SSGMUN10000
Connoisseur Of Tedium
HSPA+42 says hi. My GNex is which is +21 was getting 10Mbs.
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Nexus 4 |OT| Quality for everyone
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HSPA+42 says hi. My GNex is which is +21 was getting 10Mbs.
Holy shit, thats more than decent. Damn I really need to drop my GNex and grab a 4. I get 8-10 on my GNex.
SSGMUN10000
Connoisseur Of Tedium
And for those saying that Android fans are getting hurt at the benchmarks take a hike. No one was getting upset. Reviewers said that software was not final. If you follow tech you should know better.
So, Apple is not willing to sell me an unlocked iPhone 5. The N4 being $350 (almost half the price) with an S4 Pro has me intrigued. But, I'm heavily invested in the iOS ecosystem so I need to know first if there are comparable alternatives to the apps and services I rely on.
When I mean comparable, I'm not talking just about functionality. I mean the whole package. I need comparable apps that don't sacrifice on design, speed, and fluidity. Animations and touch input need to be smooth like the OS--I don't want any lag. If anyone has used any of these apps on iOS, what would you recommend as a comparable alternative on Android?
And if not, what are the best apps in each category? They don't have to be free.
1. Reeder, a Google Reader client. I need things like a readability mobilizer, gestures for going between articles and marking articles as read or starring them. I need read later services like Instapaper. I don't want apps like Feedly or Flipboard that make it into a magazine--I want an app that quickly shows the headlines of articles in a list so I can quickly get to what I want to read.
2. Tweetbot, a twitter client. Easy access to conversation and reply views, inline thumbnails for links, gestures (replying, favoriting, etc), readability mobilizer, sending to instapaper, tweet marker, tweet detail pages. Lots and lots of functionality, yet well designed.
3. Delivery Status, a package tracker. It syncs with the dashboard widget to provide up to date delivery tracking. It auto detects tracking numbers when inputting them and nicely matches them with the respective service (like Fedex or UPS).
4. Notes. Built into iOS, I use it a TON to sync quick snippets between my Mac and phone. Automatic cloud syncing in the background is absolutely crucial. Is there an app like this, that can instead sync with Dropbox? I can use Notational Velocity on my Mac if it can.
5. Find my iPhone. Self explanatory. I need something that will track my phone and provides options like remote lock, wipe, send message, and so on.
6. Things, a GTD app. Absolutely love the Mac app for keeping track of projects and lists of things I need to finish. They don't make an Android app and it would pain me to stop using it. A phone app isn't crucial to me, but it would be nice. What do you guys use that syncs with a mac app?
7. Calcbot, a calculator. History, advanced functions, parenthesis, etc. It's also extremely pretty. What options do I have?
So that's apps. Next, I need to know about OS and system level services.
1. Over the air backups and restores. Automatic daily iCloud backups are wonderful and very useful to me. What's the option here?
2. I have all of my contacts in iCloud also. I assume I'll have to transfer them over to my Gmail? Have they fixed the low res contact photo bug?
3. Music syncing. I cannot stand drag/drop for transferring music. I just like to sync my starred music in iTunes. I don't think this phone will sync with iTunes. What are my options?
4. Since flash is discontinued, I'm curious how it will handle sites that serve video. On iOS, every site serves me efficient and smooth HTML5 video. Is it the same here? Can I switch my user agent to iOS Safari to get HTML5 video?
5. I noticed there's no physical silent switch. How do I mute all system sounds and alerts, but keep my alarms and music unmuted?
Thanks! I'll have plenty more questions once I think of them
When I mean comparable, I'm not talking just about functionality. I mean the whole package. I need comparable apps that don't sacrifice on design, speed, and fluidity. Animations and touch input need to be smooth like the OS--I don't want any lag. If anyone has used any of these apps on iOS, what would you recommend as a comparable alternative on Android?
And if not, what are the best apps in each category? They don't have to be free.
1. Reeder, a Google Reader client. I need things like a readability mobilizer, gestures for going between articles and marking articles as read or starring them. I need read later services like Instapaper. I don't want apps like Feedly or Flipboard that make it into a magazine--I want an app that quickly shows the headlines of articles in a list so I can quickly get to what I want to read.
