How easy is it to switch from an iPhone 3G to a Nexus One?

June 8, 2010 9:58 AM

Considering switching from an iPhone 3G to a Nexus One, how easy would it be to get the same functionality with respect to syncing (especially podcasts)?

I got a free Nexus One at a conference recently, and I'm considering using it instead of my iPhone 3G (not 3GS).

I'm happy with the iPhone, but it's starting to show its age and not having to renew my contract with my awful carrier (because all of the ones in Canada are awful) would be fantastic.

While I'm not exactly in love with iTunes, it works well enough. Especially for podcasts- having them be automatically downloaded, new ones synced to my phone and automatically deleted once listened to fully. If I'm going to switch to the Nexus One, this is a necessity. Is there a way to get the same behaviour on the Nexus One, either via iTunes or another application?

The other big thing on my phone is Twitter; recommendations for Droid Twitter clients would be appreciated. The automatic iPhone backups are great and if there's some way to have the Nexus do that same, that's awesome but less vital.

General impressions from folks who went from iPhone to Nexus One are, of course, welcome. Thanks!

posted by Nelsormensch to Computers & Internet (13 answers total)

Best answer: There's an app called "Listen" (and others probably) which downloads podcasts to the phone without having to sync to itunes/a pc. I use it on my droid for a handful of podcasts and it works great. The ui is... idiosyncratic. But it downloads podcasts just fine and had a decent directory for finding them as well.

As for twitter, it's built-in to Android 2.2. You don't have to download anything and twitter activity for you contacts automatically shows up in other apps, twitter sharing for photos is built-in, etc. For 2.1 there's a downloadable app as well. Dunno when 2.2 goes to everyone but I guess it's soon.

As for backup, nearly all settings back up OTA to Google's servers and if you reset it reinstalls apps either from the previously downloaded versions on the SD card or by re-downloading them. The last time I reset my phone about 90% of what I needed just magically reappeared on my phone without any action on my part. The other 10% was dev stuff that wasn't automatically installable.
posted by GuyZero at 10:06 AM on June 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

For reference, I'm running 2.1 on my Moto Droid.

Listen is merely okay -- I honestly wish it was better, but it's been good enough that I haven't gone looking for other podcast applications. It keeps reasonably good track of the ones you've listened to and the ones you haven't, but the user interface is sometimes very confusing. You never need to plug your phone in to the computer to get updated podcasts -- everything is done over the air, and you can change settings to only download when your phone is plugged in (to save battery) or over WiFi (to save data).

There are a large number of twitter clients available in the Android universe -- I use and like twidroid, but in 2.2 you don't really need a 3rd party twitter client because the official one is built in to the OS.

Also in 2.2, supposedly, the phone is supposed to do a much better job of automatically backing up (a) which apps you've downloaded from the market and (b) the user preferences for those apps. So if you switch to a new phone or reset your current phone, you should be back up and running very quickly. I don't have experience with this as I'm currently running 2.1, but it's one of the features of 2.2 that I'm looking forward to.
posted by malthas at 10:17 AM on June 8, 2010

syncing with an itunes library is doable, but costs money. I use isyncr, and isyncr ratings to maintain my itunes Smart Playlists with skip count, playcount, playdate, and ratings changed on the phone. If you don't do smart playlists, it's cheaper to use something like doubletwist or songbird for song syncing.

for podcast syncing, I use Listen. It's not perfect, but probably about as good as itunes was for getting the latest podcasts and being able to add them to a playlist.
posted by garlic at 10:18 AM on June 8, 2010

Best answer: Nthing Listen. Once you have your subscriptions set up, it'll go find new episodes. You have to manually add them to the queue (I think...there have been some updates since I last really fiddled with the settings), but otherwise it's a good app. If you have a Google Reader account, your podcasts will sync there, too, which is useful.

Twitter clients abound -- Twitter just released one, which is fine; I use Seesmic. Twidroid has lots of fans and does well with multiple accounts if you are willing to buy the pro version. Really, most of the 'droid Twitter apps are about the same with minor cosmetic/UI differences, and you can play around with them till you find one you're most comfortable with. The only one I know of that charges anything is Twidroid Pro, and it's only worth it if you have multiple accounts.

