Help an iOS convert out

[Spud1]

Hi All,

So I picked up a Nexus 5 on friday after owning iPhones from the very first up to the 5. It's a nice enough phone for £300, and Android is finally getting to the point i'd consider it a "proper" OS (rather than a poor mans linux for mobile)...so much more professional and polished than the past, you can see where the Google Butter team have put their efforts.

I have a few very basic things that I can't figure out though - hopefully someone will help Most of these things are bread and butter stuff on iOS.

1) Email/SMS/Missed call counts (on the icon) - I can't see how to turn these on? Relying on the notification manager is a bit rubbish so I am assuming I just can't find out where to turn this on. Specifically for Email, Gmail, SMS (Hangouts) and Missed Calls.
2) How to quickly get from the diaper to SMS - e.g. if I have gone to call someone, they are engaged, so I want to send a quick SMS instead (ideally pre-defined, like "call me when free")
3) Built in Podcast support - can't find this, do I need to get an app? I'll probably re-invest in instacast at some point but would be nice to know
4) Anyone with a pebble - have you got notifications working with subject/summary for email from the native email app? (exchange not gmail).
5) Is there anything similar to "Passbook" for keeping track of boarding passes etc? (can google wallet do it?)
6) Wireless sync/filesharing - I'm sure there are apps, but is this built in? (not even looked yet but since I'm asking...)

Also - any tips on using Google Now in the UK? I know that most of the good features only work in the US, but any hints/tips on the UK version would be cool

Thanks!

[Dooms]

1. Unread on Icon should just work if the icon is on your desktop. It doesn't show in the app draw.

2. This one isn't so quick. If you call and someone is engaged it drops back to the call history page with the number you called at the top. You can tap that and then tap the message icon.

You can reject with message though.

3. There is none. I use Podkicker.

4. No pebble sorry.

5. No.

6. I don't believe so, not something i've ever looked into myself.

As for Google Now I've found long as you are using chrome (signed in) on PC etc it will start to learn habits. It knows my route to work, when I leave, that I cycle etc. Yesterday it gave me a new card I hadn't seen telling me last month I walked 29 miles and Cycled 300 miles which is slightly off (i know I cycled 400) but interesting to see them trying it without any input for me.

Search for a sports team and when you get the results card you can push the i and add to your teams.

Most of it just comes with use over weeks.

[Spud1]

Thanks for the quick reply...I don't get any "unread" counts on any of my built-in apps, and they are on the desktop (not in a folder etc, but I'd expect it to work in a folder too..). I wonder if its an Android 4.4 thing, part of me wonders if google just intend you to use the notification drawer thingy, but thats a bit rubbish.

Disappointing on the rest - not looking to put the boot in honestly, but when most android users go crazy about how much better Android is than iOS, its a bit disappointing to find some fairly basic things just missing completely. Hopefully there are solutions to all though, after all..isn't that the main strength of this platform?

[Dooms]

I think thats more of the point. It doesn't do some things out of the box but gives you the choice of what you want to use unlike apple where if they have an app for it they pretty much want you to use it exclusively (not being able to change default programs was a big bug bear for me).

Amusingly you seem to of highlighted some of the things I've never heard iPhone users mention (passbook & wireless sync).

As for unread maybe it is something they have removed with 4.4 but a very quick google shows there are already lots of apps that re-add the functionality. Again I think its a mindset & way of working... instead of "oh it does / doesn't do this" its more of a "I want it to do this, google it, someones done it before, download app".

[Spud1]

Yeah that mindset change is key - I still really like iOS and it does what I want out of the box for the most part..I have switched as I really don't get on with the iPhone 5/5C (nowhere near as nice/good as the iPhone 4) and didm't want to pay £500+ for a phone. Passbook I fell in love with when I started flying a bit more (its so much more useful than you might think), and wireless sync is great for transferring files..although tbh iCloud sync did the job most of the time.

OK another question - what about notifications on the lock screen? Currently all I get on there is the google now shortcut, unlock pattern thing, and swipe left/right for camera. Is there a way to get notifications on the lock screen?

3rd party apps are all well and good but I like sticking to built in/pure native stuff where possible If I can get notification counts sorted I'll be happy - I had a quick google but particularly for Gmail it seems to be tricky at the moment..talk of google removing access on-device Will have to investigate more..not rooted yet but I'm sure there will be a way to solve it if i do.

