Database Develop

FlexT9 Keyboard Replacement

Ever since I got my G Tablet, I have been scouring looking for the best overall keyboard. I use Swype on my phone, but had trouble getting it to work properly on my tablet. For a while, I found that SlideIt worked fine for me. Then, I tried Gingerbread Keyboard, Thumb keyboard, NI Keyboard (Notion Ink), and finally seemed to setting in on SwiftKey.
SK has become my daily keyboard of choice, but today I stumbled upon one I haven't seen mentioned on the board yet. It's called FlexT9 and it's a bit of a hybrid keyboard. You can type normal (tap and tap), you can slide type (like Swype), it has Speech to Text, AND it has handwriting recognition. Each option can be changed on the fly very quickly.
I found the swype features to be excellent overall, and I really like the predictive text not being so intrusive. The Speech to Text may be the most impressive part of the whole package. It does whole sentences very well. Fixing errors is very easy as well, as you just double tap a word you want to delete or replace and it will select the entire word and display similar words as well. The handwriting recognition was what I was actually hunting for when I found the app. It's decent, but not fast enough for what I was looking for.
The app costs $5, but can be found free in various places. I plopped down my $5 for this one, making it one of the few I've actually paid for (paid for Swift Key when it was on sale, hoping I don't have to re-buy when Honeycomb is released).
In any case, thought I'd recommend this one.
Here's the AndroidTapp.com review of the app:
http://www.androidtapp.com/flext9-speak-trace-write-tap/
I will add that this worked on both my phone (HTC Hero) and my tablet. I loved that the tablet predictive text box did not block the text input area in most apps like some keyboards do.

This is a great keyboard combination. What I like most about it is the highly accurate voice to text transcription feature.
Nothing on the Ipad2 works this way including Dragon search/dictate.
Charlie

I purchased this, it's exactly what I've been looking for. However, I can't get it to work. When I get the message about security, I select OK, but the check next to FlexT9 Text Input, remains unchecked. Any suggestions?
btw...I'm running a stock gtab.

lbkimbro said:
I purchased this, it's exactly what I've been looking for. However, I can't get it to work. When I get the message about security, I select OK, but the check next to FlexT9 Text Input, remains unchecked. Any suggestions?
btw...I'm running a stock gtab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't believe the stock settings allow you to enable other keyboards. They show up, but don't allow you to check the boxes. Other ROMs support this (like Vegan), but not the ones based on the stock ROM (like TNT).
If you are rooted, you can use Root Explorer and do a manual work-around.
1. Install the keyboard app
2. Open ROOT EXPLORER app and navigate to DATA/APP folder.
3. Copy the APK of your keyboard device you want to add
4. Go back to the main directory, then navigate to the SYSTEM/APP folder.
5. Click the button on the top right that says MOUNT R/W (Mount to Read/Write)
6. Paste APK file into this directory
7. Click MOUNT TO R/O to return to read only mode.
8. Repeat if you have multiple keyboards
9. Once you are done adding keyboards, reboot your device. Those keyboards should now be enabled in your SETTINGS.
This is the procedure for TNT and Stock based ROMs. Hopefully this works for you as well.
You may also want to do some searching for other potential work-arounds for adding keyboards.

Looks like I might have just found the first thing that my gtab can't do, that I want it to do, "out of the box".
I've avoided rooting it again, but maybe I'll have to re-think that. I rooted it the first day that I got it, but just didn't like my tablet looking like a phone on steroids. I might I have to learn to get over that.
Thank you for the information.

You don't necessarily have to change your ROM and the way the tablet looks to be rooted. Rooting itself doesn't change anything about the device besides giving you root access to the device.

Hi there what do you mean by saying rooted?
thanks

Does anyone "write" on their Note?

Just thought I would ask the question.
Do people use their Note to draw or write?
If you write do you use a specific software or the samsung installed keypad?
Just curious to hear some input.
I use an application called graffiti pro.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA

yep..... once in a while

Yup....been writing on it since i bought it to replace my notepad/business diary.
i use it to jot down meeting key points and ideas.
why wasting paper...Go Green!

BayuDroidz said:
Yup....been writing on it since i bought it to replace my notepad/business diary.
i use it to jot down meeting key points and ideas.
why wasting paper...Go Green!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1..I do the same during meetings..at least its not too obvious that I am playing with the phone instead of concentrating in the meeting
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

i find it difficult and disappointing to take notes in classes or in meetings using S-memo app as touching the menu and/or back button happens almost everytime unless im extra carefull and focusing not to touch them , which in one way or another , counters the idea note taking freely...
dont get me wrong , this device is awesome , and i love it , but software wise its.......meh . it only lacks a few simple points and touches on the main apps it was promoted with... (simple palm rejection!? , or rejection of finger touches with the S-pen is active in the screen!? ,2 way automatic syncing or backup!? )
i know there r some market apps that can do that , but why Samsung just couldn't just do it with the bundled s-memo app ??? its not only about sketching and pressure sensitive points , those worth nothing as a "Note" taking device in my opinion.

Why not try FreeNote from Android Market instead of S-Memo? Freenote seems to be a bigger brother of S-Memo and it can easily "share" (which means, export) its notes to any app that can accept graphic files. I hope FreeNote keeps evolving, as it seems to have great potential!

Quite handy when getting a phone number on the fly or anything in that manner. I also write my grocery lists in here. And I'm using it quite often right now because of the Draw Something game.

Skitch + evernote combo works quite well for me

loads
I do a lot now. I also use skitch as I have everything in evernote.
The feel for me is that it is 'natural' to lift the Note and write a note . It looks and feels just like a pocket notepad. My writing is probably not as good as pen & paper, but with some effort it is passable.
The alternatives are tedious and intrusive. I either hold it two-handed and thumb-type, use swype, or have a BT keyboard. All are OK, but for some reason it is harder to concentrate on other people when typing.
In a meeting or conversation, the natural note-taking wins every time, as it is less intrusive and allows you to focus more on the people you are talking to, I find. YMMV.

