Hey there guys!
So I switched over from iphone after 4 years of owning an iphone since I had .. NO FREEDOM haha so im loving the phone so far! but I do miss some things from my iphone and wondering if there is a solution?
1. Imessage - I know its gone, but is there any apps that let me reply from my computer or tablet if I get a text on my phone?
2. wifi-phone - on the iphone I can answer calls on my computer from my iphone and talk, I know there is side sync but it wont install on windows 10. I was wondering if anyone knew of a dialer app or something that can help me? I am using true dialer simply due to the fact no call goes un-masked
3. photos/Gallery- This kinda bugs me but im sure someone here knows. I go on a lot of business trips and take photos while im out. I like to put them in albums and then just hide them away so I dont have to scroll through them all to get to a photo I took before I left. is there a way to have certain photos not show up in google photos? also, a way to hide my downloaded videos from my photo viewer? I dont wanna see all my batman animated series videos meshed in with family photos and such.
4. A good assistant: coming from siri I may be a tad spoiled, but google doesnt have the assistant activate by holding the home key, instead I have to hit the home key, say "okay google" and then it lets me search. can I jump straight to the "listening mic mode" ? or any 3rd party assistants you recommend?
5. passbook. I use it for flights and such. I would store all my boarding passes and loyalty cards in passbook. Is there an alternate android version of this?
Thanks to anyone who takes the time. I really hope some of these are solvable !
1) I use Google Voice (for years) as my primary. So when I change phones or carriers or numbers it doesn't matter and I can text from browser (Chrome w/Google Voice plugin).
3) Build folder tree and put a blank file (txt etc) named ".nomedia". Check out Quickpic app as well, nice alternative to gallery.
4) You have to turn on google detection on all screens, its not so deep in the Google Now settings, to late to type it up you'll find it or can find it online. Also disable S Voice (as well as other carrier sammy bloatware) in apps mgmt (ie: Uncheck notifications, Force stop, then Disable/Uninstall). Your battery will thank you.
5) Not sure if Google Wallet would cover it for flights etc but I have my AMC and some other loyalty cards in Wallet.
Welcome to the free world.
HeroofTime92 said:
Hey there guys!
So I switched over from iphone after 4 years of owning an iphone since I had .. NO FREEDOM haha so im loving the phone so far! but I do miss some things from my iphone and wondering if there is a solution?
1. Imessage - I know its gone, but is there any apps that let me reply from my computer or tablet if I get a text on my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Pushbullet. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pushbullet.android&hl=en
4. A good assistant: coming from siri I may be a tad spoiled, but google doesnt have the assistant activate by holding the home key, instead I have to hit the home key, say "okay google" and then it lets me search. can I jump straight to the "listening mic mode" ? or any 3rd party assistants you recommend?
5. passbook. I use it for flights and such. I would store all my boarding passes and loyalty cards in passbook. Is there an alternate android version of this?
Thanks to anyone who takes the time. I really hope some of these are solvable ![/QUOTE]
Alternative to Siri, try Cortana
Instead of Pass book, use Stocard or beep n go
1. http://www.vysor.io/
2) SideSync installs just fine and works well on Windows 10.
Race2Speed said:
2) SideSync installs just fine and works well on Windows 10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much for all the awesome replies!
I am currently using Mightytext which seems to work well. only issue is when I get a pic message it can take a minute or two to send it over to me.
As for cortana, she doesnt recognize any of my contacts, do I have to upload them to my hotmail account? I mean if I say "bob smith" its fine but If I say "shmitty jensensburger" it just gets lost and cant send or call. Sugesstions?
As for google voice, is there an alternative to the GV app? maybe something nicer/cleaner interface?
Also for passbook I use pass2u which uses apples passbook files and imports them so dont need to even miss passbook at all D
HeroofTime92 said:
Thanks so much for all the awesome replies!
I am currently using Mightytext which seems to work well. only issue is when I get a pic message it can take a minute or two to send it over to me.
As for cortana, she doesnt recognize any of my contacts, do I have to upload them to my hotmail account? I mean if I say "bob smith" its fine but If I say "shmitty jensensburger" it just gets lost and cant send or call. Sugesstions?
As for google voice, is there an alternative to the GV app? maybe something nicer/cleaner interface?
Also for passbook I use pass2u which uses apples passbook files and imports them so dont need to even miss passbook at all D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GROOVEIP works well with Google Voice
What has your experience been?
Does one do something better or different than the other?
There should be an expansive list of instructions for both!
Maybe it's just personal preference....
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
skinnytoo2 said:
What has your experience been?
Does one do something better or different than the other?
There should be an expansive list of instructions for both!
Maybe it's just personal preference....
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use both. Bixbie is good for system stuff, Google assistant is good for everything else like looking up stuff or things on the internet
I wake up screen with Bixby and for most of the other stuff use ok google
Can you reprogram the bixbi button to
Single press open bixbi
Double press open Google assistant
Press and hold take a photo?
Here a decent video :
https://youtu.be/R3OOsNZ7Y-g
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
I suggest you to watch this video. It shows what Bixby can do that Google Assistant can't, and at beginning clearly states that you really shouldn't compare them.
Of course Google Assistant will be better finding information from web, but Bixby kills it when controlling the phone. Two different assistants for two differed jobs.
