Ask Tech Support LJ/DW

[feuervogel]

For those of you who have been following the saga of my Samsung Captivate and how I want to set it on fire, it's been acting weirder than usual, even after I got D to root it and put CyanogenMod 7 on it. Like, it gets really laggy, and at random it crashes to the skateboarding android boot screen. At 1 am, which wakes me up. This morning, it got stuck in a boot loop until I popped the battery. (The last time that happened, I had to re-flash it from recovery mode and lost 3 months' worth of data.)

As much as I hate the wastefulness of getting a new phone every two years, this phone just really sucks, and I can't even justify keeping it because it's a perfectly good phone. It's shit.

So, I need to decide between AT&T's Android offerings, the best of which right now is the Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket (the Galaxy Note is too big, and too expensive at $249), and an iPhone. (The Galaxy S3 was just released, and it's $199, the same as a low-end iPhone 4S. However, I am extremely reluctant to get another new-hardware phone, based on how fucking broken the Captivate/Galaxy S was at launch. You may recall I used my warranty replacement TWICE in three months.)

Pros of Android:
- seamless integration with gmail, gcal, gmail contacts, gtalk
- I'm comfortable and familiar with it
- I like widgets
- I can get a refurbished Galaxy S2 for $9.99 online (though that is kind of terrifying; the phones I replaced under warranty because they had the randomly-powers-off bug could be resold as "refurbished.")

Cons of Android:
- can't update the software without Windows (thank you, Samsung)

Pros of iPhone:
- can update using my MacBook
- just fucking works

Cons of iPhone:
- doesn't sync gmail contacts (afaik)
- requires workarounds to make gcal work
- I don't really use my phone to listen to music
- not sure I can back up my saved data (Angry Birds, and, dammit, I have a lot of hard 3-stars on that)

So, friends, tell me: have any of you switched from Android to iPhone? Are my fears justified? Should I be concerned about the new hardware issue on the Galaxy S3 (same price as iPhone 4S!) What other questions should I be asking myself?

I'm ready to throw this piece of crap across the room. Help me decide what phone to get next, internet.

Comments

iPhone

[princess]

Does sync Gcontacts, can also make GCal work pretty seamlessly now (I use GCal on it). Can back up phone to computer, especially using MacBook.

Honestly? I LOVE my iphone and have never looked back.

(I'm on Sprint. Feel free to ask me any questions about the iPhone if you want.)

Re: iPhone

[feuervogel]

That's good to hear. Ben has an iPhone 4, but he doesn't use gmail, so he can't answer those questions. Does it hide your contacts without phone numbers? (Since gmail keeps everyone you've ever emailed in your address book...)

The HTC One X gets decent reviews, though its battery life is kind of awful. It's also $199. A friend likes her older model HTC, and she says hers updates over the air (on Verizon).

At this stage, all I can do is drag Ben to the AT&T store with me so I can touch all the phones and bounce things off him and avoid pushy salespeople. I really like the Galaxy S series; they're very nice phones. I just hate that I can't update them on my computer. And also the broken hardware thing.

Analysis paralysis!

Re: iPhone

[princess]

The iPhone doesn't hide contacts without phone numbers, but it is easy to search (and will narrow with each letter until you get to what you want) which is a small price to pay. You can also sync it to your contacts on your MacBook, and export your Google contacts to import them into contacts on the MB. That's what I did until I unified my phone with GVoice.

The battery life on the iPhone is great (especially since I came off a Samsung that I was lucky to get 9 hours out of).

You might also want to go to a Best Buy Mobile, if there's one near you. I got *really* good service from them, they weren't at all pushy, and they knew a LOT about a LOT of phones. Plus they managed to hook me up with extra money off.

Re: iPhone

[feuervogel]

I never use the built-in contacts app (or mail app) on my Mac, though I could export them, I suppose...

My current phone gets between 22 and 26 hours on a charge, less if I'm actively using it. Which isn't awful, but it's not that great, either. And I used to get about 48 hours on one charge.

There *is* a BBM near us, not any closer or further than the AT&T store, really. Can they do upgrades on phones with grandfathered plans? We have a really old, cheap plan that they don't offer anymore, and I'd like to keep it.

Re: iPhone

[princess]

That I don't know, because my plan hasn't had changes in four years. Their website does have a "keep existing plan" option, so I think so?

[luckykitty.livejournal.com]

I love my HTC incredible but that's an older phone. Maybe research whatever is a nice reliable good HTC?

My HUGEST balk about iPhones aside of me not really wanting to be enslaved by Apple is that you cannot block unwanted callers/texts/etc. I love my Mr Number and whenever I hear about friends being unable to stop spam calls and texts, I feel a little better about deciding on Android. iPhones are really nice though, and you don't have the whole many different variant OSes on many different variant devicees issues you do with Androids.

