mmannai Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Over the past few days, I've been contemplating if I should switch to the Samsung Galaxy S3, from my iPhone 4 (Please, no flame wars). I've fallen in love with it's design, specs and display. However, one of the things stopping me from switching is the availability of apps and features I've gotten used to, especially with a Mac. I was wondering if somebody could help me find alternative, or similar applications that would allow me achieve similar functionality. I'm one of those people who hates pop-up, mobile advertising, so it's one of the things stopping me from switching. Also, if they could be simple and easy to use, rather than obtrusive and ugly. Without further ado, - Photo-stream - Wireless sync (Music (directly from iTunes), videos, photos from iPhoto, applications, backing-up) - Pages / Office support (Something easy to use, with cloud syncing) - News stand - myfitnesspal - Natwest Banking - Pocket (Read it later) - iPhoto for iPhone(Photo management, editing, importing and journal making) - Train timings and tickets - Airplay support (as I've recently got some airplay speakers installed) Sorry if I'm asking for a lot, Best Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleNeutrino Veteran Posted June 1, 2012 Veteran Share Posted June 1, 2012 check out play.google.com it has a list of EVERY app you can get for Android device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmannai Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 Hey, littleNeutrino, I had a look through google play store online (as I was searching for applications before posting this post), but I'm not certain if I can find applications that suite exactly what I'm looking for. I was wondering if maybe there were people here who have tried and used applications that they could recommend, that provided similar or equal functionality? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DomZ Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 If I was going to switch from my iPhone it wouldn't be to a S3. It would be to a Lumia 900 or a HTC One X - much nicer looking phones imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy0 Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 - myfitnesspal - Natwest Banking - Train timings and tickets MyFitnessPal and Natwest both have their apps on the android market. For train timings and tickets there are several apps available, such as thetrainline and National Rail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmannai Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 I was considering the HTC One X, but the thing is, I tend to shoot a lot of HD videos and pictures. From what I've read online, the Galaxy S3 has the upper hand when it comes to videos, and has an external microSD slot for expandability, which to me seems like a good option, as I'd have more room to maneuver and store my music collection? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmannai Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 MyFitnessPal and Natwest both have their apps on the android market. For train timings and tickets there are several apps available, such as thetrainline and National Rail. Thanks Jimmy0! Quick question though, have you tried any of those apps? Are they stable enough, or do they tend to crash often? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astra.Xtreme Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 If you're bored of the iPhone and want to try something new, the G3 would probably be the route to go. I personally don't care for Android since it has lag and stability issues and also find it sad that rooting it magically makes it better. Otherwise if you're nicely accustomed to iOS, you might as well just wait till the new iPhone comes out. It should have a bigger screen, which was really the iPhone's only shortcoming. Just an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Social Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Thanks Jimmy0! Quick question though, have you tried any of those apps? Are they stable enough, or do they tend to crash often? why would they crash? They are fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noir Angel Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 - Photo-stream - Wireless sync (Music (directly from iTunes), videos, photos from iPhoto, applications, backing-up) - Pages / Office support (Something easy to use, with cloud syncing) - News stand - myfitnesspal - Natwest Banking - Pocket (Read it later) - iPhoto for iPhone(Photo management, editing, importing and journal making) - Train timings and tickets - Airplay support (as I've recently got some airplay speakers installed) I'll try and help you as much as I can here -Wireless sync can be done with an application called doubletwist -Pages / office support... I'm not 100% sure what you mean by pages but I think there are a few apps on the market that can read MS office documents -News Stand... Again, not sure but I believe quite a few papers and news stations have apps on the Android market, as well as news widgets -Myfitnesspal... Not 100% sure but i'd be surprised if there wasn't something similar on Android -Natwest do have an Android app -Pocket, not sure -iPhoto, not sure -Train times: There is a thetrainline.com and network rail app available on Android -Airplay, not sure And don't listen to the apparent