Making the change from iPhone to Galaxy S3

Has hell frozen over? Making the change from iPhone to Galaxy S3

This has been something that I have been wondering about for the last couple of months and it has come about for a number of reasons. Yes it is true I have pulled the trigger on buying a Samsung Galaxy S3 and I am actually looking forward to it. My NoStylus website will be getting an injection of Android-based videos and articles. So why have I done it?

The need for a bigger screen

I have honestly been finding that the iPhone screen is a little bit too small and I don’t think that the upgrade to an iPhone five which is only slightly bigger is going to be a large enough increase for me. I have been using the iPhone 4 and the size of it, certainly is quite a constraint especially when you have the keyboard displayed. Often it doesn’t leave much room left for actually seeing what you’re typing. I am also hoping that with the larger screen I shall be able to see it easier without having to go and run for my spectacles. Could just be though that the larger screen will just fit more things due to the resolution of it. Text could be just as small and I could still need to find spectacles to be able a read the small stuff.

More storage space to do things

The iPhone 4 I have is a later version iPhone 4 with only 8 GB of storage memory available and because of the number of applications that I have available, I have to manage them carefully. I am often having to delete applications from the iPhone in order to be able to do the usual things that I would like to do with a smart phone. It really is a complete pain having to remove functionality from my phone just so that I am able to record a little bit of video or take a few photos and be able to store them. With the Samsung Galaxy S3 I will have 16 GB available initially, but I will also buy a mini SD card with another 16 GB that I can use for storage. Maybe this one will do – SanDisk 32 GB Mobile microSDHC Flash Memory Card
. It seems that the initial 16 GB is where the applications have to go, as it is not possible to put them onto the extra storage space. I think that will work perfectly though.

Talking to my phone

I do have the Dragon dictation application on my iPhone which lets me dictate. It actually works quite well and I can tweet directly from it, sending to SMS, email and Facebook. Usually what I do is to copy what I have into the clipboard in order to paste it in the application where I need it. The usual place that I need to put the text is into Audioboo. With the Samsung Galaxy S3 I will be able to speak directly into any application that has a keyboard. It is also possible for me to get an extra keyboard, for instance I might like to try out the Swype keyboard which also has a different way of entering text as well as having the integration with the Nuance Dragon dictation. The need to be able to talk to my phone is not as big as the need for the storage space and for the larger screen, but still quite an influence on the decision to get the new phone.

It is going to be a little bit weird and strange not to have an iPhone

I have been using the iPhone 4, probably for nearly 4 years and I dare say there will be one or two things that I will miss. The Drafts application will undoubtedly be one of them and I will do a great deal of searching to find something that gives me similar functionality. If you know something that will do this job, then please let me know in the comments below.

I do have a large number of iPhone applications, which are not going to go to waste because of the fact that I still have and still intend to run, on my iPad. So I will not be going completely over to the dark side. May the force be with you! I will miss the application Moves which I have been using extensively lately to record the number of steps that I take each day. I did find a webpage with a number of Android applications that suggested an application that might be similar although it was specifically for pet owners, dog walkers. I expect that there are other applications that will record distances walked or cycled even if they don’t count the number of steps. In any case it will be quite a bit of fun searching and trying a few applications out.

One of the main things that I do with my iPhone is to use an application called Downcast. I am constantly listening to podcasts and I’m sure that I will not have a problem finding an Android application that does the job also.

I will need to get myself an application for expanding text, even though probably with using the voice to text facilities available on the Samsung, I will not need it quite so much. It will be interesting to see if there are applications like Text Expander that have an API that allow you to use that facility in other Android applications.

I have seen that there are some audio editing applications available and if I need to I will purchase the Android version of Twisted Wave. Certainly at the beginning of this new smart phone usage, I will be trying to stick with as many free applications as possible. So for notetaking I will use Evernote, but I will be looking for a writing application that specifically is good for writing in markdown.

BitCoin wallet for Android

None of the BitCoin wallets that are available for the iPhone let you do any actual exchange of the cyber currency, whereas with Android I will be able to use it for transactions, should the need arise. So for example if somebody wanted to pay me something, then I would be able to scan a QR Code displayed on another phone and then actually get the crypto currency in my own Android BitCoin wallet. It may also even be possible for using the NFC facilities on the Samsung Galaxy S3 to make transfers.

Using NFC will be another thing to play with

Just as an example, it would be possible for me to get an NFC tag that I could put beside my bed and use that to inform the NFC on the Android device to go to silent mode and set the alarm. Or I could put a tag in the car that would set the mode of the Galaxy S3 just the way that it needs to be for in car use. I don’t think it is very expensive in order to buy a number of these NFC tags and it is definitely something that I would like to try. I see I can buy a set of 10 NFC tags from Amazon for $15. Samsung TecTilesfor NFC

The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a better camera

An application that I will be downloading to the phone in with the first wave of Android apps that I will install, is going to be Snapseed. As this is owned now by Google it is not surprising that there is an Android version of the app. I will be experimenting also with various applications that enhance the photo taking experience and I will be looking to see how it works with panoramic photos and also seeing if there’s something that does HDR photos.

I can’t wait to get the new toy and have a play

I have three or four days to wait before I can get my hands on my new Samsung Galaxy S3 and it is lovely to have this something new and different to look forward to. I will almost be counting the hours, but at the same time do my best to enjoy the last few days using the iPhone. I could keep my hands on the iPhone and not sell it straightaway and I haven’t really decided yet, if I’m going to keep it for a week or two.

With the Apple event of WWDC coming up in just over a week’s time and the probability that they will be announcing the next version of the iOS, there may be some goodies coming that would be nice to see on an iPhone. It is also quite possible that with the fact that I have the iPhone 4 I would be missing out on some of the new things coming in any case. Just the same as I have already been missing out on, the use of Siri on the iPhone. With all of the new things that I will have to use and abuse, I don’t think I am going to be too bothered. I have been experimenting lately with the use of the Google Now on iOS and of course within the Samsung Galaxy S3 it will be built in and I will certainly be able to get even better use out of it there. Already I think that the Google Now is very good and extremely useful. So there you go – Hell did freeze over and I am ready to leave the iPhone behind me for the moment.