Recently I dumped my 5s for the htc one m8. Absolutely in love with this phone! Sadly, I know I can't get the same type of feel one gets from using an iPhone/Mac together but I'm wondering if the macrumors community has any advice on what apps to to get (on my MBP or m8) that will help my experience with these two devices together be more enjoyable. Or if anyone has any general tips on how to use an android phone and mac together, I would really appreciate it. Thanks.
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Mac and Android Harmony?
- Thread starter Khayyam94
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If your iCal and address book are in the cloud, smoothsync is the best. Made my life so much easier to get all my calendars and contacts synced to my Android phones and tablets.
For files you can't beat the free Google drive app. That'll get most of your files including pictures synced up and then the Google drive app on your Mac will get them down.
After that you should be good. Android phones rock for power users but Mac hardware is still pretty tough to beat.
For files you can't beat the free Google drive app. That'll get most of your files including pictures synced up and then the Google drive app on your Mac will get them down.
After that you should be good. Android phones rock for power users but Mac hardware is still pretty tough to beat.
You can get the app "Android File Transfer" straight from Android here http://www.android.com/filetransfer/
Thanks for the quick reply!
Just got smoothsync and it is a beauty, perfect for my needs. And damn Google drive is a great idea, I didn't even think of downloading drive on my mac. Thanks again.
Google Drive or Dropbox.
Android is pretty amazing.
Thanks!
Yeah it's awesome, only thing I'll miss about the iPhone is iMessage.
If you use Google services it won't be any problem at all. In some cases its even better.
1. For storage and sync you can go Google Drive or Dropbox
2. Android File Transfer for dropping files into your phone
3. Pushbullet for fast pushing files, locations, links, notes ..etc. from phone to phone, (chrome to phone, phone to chrome) and notifications mirroring (display all your phone's notification on your Mac if you have chrome with the plugin installed).
4. iCal sync with your google calendar so no problem here too.
5. Google Hangout for messaging. It's maybe a tick slower than Whatsapp or iMessage but it's good and you can use on chrome or Adium too.
1. For storage and sync you can go Google Drive or Dropbox
2. Android File Transfer for dropping files into your phone
3. Pushbullet for fast pushing files, locations, links, notes ..etc. from phone to phone, (chrome to phone, phone to chrome) and notifications mirroring (display all your phone's notification on your Mac if you have chrome with the plugin installed).
4. iCal sync with your google calendar so no problem here too.
5. Google Hangout for messaging. It's maybe a tick slower than Whatsapp or iMessage but it's good and you can use on chrome or Adium too.
So today I tried to get a photo from my wifes iPhone to my MBP. Selected the photo and "share", and saw AirDrop. Awesome I thought, finally I get to use this... didn't work. Apparently it only does iOS to iOS or OSX to OSX. How useful.
OK, next I thought, both devices have Bluetooth, so it should be easy to connect and exchange a file... again, no luck. Before wasting more time, I sent it by email, all the way to a server in the US and back, because apparently that is the easiest way to get a file from an iPhone to a Mac in the same room.
So much for the benefits of the Apple ecosystem. I'm not saying that Google or anyone else is doing it better, just that in practice there is little benefit from having both Phone and laptop from Apple.
I use Dropbox and Google services instead to keep my important data, email and calendars synced across multiple devices and platforms.
Oh and I see iMessage being mentioned: In a world with WhatsApp and Hangouts, why would you use an App that only allows you to chat with your iPhone friends?
OK, next I thought, both devices have Bluetooth, so it should be easy to connect and exchange a file... again, no luck. Before wasting more time, I sent it by email, all the way to a server in the US and back, because apparently that is the easiest way to get a file from an iPhone to a Mac in the same room.
So much for the benefits of the Apple ecosystem. I'm not saying that Google or anyone else is doing it better, just that in practice there is little benefit from having both Phone and laptop from Apple.
I use Dropbox and Google services instead to keep my important data, email and calendars synced across multiple devices and platforms.
Oh and I see iMessage being mentioned: In a world with WhatsApp and Hangouts, why would you use an App that only allows you to chat with your iPhone friends?
What a hassle. Thats exactly how i would transfer photos, via email. As i'm starting to use more of these google services it really seems like androids are easier to use with macs since you have a little more freedom.
I liked iMessage quite a bit because most of my friends were iPhone users (I think us college students like iPhones for the simplicity). Also very few of my buddies had whatsapp. Otherwise you're right.
I believe if you sync both your iPhone and MacBook with iCloud you get all your photos on both devices.
Barney
Barney
Take a look at airdroid for transferring photos and other files.
http://www.airdroid.com/
I'm just using it in local/lite mode over the wireless lan as an alternative to messing around with USB cables.
http://www.airdroid.com/
I'm just using it in local/lite mode over the wireless lan as an alternative to messing around with USB cables.
Well maybe I don't want to sync my Mac with my wifes iPhone. And I've had my share of bad experience with iPod syncing and deleting large libraries from the device.
I'm a Mac user for many years now, and while I have an Android phone myself, I also like my wife's iPhone. However I don't see many benefits of staying within the Apple ecosystem. In that sense I think the OP will be fine with his Android Phone - it is not so much difference, after all iOS and OSX are still different platforms.
Install Airdroid in your m8, Iḿ using android too, Airdroid lets you control your phone from the mac and upload, download anything, also remote control/view of the camras etc, and its free.
To get files from my Moto X to my Mac, I just transfer with Bluetooth. They go relatively quick and once the phone and computer are paired the connection starts pretty quick.
All my "stuff" has been with google since I started with the first-gen Motorola Droid, connecting to my mail, calendar, contacts on the Mac was simple, and I use Drive for most of my file transfer needs.
All my "stuff" has been with google since I started with the first-gen Motorola Droid, connecting to my mail, calendar, contacts on the Mac was simple, and I use Drive for most of my file transfer needs.
Smooth Sync
Correct me if I am wrong but SmoothSync does to work with HTC One phones. See this link by the author of SmoothSync.
http://dmfs.org/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Sense_issue
Correct me if I am wrong but SmoothSync does to work with HTC One phones. See this link by the author of SmoothSync.
http://dmfs.org/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Sense_issue
You can add Teamviewer and Spotify and it's a lot of "continuity" right there. IMO Apple is very good at making hardware and with their customer attention, but their software is always behind the competition at least from the point of view of the customer, like we saw at the last WWDC. iCloud like Dropbox but worse, iMessages blatantly copying WhatsApp and worse... like the year before, iRadio tremendously worse than Spotify...
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When I was on Android I had these same thoughts, problem is, very few people I know use whats app and no one seems to like or even know what hangouts is. Everyone I keep in contact with except two people have iPhones. I've had my 5S for about 4 months and absolutely love it. I have had countless Android phones, I've rooted, modded and even put a few roms together but for me, at this stage in my life, the iPhone serves me well.
OP congrats on the M8. My wife has the M7 and loves it. The M7/M8 are possibly the most elegantly designed smartphones to date. Fantastic devices.
iMessage doesn't require a separate app download. It simply iMessages iPhones and SMS messages all others. It is pretty seamless and doesn't prevent you from messaging those outside of the Apple ecosystem. WhatsApp and Hangouts actually require you to use those apps and have both parties install it. I am not sure where the confusion came about with iMessage, but there is how it really works.