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wamusta

Lurker
Apr 25, 2012
4
0
Hello, I just got a Note phone on AT&T after using the Iphone for a long time. This is my first time going away from the Iphone, so I think I have a lot of learning to do.

The biggest issue so far is about the web browser. Sometimes I will open a few tabs with different websites. On the Iphone, these tabs would be there until I manually closed them -doesn't matter if I switch apps and go back to it an hour later or a week later, they will always be there. On the Note, they will disappear! Sometimes I go back to the broser an hour later and it seems like it reset and loads the home page again. Is there a setting to save the pages I open?

Also, I always use itunes to back up and update the Iphone. Is there a way to back up and update like this? Does the Note even have updates like the Iphone does?

Thanks. Sorry if this are beginner question, but I am a beginner! I will try to learn about it. Thank you:D
 
Hello, I just got a Note phone on AT&T after using the Iphone for a long time. This is my first time going away from the Iphone, so I think I have a lot of learning to do.

The biggest issue so far is about the web browser. Sometimes I will open a few tabs with different websites. On the Iphone, these tabs would be there until I manually closed them -doesn't matter if I switch apps and go back to it an hour later or a week later, they will always be there. On the Note, they will disappear! Sometimes I go back to the broser an hour later and it seems like it reset and loads the home page again. Is there a setting to save the pages I open?

Also, I always use itunes to back up and update the Iphone. Is there a way to back up and update like this? Does the Note even have updates like the Iphone does?



Thanks. Sorry if this are beginner question, but I am a beginner! I will try to learn about it. Thank you:D

Install Opera browser from the Play Store. Then go into Settings on your phone, click on Applications, then click All, scroll down to stock web browser, click on it and then select the button that says "Clear Defaults".

Then, go to your app drawer and click on an app like a news reader (such as Google Reader, Pulse, Taptu, etc) and once in there, click on an article then click view in browser. A pop-up window will appear asking you to select a default browser. At this point, click the check box and then click on Opera and you're set.

If you ever want to de-select Opera as the default browser, just rinse and repeat the above steps.

Hope this helps without creating confusion as I fully realize Android is not always as intuitive or easy to learn as iOS, but you'll soon learn that the benefits of customization on Android are unmatched.

As for updating and backing the device up, yes there are many ways to tackle this and many threads that address this topic. You'll want to do a search on "backup" and go from there.

Good luck to you.

-Ryan
 
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The ability to completely replace a stock app like the browser is a HUGE benefit over iOS. Yes, iOS has alternative browsers, but you cannot make them the default one. This goes for other things like the Contacts app, and more.

For backup, it's still a bit of a pain to do a FULL complete backup so you can restore if you brick or get a new phone. As far as I know, the best most complete way is to use Titanium Backup, but it requires you to "root" the phone, which is similar to "jailbreaking" the iPhone... not something a lot of people like to do.

That said, you really don't 100% need to back up your phone if you live in the Google world. Your contacts, apps, etc, are all saved in the cloud. So if you ever need to restore your phone, you can just re-download everything, including contacts, etc. The only problem is all your progress in things like games will be lost and you'll have to start over. :( But that is where Titanium Backup is good, as you can restore details like that. Not sure if there are non-root apps that can also do things like that.

What I love about Android is that you don't really need to own a computer. Just have a Google account, and you're set. No need to ever connect to a computer to back up, sync, etc.

As for phone updates... that is one negative for us Android users. The latest OS (4.0 ICS) has been out since fall of last year, yet us Note users are still waiting for AT&T to give it to us. It's promised to arrive in the 2nd quarter of 2012.
 
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Thank you for the replies! I will try Opera and other browsers. I will admit I am still learning how to use this to its full extent. I guess using itunes to manage everything made my life easier, but so far I am still loving the Note for its extra abilities.

About the updates, it sounds like they are less frequent than the iphone. But how does this phone actually get updated? Do I still have to plug it into a computer like the iphone? Is there a specific program I need?
 
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I also had an iPhone, and I hated iTunes... the clunky interface, so slow to sync, etc. The only thing I liked was that it was dead simple to keep it backed up. But like I said before, it's really not critical to keep an Android phone backed up on the computer because all your stuff is automatically in the Google cloud.

We're getting the latest ICS update soon, but wow, the OS came out in fall of last year, and we don't have it yet. Google will be introducing the next version of Android soon, and most phones still don't have ICS. This is the main/only thing I don't like with Android. I wish all capable phones would get the latest OS as soon as it's released by Google. :(

Anyway, updating, as I understand, should be painless. It will come over the air, so you don't need to plug it in. We will probably get a notification that it's available, and in a click or 2 it should download and install. This is much better than the iPhone, but I think the latest iOS now also finally has OTA updates like Android.
 
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Thank you for the replies! I will try Opera and other browsers. I will admit I am still learning how to use this to its full extent. I guess using itunes to manage everything made my life easier, but so far I am still loving the Note for its extra abilities.

About the updates, it sounds like they are less frequent than the iphone. But how does this phone actually get updated? Do I still have to plug it into a computer like the iphone? Is there a specific program I need?

I used iTunes for a very long time for my iPods and my 3GS and once I got used the the google ecosystem I never looked back. Welcome to the Android world dude!
 
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