2. Tweetbot, a twitter client. Easy access to conversation and reply views, inline thumbnails for links, gestures (replying, favoriting, etc), readability mobilizer, sending to instapaper, tweet marker, tweet detail pages. Lots and lots of functionality, yet well designed.
3. Delivery Status, a package tracker. It syncs with the dashboard widget to provide up to date delivery tracking. It auto detects tracking numbers when inputting them and nicely matches them with the respective service (like Fedex or UPS).
4. Notes. Built into iOS, I use it a TON to sync quick snippets between my Mac and phone. Automatic cloud syncing in the background is absolutely crucial. Is there an app like this, that can instead sync with Dropbox? I can use Notational Velocity on my Mac if it can.
5. Find my iPhone. Self explanatory. I need something that will track my phone and provides options like remote lock, wipe, send message, and so on.
6. Things, a GTD app. Absolutely love the Mac app for keeping track of projects and lists of things I need to finish. They don't make an Android app and it would pain me to stop using it. A phone app isn't crucial to me, but it would be nice. What do you guys use that syncs with a mac app?
7. Calcbot, a calculator. History, advanced functions, parenthesis, etc. It's also extremely pretty. What options do I have?
So that's apps. Next, I need to know about OS and system level services.
1. Over the air backups and restores. Automatic daily iCloud backups are wonderful and very useful to me. What's the option here?
2. I have all of my contacts in iCloud also. I assume I'll have to transfer them over to my Gmail? Have they fixed the low res contact photo bug?
3. Music syncing. I cannot stand drag/drop for transferring music. I just like to sync my starred music in iTunes. I don't think this phone will sync with iTunes. What are my options?
4. Since flash is discontinued, I'm curious how it will handle sites that serve video. On iOS, every site serves me efficient and smooth HTML5 video. Is it the same here? Can I switch my user agent to iOS Safari to get HTML5 video?
5. I noticed there's no physical silent switch. How do I mute all system sounds and alerts, but keep my alarms and music unmuted?
Thanks! I'll have plenty more questions once I think of them
Haven't been able to find a suitable competitor to Reeder nor Tweetbot in Android.
Unknown Soldier
Member
Verify that your provider offers it and it's available where you are. DC-HSPA+, as the name implies, requires Dual Connections. As in, two towers at once. It's like two women at once for your smartphone. T-Mobile USA offers it, I don't know about anybody else.
Zombie James
Banned
You might want to try the Apps for Android thread, you'll probably get a lot more responses there.
Jayayess1190
Member
1. I use gReader. I do love Reeder on iOS and there is no equivalent on Android, but gReader is good enough.
2. I use Tweetlanes, again not as good as Tweetbot but good enough.
3. I use Slice, it is cross platform and awesome.
5. I use Androidlost, but Cerberus is better.
6. Try Doubletwist for syncing iTunes music.
ghostofsparta
Member
It's not much more useful for the average person honestly. The greatest things I love about it are the sport scores/alerts and my time to home/school cards.
RoadHazard
Gold Member
Nothing wrong with Google's own Reader app, if you ask me. It may not be the best looking app in the world, but it does what it's supposed to do. And yes, you can flick left and right to go to the previous/next article.
I've tried the popular flashy ones, but in the end all I want it just something that lets me quickly browse new items and read the ones that seem interesting, and Google Reader does just that.
Photos and videos can be automatically uploaded to G+ or Dropbox (probably other services as well), phone settings and what apps you have installed (but unfortunately not their data) can be synced and restored from your Google account, and obviously contacts and all that is synced with your Google account as well. Anything else you need?
You should be able to easily get them into your Google account, and then they'll automatically be on your phone. Unfortunately, Gmail still resizes all contact pictures to 96x96 if you add them on the web, which ends up looking terrible on a phone. If you want nice contact pictures you're gonna have to add them on the phone itself until Google gets their shit together and fixes this.
Google Music. Upload your music (20,000 songs for free), and it will instantly be available for streaming to your phone. You can also "pin" artists and albums you want to keep on the phone, and they'll be downloaded for permanent offline access.
Don't see why you wouldn't get the same HTML5 videos on Android.