[Dooms]

On 4.3 you can just pull down the notification bar while on the lock screen... well I can. I don't have a passlock on mine so maybe having one will stop you but give it a try and just swipe from the top of the screen when at lock screen.

[jim]

I used this software: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...roKey&hl=en_GB for wireless sync a couple of years ago and it was pretty good. Can't attest to what it's like now, but it was good then.

[herulach]

In the settings menu you should have a lock screen option - have you got app shortcuts on it or are you locking with a pin/swipe? If its the latter you're SOL (although there are plenty of apps that do it) if its the former they should (or at least they do on 4-4.3) display on the relevant icon.

I actually don't really like vanilla android - Everything I own has Apex launcher installed on it, which is awesome, and also gives me a consistent interface across devices. You might also want to try out a different keyboard as well. I bought swiftkey more or less at release, and its changed my life. The prediction engine is awesome, to the point that I can actually often send texts/mails by only typing one word. (maybe I'm boring though).

As far as your initial questions:
2 it depends on the dialer you use. I have GoContacts installed, which gives you about 3 seconds of a display letting you redail video call or text at the end of a call or if its engaged.
3 There are tonnes of apps to do it - just make sure to turn on wifi only syncing if you don't have unlimited data
4 Don't have a pebble, but I imagine if its not working now, it will be shortly.
5 Google wallet can't do it (tbh google wallet is pretty crappy) but there are apps - a google chucks out one called passwallet - I've never used it (the only airline I use that does QR checkin is SAS, and I just download the jpg and keep it in my gallery.
6 What are you wanting to sync? Dropbox, Drive etc will do files. Contacts are done automatically via your google account, and you can set pictures to upload in the drive app also. (again, make sure to check wifi only if neccessary).

[Spud1]

Thanks for the replies..OK so with your help I have solved most of the issues

Dashclock has sorted my lock screen, skydrive works for sync, instacast for podcasts, pebble notifier for pebble,passwallet for boarding cards...

So the only one I cannot solve is unread/missed call counts I'll need to keep digging but I can't seem to see a way to do this without replacing the launcher (which I am not going to do, at least not yet).

What are the best android help resources? Android central?

Thanks for the help so far

[Dooms]

http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5

Even if you aren't rooting etc XDA is still my fave place for general questions & answers.

[Bunjiweb]

For the full Pebble experience, get the 'Pebble Notifier' app and tick all the apps you want notifications from, then turn off notifications from the main Pebble app. It gives you a much better experience and lets you read beginnings of Emails, FB messages, Tweets etc. making the decision whether to take the phone out a lot easier.

[monstercable]

Hi All,

So I picked up a Nexus 5 on friday after owning iPhones from the very first up to the 5. It's a nice enough phone for £300, and Android is finally getting to the point i'd consider it a "proper" OS (rather than a poor mans linux for mobile)...so much more professional and polished than the past, you can see where the Google Butter team have put their efforts.

I have a few very basic things that I can't figure out though - hopefully someone will help Most of these things are bread and butter stuff on iOS.

1) Email/SMS/Missed call counts (on the icon) - I can't see how to turn these on? Relying on the notification manager is a bit rubbish so I am assuming I just can't find out where to turn this on. Specifically for Email, Gmail, SMS (Hangouts) and Missed Calls.
2) How to quickly get from the diaper to SMS - e.g. if I have gone to call someone, they are engaged, so I want to send a quick SMS instead (ideally pre-defined, like "call me when free")
3) Built in Podcast support - can't find this, do I need to get an app? I'll probably re-invest in instacast at some point but would be nice to know
4) Anyone with a pebble - have you got notifications working with subject/summary for email from the native email app? (exchange not gmail).
5) Is there anything similar to "Passbook" for keeping track of boarding passes etc? (can google wallet do it?)
6) Wireless sync/filesharing - I'm sure there are apps, but is this built in? (not even looked yet but since I'm asking...)

Also - any tips on using Google Now in the UK? I know that most of the good features only work in the US, but any hints/tips on the UK version would be cool

Thanks!

Firstly, well done for picking a great device! I'm sure it wouldn't let you down and make you go back to iOS.

By the way, the okay google and google features should all be working correctly within the UK, I've recently updated my google now which lets me use English (UK) and the okay google feature.

[TaintedShirt]

Hi All,
6) Wireless sync/filesharing - I'm sure there are apps, but is this built in? (not even looked yet but since I'm asking...)

If you're still looking for file sync, a great app is Cheetah sync. Works with both windows and mac.