What I miss the most about my Galaxy S2, and some rants

I just got the Nexus 4. Needless to say, it arrived the day the S4 was announced, but whatever. It's cheap, relative to what I paid for the S2 I had from T-mobile.
I bought it to get away from bloatware. After updating my S2 to ICS I could type faster than the characters showed up on the screen. Reminded me of my days pushing the limits of a 386.
I've had the Nexus 4 for exactly one day. Immediately I notice some nice things:
1. Definitely feel snappier. This is a big plus.
2. The auto-correct is less intrusive. If I hit backspace after auto-correct does something, it will revert the entire correction. That is nice; in the S2 I had to turn it off because it was driving me nuts (texting in different languages; not to mention it insisted on capitalizing Work but not wednesday).
And then the bad:
1. Can't bcc myself on every email. How lame. No, I don't use gmail and I don't want you. And I am used to doing things this way and don't want to change my email handling on umpteen computers to deal with sent folders. So I had to download K9, and the fact that you have to go into a menu to find the compose function is just plain stupid.
2. Wow, I miss the dialer on the S2. I would just start typing in digits. It would search my contacts by digits *or* by the equivalent letters. Just beginning to type someone's name and I could find them. Now I have to hit the magnifying glass and type in the name to find someone.
3. I also miss the toggles on the slider (whatever you call that thing you pull down from the top of the screen). Takes several clicks to turn Bluetooth on and off now.
These things may not seem like a big deal, but for those of us who don't want to spend our days watching laughing pandas, the little things in software can make or break the experience. That is how Apple got ahead (and still is, in many cases).
Generally I think Google (and possibly all smartphones) missed a few things. Or else I'm old and stubborn. One of them is the utter lack of control over what's going on. Not being able to "quit" an app is annoying. And then you get an app to kill apps---but someone works around that. Happened with AirDroid. Had to uninstall it! Couldn't kill it, and couldn't figure out how to not keep this connection "open" all the time. So I feel like I can't use it.
And my biggest pet peeve is keyboard layout. If you know the history, you know where QUERTY came from. Then came Dvorak, which took off only with a handful of nerds, but is a smart concept. Now we take something that looks nothing like a typewriter and shove QUERTY into it. Look, I understand the need to keep things familiar, but from what I understand, it's extremely difficult to customize the keyboard layout. I hope someone can point me to an app that allows me to do that, but I haven't found one. The world's idea of "customizable keyboard" is to have a Japanese schoolgirl dancing behind semi-transparent keys. Sorry, but no. In the English language you should have the apostrophe on the main keyboard and for most languages the comma should be there, too. I don't use the "speak" key or the smiley face one. Hell, take the space bar, which is 5 keys wide and make it 2.
The keyboard layout without punctuation is a big problem. Already kids can't spell worth a damn. Now I find myself not using commas in emails, etc. either. It's really disturbing.
There's no angry old man post icon?
***EDIT***
Opera just downloaded 1600 messages by POP. Now, because of something K9 or the Nexus email client did, Opera lost track of which emails were new and I got 1600 duplicates. Am I doing things that wrong or does it just not work?

pelesl said:
I just got the Nexus 4. Needless to say, it arrived the day the S4 was announced, but whatever. It's cheap, relative to what I paid for the S2 I had from T-mobile.
I bought it to get away from bloatware. After updating my S2 to ICS I could type faster than the characters showed up on the screen. Reminded me of my days pushing the limits of a 386.
I've had the Nexus 4 for exactly one day. Immediately I notice some nice things:
1. Definitely feel snappier. This is a big plus.
2. The auto-correct is less intrusive. If I hit backspace after auto-correct does something, it will revert the entire correction. That is nice; in the S2 I had to turn it off because it was driving me nuts (texting in different languages; not to mention it insisted on capitalizing Work but not wednesday).
And then the bad:
1. Can't bcc myself on every email. How lame. No, I don't use gmail and I don't want you. And I am used to doing things this way and don't want to change my email handling on umpteen computers to deal with sent folders. So I had to download K9, and the fact that you have to go into a menu to find the compose function is just plain stupid.
2. Wow, I miss the dialer on the S2. I would just start typing in digits. It would search my contacts by digits *or* by the equivalent letters. Just beginning to type someone's name and I could find them. Now I have to hit the magnifying glass and type in the name to find someone.
3. I also miss the toggles on the slider (whatever you call that thing you pull down from the top of the screen). Takes several clicks to turn Bluetooth on and off now.
These things may not seem like a big deal, but for those of us who don't want to spend our days watching laughing pandas, the little things in software can make or break the experience. That is how Apple got ahead (and still is, in many cases).
Generally I think Google (and possibly all smartphones) missed a few things. Or else I'm old and stubborn. One of them is the utter lack of control over what's going on. Not being able to "quit" an app is annoying. And then you get an app to kill apps---but someone works around that. Happened with AirDroid. Had to uninstall it! Couldn't kill it, and couldn't figure out how to not keep this connection "open" all the time. So I feel like I can't use it.
And my biggest pet peeve is keyboard layout. If you know the history, you know where QUERTY came from. Then came Dvorak, which took off only with a handful of nerds, but is a smart concept. Now we take something that looks nothing like a typewriter and shove QUERTY into it. Look, I understand the need to keep things familiar, but from what I understand, it's extremely difficult to customize the keyboard layout. I hope someone can point me to an app that allows me to do that, but I haven't found one. The world's idea of "customizable keyboard" is to have a Japanese schoolgirl dancing behind semi-transparent keys. Sorry, but no. In the English language you should have the apostrophe on the main keyboard and for most languages the comma should be there, too. I don't use the "speak" key or the smiley face one. Hell, take the space bar, which is 5 keys wide and make it 2.
The keyboard layout without punctuation is a big problem. Already kids can't spell worth a damn. Now I find myself not using commas in emails, etc. either. It's really disturbing.
There's no angry old man post icon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are tons of keyboards, toggle apps and widgets and dialers in Google Play and XDA. Stop wining and start looking mate

Samsung packaged their apps such as dialers, keyboards, email clients and all the other stuff you like into the bloat called touchwiz. The vanilla android is lean without those bells and whistles. Like what the previous post said, explore the playstore. There are better apps there than what samsung packaged in the s2. You just need to explore..
Sent from my Nexus 4

2 and 3 are both 'fixed' in CM 10.1 - might be worth giving it a go...

im assuming your still on stock???
1. Not sure about the BCC...but there's a general email that you can use for non-gmail accounts....
2. can be easily solved with dialer mod....most roms comes with this feature
3. i havent been on stock for a while...but im sure Bluetooth toggle would be under quick pull down in the new 4.2.2. If not you can always flash another rom, which is better in my opinion since there are more toggle options.
Bottom line is...
Welcome to the forum (i see that your a new user)
and minor issues like these that can easily be solved on if you took the time to look on nexus 4 development section

Yes I agree with the post above. Try cm10.1 it's a way better alternative than stock. If you want more customization go with paranoid android or aokp rom. Nexus 4 is meant to be rooted! There's a sticky on how to root and unlock your bootloader. Very easy. Check out the screen shots in the post your screen shot section and see what other nexus 4 users have done with their phones. It's really an open playground

On stock 4.2.2 you can long press on Bluetooth and WiFi to toggle them on and off in the quick settings menu.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

gee2012 said:
There are tons of keyboards, toggle apps and widgets and dialers in Google Play and XDA. Stop wining and start looking mate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congratulations on post number 3,245. Why don't you say something else useless and see if you can hit 3,230 by the end of the day.

