New to Android

[theselfishgene]

Long time Blackberry and iPhone users. Have the opportunity to try out the galaxy note 4 for a month or two to decide if i want to sell my 6+ and switch.  Have no idea where to even begin.  What do you all do first when you set up a new android phone? Any specific OS mods or launchers I should be using? The one that comes with the note looks perfect for a small child.  I've googled this a bit and found some sub-reddits but the whole thing seems pretty overwhelming with so many options.  

 

Thanks!

[TheSLSAMG]

First? Sadly, the first thing I do is unlock, install a custom ROM and get root access.

 

If I can't, I usually install Chrome, Voxel Rush, Instagram, Telegram, Twitter, Play Music and Google Camera, then I get the Google Now Launcher or NovaLauncher.

[spenser_l]

I recommend checking out an alternate launcher called Nova Launcher. Then you can look up some custom icon packs. One popular one is called Minimal UI. These two things will help slightly to get away from Samsung's skin, which I find is pretty ugly.

[theselfishgene]

First? Sadly, the first thing I do is unlock, install a custom ROM and get root access.

 

If I can't, I usually install Chrome, Voxel Rush, Instagram, Telegram, Twitter, Play Music and Google Camera, then I get the Google Now Launcher or NovaLauncher.

 

Thanks! Excuse my ignorance, but would that be something like cyanogenmod?  If the phone is locked (due to 4 months rule on t-mobile) would I not be able to try a custom ROM out? 

[Jade]

First? Sadly, the first thing I do is unlock, install a custom ROM and get root access.

 

If I can't, I usually install Chrome, Voxel Rush, Instagram, Telegram, Twitter, Play Music and Google Camera, then I get the Google Now Launcher or NovaLauncher.

Hell, just unlock at the start. Then, you don't have to lose your data when you decide to venture into ROMs/kernels. Most of those apps are good, yeah. Personally, my mandatory apps are: Authenticator (two factor authentication), BaconReader (Reddit), Chrome, Drive or Dropbox, Fenix (Twitter app), Hangouts or Messenger, Nova Launcher, Pandora, Play Music, Steam, Twitch, and Youtube.

 

 

Thanks! Excuse my ignorance, but would that be something like cyanogenmod?  If the phone is locked (due to 4 months rule on t-mobile) would I not be able to try a custom ROM out? 

Yes, Cyanogenmod and ParanoidAndroid are excellent examples of ROMs. You can still unlock the phone and try out some ROMs, even within the 4 month rule.

[cesrai]

I like Vanilla android over cyanogenmod, if you don''t won't to flash your phone and brick it I root it and freeze shit of malware. 

[theselfishgene]

I recommend checking out an alternate launcher called Nova Launcher. Then you can look up some custom icon packs. One popular one is called Minimal UI. These two things will help slightly to get away from Samsung's skin, which I find is pretty ugly.

 

Thanks. I will try it out. 

[theselfishgene]

Yes, Cyanogenmod and ParanoidAndroid are excellent examples of ROMs. You can still unlock the phone and try out some ROMs, even within the 4 month rule.

 

Thanks! May I ask how-so?

[ArkAngel.exe]

Hell, just unlock at the start. Then, you don't have to lose your data when you decide to venture into ROMs/kernels. Most of those apps are good, yeah. Personally, my mandatory apps are: Authenticator (two factor authentication), BaconReader (Reddit), Chrome, Drive or Dropbox, Fenix (Twitter app), Hangouts or Messenger, Nova Launcher, Pandora, Play Music, Steam, Twitch, and Youtube.

 

 

 

Yes, Cyanogenmod and ParanoidAndroid are excellent examples of ROMs. You can still unlock the phone and try out some ROMs, even within the 4 month rule.

 

 

Thanks! Excuse my ignorance, but would that be something like cyanogenmod?  If the phone is locked (due to 4 months rule on t-mobile) would I not be able to try a custom ROM out? 

 

 

Unlocking means unlocking the bootloader. flashing a custom recovery and a custom ROM. the T-Mobile 4 Month rule is for SIM-Unlocking. Just clarifying. Also, XDA-Developers is an excellent place to go if you need to learn the ropes Rooting and ROM'ing your first Android device.

[Jade]

Thanks! May I ask how-so?

What device do you have? 

 

Also, pinging _ASSASSIN_ as well, he tends to have good input.

[TheSLSAMG]

Thanks! Excuse my ignorance, but would that be something like cyanogenmod?  If the phone is locked (due to 4 months rule on t-mobile) would I not be able to try a custom ROM out? 

We're not talking IMEI unlocking here, but bootloader unlocking.

 

You can go to http://forum.xda-developers.com to find out more. Search your device, find it and there should be a post somewhere on how to unlock the bootloader and gain root access. Get a custom recovery. If TeamWin Recovery (TWRP) is available, go for it. If not, ClockWorkMod (CWM) will do.

 

Of all of the custom ROMs out there, CyanogenMod is the most well known. As a ROM, it's pretty solid, but not feature packed. At the very least though, you can get away from Samsung's TouchWiz and gain some performance in the process.

[theselfishgene]

Thanks all for the responses above clarifying.  I'm trying out the samsung note 4.

[jayctech]

Wow everyone's over-reacting. Just install Google Now Launcher and whatever gapps aren't there by default and you'll be good to go. The Note 4 isn't really the best android phone to start with because it comes with so much other shit and what makes it so much better than the other phablets is its multitasking software and use of spen. This in the first place may or may not suit your needs but on top of that it's more to learn/get used to when changing OS which can make it more daunting unless you have the time (and are the type of person) to sit down and literally play with it to figure everything out.

[pit5000]

i used to have an samsung device, i absolutely hated it. Ever since when using Android I make sure it's stock android.

[cesrai]

i used to have an samsung device, i absolutely hated it. Ever since when using Android I make sure it's stock android.

No shit m8.

[_ASSASSIN_]

Thanks! May I ask how-so?

all depends on the device. Some devices like the Nexus line or the OnePlus One make it easy by just doing the simple "fastboot oem unlock" command in fastboot (a toolset for using commands in a phone's bootloader)

some phones like Motorola and HTC require a dev code and such. So I have no clue until you purchase the device.

What phone are you looking at.