Tips for those moving from iPhone/iOS

I've seen quite a few threads lately from new-to-android users who came from Apple's iPhone or another iOS device (say, a tablet), and are in need of help adjusting. in some ways, the nature of Android to an iOS user (i was once one myself) can seem intimidating, or feel unfamiliar. when one is used to swipe unlock straight to a basic grid of icons, there is a bit of adjustment. some think Android "needs" tools to perform like iOS, either from a myth or some rumor on a Mac forum somewhere, or another iOS user's bad experience with Android for whatever reason. i am here to help with this adjustment period, using some of my own experiences over time.

I bought an Android for $60 and it is slow, crashes, etc



Swayed from the general opinion that 'Android wins over Apple because they're not overpriced like Apple products', most new-to-Android users jump at the chance to buy one of the millions of off-branded, but seemingly high-spec generic tablets or smartphones, then feel awful when their experience isn't at all as fluid as their iOS experience was. most blame Android incorrectly because their friends may have had the same experience, with another cheap device, but the one thing in common from their mindset was 'Android crashed, but my iPhone always worked fine!' this leads them to have a bad view of Android as a whole all because their device's build quality was not up to par. which brings me to point #2

you get what you pay for




Despite the general viewpoint on various forums over the internet, to get a quality device, you got to pay. some lucky folks with good enough credit can get some of the best devices either for free or for a huge discount, while others have to shell out an iPhone-like price to get an unsubsidized higher-end device. either way, if you want your experience with Android to compare in any way to your iPhone experiences, get a well-made, highly-rated, higher-end device. phones such as the Samsung Galaxy SIII are great for those coming from iOS, they are smooth, reliable, and get excellent battery life. Nexus devices are the top of the list for those interested in the latest version of Android as soon as it is released (for those who want the same ability to keep up-to-date as on an iOS product)

I miss my app badges! who thought a bar full of random icons was cool?!



Whoever thought an icon-cluttered bar in any way is preferable to badge counters should have been fired from Google's Headquarters

this i can agree with. whenever a new notification is received on Android, an icon shows in the notification area. you never know exactly how many of them you get, but just a generic notice one showed up. after a few minutes (if you're social enough) your notification bar is easily full of multiple icons for Gmail, Yahoo!, game, update, etc notifications, eventually overtaking the entire bar itself. in fact, some apps may display what they feel is 'convenient' stuff (such as current temp) in the bar at all times similar to how BlackBerry products display notifications like weather.





but don't worry, Android has you covered! if you have Gingerbread (Android 2.3.x) or below, you can remove the bar up top by rooting (jailbreaking) and deleting 'statusbar.apk' and reboot. then, either through a widget or app, monitor things like your battery status, signal strength, etc. personally it is neater to have a fully-customizable battery widget where you can decide for yourself if the percentage displays or not, etc, color of graph, etc. it's far better than stock.

you can also get badges. if you use at least version 4.0 ("Ice Cream Sandwich") you can download Nova Launcher Prime, which has a plugin known as 'Missed It!' where you can add every app that supports notifications and have badge alerts exactly like iOS has, or download Widgetlocker (any version) and add icons for the most active apps and then use the same plugin to give badges on the locker itself. some launchers (like Go Launcher EX, also compatible with any version) supports badges (although for specific apps only).

Task killers, yay or nay

if you followed my advice and have in your hands a nice, mid-to-high end device, don't worry about RAM. treat it as you would your old iPhone or iPad. you don't need a task killer. no more than iOS needed a task killer. those were once a big deal when devices ran outdated copies of Android and had very little RAM which got quickly used up by many apps you install, and then the system fights to keep enough free for all the apps and you get lag, crashing, self-rebooting, etc. with a high end device, you will never run out of RAM. in versions 4.0 and higher, you even get a nifty iOS-like recent apps list by holding down the home button (or tapping the recent apps softkey, to the right of the house icon in some products) and instead of wiggling icons with a '-' symbol to close, just swipe them away when you're done with them. it's that simple.

 

Yes some launchers (and lock screen replacements) offer a way to hide the status bar, unfortunately for them and anyone with version 4.x and above, it remains visible in an app forcing us to hit "clear all" over and over and over again. While you can disable notifications entirely either from the app itself or the settings in 4.x, that will break app badges in the process.

However, I do like the new feature I get with my Galaxy S3, the BlackBerry style notification LED. The one thing RIM actually had that I wanted in Android. With that, I don't have to check the screen, I can tell by color:

White = Google+ notification
Blue = Email alert (any email app)
Solid red = charging
Solid green = fully charged.
Flashing red =low battery

I just discovered the white one last night when a G+ alert came in. I'm sure many other colors exist that I have yet to discover.

 

Can't remove status bar in Android 4 and up because there is no 'statusbar.apk'. If you kill the systemui.apk the entire desktop goes with it. My guess is that status bar is now buried inside of systemui.apk

Removing status bar in 2.3 and earlier does kill pull-down notifications but that's what app badges are for, right? Just go to the app and see what is new. For an iOS user it's familiar territory