EddyOS said:
2 and 3 are both 'fixed' in CM 10.1 - might be worth giving it a go...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what CM is, but it strikes me as some third party firmware (or is it just a collection of changes to Android)? Is there a "tutorial" page that explains the layers and what they are called?

ugotproblemz said:
... if you took the time to look on nexus 4 development section
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean on this forum?

3. Just download "widgetsoid" app, which implements quick toggles in your notification bar much like Samsung's touch wiz feature.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

pelesl said:
Congratulations on post number 3,245. Why don't you say something else useless and see if you can hit 3,230 by the end of the day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pelesl said:
I don't know what CM is, but it strikes me as some third party firmware (or is it just a collection of changes to Android)? Is there a "tutorial" page that explains the layers and what they are called?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pelesl said:
You mean on this forum?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Look at what I'm magically doing here. It's called multi-quote. Learn how to use it.
2. You came here essentially asking for advice. When someone gives you some advice (even if it's not what you wanted to hear) you don't start being rude to them with no valid reason.
3. Hey, here's an idea. If you don't know what CM is (seriously? ) then Google it. There is a 'tutorial' page, it's the first Google result for cyanogenmod.
4. Where else would he be talking about other than on this forum? It doesn't take a genius to navigate to the dev section and check out some of the available ROMs.
5. As for the bluetooth toggle, it takes a swipe down then a click. No more than was needed on TouchWiz.
6. There are tonnes of third party dialers available with T9, pick one and install it. You can almost certainly get a Holo theme for whichever one you choose as well. If you're really that desperate and need it to be within the stock app, flash a custom ROM.

The key is that stock Android is about as lean as you can get. Rather than give you every conceivable bell and whistle, you get a blank slate and the ability to customize everything to YOUR desire, and not Samsung's or HTC's.
Everything you're asking about is available through various apps that are easily installed and just as easily reversed if you don't like them.
Ignore the people telling you to flash roms and stuff like that, those are options for the hobbyists. If you decide to start playing around with the Android system you can make a lot of fun changes, but it's not necessary on the Nexus.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

pelesl said:
Congratulations on post number 3,245. Why don't you say something else useless and see if you can hit 3,230 by the end of the day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was useful, you have to try and find answers for your question on your own initialy. This is not kindergarten where people hold your hand and tell you everything you want to know. If after searching well enough you can`t get an answer or solution to your problem, then you post your question in the Q&A thread.
Thank you for wasting my time. And btw it is post 3425 and not 3245.

gee2012, I thought your initial reply was pretty rude too. You seem to have a zillion posts which would indicate you have been here for a while but you must have been a noob once yourself and asked questions. Yes I know the search function is our friend but sometimes just asking a question is the best way to go because it also generates other things. I, for example, didn't know about wigitsoid until I hooked into this thread.
To the original poster, I have the following advice. Read up averything you can on what can be done with this phone. I, like you, came to one from a Galaxy S2. Had it 2 days and sold it. I was disappointed that the so called 4.7 inch screen was in fact smaller than that of my S2 because of the soft buttons. The colour saturation was gash and the camera really was a disappointment. I then went for an S3, Note, Note 2, Lumia 920 and chopped my company Blackberry SIM into an iPhone 4S. I was changing phones faster than most people change underwear....... But all the while I hung out here and read what was going on. Couple of weeks ago I sold the Note 2 and bought another 16GB Nexus 4.
I have flashed the Paranoid Android contrasty kernel and the screen is now 'alive". I installed the Full Screen Toggle app and Button Savior app and now I have the full glory of the 4.7 inch screen. I'm running Launcher8 which gives me and even better live tile system that WP 8.
Got a nice leather flip case which I had to hack and slash to invert as everything seems to open down instead of up like in the old days (think of how the "Beam me up Scotty" communicator flipped open).
Tried most of the enhanced camera apps but sadly the camera still doesn't meet my expectations, but other than that, the Nexus 4 went from a cheap..Meh!!!! phone to being the "Dogs Bolloxs"
Hang in there fella and get flashing

pelesl said:
The keyboard layout without punctuation is a big problem. Already kids can't spell worth a damn. Now I find myself not using commas in emails, etc. either. It's really disturbing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you long press the full stop (period) key, a comma will appear. Now you can use commas again
That said, all you need is an empty day and a few hours to play around with the phone to get yourself familiar with it. Then you'll love it more than your S2.

pelesl said:
I just got the Nexus 4. Needless to say, it arrived the day the S4 was announced, but whatever. It's cheap, relative to what I paid for the S2 I had from T-mobile.
I bought it to get away from bloatware. After updating my S2 to ICS I could type faster than the characters showed up on the screen. Reminded me of my days pushing the limits of a 386.
I've had the Nexus 4 for exactly one day. Immediately I notice some nice things:
1. Definitely feel snappier. This is a big plus.
2. The auto-correct is less intrusive. If I hit backspace after auto-correct does something, it will revert the entire correction. That is nice; in the S2 I had to turn it off because it was driving me nuts (texting in different languages; not to mention it insisted on capitalizing Work but not wednesday).
And then the bad:
1. Can't bcc myself on every email. How lame. No, I don't use gmail and I don't want you. And I am used to doing things this way and don't want to change my email handling on umpteen computers to deal with sent folders. So I had to download K9, and the fact that you have to go into a menu to find the compose function is just plain stupid.
2. Wow, I miss the dialer on the S2. I would just start typing in digits. It would search my contacts by digits *or* by the equivalent letters. Just beginning to type someone's name and I could find them. Now I have to hit the magnifying glass and type in the name to find someone.
3. I also miss the toggles on the slider (whatever you call that thing you pull down from the top of the screen). Takes several clicks to turn Bluetooth on and off now.
These things may not seem like a big deal, but for those of us who don't want to spend our days watching laughing pandas, the little things in software can make or break the experience. That is how Apple got ahead (and still is, in many cases).
Generally I think Google (and possibly all smartphones) missed a few things. Or else I'm old and stubborn. One of them is the utter lack of control over what's going on. Not being able to "quit" an app is annoying. And then you get an app to kill apps---but someone works around that. Happened with AirDroid. Had to uninstall it! Couldn't kill it, and couldn't figure out how to not keep this connection "open" all the time. So I feel like I can't use it.
And my biggest pet peeve is keyboard layout. If you know the history, you know where QUERTY came from. Then came Dvorak, which took off only with a handful of nerds, but is a smart concept. Now we take something that looks nothing like a typewriter and shove QUERTY into it. Look, I understand the need to keep things familiar, but from what I understand, it's extremely difficult to customize the keyboard layout. I hope someone can point me to an app that allows me to do that, but I haven't found one. The world's idea of "customizable keyboard" is to have a Japanese schoolgirl dancing behind semi-transparent keys. Sorry, but no. In the English language you should have the apostrophe on the main keyboard and for most languages the comma should be there, too. I don't use the "speak" key or the smiley face one. Hell, take the space bar, which is 5 keys wide and make it 2.
The keyboard layout without punctuation is a big problem. Already kids can't spell worth a damn. Now I find myself not using commas in emails, etc. either. It's really disturbing.
There's no angry old man post icon?
***EDIT***
Opera just downloaded 1600 messages by POP. Now, because of something K9 or the Nexus email client did, Opera lost track of which emails were new and I got 1600 duplicates. Am I doing things that wrong or does it just not work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For number 3, swipe down the notification tray with 2 fingers at the same time, which takes you to "quick settings". Then long press on the bluetooth icon to turn on or off. For punctuation, long press on the period key and a little pop up will appear with several frequently used punctuation marks. slide to the one you one and let go. easy peasy

