[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] crash613:
I will soon be an Android convert even thought i have never owned a smart phone. I have used PDA's since my first Dell Axim. I stuck with the Windows Mobile 2003 platform until the third gen ipod touch came out. I switched to the 3rd gen touch and used it till it died; then i got my trusty 4th Gen ipod touch.

Now i am ready to move on to one device, phone and PDA in one. The natural choice seems to be iphone 5 since i am familiar with ipods (even though i am no real fan of apple).

The thing is, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is beautiful! The screen is huge and widgets are "cool." I really want to go Android.

This leads to my problem. Finding adequate software. I have broken down my needs in categories below. PLEASE, if anyone knows of a good software, paid or free, that will do what i want, please suggest it to me.

For starters, CALENDARS.

I have used Pocket Informant for the ipod for awhile. (Used it on the Win mobile before that) I love it. Played with the Android version on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 and i gotta say, it needs work. A lot of work.

The calendar that comes with the tab is nice too, and so is jorte, but my biggest problem (and it seems like a small one) is that I like to look at the month view and see the times listed in the mirco text before the appointment. otherwise i have to open each appointment or change views to see the start times.

Attached pictures show exactly what i am talking about. Both are screen shots of the current version of Pocket Informant. Notice the start times on the iOS version. Also notice how the android version (the second one) looks "undone."

How can I, in good conscience go from the above.... to this.....

even on the samsung galaxy's beautiful screen that is shameful.

My Main criteria for a new calendar program is a month view as close to the first image as possible. Specifically i really like how in month mode you can see the start times of appointments in the Apple version. I have tried several different calendar programs and have yet to find an Android one that does this. What happened to Android being all about choice? Why does every single calendar app appear to just be different fonts on the same engine?

The next point of contention is Video playback

My main criteria for a playback app is that it shows the time remaining on the progress bar.

What i mean is that, on the ipod, youtube, and just about EVERYWHERE, the progress bar (scrubber) shows the current time to the right of the slider, and time remaining on the left. I like this.

On EVERY Android video player i have tried it shows the current time on the right, but the left is stuck at the total time. It does not move. It does not count down how much time is left.

Again, it feels like every app is using the same engine, with different "window dressing."

Is there an app out there that can handle the time left? Please let me know.

My secondary Criteria for a playback app is i would like it to be able to handle embedded thumbnail tags in mp4 files. This seems like a no-brainer. iTunes does it. iPods do it. But i have yet to find a single Android app that will correctly display the embedded image. They, instead, choose to display a random screenshot for the thumbnail. Where is the variety that an open system should bring?

In a perfect world, the Android app would also sort the shows into groups based on the show name and season, for properly tagged files. Ipod touch does it. Seems simple enough, yet again, i cannot find a program that can do this.

Next up, Syncing.

I think i have this one covered. I really like itunes. And before you say "bloatware" let me just say that the UI on winamp sucks. iTunes is beautiful, easy to navigate, sort, and manipulate my mp3 files. The Closest i have found is Media Monkey. But to tell you the truth, i am not sure i am ready to give up itunes yet. I love my playcounts dating back to 2006. So, i have been using iSyncer and it seems to do the trick. When set up properly it syncs and even syncs playcounts back to iTunes. I hear DoubleTwist will let you sync your Android device to iTunes also; but iSyncer seems to be a more elegant solution.

Audio Playback

Again, as with videos none of the audio apps that i have found show how much time is left in a song on the right hand side of the scrubber. This is an epidemic!

Also, I have mp3 files that are audio books and Howard Stern Shows. I cannot listen to these in one session, and switch back and forth with music. In itunes/iPod-land i would simply use "get info - Options - Media Kind" to switch these mp3 files to audio books or podcasts and check mark the box allowing it to remember position. This one is important. I really need help finding an audio player that allows this. Allowing me to save my position in "Howard", for example, listen to some music, then go back to where i left off in the Radio Show.

This Leads to Podcasts. Video and Audio.

I listen to quite a few podcasts. I could sync them over from iTunes using iSyncer, but it throws them in the same folder as my music making them hard to find. This is very messy. I hope a later version of iSyncer takes care of this. Until then, I would probably use an app to download them directly to the S3. I just downloaded a program called Podcast Addict. This may do the trick, but it is, again, inelegant and seems undone. Can someone point me in the direction of a GREAT podcast catcher app?

Is this all too much to ask of Android apps or am I just looking in the wrong places. If that is the case, please let me know, and i will check out whatever app fits the criteria outlined above. When i started looking, these seemed like minor things. Especially on a system that is all about being open; for the sake of choice. This seems to be a theme when people talk about why Android is so much better than iOS.

Sorry to sound like i am ranting.. maybe i am ranting... but i really want this to work. But i cant compromise on the user experience just to have a bigger screen. I need software that is up to the task, and i can't seem to find it on my own. Any input you can give will be greatly appreciated.

thanks for listening!

~mike