Ringer/notification volume, media volume and alarm volume are separate:
The volume rocker controls media volume if there's any media (music, videos, games) currently playing, otherwise it controls ringer/notification volume. Alarm volume is never affected by it, of course. Also, you can always mute ringer/notifications by holding down the power button briefly no matter what you're currently doing on the phone:
Official Google Reader app is good.
For twitter, TweetLanes is good, but probably does not have all the features that tweetbot has.
If you use gmail then Google Now will do this automatically without you even needing to input the tracking numbers
I wonder how well the Nexus 4 would align on the Touchstone Docks (couldn't confirm on the Googles if they are Qi standard or not) but damn at this price its worth a try
Actually, I think they fixed this last month.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/1...c-updates-web-contact-sync-with-brand-new-ui/
ahhhhhhh fuck
Well, at least we have options like the Lumia series charging pillows/pads and stands
Is your phone broken? Why are you looking to buy something new?
People covered some of the other stuff - but for package tracking, aside from some good apps - Google Now automatically trawls your email for that sort of info and automatically makes notifications/Now Cards that let you keep track
virtuoso88
Member
Ever look at evernote or springpad? Those apps do just that and there's apps for iOS and Android and plugins for chrome for quick access.
The Faceless Master
Member
Anand uses Chrome. it's actually a better choice than the AOSP browser since some OEMs tweak it, especially Samsung.
Bboy AJ
My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
Giga! What's up, brother. As a user of both iOS and Android, with a preference to Android, I have got your answers:
1. You will find nothing as pretty as Reeder. But I use GoodNews. It does everything else you're asking. Somewhat of an iOS downgrade because you can offline sync full articles.
2. Nothing as pretty. Plume is my favorite but it lacks. There's also Tweetlanes and Boid. Downgrade from iOS.
3. Google Now will do this for you.
4. Tasks syncs automatically with your Google account. You can use it like a Note app. Also, Any.do looks better but I've grown to enjoy the speed of Tasks. I also don't think Anydo syncs automatically.
5. Plan B, I think.
6. Can't help you here.
7. Also don't know.
1. Google has been doing this for a long, long time. Just make sure all your stuff is synced. You won't have an issue ensuring that.
2. Yes. And sort of. Check out HaxSync as well.
3. Google Music is perfect for your needs.
4. Yes.
5. Answered above.
Keep asking, gigs.
The Faceless Master
Member
Google Reader
there's also Pocket, Readablity and Instapaper
(****** joke here [you guys know what i mean {that which shall not be named without a valid play store link!}]) but seriously, i'm a Twitter scrub, i use the official Twitter app... there's lots of apps but Bboy AJ hates them all so i assume they're all missing something...
there are several apps that do package tracking, and Google is also adding it natively to Google Now. i use Parcels.
quite a few apps for this. i use Evernote.
there are lots of apps that do this, like Where's My Droid and Lookout. i use SeekDroid.
i use Notes for ICS, but there are apps like Tasks, gTasks, Any.DO and more... all of which sync with Google Tasks, and apparently there are several apps on the Mac app store that will sync Google Tasks to Mac.
i have nooooooooooooooooo idea on this, but there are a ton of calculator apps available.
1. Google backs up *some* things, but not a lot... i use Titanium Backup
2. You can either use SmoothSync if you want to continue using iCloud, or you can (should) just export your contacts to a file then import to gmail.
3. there are apps for that, most notably doubleTwist. or you could just use Google Music and have all your music (up to 20k songs) in ~~~the cloud~~~!
4. they'll work like they do on other platforms with no Flash. you get HTML5 video or you get nothing. also, you can install flash manually...
5. there are separate volume sliders for media/apps, ringtones, notifications, call volume and alarms.
Are you talking about the site automatically switching? I wonder if that may vary by Android device.
For example, I can go to Giantbomb's front page on the iphone and click on a quick look video and watch it. But if I go to the front page on my Nexus 7 and click it it just tells me that it requires Flash. I guess it doesn't switch to HTML5 (or whatever else) automatically? But perhaps the site will respond differently to the phone. Likely there is some other solution/workaround. I have seen that happen from time to time when browsing on the N7.
Yeah I was coming to post that. I noticed when I added some more photos to my contacts through GMail on my PC, that they all come through in clean ass clear HD photos on my phone contacts now, instead of grainy stretched messes like they sometimes used to.