pelesl said:
And my biggest pet peeve is keyboard layout. If you know the history, you know where QUERTY came from. Then came Dvorak, which took off only with a handful of nerds, but is a smart concept. Now we take something that looks nothing like a typewriter and shove QUERTY into it. Look, I understand the need to keep things familiar, but from what I understand, it's extremely difficult to customize the keyboard layout. I hope someone can point me to an app that allows me to do that, but I haven't found one. The world's idea of "customizable keyboard" is to have a Japanese schoolgirl dancing behind semi-transparent keys. Sorry, but no. In the English language you should have the apostrophe on the main keyboard and for most languages the comma should be there, too. I don't use the "speak" key or the smiley face one. Hell, take the space bar, which is 5 keys wide and make it 2.
The keyboard layout without punctuation is a big problem. Already kids can't spell worth a damn. Now I find myself not using commas in emails, etc. either. It's really disturbing.
There's no angry old man post icon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Swiftkey from the Play store. Great keyboard, I can even have arrow keys. It has a comma left of the space bar, a full stop to the right.
Its autocorrect even gets apostrophes right pretty much all of the time (without the need to type them!). It has a British English dictionary available. Mind you, it is QWERTY not QUERTY in British layout.
I've got emoji (extended smileys) in Handcent, my texting app, but even that only has a smiling old man. Sorry can't help there.

Don't these people ever watch that YouTube video when they signed up at xda-devs?
/sage
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Quote needabottle:
gee2012, I thought your initial reply was pretty rude too. You seem to have a zillion posts which would indicate you have been here for a while but you must have been a noob once yourself and asked questions. Yes I know the search function is our friend but sometimes just asking a question is the best way to go because it also generates other things. I, for example, didn't know about wigitsoid until I hooked into this thread.
If i would be ranting in all my posts i would be banned 20 times allready. What irritates me is that some users don`t even make an effort to look in Google Play,XDA or on Google search and just post a question for an easy service. You can check all my posts and see i try to help users, And yes i was a noob too when i started with android, but searching and trying gets you a long way. If you are realy stuck or don`t know whta to do then you post a question.

Very 1st Things to do After Activation?

Hi everyone, just got my N3 last night and I am pretty excited about it.
I am a long time Mac Rumors member and my past phones have been ...... JB 3g, JB 3gs, JB 4, JB 4s
I am very upset with the tiny screens on my iphones and I refuse to wait another year for the 6 to come out.
So now I am a 1st time Android user and what to really check out the Android scene.
What are the first things I should do with the phone, what should I install right away? (different keyboards, apps, etc)
Is there a thread around here with tutes instructing how to transfer my contacts etc?
I surely will appreciate all replies, so thanks in advance. I really wanna get the very MOST out of this device.
edit: does Google Play offer any rebates/coupons/freebies for newly purchased devices?

Hey I would use smart switch to get your things from iPhone to your new phone but that is after you have it activated
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using xda app-developers app

XiphoneUzer said:
Hi everyone, just got my N3 last night and I am pretty excited about it.
I am a long time Mac Rumors member and my past phones have been ...... JB 3g, JB 3gs, JB 4, JB 4s
I am very upset with the tiny screens on my iphones and I refuse to wait another year for the 6 to come out.
So now I am a 1st time Android user and what to really check out the Android scene.
My N3 arrived Wednesday evening, and it's STILL not activated, (and its killing me).
The reason being, I wanna know if there is anything I should do BEFORE I call ATT and activate it.
(I do NOT want to close any windows, so is there is anything you folks recommend I do before I activate it)?
Once activated, what are the first things I should do with the phone, what should I install right away?
Is there a thread around here with tutes instructing how to transfer my contacts etc?
I surely will appreciate all replies, so thanks in advance. I really wanna get the very MOST out of this device.
edit: does Google Play offer any rebates/coupons/freebies for newly purchased devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by call ATT and activate it? All you have to do is put your SIM card in and it is ready to go with a few account setups. After that it is up to you except for rooting and modding. Cant be done right now without voiding your warranty.

First thing you do is scratch off the att emblem since they locked the bootloader
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

XiphoneUzer said:
Once activated, what are the first things I should do with the phone, what should I install right away?
Is there a thread around here with tutes instructing how to transfer my contacts etc?
I surely will appreciate all replies, so thanks in advance. I really wanna get the very MOST out of this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello?
Looking for some help here. This keyboard is way different than iphone, is it something you get used to, or should I install something else?
Please tell me what are some of the things I should change/install right away, (there's got to be some "must haves" no?)

XiphoneUzer said:
Hello?
Looking for some help here. This keyboard is way different than iphone, is it something you get used to, or should I install something else?
Please tell me what are some of the things I should change/install right away, (there's got to be some "must haves" no?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the keyboard, i prefer the google keyboard over the samsung one. It provides functionality similar to the iphone and is easy to switch between the iphone and android if you use them both in daily life.
As for apps, here is a small list of apps i like to have on all of my devices.
GOOGLE CHROME. Its much better than the built in browser and is able to synchronize with my desktop browsers favorites, etc.
Skype: Perfect for if you are travelling over seas at all with your device.
Google Hangouts: A good replacement for the built in SMS app.
Facebook & Twitter: If you need an explanation, you shouldn't be useing these apps.
Battery Doctor by KS Mobile: Simple app, but is helpful to save battery life and know exactly how much you have left.
Google Music: I have most of my library stored on google so it makes my life easy to have this.
Google Books: The book equivalent of my music library. Syncronizes what i have read across devices and browsers.
Kindle for Android: For the ebooks you buy on amazon.
Google Keep: Great for taking quick notes and having them on all your devices.
Dropbox: Great cloud file storage. Comes with free storage and you can pay to get more.
Google Drive: Google version of dropbox.
MX Player: This video player will play any video format you throw at it.
Google Maps: A must have for all smartphone users.
Zedge: While its quality has gone down a fair bit from what it once was, its still a great place to find ringtones and notification sounds for your android device.
GPS Status: Great for calibrating your devices sensors and ensuring that it works properly.
Now for the ROOT ONLY apps.
Titanium backup
SuperSU
Triangle Away
Hopefully this is a useful list to get you started. I have all these plus many more installed on my devices, and I find I use them all fairly regularly.

djdelusional said:
Skype: Perfect for if you are travelling over seas at all with your device.
Google Hangouts: A good replacement for the built in SMS app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I prefer Hangouts to Skype because Hangouts features free video multi-chat.
But I use Google Voice for SMS because it provides free unlimited texting. Hangouts insists on using the phone's native number rather than your Google Voice number, so you have to pay extra for a text plan or for individual messages.

