Android Virgin Seeking Help

[Android Virgin]

Hello, new to the forum and new to Android after 20+ years of Iphones. I have had the Zfold4 now for a few months, it has been a BIG LEARNING CURVE but enjoying it and loving the phone. Looking for what platform or app are you using and would recommend for calls, messaging, and voicemail. Please forgive my ignorance if this is a stupid question, just an Android virgin that needs some help. Thank you in advance!

 

[svim]

Don't ever feel like you can't post a question here, it's an online Android help forum after all -- no such thing as a stupid question.
Glad to hear you're enjoying your new phone. Just for future reference you might want to bookmark this hardware specs page for your model:

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 - Full phone specifications

www.gsmarena.com

and this User Manual PDF:

https://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/202209/20220901165548436/SM-F936B_UM_EU_SS_Eng_Rev.1.1_220824.pdf

A good way to get familiar with all the things your phone can do is to sit down and go through the Settings menu. There are a lot of features and options that allow you to customize and optimize your phone to suit your own personal preferences. It's a bit overwhelming so just take in things at a pace you're comfortable with. And keep in mind there are lot of sub-menus and contextual options that may not be in plain sight. A lot of them are accessible by a gear icon, three horizontal bars icon (a.k.a hamburger menu), or three vertical dots icon. Don't make too many alterations at once, keep track of what you do change so just in case that creates a problem you just need to go back and restore that option.
You'll eventually want to do the same with the apps you do choose to rely upon. Don't expect the default settings to always be to your advantage, go into each app's Settings/Options/Preferences menu and set up your chosen apps to work for you, not what some developer thinks is best for you.

As for phone calling and voicemail you can just use the default Phone app. It will interact with your account with your cellular service. There's also a default text messaging app that will do the same. There are a number of third-party apps you might prefer but for now you should just get used to what's already installed and then look into alternatives if you find the default apps to be lacking in some way. A lot of third-party apps will have more user-adjustable features and options. Again, don't forget to look in Settings menu of your apps, there could already be options to alter or enable to make an app work better for you.

 

[Android Virgin]

Don't ever feel like you can't post a question here, it's an online Android help forum after all -- no such thing as a stupid question.

Glad to hear you're enjoying your new phone. Just for future reference you might want to bookmark this hardware specs page for your model:

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 - Full phone specifications

www.gsmarena.com

and this User Manual PDF:

https://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/202209/20220901165548436/SM-F936B_UM_EU_SS_Eng_Rev.1.1_220824.pdf

A good way to get familiar with all the things your phone can do is to sit down and go through the Settings menu. There are a lot of features and options that allow you to customize and optimize your phone to suit your own personal preferences. It's a bit overwhelming so just take in things at a pace you're comfortable with. And keep in mind there are lot of sub-menus and contextual options that may not be in plain sight. A lot of them are accessible by a gear icon, three horizontal bars icon (a.k.a hamburger menu), or three vertical dots icon. Don't make too many alterations at once, keep track of what you do change so just in case that creates a problem you just need to go back and restore that option.

You'll eventually want to do the same with the apps you do choose to rely upon. Don't expect the default settings to always be to your advantage, go into each app's Settings/Options/Preferences menu and set up your chosen apps to work for you, not what some developer thinks is best for you.



As for phone calling and voicemail you can just use the default Phone app. It will interact with your account with your cellular service. There's also a default text messaging app that will do the same. There are a number of third-party apps you might prefer but for now you should just get used to what's already installed and then look into alternatives if you find the default apps to be lacking in some way. A lot of third-party apps will have more user-adjustable features and options. Again, don't forget to look in Settings menu of your apps, there could already be options to alter or enable to make an app work better for you.

Great advice, thank you. Extremely helpful because it is so easy to fall into an addiction and seek to do too much too quickly specially when coming from all the restrictions and limitations of the iphones.

 

[ocnbrze]

Hello, new to the forum and new to Android after 20+ years of Iphones. I have had the Zfold4 now for a few months, it has been a BIG LEARNING CURVE but enjoying it and loving the phone. Looking for what platform or app are you using and would recommend for calls, messaging, and voicemail. Please forgive my ignorance if this is a stupid question, just an Android virgin that needs some help. Thank you in advance!

i have a z fold 4 and i really love the phone.

• for calls, just use the phone app that comes with the phone.
• texting i would recommend using Textra, but Samsung's own messaging app is just as good.
• voicemail i use youmail. youmail is not only voicemail, but also helps eliminates spam calls and texting. i highly recommend it.
• and lastly i would recommend using Nova Launcher. i do not like OneUI which is Samsung's skin that lies on top of the android os. Nova has so many customizations that it makes it like an entirely different phone. i had to take my phone in to a Samsung Expert at a Samsung Experience store to fix something, and he was confused on how my phone looked. and you might want to think about getting the Nova Prime key which unlocks so much more customization. i have been using Nova since day one of android.

YouMail Spam Block & Voicemail - Apps on Google Play

Safe and productive communications - visual voicemail and advanced call blocker

play.google.com

Nova Launcher - Apps on Google Play

Your home screen, just the way you like it.

play.google.com

Nova Launcher Prime - Apps on Google Play

Your home screen, just the way you like it.

play.google.com

 

[Windroid]

I've had both an iPhone and an Android tablet for a long time, and in my experience, there's not much of a learning curve between the two. If you can use one, you learn the other without much difficulty. So I'm surprised to hear that you're facing such a learning curve! Perhaps you and I are using our computers in different ways (I count tablets/smartphones as computers). Or perhaps the Android distribution on your Zfold4 is unusual, and far away from the typical Android/iPhone experience. Maybe you need the stock Android launcher, or something.

Folks: Launchers and all aren't my strong suit. Could you guys point Android Virgin towards a launcher that gives him a more vanilla Android experience, and tell him how to install it?

 

[ocnbrze]

I've had both an iPhone and an Android tablet for a long time, and in my experience, there's not much of a learning curve between the two. If you can use one, you learn the other without much difficulty. So I'm surprised to hear that you're facing such a learning curve! Perhaps you and I are using our computers in different ways (I count tablets/smartphones as computers). Or perhaps the Android distribution on your Zfold4 is unusual, and far away from the typical Android/iPhone experience. Maybe you need the stock Android launcher, or something.

Folks: Launchers and all aren't my strong suit. Could you guys point Android Virgin towards a launcher that gives him a more vanilla Android experience, and tell him how to install it?

like i said Nova is the best launcher hands down.