Not a huge deal, but its nice that its all clean and clear now.
Ruthless_Barbarian
Member
Pffft, it's $50 more in Australia. You shouldn't complain.
Well, GST is about half of that. Americans presumably pay some sales tax on top of the quoted price.
The Faceless Master
Member
indeed, US prices are pre-tax.
criesofthepast
Member
One of the things I hated on my moms S3 was the gmail app didn't format emails to fit the screen. I don't know what this feature is called but it almost looked like your viewing a huge desktop web page on a 5 inch mobile device. Just wasn't formated for mobile viewing. So you had to swipe your finger around to see the whole email.
iPhone doesnt do that and it would be a serious pain to read emails if the nexus does this as well. Not sure if its just a Samsung Galaxy thing or an android thing.
iPhone doesnt do that and it would be a serious pain to read emails if the nexus does this as well. Not sure if its just a Samsung Galaxy thing or an android thing.
That's mostly an issue with html mails (like book advice from amazon, facebook etc). Anyway, it's fixed in Android 4.2, which reflows the text to fit the screen and allows pinch to zoom.
fluffydelusions
Member
@giga totally shameless plug but since you were after a notes app similar to iPhone I actually made one a while back. I have no sync feature just yet but there is a ton of other stuff you may find useful if you look in the description of the app. You can also easily backup to dropbox, google drive etc
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...s.app.enotesclassiclite&feature=search_result
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...s.app.enotesclassiclite&feature=search_result
criesofthepast
Member
Oh thank goodness. Was one of my big gripes.
I've decided I'm getting this phone and will test it out for a day or two and then put my 4S on Craigslist. Will come out of it all with a profit I'm sure since my unlocked mint condition 16GB should go for over $400 easy.
Yeah it is a pain as it is now.
Check: http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/1...-pinch-to-zoom-swipeaway-deletearchive-video/
RoadHazard
Gold Member
Damn, I've completely missed this piece of brilliant news! Oh joy, now I can finally sync contact photos that don't look like absolute ass through my Google account! Sweet.
The only things that still annoys me a bit is that there seems to be no way to tell in the web interface what resolution a contact's photo is, as it's still displayed at 96x96 there. Instead, you have to bring up each contact on the phone, check if the photo looks nice or awful, and then go fix it in Gmail/Contacts (of course, you can also do it right on the phone, but that's generally more tedious). Also, they seem to have removed the option to add a photo from a URL. I found that option useful for directly adding photos from people's Facebook albums, but now I have to first download the image and then add it to the contact. A bit more work, but of course worth it to have decent looking contact photos on my phone.
The call screen/dialer looks amazing with the high res photos. Definitely worth it.
criesofthepast
Member
Looks good.
This may seem like a dumb question but are the touch buttons on the nexus 4 permanent or do they disappear like the galaxy s3 ones when not in use? Seems like a waste of screen space just to have those there at all times.
Talking about the 3 buttons on the bottom:
RoadHazard
Gold Member
Looks good.
This may seem like a dumb question but are the touch buttons on the nexus 4 permanent or do they disappear like the galaxy s3 ones when not in use? Seems like a waste of screen space just to have those there at all times.
Talking about the 3 buttons on the bottom:
They disappear when appropriate, which is mostly when using video apps. Beyond that, they really need to be accessible at all times; how else are you gonna navigate the phone?
fluffydelusions
Member
Hopefully
Bboy AJ
My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
Yep. Dollars to donuts it's here to stay.
fluffydelusions
Member
Bboy AJ
My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
I wish the same held true for SD cards
Never. Don't even get me started on why SD cards are awful.
Looks good.
This may seem like a dumb question but are the touch buttons on the nexus 4 permanent or do they disappear like the galaxy s3 ones when not in use? Seems like a waste of screen space just to have those there at all times.
Talking about the 3 buttons on the bottom:
They always vanish whenever appropiate, and they are there when needed. For example on full screen video, they vanish so you get full screen video, to make them appear, tap the screen and they slide out so you can navigate if needed. They vanish again in a second or two if not needed/used.
hitsugi
Member
Speaking of which, is it safe to assume no preorders through google play? Seems like it'll be every man for himself whenever they're made available.