate launcher. Don't like stock keyboard? download a keyboard.
Only thing I miss from IOS Is the games on the store but yknow, that's why I have a Vita.

I'm in love with Sony phones though.
Brilliant and sexy designs, non bloated vanilla-esque Android skin.
 

bedlamite

Member
The quality of iOS mobile gaming is far, far ahead of Android's, and as such, I'll never be without an Apple device. Kingdom Rush, Threes, Device 6, I could just go on and on

I left Android years ago, don't miss it at all. Kitkat looks really nice but app designers still haven't caught up, and Android tablet apps are still mystifyingly unpolished. I prefer user experience and UI/app polish in iOS and WP over Android's "openness".
 

Xis

Member
Google Music? I switched to Google Music on my iPhone because it's just better than iTunes and whatever other streaming options there are.

On my iPhone, I have a playlist that automatically chooses the 12 hours of music that has been added in the last 36 months that has been listened to least.
I have another list that picks the 6 hours of music that has been added in the last 60 months that has been listened to least recently.
The list I actually listen to is a unison of the two. (It is basically music I haven't heard a lot + music I haven't heard recently)

Serious question: can this be duplicated on and Android device?
 

Halcyon

Member
I really can't be arsed to go through my purchased list and write down the 50 or so A+ games that I've played in the last year. But your post is typical of the uninformed mobile gaming douchebaggery so rampant on GAF. I think I've played more hours on my iPad last year than I did on console, make of it what you will.

Opinions man. You clearly like playing videogames way more than me. Can you only get these 50 A+ games on Apple? Out of those 50 A+ games, do you feel like you couldn't find something similar on the Play store?

If you're sitting on the toilet taking a shit playing (insert ios exclusive triple A title), is the shitting experience all that much better instead of playing Subway Surfers?
 

Goodlife

Member
Talking of games, anyone know of any decent cross platform board games?

Wife probably going to have to be in hospital for a few days soon, would like something to play with her (she's IOS, I'm andriod) while she's in.

She's not a "gamer" though, but some ideas would be good.
 

Carlisle

Member
Can't man. I like mobile gaming so it's a non-starter. Plus, I have a shit-ton of App Store and iTunes content.

Glad you're enjoying your new kit though.

Yep. Gaming is the big reason for me, that and I've bought so much content since I got my 3G in 2008. There's nothing Android currently offers over iOS that's worth that trade off. Yeah, it would be cool to open links in Chrome by default. But I'm not giving up the games.

I keep considering getting a Nexus 7 in addition to my iOS stuff, just to try out and get the handful of apps that aren't on iOS, but I haven't cared enough to yet.

Though I have been hearing a lot of testimony similar to yours recently, and that's great. First time I tried android was back when it was sluggish and not user-friendly. Glad there's more competition and pressure on Apple to make some of the no-brainer changes we've been waiting for.
 

edbrat

Member
small screen and swype are deal breakers for me on handsets (price would be another one but I get handsets through work). Nexus 5 is the happiest I've been with a handset since 4S which I think will be regarded as peak iphone (well until perhaps the iphone air anyway).

still prefer apple tablets tho and last time I purchased felt the premium over android tablets was justified. Wonder if that will be the case when I replace my ipad 2.
 

Vyer

Member
Talking of games, anyone know of any decent cross platform board games?

Wife probably going to have to be in hospital for a few days soon, would like something to play with her (she's IOS, I'm andriod) while she's in.

She's not a "gamer" though, but some ideas would be good.

There's a dedicated iOS board games thread in Gaming community that you might want to ask. Those guys can probably point you in the right direction.
 

Blackhead

Redarse
I bought a Samsung Galaxy 10.1 a few weeks ago, the first Android device I had bought in years. Worst purchase I've made since I bought a car that didn't start. Wish I had bought a replacement iPad instead. In theory, I like Android's philosophy of do want you want, but the practice of actually using Google Play Store and trying to sift through loads of off-brand shitware apps doesn't really live up to the promise.

Take, for instance, a comic reading app. iOS had one great one and a bunch of lesser one. ComicZeal works exactly how you want it to. You load your comics up, it sorts them and the animation of flipping pages is unnoticable. Android comic apps range from utterly broken to barely usable. The best is ComicRack, which works about half as well as ComicZeal and had a terrible sorting algorithm that makes a hash of even simply labled series.

I don't know OP. I want Android to be great, but everything about it just feels so half-assed and disorganized.

Actually Android has the best manga and comic apps. That's primarily why I have a Nexus 10.
 
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