Doesn't anyone else have any advice for a first time Android user?

XiphoneUzer said:
Doesn't anyone else have any advice for a first time Android user?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your new to android I'd stay away from root for a while.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I467 using Tapatalk 4

XiphoneUzer said:
Hello?
Looking for some help here. This keyboard is way different than iphone, is it something you get used to, or should I install something else?
Please tell me what are some of the things I should change/install right away, (there's got to be some "must haves" no?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel like for every-day typical phone use cases, there aren't that many gaps that stand out as needing to be filled by a third party app. You'll probably need a new music player, the defaults are crapola - but I can't be much help here; I keep my music as folders full of MP3 files (like God intended!) and play with Music Folder Player, and shun the dirty S&M ("sync and manage") apps.
There's a big list of stuff that I did when I first got the phone to get it to where I'm happy with it, but all of this was root required stuff. There are apps that come pre-loaded on android devices and can't be removed or disabled without root. Also, customizing stuff that can't be customized without root. I couldn't abide by some of the not-changable-without-root defaults. Getting rid of the "screen turns on so you can unlock it when you hit the home key" behavior is probably the most glaring example for me; my ass* was unlocking it constantly - but coming from iPhone, you probably view that as the Right Thing for home button to do.
I think most people use a custom keyboard. Swiftkey and Swype are the most popular. The phone comes with Swype, but it's an ancient version with limited support for changing the dictionary, you want the newest one.
I use Hangouts for gchat, but not for SMS. I actually prefer default app for SMS..
Settings:
Pull down status bar, long press on wifi, WiFi -> menu -> advanced settings, uncheck auto connect to AT&T hotspots (unless they don't suck where you are. Around here, they often don't have internet behind them, and just break your connectivity for the 30 seconds or so it takes for the phone to connect to them, determine that the wifi is no good, and fall back to 4G. At least this phone does that; Original note would just sit there like a fool trying to use non-functional wifi... I've also yet to find a hotspot that performs better than the 4G does. But I live in a city, so the situation may be different elsewhere).
Pull down status bar, long press on GPS. Uncheck "Use wireless networks" - on newer versions of android, this drains battery while idle; the damned thing wakes the phone periodically to check the networks around it - if the phone is nearly idle, this can halve battery life (!!!)
Pull down status bar, swipe to the left along the options at the top (woah, did you know you could do that?), tap multiwindow to enable multiwindow (this was a headline feature for the note 3, but comes disabled by default). If I long-press back button, that makes the multiwindow tab hide or unhide (once it's enabled), but I don't remember if I had to do something to get this behavior.
General must-have things:
AppOps Starter (to kill permissions from apps that request permissions you don't want to give them)
Battery Monitor Widget (gives you a realtime readout of battery usage)
ES File Explorer
If you want to pretty-ize clock + weather widgets:
DigiClock
Eye in Sky
If you work in IT or have need of these (if you aren't sure what these mean, you don't need them ):
ConnectBot (telnet/ssh client)
AndFTP (ftp/sftp client, supports scp if you pay)
RDP Client (remote desktop and VNC client)
FEAT VPN (OpenVPN client)
Hacker's Keyboard (you'll tear your hair out trying to use swype/swiftkey for terminal sessions or RDP)
If you want to root the phone:
Root it, then immediately install titanium backup and "freeze" AT&T software update, so it won't update your phone (breaking root) while you're not looking
Titanium Backup - freeze all the useless bloatware that AT&T and Samsung included (there's a list of what apps you can freeze here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmzC8GFarItSdGpOZzBfWlR4MC03aDMyZ1BDUFNqU0E - not my work)
Root Explorer
Pen Window Manager for adding apps to the pen window feature
Xposed Framework
Wanam - general huge amount of customization, including selecting apps for multiwindow.
Keyboard Manager (almost a necessity if you use ConnectBot/RDP frequently - keyboards designed for messaging and such are garbage for doing administration of non-phone systems, while hacker's keyboard is garbage for messaging and everyday phone stuff)
Terminal Emulator (gives you a command prompt on phone. Doesn't require root, but there are very few use cases for terminal on android that don't also need root)
*Well, I keep it in my front pocket, so technically it wasn't my /ass/ unlocking the phone....

Considering Note 8, Coming From Google Ecosystem, Have a Few Q's

Hi Everyone,
I currently have the Huawei Nexus 6P and have been using the Google ecosystem (mainly Google Assistant, Google Drive and Google Keep) and have a few questions.
- I use Google Keep on my 6P and also my MacBook to take notes and they sync without problems. Can Samsung Note also work on my Mac and also offer the same synchronizing experience?
- Pretty much, I want to stay within the Google ecosystem as much as possible and the stock Android experience.... I don't want to switch to Samsung's ecosystem (or even their cloud) ... Is there a way to do so with Note 8?
- Bixby has its own screen when you swipe to the left. Is there a way to disable this and replace it with Google Assistant?
- Is there a way to completely disable Bixby if needed?
- Is there a way to get rid of the Touchwiz experience and replace it with stock Nougat theme?
Thank guys, it's a beautiful phone and winning me over the Pixel 2 XL.

boba7523 said:
I currently have the Huawei Nexus 6P and have been using the Google ecosystem (mainly Google Assistant, Google Drive and Google Keep) and have a few questions.
- I use Google Keep on my 6P and also my MacBook to take notes and they sync without problems. Can Samsung Note also work on my Mac and also offer the same synchronizing experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use Samsung Note so I can't comment on that, but there is no reason why you can't continue using Google Keep. It's what I've always used, no matter what phone I have.
- Pretty much, I want to stay within the Google ecosystem as much as possible and the stock Android experience.... I don't want to switch to Samsung's ecosystem (or even their cloud) ... Is there a way to do so with Note 8?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You still will be within the Google ecoystem and can continue using Android the way you always have. No need to start using any of Samsung's services.
- Bixby has its own screen when you swipe to the left. Is there a way to disable this and replace it with Google Assistant?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think so but I could be wrong. Maybe with the Google launcher? Someone else might have to answer this.
- Is there a way to completely disable Bixby if needed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I have bixby disabled and have even remapped the dedicated bixby button to bring up Google Assistant with a long press and the flashlight with a double tap. There's an app called BX Actions that makes it easy to do.
- Is there a way to get rid of the Touchwiz experience and replace it with stock Nougat theme?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's ways to get it close but not exact. Install the Google launcher from the play store, download one of the many stock-ish themes from the theme store, install icon packs, etc... You'll get used to any remaining small differences. My last phone was stock Android and it took a bit for the Note 8's UI to grow on me but it has. I really like the way it looks with the theme I'm using.
The Note 8 is a truly amazing device. You won't be disappointed.

