That UI looks awesome.

It sucks if you dont have any images for your contacts, I found. Seemed decent overall, though I didnt like the nagging "invites your friends to use our app" thing in the top right of the screen.

I think sucks is harsh - the UI is nice IMO and swiping right to get back to the list, like I do in Sliding Messaging anyway, is smooth/convenient. That said I didn't notice the "invite" thing before I posted and it is annoying (but at least it asks to send the SMS if you accidentally tap it).

To be honest I barely send any texts anymore, I just use Whatsapp.

I got a new galaxy mega and sold my s4, it's been saving all of the new apps I downloaded from the play store to my sd card.

How do I save to device storage instead? Or is sd card better?

Friendcaster is your friend(caster)...

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...blueNotifyFree

I only use it to import contacts photos from FB then make sure I disable notifications so I don't get them sent twice. I'm so lazy like that...

Wait. No love for Handcent?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ndcent.nextsms

Sent from my Nexus 5 using 2+2 Forums

I originally used Handcent on my Nexus 4, which I was happy with until they came out with their "upgrade" from 4.x to 5.0, which was complete, utter crap. So I tried out Go and Chomp and went with Chomp.

I had many of the same issues that numerous reviewers have complained about.

I have an Iphone4 and will be upgrading in the next week. Also own an Ipad3. Any reason to even consider an android phone over the 5S?

yes

So, HTC or Samsung?

from the FAQ:
"Android certainly doesn't lack for options, with different phones focusing on different markets and use cases. If you care about having a great camera or a large screen or lower price, there's a phone for you. If you're going to ask the thread, let us know your carrier (or country, if not in the US) and what you want to do with your phone.

This list will be quickly outdated, but as of 1/1/2014, the best overall Android phones are (in no particular order): Nexus 5, Moto X, Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy Note III. The LG G2, Moto G, HTC One, Sony Xperia Z1, and the Motorola Droid Maxx are also all good phones that may hit a specific need you have."

so tell us what you want to do, what you (maybe) miss on your iphone etc...

amazin, if you're happy with your iPhone and want to keep all of your app data and inter-device compatibility with the iPad, then you'd probably be better off sticking with the 5s.

The single biggest advantage of Android over iPhone for most people is probably the bigger screen. I know I won't consider going back to iPhone until they offer bigger phones. Otherwise they're pretty much at feature parity.

You might also consider switching if you're bored with iOS (I was after 2.5 years of using an iPhone 3G, and I haven't looked back), or if you want to do more customization of your phone.

Android has a lower floor - if someone purchases a crap phone and doesn't know how to tweak it, they'll have a worse experience than an out-of-the-box iPhone - but it also has a higher ceiling if you take the time to dig through the settings and install the right apps. Case in point: my friend bought a Samsung Galaxy S4 and hated it, because he did a lot of texting and the stock keyboard was terrible. After hearing this, I installed Swiftkey for him and he instantly became 10x happier with his phone.

Thanks for the info. I think I'll stick with Apple

Bigger screens or, as you mentioned, custom keyboard apps. Switfkey >> iPhone, and that's the aspect of the phone just about everyone uses most.

To toss a 2p coin into the discussion I prefer Swype to Swiftkey. Which is a good summation of how two people on the same device can have differing opinions on an extremely core function like typing text and can both be satisfied due to different choices in what they installed.

Yup just like Israel vs. Palestine.
(swype is palestine)

Never been a fan of Handcent or Chomp having used both ages ago. Always seemed too bloated and gimmicky for me, that's all.

I actually don't want a big phone. 5 inches and over is too big for me. I have no use for a phabet since I already have a tablet. Camera and video quality, sound quality, storage space, and web browsing speed are my priorities.

Anyone here own a Xperia Z1?

I am about to change to a cheap Android phone so that I can use it to play at Pokerstars occasionly. One of the phones I can get via my ISP (cheaper mobile package if I use them) is the Samsung Galaxy III mini. I checked with PS CS that this phone will work OK with the App, but I was advised that the screen size is the minimum spec., and may not be big enough to comfortably see everything and push the right buttons.

