iOS to Android guy - Questions!
June 14, 2013 5:42 PM   Subscribe

Everywhere on the web there is discussion of B&N's great deal on the Nook HD+ for Father's Day. I took the bite and picked up the 16GB (comes w/micro sd port). So far, so good. My questions are: 1) Is there full tablet AES encryption for these? 2) Since B&N finally opened up the Nook and it's now compatible with Google Play's App Store, is there really a reason to root it? And a question about iMessage alternatives. (More inside)

The encryption issue is important. I'll be using this for business and it's crucial that it support full-tablet encryption. I was told all Android tablets support this. True?

What about rooting? I have been told different things. Some say to root it and others say the Nook, with the Google Play App Store upgrade, and being able to sideload Amazon's app store, means for almost all purposes it's fine out-of-the-box, is there really a reason to root?

One other quick question. I'm going to miss iMessage. It's just so incredibly simple. Is there an Android equivalent/alternative that will keep me happy?

If there are any general comments for this Apple guy moving to Android, anything I should know, keep in mind, advice, etc. I'll be happy to hear those as well.

As always, thanks in advance!
posted by Gerard Sorme to Technology (7 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I could be wrong but I thought full encryption came only with custom ROMs... That you would root your device to use.

Google's new Hangouts is, I think, a really slick chat client.

Other reasons to root are mostly about doing things Google doesn't let you do. For anyone not super geeky the reasons are likely minimal.
posted by Cosine at 6:50 PM on June 14, 2013


Response by poster: You could be very right about ROMs. I'm not opposed to rooting and I may have to.

Yes! I agree, Hangouts is very cool.
posted by Gerard Sorme at 7:25 PM on June 14, 2013


Android 4.2 at least supports full device encryption. Settings -> Security -> Encrypt Tablet.

Your first download should be a swipe keyboard app. I like SwiftKey but there are a bunch of good ones
posted by bonehead at 7:55 PM on June 14, 2013


Apparently I am blind, my phone also has full device encryption.
posted by Cosine at 8:43 PM on June 14, 2013


Full device encryption will dramatically reduce the performance of your tablet. It's also not something that can be easily turned on and off - turning it on requires a few hours (plugged in, because it cannot be stopped). Turning it off requires a full device reset (removing everything on it).

If it's business related, are you sure that you are allowed to root the device? Many companies treat rooted devices as inherently insecure.
posted by meowzilla at 11:03 PM on June 14, 2013


Response by poster: Thanks for the answers so far....

Nobody has addressed this and it's really important to me:

"I'm going to miss iMessage. It's just so incredibly simple. Is there an Android equivalent/alternative that will keep me happy?

posted by Gerard Sorme at 11:47 PM on June 14, 2013


I'm going to miss iMessage. It's just so incredibly simple. Is there an Android equivalent/alternative that will keep me happy?

No.

I'm sorry to say it, but there it is. As far as I'm concerned, the lack of iMessage-like features is Android's one big drawback--and I say that as someone who's not wild about Apple products and lives in a household of four Android phones, three Nexus 7s, and a rooted Nook Color running as an Android tablet.

I do think that you'll get used to it, and develop workarounds. There are some apps (Handcent, I think, and GoSMS, and maybe a few others?) that are endeavoring to provide some or all of the iMessage experience, but unless you convince everyone you know to switch to the same service, they don't do much good, IMO. I also suspect that Hangouts will eventually evolve to include more iMessage-like features, but there's nothing close to universal right now.
posted by MeghanC at 12:06 AM on June 15, 2013


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