Goodbye Windows Phone, hello Android

[+Eternal Tempest MVC]

The nice thing about nexus devices is even if the phone won't boot (misadventures of rooting / custom roms), you can always re-install factory image.

https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images

 

Nexus devices, since the boot loader allows unlocking, no hacks required, is there's a lot of custom rom's out there.

[Jarrichvdv]

Congrats but I just recently switched from Android to Windows Phone and I love it. I got the Nokia Lumia 1520, it is a beast of a phone!

Cool! How is the portability and the speed? These are 2 major things I need to be sure of before I buy a 1520. (currently rocking a 920)

[macoman]

Cool! How is the portability and the speed? These are 2 major things I need to be sure of before I buy a 1520. (currently rocking a 920)

well as you may know, it is a 6inch phone. It is big, if you have small hands it will be difficult to use it. I don't have not problem with it. Speed its amazing, in fact I had a previous Sony Xperia Zl and it just blow away this one. Apps open very quick and I noticed that texting in android takes me to send it like 5 seconds. In the Lumia 1520 its instant, also the speakers is much better quality.

[Deviate_X]

I bought an HTC 8S back in February and the screen cracked on the 20th. I wanted a new phone because I know that if I dropped it again, the screen would become unusable. I couldn't resist the Nexus 5. I paid $399 + tax & S/H for the black 32GB model and I couldn't be happier. Coming from a 4GB device, it's nice to not worry about installing too many apps.

 

 

You bought a phone with 4GB ?? what was the thinking?

[Aergan]

Honourable mentions I have on my 2 month old Z1:

• DashClock
• RetroArch
• ES File Explorer
• SkyDrive
• BubbleUPnP
• RD Client

[macoman]

You bought a phone with 4GB ?? what was the thinking?

I could not imaging myself in a 4GB phone, too little space. The OS alone takes almost 3GB, you will end up with 1GB for the rest.

[Roger H. Veteran]

Before you setup your phone too much, unlock the bootloader now which WIPES EVERYTHING. That way later on if you decide to root you will be fine.

Also some quality time on XDA might help as well :p

[tsupersonic]

I personally wouldn't recommend rooting, unlocking boot loader or anything. Stock Android is more than capable, and not like older versions of Android.

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

I personally wouldn't recommend rooting, unlocking boot loader or anything. Stock Android is more than capable, and not like older versions of Android.

 

If you unlock now then you don't have to loose all your data if you decide to later. Likewise some good root apps are out such as Titanium Backup and Adaway.

 

No need to flash a custom rom when unlocked and rooted, stock is great as you say. I do however think Cyanogenmod adds some good features stock is missing.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

I found it quite hard to go from WP8 to Android when I switched back (Xperia Z).  How have you found it?

I didn't get over it, and moved back to a Lumia 925 recently.

The transition was pretty easy. I've used other Android devices in the past like my sister's Nexus 7 (2012). I don't see myself getting a WP device in the future because the Nexus 5 is more than good enough for me.

 

There are pros and cons to this though.  It means you can remove things that you don't want in the OS, which is one thing I do miss about Android.

I also miss the notification centre, and that WP8 doesn't handle all notifications.

I agree. Android is unmatched when it comes to customization and I like it. The lack of a notification centre didn't bother me until I actually used one for myself. It's so convenient to pull down a menu and see all your notifications. Live tiles are great but if you have a lot of apps, it's easy to miss something. Hopefully that will change with WP8.1.

 

Hello,

This thread is for you: https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1193307-2013-switchers/ ;)

 

Rooting does NOT void your warranty. This is a false rumor.

There is a catch though: It does not void your warranty if you bought it from Google. If you bought it from Best Buy or LG (not sure if possible) there might be some legal mumbo jumbo.

But no: Nexus 5 devices are base for development and have unlocked bootloaders.

You will get OTA updates even if you root (Note: if you root. If you install a custom recovery or another ROM, you wont). The thing is that those OTA updates will install but remove your root. You will just have to reroot and thats it.

That being said, I only use root on ES File Explorer and Terminal Emulator. Maybe you might not need it :)

 

This broke back in 4.0 or 4.1, dont remember which version. It actually isnt broken: Its just that Google has decided not to implement it correctly for it to work with Facebook and is another sneaky way for you to use Google+

The reason I say this because there are 100s of apps that you can download and install and it again does it automatically of assigning your Facebook contact's pictures to your phone/Google contacts perfectly, so no, it is not a Facebook problem.

Im currently using this one: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ro.weednet.contactssync

Ive found this one too https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.syncme.syncmeapp which Im gonna give a try now :)

Its just a pure dictatorship of Google.

Anyways enjoy your Nexus 5 :)

Awesome. I'll check out that thread. And thanks for the contact sync app suggestion. I just installed it on my phone and I'm about to give it a try.

 

You bought a phone with 4GB ?? what was the thinking?

I got it for $99 and at the time, I didn't see myself as a heavy app user. For months, I've only used a handful of apps and I began using more and more until I ran out of space. I had to wipe my phone just to install an OS update. The inconvenience of wiping and reinstalling apps made me choose the 32GB Nexus 5 over the 16GB model.

 

Before you setup your phone too much, unlock the bootloader now which WIPES EVERYTHING. That way later on if you decide to root you will be fine.

Also some quality time on XDA might help as well :p

I considered doing that but I decided to wipe it when I decide to use a custom ROM. I'd want a fresh start anyway.

[ichi]

The reason I say this because there are 100s of apps that you can download and install and it again does it automatically of assigning your Facebook contact's pictures to your phone/Google contacts perfectly, so no, it is not a Facebook problem.

 

 

I have no idea of what the technical issues (or whatever) of Facebook contacts' pictures are, but if it's working with other apps and just not with Facebook's, wouldn't that make it a Facebook problem? I mean, if other apps can do it then it should be something that can be fixed on Facebook's app side.

[Max Norris]

The lack of a notification centre didn't bother me until I actually used one for myself. It's so convenient to pull down a menu and see all your notifications. Live tiles are great but if you have a lot of apps, it's easy to miss something. Hopefully that will change with WP8.1.

That's the one thing I miss on my WP... live tiles are great for what they do, very handy actually and well executed...  but pulling down the notification tray to see certain things without having to actually open the app is just an obvious thing that should have been there from day one. 

[Arachno 1D]

 

- Google authenticator - awesome app for two factor authentication code generation. You can use it for more than Google services (Microsoft, Dropbox, etc.)

How did you integrate it to the other services?

[tsupersonic]

How did you integrate it to the other services?

Fairly easy. In the Google Authenticator app, click Menu, Set up account. Goto your Microsoft account settings webpage/Dropbox security settings, it will have you scan a barcode for the two factor authentication app, and that's pretty much it.