A Little Help For A New Android User

panda bear said:

So, i've been all Apple for quite a few years here.. i've been interested in checking out Android, just to see what else is out there. I currently have an iPhone 5 and iPad Mini.

I purchased a Nexus 7 on Sunday and now I kind of feel like a fish out of water.

A couple things:

1. Is there a way that I can sync video from iTunes, then when I watch those videos on my Nexus, I can plug that in and sync it with iTunes, so when I go to watch on my Apple TV, it picks up where I left off?

2. Do I have to root my phone to get one of those fancy home screens that I keep seeing Android users being so excited about?

3. What exactly can I do on this thing that I couldn't do on an iPad Mini?

4. Any other random suggestions for someone who's mostly familiar with iOS? Apps to make the transition easier, etc?

Click to expand...

1. Not that I know of

2. I think you mean tablet. If you would post a picture if would be helpful, cause idk what you mean by 'fancy'. You may just mean a custom launcher with a theme on it?

3. For me the reason to get a N7 over a iPad was the ability to download files off the internet and then move files throughout the file system. I use ES Explorer for that. There are other options though as well.

panda bear said:

1. Darn.

2. Yeah, i'm also half retarded (at least). I should have led with that. I meant tablet. Not sure why I said phone.

Anyway, i'm not sure what it's called. But by "fancy" I mean like in the "show your Android home screen" threads, there are things like this:

ImageImage

The extra widgets and the custom icons.

3. I can see that being useful for some people. Especially if you use a mobile device as your main device. I, however, am stuck to my iMac, with my mobile devices being used away from home or when i'm relaxing away from the computer.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to respond

Click to expand...

Sure, No Problem. I think what you are looking for are custom themes.

I would recommend going to the google play store and typing "launcher theme" and then finding a theme that you like.

Once you find a theme you will see that is made for a certain launcher. So then you will have to download that theme and the launcher it is made for.
I can tell by reading them that my instructions kinda suck, sorry for that. But there is some cool themes out there type in iOS theme and you can even get a theme to make your android tablet look like iOS. I also know there is one out there that also mimics FF OS.
If you are having trouble I'm sure this a youtube video somewhere showing off custom themes.

This video might help you customise your tablet, I did it on my Nexus 4 and SGS3, works brilliant, no rooting etc. I am technically lacking. Have a go, see what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c39PXAr9_F8&list=WL610C96A551E5371A

panda bear said:

So, i've been all Apple for quite a few years here.. i've been interested in checking out Android, just to see what else is out there. I currently have an iPhone 5 and iPad Mini.

I purchased a Nexus 7 on Sunday and now I kind of feel like a fish out of water.

A couple things:

1. Is there a way that I can sync video from iTunes, then when I watch those videos on my Nexus, I can plug that in and sync it with iTunes, so when I go to watch on my Apple TV, it picks up where I left off?

2. Do I have to root my phone to get one of those fancy home screens that I keep seeing Android users being so excited about?

3. What exactly can I do on this thing that I couldn't do on an iPad Mini?

4. Any other random suggestions for someone who's mostly familiar with iOS? Apps to make the transition easier, etc?

Click to expand...

1. Not sure, do not use iTunes anymore. I know there are some iTunes support apps but I am willing to bet video resuming will not cross over.

2. You do not have to, there are tons of launchers and icon packs out there as well as theme packs for said launchers that can customize Android quite a bit. Some of the more adventurous things will require root (notifications, app replacement)

3. This difference is going to be down to apps really. There are some things here and there like deeper customization (which you already touched on) but for the most part you will have access to different apps like say a Torrent client, emulators and other things. Also note you can install the last official flash apk into the Stock browser (root required to install stock browser afaik) and get some crumby flash content but it isn't terribly optimized.

panda bear said:

1. Is there a way that I can sync video from iTunes, then when I watch those videos on my Nexus, I can plug that in and sync it with iTunes, so when I go to watch on my Apple TV, it picks up where I left off?

Click to expand...

I would suggest you pose this question on androidforums.com as there are people who have a mix of iOS and Android products.

2. Do I have to root my phone to get one of those fancy home screens that I keep seeing Android users being so excited about?

Click to expand...

Most likely not. You probably just need a launcher.

3. What exactly can I do on this thing that I couldn't do on an iPad Mini?

Click to expand...

Better integration between apps is one thing. With most apps, you can universally share things in one app with another. This type of functionality is built into Android. With iOS, Apple has to build things like Twitter integration and FB integration.

Widgets is a big one if you want to customise your home screen in that manner. Also, customising your home screen with a new launcher is something many people do.

You can change default applications. If you don't like the stock browser, install a different one and set that up as your default. That way, whenever you tap on a url from anywhere like email, it will launch your new default browser. With the iPad, you're stuck with Safari even if you like Opera more.

panda bear said:

1. Darn.

2. Yeah, i'm also half retarded (at least). I should have led with that. I meant tablet. Not sure why I said phone.

Anyway, i'm not sure what it's called. But by "fancy" I mean like in the "show your Android home screen" threads, there are things like this:

ImageImage

The extra widgets and the custom icons.

3. I can see that being useful for some people. Especially if you use a mobile device as your main device. I, however, am stuck to my iMac, with my mobile devices being used away from home or when i'm relaxing away from the computer.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to respond

Click to expand...

As the screen example on the top right (green toned wallpaper with monochrome icons) was mine , I can at least explain what I did.