If you don't want the Samsung experience , why not get a Pixel 2 XL or a lg V30? Is there a specific need that the Note satisfies? Pixel will be a vanilla android experience for sure. Seems it would be easier to stay on the Google phones if that's what you are used to.
Sent from my Galaxy Note8 using XDA Labs

_MetalHead_ said:
I don't use Samsung Note so I can't comment on that, but there is no reason why you can't continue using Google Keep. It's what I've always used, no matter what phone I have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply.
Is the s pen fully compatible with Google Keep though? And for off screen memo, is that a separate app or is that Samsung Note?
And also, when I pull out the S Pen, can I configure it to open Google Keep instead of Samsung Note?
Ideally, I'd like all the note taking stuff (including off screen memo) to be under one notes app, which is Google Keep. I just don't want to use so many apps just for note taking and having to share it to my email or something in order to view it on my Macbook... I want to be able to work on the notes on my GN8 and finish them off on my Macbook.

_MetalHead_ said:
I don't use Samsung Note so I can't comment on that, but there is no reason why you can't continue using Google Keep. It's what I've always used, no matter what phone I have.
You still will be within the Google ecoystem and can continue using Android the way you always have. No need to start using any of Samsung's services.
I don't think so but I could be wrong. Maybe with the Google launcher? Someone else might have to answer this.
Yes. I have bixby disabled and have even remapped the dedicated bixby button to bring up Google Assistant with a long press and the flashlight with a double tap. There's an app called BX Actions that makes it easy to do.
There's ways to get it close but not exact. Install the Google launcher from the play store, download one of the many stock-ish themes from the theme store, install icon packs, etc... You'll get used to any remaining small differences. My last phone was stock Android and it took a bit for the Note 8's UI to grow on me but it has. I really like the way it looks with the theme I'm using.
The Note 8 is a truly amazing device. You won't be disappointed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nuclearrage said:
If you don't want the Samsung experience , why not get a Pixel 2 XL or a lg V30? Is there a specific need that the Note satisfies? Pixel will be a vanilla android experience for sure. Seems it would be easier to stay on the Google phones if that's what you are used to.
Sent from my Galaxy Note8 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a Note 2 way back in the day and loved it for its uniqueness. This was back when the Android UI was just butt ugly. My Note 2 had a bunch of bloatware from AT&T and also Samsung, and TouchWiz was horrific.
That deterred me from even consider any of the Note series phones...... Until recently.
I was very excited about the Pixel 2 XL and even pre-ordered it... But excitement quickly died down because of the price and features I'm getting out of it...
Both phones are around the same price, but the GN8 has the S Pen, BEAUTIFUL screen, and a larger display.
If there was a perfect phone for me, it'd be stock Android experience with GN8's beautiful infinity display and display size.

boba7523 said:
I had a Note 2 way back in the day and loved it for its uniqueness. This was back when the Android UI was just butt ugly. My Note 2 had a bunch of bloatware from AT&T and also Samsung, and TouchWiz was horrific.
That deterred me from even consider any of the Note series phones...... Until recently.
I was very excited about the Pixel 2 XL and even pre-ordered it... But excitement quickly died down because of the price and features I'm getting out of it...
Both phones are around the same price, but the GN8 has the S Pen, BEAUTIFUL screen, and a larger display.
If there was a perfect phone for me, it'd be stock Android experience with GN8's beautiful infinity display and display size.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You wont be able to get s-pen functionality on keep. Samsung notes is pretty awesome though. To be honest Samsung it a pretty full fledged ecosystem all its own so your concerns are legitimate. There will be compromises. I would suggest buying it and trying it out within the 15 day return policy time and if it doesn't gel just grab the pixel xl 2.

I don't use any of Samsung's services and not using them in no way impacts the google experience, the phone is Android, all it's services work just as expected in the same way they work on any Android phone. Samsung has greatly improved their apps making them worth a look if you're of a mind. I find I like the dialer better than Googles for instance, the calendar less, and so on.
I also use Keep but use Samsung notes as well. It's not quite as wacky as you might think. Long term notes and a few I share with Mrs crab go into keep. Shorter term stuff I do in Samsung. For example take a shopping list. I'll do this by writing on the AOD, minimize it, and later on when I get to the store maximize it. Then my list is up without even turning the phone on. When I'm done I double tap the garbage can and it's gone. Longer term stuff that will often be more typing I simply open Keep and go that way. This works out pretty well because where Samsung notes and the S-pen really excel in comparison to Keep is at jotting down something quickly with the pen which in turn tends to be things you will use quickly and discard. On the other hand keep has more options that can be leveraged and make it the long term choice. The end result is that you spread the workload out using Samsung notes for one thing, Keep for another.