[feuervogel]

I played around with the HTC that was next to the Skyrocket, and it was nice enough. The front and back camera switch wasn't as easy as on the Samsung OS though. Does updating the software require special Windows-only software? Samsung requires Kies, which is Windows-only, and there are zero Windows computers in this house.

You should be able to block numbers individually on any phone, though. If you want to block a number, you can open it in the call log and block it. (I'll ask Ben when he gets home if he can do that.)

Ben has an iPhone (4, I think). He doesn't use gmail, so he isn't a help for figuring out how well gmail integrates. The interface confuses me; I don't like the single button; I like widgets. But I switched to Mac because they Just Fucking Work, and after the hell of Samsung, I'm ready for something that Just Fucking Works. And will talk nicely to my MacBook.

[luckykitty.livejournal.com]

My phone updates its OS over the air. I never have to plug it into my computer, in fact I never have.

I'm on Verizon though.

I dunno--if Ben knows how to do that, please share, because I know at least 3 iPhone users who keep getting unwanted calls/texts from the same numbers and can't do anything about it.

I totally respect Macs and the reasons for using them (my work computer is a Mac, and I always wanted a backup Mac laptop but have yet to afford one), but I like to fuss with my computer and have all kinds of levels of control, so that's probably why my home computer is always going to be a PC.

[kirin]

Mmm, nope, doesn't seem to be any built-in way to block numbers (or texts). A quick google shows you might be able to use an AT&T online interface to block some texts, but to actually block calls from certain numbers you have to sign up for a $5/mo service. :/

[feuervogel]

Over the air updates would be awesome. I had one minor update OTA, but to get to Froyo, I had to use Kies. Ben borrowed a slow-ass laptop from his office so I could update my phone. Stoopid.

How do you do backups or copy music over to it?

I've personally never found Windows to be very customizable, but the last WinPC I had ran Win98, I think. Until I put linux on it, anyway. Now *there's* customizable.

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

I am ideally poised to answer a lot of your questions, so I'm glad you pointed me this way! :)

I had an HTC Incredible (same as the person above, coincidentally) until March and by the end I hated it. It wasn't nearly as bad as your Galaxy, and when it worked it was great, but it had the hard drive space partitioning issue that made it essentially nonfunctional. Eventually I had to delete 75% of my apps just so it would keep functioning. So keep in mind that's my Android experience.

Now I have an iPhone 4S and I love it dearly and it is my friend and companion in all things!

Firstly, things I miss about my Android: nothing. I thought I would miss having distinct physical buttons, but the single button is so streamlined in its function, and apps are well-designed so you always know where you need to touch to make things happen. You double press the single button to bring up the list of apps you have open, or if on your lock screen to bring up the music controls. It took some adjusting but not very long. I also don't miss widgets at all. It's so quick and easy to open up apps that I barely notice.

I do use Gmail, and I got it working nicely with the Mail app that comes on the iPhone. I also got my school email working in there too so I get both accounts together, but I can also view them individually which is nice. As for the contacts, the guy at the Verizon store used a little doohickey to transfer my contacts over. It had THOUSANDS of entries, which he was puzzled by, but it turned out that it also pulled my contacts from both my email addresses, so now if I start to type a name it gives me all my Gmail contacts as options. So that worked out for me, and I wonder if AT&T could do something similar for me. Otherwise I think you're right, there isn't an official way to sync the contacts, so it's possible that could be a sticking point.

I don't use GCal, so I can't help you there. I do use iCal on my Macbook, which I like a whole lot, and it syncs automatically with my phone which is very helpful. When I had my android I did some stuff to sync Gcal with my iCal so now those entries show up on my iPhone *through* iCal, so it's a bit convoluted but it can be done.

I didn't think I would use my phone to listen to music but now it's essentially become my iPod. I sync all my current favorite music to it, and I can adjust which playlists/artists get synced at each update, and I only use my old iPod when I'm on a long trip or want to dig deeper into my music collection. Not saying that will happen to you, but it's possible (if you use iTunes).

I lost all my Angry Birds progress too :( It was a wrench, but... I survived. And I've actually moved on to different iPhone games (Tiny Birds! Jetpack!) so I'm past the mourning stage and fully getting on with my life. ;)

The only thing that I ever think "man, I wish I could still do this" about is the camera. My Incredible had all these great settings you could change on the camera, like real photo things - exposure, contrast, brightness, saturation - and it could make for really cool photos in certain conditions. The iPhone is purely, 100% a point-and-shoot. You get zero control over the camera. That said, the pictures are quite lovely and I'm slowly getting over the loss of control.

In general, honestly, the iPhone is a fantastic piece of technology. It is sturdy, easy to handle, and everything works like a dream. The display is gorgeous (I happily watch TV shows on Netflix instant on it) and the touch screen super responsive. If you get a good case (i went with iFrogz which I've liked a lot) it can survive a lot of bumps and bruises. The speaker's pretty damn loud which I enjoy. Overall it's more pleasant to interact with than my Incredible, which I liked physically more than any other Android out there (I pick up most of the current options and they feel both huge and flimsy, a really unpleasant combo).

