I bought the S6 Edge from JB Hifi yesterday and sold my iphone 6 plus.
I never used Android before.
Could you please help mw with following questions, mainly about what apps, which apps:
Do I need anti virus app, malware protection app, bloat ware cleaner app? If yes, which ones you recommend?
I googled must have android apps/essential apps for android, could anyone suggest reliablie link please?
I am basic user btw, browsing, whatsapp, banking, watching video users.
Many thanks all
Thanks. I read the life hacker article, but your comment made better.
Maybe I just paranoid with antivirus thingy.
Thanks again
What's the advantage of 3G watchdog over the built in Data Usage monitor?
I've been using 3G watchdog since Android Froyo — back in the days when data usage monitoring wasn't a feature of Android. For most people 3G watchdog probably isn't neccessary anymore so I only consider it as a 'power user' type of tool.
It can keep track of data usage of different SIMS (i.e it knows when you've switched out a SIM)
Real time traffic graphs
Count data in blocks
Homescreen widgets
Trend / usage analysis (tells you how much data you can use each day before you exhaust your monthly quota)
It also keeps a notification icon on your drawer giving you real time updates (and customisable with usage alerts as well)
Chrome
Google Maps
Focus
Diceplayer
Nova Launcher
Pushbullet
Thanks. Definitely no need antivirus then.
Assuming you don't install random crap apps from Play store or worse pirate copies.
Add;
Google Opinion Rewards - earn free Google Play Credit by answering occasional short (less than 5 question surveys)
Google Drive (not a navigation app - it's their "Dropbox" equivalent)
Google Photos - and turn on auto upload (WiFi only) - Some of the Auto-Awesoem video's etc are cool.
Amazon Underground or Amazon Appstore (so you can score free apps)
and some of my more obscure favourites;
Llama - it's a location aware app. It determines location by the cell towers your phone can "see" and then can do automated things like turn on your WiFi when you're at home, and turn it off when you leave home (to save battery).
If you like the power that Llama brings, in the future you can try out Tasker (it's a paid app though) which brings another level of automation again.
MX Player for Videos (allows you to change brightness and volume with gestures on screen)
Retune iTunes remote control - allows you to control iTunes on a computer through your Android phone - free and excellent
Swiss Army Knife - puts a bunch of handy utility apps in one package rather than have 8 different mini-apps clogging up your App Drawer.
Sleep as Android - awesome Alarm Clock app
WiFi Analyzer
And turn on Data usage monitor in your Settings - never worry about going over your Mobile data limit again, cause the phone will cut your connection if you exceed your set limit (I always set mine 50mb below my actual limit to account for dodgy phone company "data session rounding"). I was genuinely stunned when I tried to set this up on Mum's iPhone and after failing and Googling found that iPhone doesn't have this sort of feature!
Thanks.
Thats what I worried about… the crap apps. Some looks very useful utilities…..
Is it true, Amazon Appstore has more reliable apps, free from dodgy apps?
No, Amazon appstore simply 'mirrors' the apps from Google Play store. The apps you find on Amazon are all mostly available from Google play.
Also, you need to have Amazon App installed on the phone to be able to open any of the apps that come from Amazon… this adds an extra layer of bloat and an extra app that runs in the background. I don't really recommend Amazon appstore UNLESS you've already accumulated a lot of premium or paid apps on the Amazon ecosystem.
On Android its very easy to end up with a lot of apps installed that may have permissions to run at startup and in the background as a service. Running too many of these can slow down your device, take up more CPU time and drain your battery faster. Best to keep an eye on the battery usage graph so you can work out energy use.
Amazon apps tend to be less frequently updated.
It can be handy to pick up paid apps that you might like though.
Over the years, as I've accumulated more Opinion Rewards Credit, I've uninstalled most of the Amazon Apps and bought them from Play Store.
One little hack I've found is that where apps have an "unlocker app" to unlock extra features over the free version, the Amazon "unlocker app" quite happily unlocks the Google Play version of the free app.
I currently run this solution for Sleep as Android.
I either bought using free Amazon Coins or picked up during a freebie day, the Sleep as Android Unlocker and then installed the trialware Sleep as Android from Play Store.