Does anyone have any experience with this (or another 4") android phone, and have they had such problems?

Other options I have at the same price are the Sony Xperia L, the ZTE Blade 3 and ZTE Blade V.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Why don't you get yourself a tablet ? You can confortably play online with the chrome desktop plugin. You will even get the HUD. Else I'd advise a 5"+ screen. Checkout the note 2 or 3 or get yourself a cheap chinese phone (Huawei, Wiko and whatnot...).

Thanks for the reply.

I am upgrading my current phone out of necessity and as I am not a big user of phones anyway, and only want to use the pokerstars app for occasional or emergency use, I have no justification for spending a lot on a bigger screen - and it must be a pocket size phone.

The ones I mentioned are with a cheap and cheerful package via my ISP, and all I really want to know is if the app is usable for occasional use and emergency backup on a 4" screen. I rarely play more than two tables these days anyway.

can someone help me select a tablet?

-price is very much an issue
- I am concerned that a 7” screen is way too small, although I have never had prolonged use of a tablet so I may be convinced otherwise
- I want something with expandable memory, as i like to upload a lot of movies and TV shows etc.
-I will be using it with my chromecast if that makes any difference

My phone is a Galaxy Nexus, which i have had for about a year and am quite happy with. this naturally points to a nexus 7, but again am concerned about screen size and the nexus 10 is considerably more than double the price I believe (?) (also do they have an SD port?).

The next option is the samsung Tab 3. the 10” is cheaper than the nexus 10 and there is an 8” version which surprisingly looked much better than the 7”. also i know a store that is selling the 7” tab 3 for $120 CDN, and has similarly good prices on the 8” and 10” when they are in stock which is hit or miss.

I saw the lenovo S6000 for sale at costco for like $250. I am not sure if that is a great price or not, but definitely at the lower end of the price spectrum for a 10” tablet.

any other suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

P.S.
does the nexus 5 have an SD or micro SD port?
are there any android phones that are the size of the Iphone? I tend to like to have more space in my pocket, but my life is linked with google so iphone is pretty much out of the question.

I have a Nexus 4 (4.7" screen) and I wouldn't want to play on a screen much smaller (if any) than that.

After getting used to hitting the buttons, it's was doable, but I definitely wouldn't want to put in long sessions with it.

To clarify my earlier post, I obviously think Android is awesome and didn't mean to suggest that it's not worth checking out some phones. There's a wide range between the 3.5" iphone 4 and a 5" phablet. I suspect that you'd like a 4.3-4.7" screen. Bezels nowadays are pretty damn small, so the extra screen doesn't increase the phone size as much as you'd think.

Maybe check out the Moto X - it's a 4.7" phone but pretty much every reviewer has stated that it feels much smaller. Pretty good camera, available with 32GB memory, and it'll be super fast for web browsing. Plus you can custom-order it in a wide range of color combinations for no extra charge.

You mentioned the Xperia Z1 - they also make a Compact version that has the same specs, just smaller screen.
Yeah I touched on that, but it's definitely a big deal and worth repeating.
I can't help you too much on the tablet side, but no Nexus devices offer expandable memory - Google doesn't want users to have to worry about if things should be stored to the phone memory or SD card, and it wants people to use the cloud instead of having everything on the device. I personally disagree with that, but there you go.

There aren't many (any?) top of the line Android phones that are as small as the iPhone. But if you have a Galaxy Nexus now, there are tons that are that size or smaller. As I suggested to amazin, check out the Moto X and Sony Xperia Z1 Compact. You might not like Sony's skin, though, coming from a Nexus. And the Nexus 5 is just barely bigger than the Galaxy Nexus despite having a bigger screen (2mm taller, 1mm wider, and thinner).

I used to have a picasa app on my phone. then i sent it in for repair and when i tried to get it again it was gone. I guess it is all done with google+ now?

And does anyone have google back up? will it take save the movies on my PC so i can access on other devices? I have a lot of crap saved. I cant imagine they would give me that much storage?