Nexus One info for iPhone users

I've been a happy iPhone user since the day the first one went on sale. About 4 weeks ago, I got a Nexus One from my employer (UPDATE: to be clear, I work for Google), and it seemed pretty cool, so I decided to try it out as my actual, one-and-only cell phone. To make this a fair test, I decided to stop using my beloved iPhone for 3 months and use only the Nexus One.

If you're an iPhone user trying out a Nexus One, here are some tips to get you started.

• You can simply move the SIM from iPhone to the N1. However, you won't get 3G on AT&T, only Edge. This hasn't been a big deal for me. And my iPhone data plan seems to work fine for the N1. 
• I miss the iPhone's silence/ring switch, but you can silence the phone by swiping the volume control on the lock screen. If the phone is already on, hold down the Volume Down button to (silently) silence.
• If you use Gmail or Google Calendar, you'll love the native apps for those products. Finally, they get out of browser jail.
• Voice input is not just a toy: it really works and I rely on it. By speaking clearly (but not necessarily slowly), I usually get 100% accuracy, even if there's background noise, which I think is the noise-canceling mic at work.
• The Android Market (where you buy apps) has a 24-hour money back policy. So you can try any app for a day, then return it if you don't want to keep it.
• You can double-tap to enlarge in the browser, but you can't pinch or spread. There's another browser (imagine that) in the Market called Dolphin that implements gestures, including pinch and spread. I just started trying it out.
• There's a built-in app that tells you how much of the battery is being used by which apps and features. This is invaluable. 
• Quickest and most flattering comparison vs. iPhone: put an iPhone and an N1 side by side and compare the screens. The N1 just pops.
• You can't scroll to the top by touching the top of the screen, but as a reasonable workaround, a flick or two usually scrolls all the way up; there's less friction in scrolling than on the iPhone.
• Instead of AT&T's visual voicemail, sign up for Google Voice and configure it to handle your voicemail. You'll get visual voicemail plus text transcripts that are remarkably good. And you can even send voicemails to your email or listen to them via a web UI.
• You'll re-learn to type, just as you did when you got the iPhone. Best N1 keyboard feature is the list of several autocomplete choices. I now type faster than I do on the iPhone (which is pretty fast).
• You can't use the web while you're on a phone call, but you can run apps in the background. This makes chat apps like Google Talk actually usable and is good for music apps like Pandora.

I'll have more to write as this experiment continues.

Comments

[Lanny]

I have both. N1 is a neat toy but useless compared to my iPhone. I am in Europe a lot. I need navigation, iPhone, I have Navigon, N1 I have nothing. I have easy and working SIP and Skype on iPhone. I have a VNC server on iPhone.

I use N1 to play chess and scan for networks, The rest is quite immature.

[Bruce Stoner]

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[Bruce Stoner]

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Nexus One Clear Cases

[salaamgarage]

hyeya, same boat, someone gave me a nexus 1 to test out. do you know how to access voicemail in a nexus1 phone with an att sim card? have already done some homework- not finding an answer.

also, where is there documentation on how to: configure GV for it to handle your voicemail. You'll get visual voicemail plus text transcripts that are remarkably good. And you can even send voicemails to your email or listen to them via a web UI.

thanks!
salaamgarage

[wow account]

Industry politics aside, though, the Nexus One is at its core just another Android smartphone. It's a particularly good one, don't get us wrong -- certainly up there with the best of its breed -- but it's not in any way the Earth-shattering, paradigm-skewing device the media and community cheerleaders have built it up to be. It's a good Android phone, but not the last word -- in fact, if we had to choose between this phone or the Droid right now, we would lean towards the latter. Of course, if Google's goal is to spread Android more wide than deep, maybe this is precisely the right phone at the right time: class-leading processor, vibrant display, sexy shell, and just a sprinkling of geekiness that only Google could pull off this effortlessly.

[Carlton Berlacher]

I've been planning to get Nexus one but was reluctant since I'm not too well informed about Nexus one. I'm glad I learned so much from the post and comments posted here that I've decided to get it. Thanks the help guys!
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[Nike Shox Cheap]

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