Android users, opinions wanted.

[Jerri]

Back to stock now. Pretty much set up. Going to stick my sim in tomorrow and use it for a while. Then see which O want to keep.

Appreciate all the advice.

[maccafan]

They are convergent technologies so they will be quite similar..Main difference is you can mess with Android right down to the Kernel level, if you know how.

For a basic to medium user who just wants to mess around with Graphics and Launchers, there is hardly any difference, though Android allows you to change launchers to suit you.

If all you want to do is get your Android phone to look and feel like a iphone, because you are more used to ios, then you would have been better off buying an iphone. In your case, the main advantage is you get something that can look and behave like an iphone at a lower cost.

[kibbster]

May 29, 2013 19:39:45 GMT Jerri said:

Downloaded helium.


One more question. I like to manually check FB, emails etc. how do I then off push?

Either turn off the notifications/push in each app or just disable sync on the phone.
Disabling sync will stop all syncing though like weather and other apps, but most apps allow a manual refresh for people with auto sync turned off.

[Jerri]

May 30, 2013 5:13:41 GMT maccafan said:

They are convergent technologies so they will be quite similar..Main difference is you can mess with Android right down to the Kernel level, if you know how.

For a basic to medium user who just wants to mess around with Graphics and Launchers, there is hardly any difference, though Android allows you to change launchers to suit you.

If all you want to do is get your Android phone to look and feel like a iphone, because you are more used to ios, then you would have been better off buying an iphone. In your case, the main advantage is you get something that can look and behave like an iphone at a lower cost.

I don't. I want to see the difference between android and iOS. I felt like a change. I don't want it to behave like an iPhone.

I suppose I just bought there would be more of a noticeable difference. I've seen SO many arguments and people raving crazily about both android and iOS and how much you can do with android and how closed iOS is etc. I just assumed there'd be more of a noticeable difference.

That reads like I'm disappointed. Not at all. The N4 is an amazing phone. And I'm now left with the dilemma of which phone to keep.

[Jerri]

May 30, 2013 5:47:50 GMT kibbster said:

May 29, 2013 19:39:45 GMT Jerri said:

Downloaded helium.


One more question. I like to manually check FB, emails etc. how do I then off push?

Either turn off the notifications/push in each app or just disable sync on the phone.
Disabling sync will stop all syncing though like weather and other apps, but most apps allow a manual refresh for people with auto sync turned off.

Thanks. I can't even bloody find autosync lol.

[maccafan]

From a basic user point of view, in android, you can have only those icons on the home screen which you access all the time and customize it to your heart's content with a plethora of Launchers. It's possible in iphone, but you only have one launcher and you are stuck with it.

You have a huge community developing apps, mostly for free, and you can make the phone do things that the manufacturer did not mean it to do. Tweaking at kernel level is possible as Android is based on Linux and the source code is available in most cases. Bluetooth functionality is much more enhanced. With the iphone, bluetooth is hit and miss. Of course if you don't use bluetooth, you are not going to experience the difference.

Flash a CM ROM on your phone and you'll see a whole lot more features you wouldn't normally find.

wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Mako_Info

And the best thing is you get a more powerful phone with HUGE screens. Phablets like the Nexus 4 are an Android first. The iphone screen is puny by comparison. There is the biggest difference from the first time you switch it on.

[kibbster]

May 30, 2013 9:08:08 GMT Jerri said:

May 30, 2013 5:47:50 GMT kibbster said:

Either turn off the notifications/push in each app or just disable sync on the phone.
Disabling sync will stop all syncing though like weather and other apps, but most apps allow a manual refresh for people with auto sync turned off.

Thanks. I can't even bloody find autosync lol.

Try this:
support.google.com/android/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1663705

[Jerri]

May 30, 2013 9:16:01 GMT maccafan said:

From a basic user point of view, in android, you can have only those icons on the home screen which you access all the time and customize it to your heart's content with a plethora of Launchers. It's possible in iphone, but you only have one launcher and you are stuck with it.

You have a huge community developing apps, mostly for free, and you can make the phone do things that the manufacturer did not mean it to do. Tweaking at kernel level is possible as Android is based on Linux and the source code is available in most cases. Bluetooth functionality is much more enhanced. With the iphone, bluetooth is hit and miss. Of course if you don't use bluetooth, you are not going to experience the difference.

Flash a CM ROM on your phone and you'll see a whole lot more features you wouldn't normally find.

wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Mako_Info

And the best thing is you get a more powerful phone with HUGE screens. Phablets like the Nexus 4 are an Android first. The iphone screen is puny by comparison. There is the biggest difference from the first time you switch it on.

Can't argue that the screen is small by comparison.

Bluetooth had always worked fine for me. Get airblue from cydia and off you go.

What are the benefits of messing about with kernels?

[kibbster]

With a custom Kernel you can run different CPU speeds for better battery or performance as well as custom radios for wifi and mobile data.
The sky is the limit with Android stuff if you have the technical know how really.
I used to run a rooted phone with custom ROM using some of my own additions for the frames file to change the UI, I ran a custom Kernel that increased battery life and the best radios I could find for my area/ hardware/ software.
Custom ROMs generally include custom kernels and bootloaders.

[maccafan]

May 30, 2013 13:11:35 GMT Jerri said:

Can't argue that the screen is small by comparison.

Bluetooth had always worked fine for me. Get airblue from cydia and off you go.

What are the benefits of messing about with kernels?

There are a multitude of benefits, too may to ennumerate and it depends on the individual. Kibbster barely scratched the surface there. You asked what is open about Android and that is what is open. The source. Which means if you know how, you can customise the phone to the limits of what the hardware will allow you to do.

The iphone source code is closed. You can only do what Apple wants you to do with the phone. Bluetooth in iphone is troublesome and Bluetooth 4 protocol has not been implemented very well. A well known issue.

The most obvious benefit to the lay user is a powerful Android phone like the Nexus 4 is half the price of an iphone5. The phones are not rooted purely because of safety concerns and to protect manufacturers. But everyone knows what happens once it gets to the consumer. they get rooted. The manufacturers don't spend time actively looking to block these hacks, unlike Apple.

I can get channels from my Samsung TV to play on my phone and vice versa. It's a feature available only top of the range Samsung phones. And my phone is not Samsung. My dual sim Indian phone, which saves me having to carry a work and personal phone, is half the price of a Nexus and features a Mediatek 6589 chip and a quad core 1.2 Ghz processor. Not blazing fast but very very fast for what I want with a brilliant screen and cost me £160.00. You can get your phone to do things like that only on Android or a windows phone which you can hack to bits.

[Jerri]

Okay. Last question (I think lol). Anti virus on the phone.

Pointless or needed?

[maccafan]

www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/top-android-security-apps/

[Jerri]

I have avast on there. Just wasn't sure if it was over kill or actually needed.

[maccafan]

I don't have any anti-virus on my phone. Google has a new feature called "Verify and install" and I use that if I get an app from any other source other than Google Play which is quite rare.

It's all down to the individual and how they use it.

[Jerri]

May 31, 2013 15:41:57 GMT maccafan said:

I don't have any anti-virus on my phone. Google has a new feature called "Verify and install" and I use that if I get an app from any other source other than Google Play which is quite rare.

It's all down to the individual and how they use it.

That's what I was thinking. Is it really needed as long as you're careful.

Thanks for the help. Appreciate it.