While I did root my N7, nothing on that screen required it. I used Nova Launcher, WP clock design live wallpaper, Glaskart Theme for the icons, and another wallpaper downloaded from another site (sorry, can't remember from where). WP clock design provides the time/date/battery info--it looks/acts like a widget but carries over to each home screen and lock screen (or not, completely up to you) and can be used with another wallpaper image (my green gears image behind it)--it's very customizable (change text color, brightness, what info is displayed, can have it fade as you move away from the main home screen, etc). Using a launcher such as Nova allows you to select a different icon them--there are tons available, both paid and free.

The beauty of Android is the endless ways you can customize, even without rooting, which only adds to the possibilities and really isn't as intimidating as it can sound.

Isyncer allows you to copy media from itunes to the N7...It's a paid app unless you want to be tied down to 12 songs or one video...but it works. You download the app on your N7, then the free Mac app from the link they mail you.

It's clunky, but it does work.

panda bear said:

So it will allow me to sync the position of the movie between my ATV and Nexus?

Click to expand...

Ahh, no, I think it only works with iTunes....hmm, I haven't found anything like that yet but will let you know if I do.....something like that may well be there.

panda bear said:

Well, iTunes would be the middle man between the ATV and the Nexus 7.

I stream the movies from iTunes to my ATV and let's say I leave off at 25:58 and go somewhere then want to pick up where I left off on my Nexus (after syncing with iTunes, of course).. I open up the movie on my Nexus and it starts at 25:58.

I'm bad at explaining things, haha

Click to expand...

No your fine....I just haven't really been looking at the app market. I have 2 ATV"s and all my stuff is in iTunes and the cloud.....haven't got a single movie on the N7 as yet, but might fiddle around later

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This is what happens when IOS users get out of their safe ground!

panda bear said:

Well, iTunes would be the middle man between the ATV and the Nexus 7.

I stream the movies from iTunes to my ATV and let's say I leave off at 25:58 and go somewhere then want to pick up where I left off on my Nexus (after syncing with iTunes, of course).. I open up the movie on my Nexus and it starts at 25:58.

I'm bad at explaining things, haha

Click to expand...

I think the problem with your plan is that iTunes doesn't sync with a Nexus. There might be a program somewhere that syncs your iTunes library with Android devices, but video playback position is such a specific piece of data that most likely non-Apple programs aren't able to access that data.

panda bear said:

Yeah, I figured Apple wouldn't play that nice with Android. But i'm not too familiar with that kind of thing, so I wasn't sure if some Android developer found a way to make an app that would be able to pull that information from iTunes.


Anyway, here's what I got as far as the customization goes.. still working on the color of the time.. to make it blend in well enough to not look silly, but stick out enough to make it readable at a glance

EDIT:

Also, now that I have the cool looking home screen.. my lock screen looks ridiculous, because I see the home screen behind the lock screen.

Would I have to download something in particular to be able to change/customize the lock screen or would I be able to find those settings in the Nova Launcher that i've aready installed?

Click to expand...

Is that Nova Launchpad what you are using to change the screen? I might take a look at that...mines a mess

panda bear said:

Yeah, I figured Apple wouldn't play that nice with Android. But i'm not too familiar with that kind of thing, so I wasn't sure if some Android developer found a way to make an app that would be able to pull that information from iTunes.


Anyway, here's what I got as far as the customization goes.. still working on the color of the time.. to make it blend in well enough to not look silly, but stick out enough to make it readable at a glance

EDIT:

Also, now that I have the cool looking home screen.. my lock screen looks ridiculous, because I see the home screen behind the lock screen.

Would I have to download something in particular to be able to change/customize the lock screen or would I be able to find those settings in the Nova Launcher that i've aready installed?

Click to expand...

Looks really good.

panda bear said:

1. Darn.

2. Yeah, i'm also half retarded (at least). I should have led with that. I meant tablet. Not sure why I said phone.

Anyway, i'm not sure what it's called. But by "fancy" I mean like in the "show your Android home screen" threads, there are things like this:

ImageImage

The extra widgets and the custom icons.

3. I can see that being useful for some people. Especially if you use a mobile device as your main device. I, however, am stuck to my iMac, with my mobile devices being used away from home or when i'm relaxing away from the computer.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to respond

Click to expand...

Hi! I have an i5 and an N7 there is not much to make iOS and Android feel "the same" aside from having the same app on either platform... in my case. Anyways I don't know if you heard of reddit but reddit.com/r/androidthemes is a community of people who solely customize their android and if you check the comments most of the time people post what they are using. Cheers!

1. I don't think there's an Android app that can do specifically that but DoubleTwist does solve part of your problem. It's just about the best iTunes alternative for Android. You have to install the program on your computer but it does sync with your iTunes library (I'm not exactly sure, but it may just be your music, might be video/pictures as well) and gives you the ability to AirPlay any pictures, music, and videos you have on your device. I assume that the video you want to sync is not downloaded from iTunes, then you can simply sync the video to your Android device with the DoubleTwist program on your computer.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.doubleTwist.androidPlayer
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.doubleTwist.androidPlayerProKey

panda bear said:

I don't really want them to feel the same. I got the N7 to actually experience Android.



The themes I posted in the beginning of the thread were other peoples' themes. One person posted how he got some of the stuff on his device.

I downloaded Nova Launcher and fiddled with it, found a wallpaper that I liked and downloaded an icon set that I like.. all via the Google Play store.

Click to expand...

It looks way better than mine does....But I'm going to play around with Novalauncher today...Still snowed in anyway..