scaremongering some people appear to be putting on, Android doesn't lag on all devices, nor is it any more unstable than iOS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardcore Til I Die Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Without further ado, - Photo-stream Dropbox automatically uploads photos and syncs with your devices. Google+ uploads photos to the cloud, but doesn't sync with your other devices. You can however download them from the Google+ website. - Wireless sync (Music (directly from iTunes), videos, photos from iPhoto, applications, backing-up) Kies supports wireless sync. Some people report it being unstable, but I haven't really had many problems with it. - Pages / Office support (Something easy to use, with cloud syncing) There are office suites available for Android but I haven't looked into it. - News stand Flipboard will probably suffice. It has lots of articles to choose from. - myfitnesspal As somebody else said, this is available for Android. I personally use CardioTrainer. I've tried Endomondo, Google MyTracks and CardioTrainer, and find CT to be the best. - Natwest Banking This is available. - Pocket (Read it later) Not sure about this one. - iPhoto for iPhone(Photo management, editing, importing and journal making) There are photo apps available. The built in gallery has editing features etc, and lets you upload to your favourite services. - Train timings and tickets National Rail app. - Airplay support (as I've recently got some airplay speakers installed) Not available as far as I know. You can use bluetooth speakers but not airplay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmannai Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 Thank you Javik and Hardcore Til I Die, Hardcore Till I Die, I wanted to ask about Kies wireless, does it sync with iTunes or do I have to access it through a web browser? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy0 Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Thanks Jimmy0! Quick question though, have you tried any of those apps? Are they stable enough, or do they tend to crash often? I have used MyFitnessPal, Natwest and thetrainline apps, and they all work fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techbeck Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 If you're bored of the iPhone and want to try something new, the G3 would probably be the route to go. I personally don't care for Android since it has lag and stability issues and also find it sad that rooting it magically makes it better. Otherwise if you're nicely accustomed to iOS, you might as well just wait till the new iPhone comes out. It should have a bigger screen, which was really the iPhone's only shortcoming. Just an option. The ICS OS runs great and is very stable. I never once had any stability issues with the OS or the ton of apps I have used over the years. And rooting alone doesnt make your phone better. Its the ton of ROMs and MODs that people make that make it better. Adds more features and you can customize more to your liking. Its like a PC/Windows basically in that aspect. And the iPhone may have a bigger screen but IMO, that is not enough if they are still running the same old stale OS. Make the phone bigger, big whoop. Hope they do more than just that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techbeck Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Over the past few days, I've been contemplating if I should switch to the Samsung Galaxy S3, from my iPhone 4 (Please, no flame wars). I've fallen in love with it's design, specs and display. The only thing I really dont care for with the OS is Touchwiz . I would install a different launcher to get more of the Google look and feel. SGS3 looks like a good phone and if I didnt get the GNEX a few months ago, then I would be really considering this phone. However, I am curious to see if the rumors are true about Google releasing more Nexus devices later this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardcore Til I Die Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Thank you Javik and Hardcore Til I Die, Hardcore Till I Die, I wanted to ask about Kies wireless, does it sync with iTunes or do I have to access it through a web browser? Kies is a piece of software in itself, there's no web browser involved. Kies has its' own music library, but it does have an import iTunes playlist option so should be fairly easy to do. You just run the Kies application on your PC, then select the Kies Air option on your phone and there will be a sync option. It connects using a WiFi network, so you need to have a wireless router. Otherwise you can connect your phone using a USB cable and sync that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noir Angel Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Thank you Javik and Hardcore Til I Die, Hardcore Till I Die, I wanted to ask about Kies wireless, does it sync with iTunes or do I have to access it through a web browser? No problem. And you shouldn't have to access Kies through a browser. I'm not 100% sure whether it actually can sync with iTunes but I'm pretty sure it should recognise most Apple audio formats so you shouldn't have much trouble adding your library. I do know, however that doubletwist is compatible with both iTunes and WMP media libraries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmannai Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 