boba7523 said:
Hi Everyone,
I currently have the Huawei Nexus 6P and have been using the Google ecosystem (mainly Google Assistant, Google Drive and Google Keep) and have a few questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I am not completely in Apple or even Google's ecosystem (I see myself somewhere in the middle of a Venn diagram between those and a number of others), I may try to suggest some things.
boba7523 said:
I use Google Keep on my 6P and also my MacBook to take notes and they sync without problems. Can Samsung Note also work on my Mac and also offer the same synchronizing experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I personally prefer using Evernote Plus, what I can say for what you sad is a no. Samsung Notes can only sync with a Samsung account, and is only available on Galaxy phones. Your best bet would to install SideSync on both your phone and laptop, and use your phone on your laptop.
I do use Samsung Notes, but primarily for the "screen off memo" feature.
Even then, I understand why some people don't use Evernote, because they used to allow unlimited devices for free, but later increased that limit to up to 2 devices for free, which means I'm stuck paying for a Plus subscription if I actually want to use the service.
Also, go to the full editor here on XDA, if you want to use other markup features like the bullet points, instead of hyphens. I corrected that for you.
boba7523 said:
Pretty much, I want to stay within the Google ecosystem as much as possible and the stock Android experience.... I don't want to switch to Samsung's ecosystem (or even their cloud) ... Is there a way to do so with Note 8?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I do use some of Samsung's services, but mainly because I also have a Galaxy Tab A.
(Yes, 2 out of my 3 Androids are Samsung devices, both on stock software)
Even then, if you want to get the closest to stock Android while staying on the stock Samsung Experience* software, I'll link to what I use.
This theme, (though I wish it would theme the Android "DeviceDefault" theme, but it doesn't). There's also another theme called "Pixel UI", but there are many variants of that. I don't use that or Samsung's default theme because I'm not a fan of unified icon shapes, and I'm also not a fan of ultra-white UIs.
"Navbar Apps" (to force the navigation bar to be black, instead of Samsung's white)
Nova Launcher (but I'm sure there would be something more suited to you, like "Lawnchair")
A bunch of apps from the Play Store that are published by Google themselves. Not counting the Google apps already installed as part of Google Play Services, I only have Gboard, Google Calendar, and Clock. (For other apps, I am already using non-Google apps, such as QuickPic (in addition to the stock Samsung gallery), and Pale Moon + Firefox Focus (web browsers))
*It was called TouchWiz, but with the release of 8.0 on the Galaxy S8, Samsung renamed it to "Samsung Experience". Even then, they have improved since TouchWiz Nature UX 3.5 on my Galaxy Note3 I used to have years ago.
boba7523 said:
Bixby has its own screen when you swipe to the left. Is there a way to disable this and replace it with Google Assistant?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is only in the stock Samsung launcher, which I don't use, because it's a little hard to use, has wasted screen real estate (in my opinion), and I'm also more of a stock Android person, but by that I mean stuff like LineageOS, rather than Google Nexus and Pixel devices.
I use Nova Launcher Prime instead. Even if you use Samsung's own launcher, Bixby Home can be disabled, but can't be replaced with the Google app.
The only real downside of not using Samsung's launcher on their phones, besides Bixby Home, is the fact that the fancy Weather widget can only be used within their launcher. I haven't had time to buy this from the Play Store, but I'm sure I can just add a clone of the Samsung weather widget, and have that be linked to open the Samsung weather app, assuming the setting to add the icon to the launcher is enabled.
boba7523 said:
Is there a way to completely disable Bixby if needed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't need to answer that, because MetalHead had already done so.
Even then, I do use Bixby, but only because I don't use Google Assistant due to privacy concerns. (This is actually in contradiction to me completely ignoring S Voice on my Note3)
boba7523 said:
Is there a way to get rid of the Touchwiz experience and replace it with stock Nougat theme?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bad news: You would have to root the phone, install a custom recovery, and a custom ROM based on stock Android, which gives you a number of consequences, including, but not limited to:
Voided warranty
Samsung Knox security killed off, which means you would never be able to use its features, including Samsung Pay
A number of Samsung features won't work in ROMs based on stock Android (at least on my Note3 many years ago)
Battery charging only up to 80% (based on some rumours I read)
boba7523 said:
Thank guys, it's a beautiful phone and winning me over the Pixel 2 XL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
---------- Post added 23rd October 2017 at 12:02 AM ---------- Previous post was 22nd October 2017 at 11:45 PM ----------
Oh! I forgot to mention something! My customisations unfortunately can't cover up the really hard to read Samsung emoji font.
Gee, I wish I had the right contacts to start a petition against Samsung's mobile device division, asking them to give users the option to use stock Android emoji, and also to use free fonts as UI fonts (instead of being restricted to Monotype's ecosystem for the font choices).

krabman said:
I don't use any of Samsung's services and not using them in no way impacts the google experience, the phone is Android, all it's services work just as expected in the same way they work on any Android phone. Samsung has greatly improved their apps making them worth a look if you're of a mind. I find I like the dialer better than Googles for instance, the calendar less, and so on.
I also use Keep but use Samsung notes as well. It's not quite as wacky as you might think. Long term notes and a few I share with Mrs crab go into keep. Shorter term stuff I do in Samsung. For example take a shopping list. I'll do this by writing on the AOD, minimize it, and later on when I get to the store maximize it. Then my list is up without even turning the phone on. When I'm done I double tap the garbage can and it's gone. Longer term stuff that will often be more typing I simply open Keep and go that way. This works out pretty well because where Samsung notes and the S-pen really excel in comparison to Keep is at jotting down something quickly with the pen which in turn tends to be things you will use quickly and discard. On the other hand keep has more options that can be leveraged and make it the long term choice. The end result is that you spread the workload out using Samsung notes for one thing, Keep for another.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Have you attempted to just do everything on the Samsung Note? Do you know if there's a way to use Samsung Notes on my Macbook (or any OS in general) and have it auto save to Google Drive? Trying to keep my workflow continuous..