I vote for Bixby AND Google Assistant
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f7Dz3QNy-gU
Using the phone. Bixby. When it comes to looking up just about any bit of information: Google Assistant. The only thing Bixby is good for is if you ask it to search the internet for a specific set of keywords or a phrase. And even then, it's only about equal with Google Assistant. But it won't answer simple, direct questions like GA. I don't know why these two things are being directly compared.
I'm hopeful that Bixby will be able to do what GA can do, though. But I think Google has quite a huge advantage there considering the data it has about how people search for information.
I compare them because one stop shopping beats two stop shopping. It would be nice just to deal with one AI especially in consideration of the fact that they are increasingly becoming trainable and they are also massively invasive in terms of privacy. I figure the latter horse is already out the barn but there is no reason to sell yourself out more than necessary.
All in all I see little need for a lot of what Bixby does well, I'm never going to use it to swipe right for instance or any of its other similar capabilities, on the other hand voice commands I actually do use like setting timers and alarms work just fine with GA and it's much faster. Right now I see that button going unused and eventually getting remapped until Bixby becomes a more compelling choice.
So I still don't really understand if Bixby can pull stuff up on the web?
I was hoping for one assistant that can do both . Hopefully Bixby development will enable that for us Note8users
skinnytoo2 said:
What has your experience been?
Does one do something better or different than the other?
There should be an expansive list of instructions for both!
Maybe it's just personal preference....
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use both.
Ryland
gingi999 said:
Can you reprogram the bixbi button to
Single press open bixbi
Double press open Google assistant
Press and hold take a photo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you can by using bx actions and bk disabler (Samsung variant)
in BK disabler search bixby and disable everything except bixby voice (some reason this needs to be running )
once you do that go onto bx actions and set it up (you do need to use ADB but it tells you exactly what to do on first run)
ive got mine set to single click nothing long click google assistant and double click camera
personally i see no real use to bixby had a play with it and in reality for how i use my phone it does nothing that google assistant don't already do (each to their own on this, its just how i personally use my phone)
hope this helps
I'm using both, they work well together.
harveydent said:
I'm using both, they work well together.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same. Using both is working pretty well for now.
Still wish Microsoft would take the training wheels off Cortana for Android. She's the main thing I miss from my Lumia Icon.
Screw it. I'm gonna roll with Bixby for the next week and see how things go.
roaduardo said:
Screw it. I'm gonna roll with Bixby for the next week and see how things go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the very least, use Bixby to get free money from Samsung Pay.
The way I see it, Bixby is good for controlling your phone without the need to touch it (basically another form of input other then touch). Everything else GA dominates for now. I've been using both. Bixby is great for handsfree control while driving. Also a handy backup if you breaK your screen and lose touch input until you can have it repaired.
Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk
I've found they work great as a team together.
I use Bixby to control things inside the phone. Things such as making calls to contacts, changing settings, setting reminders and alarms, and controlling my music.
I find Google to be great at handling things that happen outside my phone. Calling businesses that are not in my contacts is a big one. Also most of my street navigation, shopping, and search needs.
They both seem to excel in thid manner for me working as a team. I'm new to Bixby and still watching some YouTube to find out more what it can do.
On a final note, I am still not comfortable talking to my phone as much as others. It's great when I'm alone in my car or home; but, I just feel silly talking to my phone with my family or coworkers around. Also, it seems to me it would annoy others for me to be using my voice to do things I can do quietly.
I love Bixbys idea when it works. A lot of times I have to repeat myself and only works when I hold down the Bixby button. When I try to use the "hi bixby" command it always end up with connection error.
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
Well something is buggy on my end. I've created 5 quick commands and for some reason one of them gets stuck after the first or second item in the list of commands it needs to execute. I have a "car mode" type of thing where when I'm about to head out my WiFi turns off, BT turns on, screen brightness turns up to 100%, AOD turns on and finally screen locked. It does this just fine but then when I get home the quick command to basically do the opposite of this gets stuck. Like the Bixby icon shows and the list appears but nothing happens. My other quick commands work fine but this one in particular is acting all wonky.
I'll keep playing around with Bixby but right now I'm not seeing a large improvement to my daily habits. I seem to be able to do things that I want to do much quicker than the speed Bixby performs at. I think eventually I'm just going to go back and keep Google voice search (not Google Assistant) as my default. That can open apps and can launch navigation destinations which is all I need whilst I'm in the car. For every other time I'm good just performing the actions myself instead of relying on Bixby.
Capzlawk said:
I've found they work great as a team together.
I use Bixby to control things inside the phone. Things such as making calls to contacts, changing settings, setting reminders and alarms, and controlling my music.
I find Google to be great at handling things that happen outside my phone. Calling businesses that are not in my contacts is a big one. Also most of my street navigation, shopping, and search needs.
They both seem to excel in thid manner for me working as a team. I'm new to Bixby and still watching some YouTube to find out more what it can do.
On a final note, I am still not comfortable talking to my phone as much as others. It's great when I'm alone in my car or home; but, I just feel silly talking to my phone with my family or coworkers around. Also, it seems to me it would annoy others for me to be using my voice to do things I can do quietly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same way I use mine.
And I also don't want to be the douchebag talking at his phone in public, so I usually hold the phone up to my head as if I'm making a call, hold the Bixby button and quietly/softly say the commands. Works almost all the time as long as I don't dial it down to a whisper. What's more embarrassing is when it answers back in public.
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).
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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.
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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..
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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)