Thanks once again Javik and Hardcore till I Die, After looking at doubletwist's website, I think doubletwist's airsync feature might suite me more, as it should allow me to have flexibility, while integrating my library seamlessly. If I take the phone though, I'll try out Kies, as it seems to be very interesting. Another aspect I was considering was customization, are there any clean, slick themes, widgets or apps one would recommend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardcore Til I Die Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Thanks once again Javik and Hardcore till I Die, After looking at doubletwist's website, I think doubletwist's airsync feature might suite me more, as it should allow me to have flexibility, while integrating my library seamlessly. If I take the phone though, I'll try out Kies, as it seems to be very interesting. Another aspect I was considering was customization, are there any clean, slick themes, widgets or apps one would recommend? No probs :) It's difficult to recommend themes to you until you've used Android for a while. You might love Touchwiz, but if you're like me, you'll prefer the stock Android look. I root and use a stock Ice Cream Sandwich ROM on my Galaxy S2 as I prefer the stock look to Samsung's Touchwiz. As for apps, there's the usual set - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (+ any other social networks you use), I prefer Spotify to buying music but you may not, MX player is excellent for playing videos, PowerAMP is excellent for playing music. Evernote is really good for taking notes and they sync across your devices. It really depends what you like! If you tell us what you like, I'll try and offer some suggestions. Same with widgets, it depends what you like. I like a good calendar widget. You don't need to worry about settings widgets as Samsung puts them in the notification bar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techbeck Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Another aspect I was considering was customization, are there any clean, slick themes, widgets or apps one would recommend? I would consider using a launcher like Nova Launcher. Its free in the store and works without rooting your phone. If you decide to root, then I would use a launcher like Apex. Both launchers allow more options to the OS, replaces TW (tw is still there and you can switch back), change icons, and lots more. Also if you root, then I am sure there will be different ROMs available soom for the G3. Keep an eye out on XDA Forums and look for ROMs like AOKP and Cyanogen. Each ROM comes with its own set of themes to flash over it. Some themes work with other ROMs, some dont. Looking for a good Clock/Weather widgets that I would recommend Beautiful Widgets. Few bucks in the store but the best looking IMO. Lots of different themes to download for the clocks/weather. Also has battery and toggle widgets. Airdroid is a good app to use. Allows you to browse your phone thru a web browser. There is also a sticky at the top of the Android forums with what apps users would recommend. Worth checking out :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
still1 Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 - Photo-stream - Wireless sync (Music (directly from iTunes), videos, photos from iPhoto, applications, backing-up) DoubleTwist - Pages / Office support (Something easy to use, with cloud syncing) OfficeSuite Viewer,Kingsoft Office,Quickoffice Pro - News stand Pulse,FlipBoard Coming soon,Zinio,Google Current - myfitnesspal Yes, its available in Android store - Natwest Banking Yes, its available in Android store - Pocket (Read it later) Yes, its available in Android store - iPhoto for iPhone(Photo management, editing, importing and journal making) default ICS photo editor works too, since its S3 samsung would have added additional features. - Train timings and tickets There are a lot of app. should search based on your location - Airplay support (as I've recently got some airplay speakers installed) https://play.google....2lkUGxheWVyIl0. go to play.google.com do a quick search you will find all app. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardcore Til I Die Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 - News stand Pulse,FlipBoard Coming soon,Zinio,Google Current Flipboard is coming soon to most Android devices, but is already available on the Galaxy S3, which is what's being discussed here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmannai Posted June 4, 2012 Author Share Posted June 4, 2012 Hey, I'd like to thank you all for helping me out! I bought the Samsung Galaxy S3 today (Marble White, 16 GB), and hopefully I'll soon be posting a review. Up to now, I'm getting used to the phone, touchwiz ui and migrating my stuff from the iPhone. Open Minded 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardcore Til I Die Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Hey, I'd like to thank you all for helping me out! I bought the Samsung Galaxy S3 today (Marble White, 16 GB), and hopefully I'll soon be posting a review. Up to now, I'm getting used to the phone, touchwiz ui and migrating my stuff from the iPhone. I too got one today, couldn't wait any longer!! It's an amazing phone ain't it :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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