krabman said:
I don't use any of Samsung's services and not using them in no way impacts the google experience, the phone is Android, all it's services work just as expected in the same way they work on any Android phone. Samsung has greatly improved their apps making them worth a look if you're of a mind. I find I like the dialer better than Googles for instance, the calendar less, and so on.
I also use Keep but use Samsung notes as well. It's not quite as wacky as you might think. Long term notes and a few I share with Mrs crab go into keep. Shorter term stuff I do in Samsung. For example take a shopping list. I'll do this by writing on the AOD, minimize it, and later on when I get to the store maximize it. Then my list is up without even turning the phone on. When I'm done I double tap the garbage can and it's gone. Longer term stuff that will often be more typing I simply open Keep and go that way. This works out pretty well because where Samsung notes and the S-pen really excel in comparison to Keep is at jotting down something quickly with the pen which in turn tends to be things you will use quickly and discard. On the other hand keep has more options that can be leveraged and make it the long term choice. The end result is that you spread the workload out using Samsung notes for one thing, Keep for another.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kbhasi said:
While I am not completely in Apple or even Google's ecosystem (I see myself somewhere in the middle of a Venn diagram between those and a number of others), I may try to suggest some things.
While I personally prefer using Evernote Plus, what I can say for what you sad is a no. Samsung Notes can only sync with a Samsung account, and is only available on Galaxy phones. Your best bet would to install SideSync on both your phone and laptop, and use your phone on your laptop.
I do use Samsung Notes, but primarily for the "screen off memo" feature.
Even then, I understand why some people don't use Evernote, because they used to allow unlimited devices for free, but later increased that limit to up to 2 devices for free, which means I'm stuck paying for a Plus subscription if I actually want to use the service.
Also, go to the full editor here on XDA, if you want to use other markup features like the bullet points, instead of hyphens. I corrected that for you.
Well, I do use some of Samsung's services, but mainly because I also have a Galaxy Tab A.
(Yes, 2 out of my 3 Androids are Samsung devices, both on stock software)
Even then, if you want to get the closest to stock Android while staying on the stock Samsung Experience* software, I'll link to what I use.
This theme, (though I wish it would theme the Android "DeviceDefault" theme, but it doesn't). There's also another theme called "Pixel UI", but there are many variants of that. I don't use that or Samsung's default theme because I'm not a fan of unified icon shapes, and I'm also not a fan of ultra-white UIs.
"Navbar Apps" (to force the navigation bar to be black, instead of Samsung's white)
Nova Launcher (but I'm sure there would be something more suited to you, like "Lawnchair")
A bunch of apps from the Play Store that are published by Google themselves. Not counting the Google apps already installed as part of Google Play Services, I only have Gboard, Google Calendar, and Clock. (For other apps, I am already using non-Google apps, such as QuickPic (in addition to the stock Samsung gallery), and Pale Moon + Firefox Focus (web browsers))
*It was called TouchWiz, but with the release of 8.0 on the Galaxy S8, Samsung renamed it to "Samsung Experience". Even then, they have improved since TouchWiz Nature UX 3.5 on my Galaxy Note3 I used to have years ago.
That is only in the stock Samsung launcher, which I don't use, because it's a little hard to use, has wasted screen real estate (in my opinion), and I'm also more of a stock Android person, but by that I mean stuff like LineageOS, rather than Google Nexus and Pixel devices.
I use Nova Launcher Prime instead. Even if you use Samsung's own launcher, Bixby Home can be disabled, but can't be replaced with the Google app.
The only real downside of not using Samsung's launcher on their phones, besides Bixby Home, is the fact that the fancy Weather widget can only be used within their launcher. I haven't had time to buy this from the Play Store, but I'm sure I can just add a clone of the Samsung weather widget, and have that be linked to open the Samsung weather app, assuming the setting to add the icon to the launcher is enabled.
I don't need to answer that, because MetalHead had already done so.
Even then, I do use Bixby, but only because I don't use Google Assistant due to privacy concerns. (This is actually in contradiction to me completely ignoring S Voice on my Note3)
Bad news: You would have to root the phone, install a custom recovery, and a custom ROM based on stock Android, which gives you a number of consequences, including, but not limited to:
Voided warranty
Samsung Knox security killed off, which means you would never be able to use its features, including Samsung Pay
A number of Samsung features won't work in ROMs based on stock Android (at least on my Note3 many years ago)
Battery charging only up to 80% (based on some rumours I read)
---------- Post added 23rd October 2017 at 12:02 AM ---------- Previous post was 22nd October 2017 at 11:45 PM ----------
Oh! I forgot to mention something! My customisations unfortunately can't cover up the really hard to read Samsung emoji font.
Gee, I wish I had the right contacts to start a petition against Samsung's mobile device division, asking them to give users the option to use stock Android emoji, and also to use free fonts as UI fonts (instead of being restricted to Monotype's ecosystem for the font choices).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your thorough reply, I appreciate it.
So there's no way to have the Google Now cards (I think that's what they're called) to be on its own screen kind of like how the 6P and Pixels have them? I was hoping I can replace Bixby's card screen with Google Now.

boba7523 said:
So there's no way to have the Google Now cards (I think that's what they're called) to be on its own screen kind of like how the 6P and Pixels have them? I was hoping I can replace Bixby's card screen with Google Now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could, if you do not use the stock Samsung launcher.
I think Nova Launcher has an extension to have Google Now in there, but I think that's only in the upcoming 5.5 version. I think Lawnchair is also the only the only other launcher to support that, but I can't remember.
Another way is to sideload the Pixel Launcher, but some features don't work unless it's installed as a system app, which requires the phone be rooted, but again, that results in the consequences I stated.

boba7523 said:
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Have you attempted to just do everything on the Samsung Note? Do you know if there's a way to use Samsung Notes on my Macbook (or any OS in general) and have it auto save to Google Drive? Trying to keep my workflow continuous..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's not something I've tried. Maybe someone else can chime in on that. Keep does the things I do with it seamlessly, I've no reason to change for the sake of change. There is also the question of going back. Who knows what my next phone will be and I've gone back and forth frequently between various Sammy devices, Nexus, Pixel, and a smattering of others. I've found that getting into Samsung is easier than getting out of Samsung whereas the Google services just work across the board. As I said the killer feature of the Note for me is the S-pen. I use it at work to annotate pictures with dimensions and so on and in general use it's excellent for that quick throwaway note jotted down with the pen. The ability to pin to AOD makes the feature a standout for things like shopping lists that can be used from the AOD. For me it is an excellent augment to Keep used in that way because it gives me the use it's best for and leaves the majority of my data in Keep where it will be no matter what device I move to next.
I use Action Launcher, probably the most underrated launcher in the business and one that allows you to set up a swipe to Now screen if you wish. I find it's easier just to have a shortcut set for google as this allows the swipe left to access a widget screen. Another widget screen to the right and you've got all the widgets up most people will need. With AL you can then set up the dock in pages and bury multiple shortcuts under covers. Almost everything I do is directly underneath the main shortcuts in the dock and accessible with a swipe. The ability to set shortcuts that can open the widget or app depending on what you want is a bonus. I could go on for a while but can sum it up in that I was a die hard Nova man but would never consider going back, the covers feature is a killer one that takes a little time to fully get because its quite powerful and creates many options you never had before.

So there is no way to get the S-Pen to activate Google Keep instead of Samsung Note?

There are a lot of good responses in this thread. I have Pixel, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2XL phones, in addition to Galaxy S6, S7, S8 and Note 8 (and a few older devices like Nexus 5x/6P and samsung Note 5/S6 Edige Plus, and older..)...
I basically install a few apps from the Play Store that are not pre-installed...
Google Drive
Google Photos
Google Docs
Google Calendar
Gboard The Google Keyboard
Google Maps
Contacts
Android Messages (I use this for SMS/MMS instead of Verizon’s Messages+ or the Stock Samsung Messages app)
Hangouts
Google Cloud Print
Calculator
A few extra I get and install to make my Galaxy S7/S8/Note 8 more “Nexus/Pixel” Like. These are NOT from the play store, so you have to allow 3rd party installs, and “side load” these (download to your phone, use a file manager to visit your downloads, and tap the APK file, and let it install)....
Rootless Pixel Launcher (gives you the Pixel launcher, rather than Samsung’s TouchWiz UI) I use the 2.1 version.
Patched Google Phone (gives you the same phone app used on the Nexus/Pixel phones). NOTE: I use 12.0.167196395 which is no longer listed in the thread's OP, but the APK is in the thread... I haven’t tried the newest one yet.
Instead of using the Rootless Pixel Launcher, you could use either of the following...
Google Now Launcher
Rootless Pixel 2 launcher
Because I use Verizon branded Samsungs, there is some bloat I disable... (have to view system apps to see a few of these so they can be disabled).
Caller Name ID
Cloud
DT Ignite (re-check this one after each android update, as the android/phone updates might re-enable it)
Hancom Office Editor
Message+ (Unles you’d rather use this for SMS/MMS Messages. I use a different app for SMS/MMS messages)
Support & Protection

Look at an old app called Note Buddy. Might have some useful features for the SPen. (haven't used it since Note 3)