Looking at making the switch to an Android device due to various reasons and discontent with unresolved Apple bugs in the music sync. I'd like to know what alternatives I have to the following IOS applications that I rely on heavily, and secondly, are they are user friendly as IOS?
1. Local Android music store, international options?
2. Podcasting app
3. Media player - music and video
4. Syncing music, podcasts, videos - is there an all in one equivalent alternatives to iTunes?
5. Phone backup - I know of Kies - any other good alternatives?
1. I'm not sure about a music "store", but if you're willing to stream your music rather than buy albums then Deezer and Rdio are the two best options. Personally I use Deezer. Also note that Apple Music will launch on Android in 2-3 months, and I assume that will give you access to your iTunes purchases.
2.
PocketCasts. It's absolutely fantastic; I can't recommend it enough. It also has a
browser-based player for the desktop (although that costs a further $9 - but as a once-off fee for an excellent, well-designed app that I use every day, I found it to be totally worth it).
3.
MX Player is often considered the best video player on Android. Another great option is
VLC. Although I use
Avia because it has a key feature that other two don't have (namely, Chromecast support).
In terms of local music playback, some good options are
Shuttle,
BlackPlayer,
Phonograph, and
Musixmatch, as well as the built in Google Play Music app. Although, once again, I don't use any of these because I subscribe to Deezer.
4. No, there isn't an "all in one" iTunes-like solution for this. But it doesn't really bother me. PocketCasts syncs my podcasts (including playback position) across all my devices. If I want to "sync" an album or playlist to my phone, I download it for offline playback in Deezer. If I want to copy a video file (or any other large file) to my phone, I generally use
Portal by Pushbullet. It's a simple and very fast way to copy files to your phone using wifi.
5. This is a bit complicated. Unfortunately, backup is one big area where Android has long been inferior to iOS. Here's how the system currently works in the latest release version Android, ie. version 5.1 Lollipop:
- Your contacts list, calendar, browser bookmarks, email, notes, fitness data (and anything else done using a Google app) is backed up to your Google account.
- Most of your phone settings (eg. installed apps, wallpaper, bluetooth pairings, wifi networks) are backed up automatically. As of Android 5.1, this includes your homescreen settings and icon/widget arrangement.
- Your photos are backed up to the cloud (unlimited storage), although depending on your phone, you might have to install
Google Photos and manually enable automatic backup to ensure that this actually happening.
- Third-party apps backup their settings and data IF THE APP CHOOSES TO DO SO.
Until now, that fourth one has been the biggest pain point on Android. Because, unfortunately, most developers haven't implemented cloud backup. So, for example, if you have a game and the developer hasn't implemented cloud saving using Google Play Games, then you lose all your saved games when you upgrade to a new phone.
However, the good news is that Android will be implementing an iOS-style full-system backup, including third-party app data and settings, in its next version, Android M. The bad news is that Android M is only going to be released in November this year, and it will take months after that before the update is adapted by your handset manufacturer and pushed out to your handset (unless you have a Google Nexus smartphone, in which case yay!). That said, if you buy a flagship Android phone, you should definitely get the Android M update before you would realistically want to upgrade the phone and actually need the full-system backup feature.
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