I didn't switch from an iPhone to Android, but I had been using an iPod Touch pretty heavily as my media-social networking-music-podcast device, along with an ancient Blackberry. When I switched to my Android phone (I have the Droid Eris), I suddenly found that I used my iPod almost not at all. I've come back to it recently, but only because of the Nike+ integration -- if Nike+ worked with my Droid, I would never use my iPod at all, ever. My husband was in the same situation and he actually doesn't ever use his iPod anymore.

As for backups, yeah, if you use Google at all -- Gmail, Reader, Voice, whatever, you won't need to worry about data backups. There are many backup applications, though, that will also backup your application directory; I used the free trial of MyBackup before the last OS update for my phone but as GuyZero noted, I didn't need the backup after all -- everything came back without any trouble.
posted by devinemissk at 10:20 AM on June 8, 2010

Oh, also, with garlic's point about syncing, I use Salling Media Sync, which is not particularly great. It's okay, and I definitely like it better than DoubleTwist (the generally recommended sync application), but I've sort of been on the lookout for different ones.
posted by malthas at 10:23 AM on June 8, 2010

You need to get out of the idea of syncing to your computer when you use an Android phone. Unless you're loading music on it, you almost never have to connect it to a computer, everything is done on the phone itself. There's none of this, download to iTunes and then sync to the phone, you just download podcasts (using Listen) directly to the phone itself. I'm not sure what you need to backup, everything is in the cloud.
posted by octothorpe at 10:33 AM on June 8, 2010

I use Doggcatcher instead of Listen, mainly because I bought it before Listen became available, back in the dark ages of Android 1.0 and it's worked well enough that I haven't needed to try out Listen. It might be work the $7 bucks to you. Remember, Android Market gives your 24 hours to get a refund if you want to try a paid app and decide it's not for you.

I prefer Twidroid or Touiteur over the official Twitter app. there are tons others available.
posted by jrishel at 10:42 AM on June 8, 2010

Google also announced they'd be building in music syncing with their purchase of Simplify Media which should be dropping soon.

They'll also be releasing a more integrated Market, including apparently the ability to browse, buy, and install from your browser and have it push app installs to your phone OTA.

Froyo also introduces all kinds of fun with app backups and such, handling it transparently and making sure your data is safe, by and large. Finally, Google Listen will do what you need for podcasting, and I've been quite pleased with it.
posted by disillusioned at 11:18 AM on June 8, 2010

I'm using WinAMP for my 'droid phone - syncs media with no issues, I'm sure it will handle podcasts.

I have only had the thing (Motorola Milestone) for about 2 weeks (coming from iPhone 3GS) and so far, it is "ok". The apps are not as "polished" as their iPhone equivalents (please, please someone give me a decent LinkedIn app) - but the camera is better, having a slideout keyboard is better, email and corporate calendar/directory is better.
posted by jkaczor at 11:35 AM on June 8, 2010

I'll second Seesmic as a Twitter client. I like it a lot and the free version even supports multiple Twitter accounts if you happen to roll that way.
posted by mmascolino at 12:10 PM on June 8, 2010

I use BeyondPod instead of Doggcatcher or Listen. I would definitely go with one of those three, though. Listen is free and BeyondPod and Doggcatcher have trial versions, but they're both worth the money.

Twitter, Touiteur, Twidroid, Seesmic <-- My Twitter apps in order of preference, beginning with the official Twitter app.
posted by InsanePenguin at 2:24 PM on June 8, 2010

I really like Swift as a Twitter client. It's very lean and the interface, while somewhat idiosyncratic is really nice. I sync my stuff over SCP, because I'm a Linux nerd, so I can't really speak to the podcast question. You can manually upgrade to 2.2 if you don't have it yet, by the way. It's totally worth it and very easy to do.
posted by signalnine at 9:47 PM on June 8, 2010

Response by poster: Great, thanks all. I loaded the suggestions apps on my Nexus One and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed. I'll probably drop my SIM in and give it a week or so and see how I like it. Cheers!
posted by Nelsormensch at 11:09 PM on June 8, 2010