If you're not already using Telstra, time to start looking for the $30 prepaid sim pack to go on sale and stock up, use the main credit on these sim to buy a music, videos, apps and in app purchase, especially when they're on sale for less than $1 so you end up paying pretty much nil for them. Much better than waiting for the free apps on iTunes or the pathetic 20% discount on iTunes cards
Yes, thanks. Its on my 'To Learn' list. I am with TPG unfortunately, but I can still use the discounted Telstra SIM Card, put it in, transfer the credit to my google account, take it out, and put my TPG Sim back in again?
I don't think you can transfer credit per se, but you can use credit to buy an app which is liked to your Google account not to the SIM.
To do that, the device needs to have the SIM active in the handset.
Yeah, that could be one option, another one is to buy a cheap throwaway android phone just for the purpose of purchasing app and keep the Telstra sim in there.
Thank you everyone.
I will learn slowly.
To add and/or sum up, is there any other in Android app that you recommend, app that not available in ios, app that you wish ios have, but only Android have?
Just to make me feel better in making move to Android. (The phone is still in the box :P )
If you don't like Touchwiz, try some different launcher apps (Launcher Apps change the look and functionality of the "desktop" and app drawer)
Nova Launcher is a popular suggestion.
I've been using KK Launcher for a while now.
You might want to grab some NFC tags so you can automate actions by tapping on them.
There's WAY too many apps that could be suggested, but it depends what you want to do, and how much you want to tinker and that's before we start talking about Rooting and Custom ROM's!
Maybe ask again once you're up and running.
Yup, thanks.
I am very happy with today suggestions.It should be plenty for me to play around tonight.
(I wont go to custom ROM and rooting, too scare to turn my phone into a brick).
Thanks all.
Up and running now.
Just would like say thank you for introducing the word 'Launcher'in android. Never heard about it before.
I will try to install NOVA today, play around with it.
Just realised when I searched, Google has Google Now for a Launcher, have you tried?
I use KK Launcher instead..
Has Google Now feature plus some extra stuff I like that Google Now Launcher doesn't (or at least didn't - I haven't tried it for a while) have, like Gestures.
A good launcher like action launcher 3, and Tasker.
I can't think of anything on iOS that could replace what they do. But I haven't dealt extensively with iOS.
root and install adaway :)
An excellent reason to root.
Check out the LifeHacker Pack of apps
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2015/08/lifehacker-pack-for-and…
My personal recommendations however, differ from LH's app and I would suggest the following if you are a 'power user' and want more features, rather than the more pedestrian ones that might offer ease of use but more basic settings.
Today CalendarSwitch to Business Calendar 2Why switch — while the user interface is slightly less polished, it offers some pretty powerful features that are worth exploring. It's also free, unlike Today Calendar. Has In App Purchases's but all of them are optional.
ChromeSwitch to Naked Browser ProIf you like speed, and a simple browser that's light on resource usage, this is hands down the best browser there is. The Pro version has a few tricks up it's sleeve, like Night Mode, User Agent switching and customizable tab behaviour.
ES File ExplorerSwitch to Solid File Explorer. ES File Explorer used to be good… until they added too many features and the app became a monstrous beast — they want people to upgrade to the Pro version to disable the annoying crap. Solid File Explorer keeps things slim and simple.TripView for Sydney and Melbourne transport timetables
HERE maps. You probably used it before, but in case you haven't — this is a completely free turn by turn and mapping app, with downloadable maps. No need to pay for map updates anymore…
Deliveries is free, and it tracks parcels. The AustPost app is also getting better. An Ozbargainer must-have
1weatherswitch to Pocket Weather is an Aussie-made weather app that scrapes and grabs weather data from BOM. A lot of American-made weather apps scrape data from Yahoo Weather and Weather Channel… which are not as accurate, which is why Pocket Weather is worth the few bucks to purchase.3G Watchdog monitors your internet usage, and generates daily and weekly reports, and warns you if your current usage trend is causing issues. It also supports rounding-up of data — perfect if your telco charges per megabyte block and you need to take that into account.