So, in the end, I vote iPhone! Let me know what other questions you still have and I'll be happy to help :)

[feuervogel]

I love my phone...when it works. The problem is that that's only half to 3/4 of the time; sometimes less :P

I don't own an iPod. OK, I have a nano because I won it in a drawing (and I got a free replacement because of the battery splodey issue, to a much fancier nano than I had), and I have the cast-off 10 GB one (giant brick with manual clicky wheel, oh yeah) from when Ben got the 30 GB one (which his iPhone is replacing). But I don't use them. I have a bunch of music on this phone, but I only plug it in when the radio's playing Garrison Keillor. (God I hate Prairie Home Companion.) Or if I'm driving long distances, which is pretty rare.

I know I'm an alien, but listening to music isn't really important to me, and I don't have the attention span for podcasts or audiobooks.

Someone on dreamwidth said she exported her gmail contacts and imported them in Address Book, which synced up, so that's a way around that. (I think AT&T is going to barf when they get to my phone, because it's rooted, and they'll be like "oh, we can't do anything with this blah blah blah.")

I do like Ben's photos on his iPhone, but I also like playing with filters. I don't want to use instagram though :/ (I have an instagram clone called Retro Camera, which is fun.)

Can you do notifications for individual labels in gmail? And set individual notification sounds for them? I use that feature a lot (so I know when I get LJ comments and email at my other address, etc).

Too many decisions :/ I'll probably go with whichever one I like best at the store, especially if it's cheapest. I'm dragging Ben out tonight.

[kirin]

As far as photo filters go, there are about 5 million apps for that, so it's a matter of getting recommendations and picking one you like. I have a few from when I was first setting up my phone but haven't used them much since then.

[donaithnen.livejournal.com]

As others have said, having to use Windows to update isn't normal. Maybe it is for Samsung, but not in general.

When is this upgrade going to be happening? Google is having their yearly conference in a couple weeks. The current rumor is that there will be five new Nexus phones announced for launch with the new Android release (supposedly 4.1 - Jelly Bean.) It's not certain when those would be coming out, but Google may say at the conference.

Have you looked at the Galaxy Nexus? I'm pretty sure it's available for AT&T. I posted my own pros/cons about it awhile back. I believe it's pretty much the same as the Galaxy S2, except it lives under the restrictions of Google's Nexus line. (The big ones being OTA updates and no manufacturer skins.) Aside for comments about poor camera quality i don't think there have been any significant complaints about it, though i admit i haven't researched it that heavily. I think you can get it pretty cheap if you're renewing your contract (too bad you're not on Verizon, it's on special for one cent on Amazon right now) and it may get even cheaper shortly after the Google conference if a bunch of new Nexus phones are announced.

You're on a family plan, right? Otherwise i'd suggest looking into getting the unlocked Galaxy Nexus online and signing up for a no contract plan if AT&T has any such thing, but i expect that wouldn't work for you.

[feuervogel]

As soon as possible. By Friday, most likely. These are AT&T's smartphones. No Nexus. (hahahahahaha NO WAY can I afford to buy an unlocked phone. I can barely afford to buy one under contract. Amazon lists them from $360 to $420. Hahahahahha, no. I'm still unemployed, and Ben still makes under 3k/month.)

I don't think AT&T does no-contract plans with data plans, or at least at a price I can afford. We're currently paying $110102 a month for 2 phones, 450 shared anytime minutes (plus rollover), 200 SMS per line, and 200 MB of data use per line. Can't beat that.

[donaithnen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's a pretty good price. I'm currently paying $65 a month to T-Mobile for 500 minutes talk/unlimited text/5 gb data. I could get that down to $45 a month if i was willing to drop the data to 200 MB a month, or $40 if i was willing to drop the unlimited texting as well. However that's because i'm saving $20 a month since i got an unlocked phone. It's really worth it if you're still willing to stick to upgrading only every two years, but you've got to have the initial cash to get started.

It looks like AT&T is not the best place to be if you're a fan of Android, but i guess i'd already heard that. Apparently there's a bigger selection of phones at places like Best Buy, complete with the two year contract discount. I'm not sure why AT&T doesn't include them on their website. Looks like they've got the Nexus S currently (for $50) though not the Galaxy Nexus yet. I haven't done a lot of research on the Nexus S, so i don't know how it compares to the phones you've been looking at.

There's a story that AT&T should have an LTE version of the Galaxy Nexus soon, but who knows exactly when that will be.

[upsilon.livejournal.com]

Syncing GMail contacts on an iPhone is pretty easy actually. And I'm talking true syncing, not importing them. GMail has a faux Exchange interface which means the iPhone can use ActiveSync to retrieve and keep synchronized your mail, contacts and calendars (though not tasks—the iPhone does support task ActiveSyncing; Google apparently does not).

If you go the iPhone route I can help with that if you want although instructions are pretty easy to come by.