[General Questions and Answers] vikram_singh:
Hello Members !

I am a long time lurker here, a year or so now since I bought my I9300. Thanks for everything. Made an account for my specific problem. Anyhow now that I have an account I hope to be more active here and share what I've learnt and learn some more along the way :laugh:

My dilemma is the upcoming androidization, so to speak, of my household. I have a I9300, and I will be buying two more Androids for my parents by the end of October just before Diwali (Indian Festival, like Christmas in the sense that lots of shopping and of course victory of good over evil yada yada yada)

So, first question, my aim is to have some sort of sync between the devices in the neighborhood of the following, just to give you an idea,

1) Dynamic Shopping Lists - You know like if the three of us could update it from our own respective devices. Something my parents can use too. I can handle a fairly high amount of complexity but they cant so please keep that in mind while helping me out. :) I was thinking of making a new common Google ID and using Google keep as a common cloud notebook ? Has anyone tried this ? Any other suggestion ?

2) Communication between us - Like I now know Whatsapp can be used with Wifi at home, and 3G outside, Skype too the same way I suppose, any other apps you know of ? I am the geek in my home as I said but I cannot expect the same out of my parents.They are totally new and unexposed to smartphones , let alone android. One of them uses Nokia N8 , the other has a sorry excuse for a smartphone based on S40 , the Nokia C2. So you see, uncomplicated apps would be nice, even the ones I could check on or setup from time to time but requiring minimal effort from their side.

3) Photo Sharing (Even Video if possible but not a necessity) - I know ! Facebook. But what you don't know is that they are not and will not get on social networking sites anytime soon if at all, so any suggestions as to how to get them to share stuff easily with me and among themselves ?

Face to face we have NFC and Wifi Direct ( Sorry I am from Sammy background , I think other androids all it Android beam ? ) but when apart , sharing options through WIFI / 3G/ 2G , app suggestions please ??

Second question, some specific uses, how would you harness the power of android if your whole family was using Androids , even the same model if need be

1) Some family specific Apps ? I found a few on Google play but I sincerely would like recommendations. Base requirements is nothing too high fi , even the most basic app would suffice, location tracking and all that is nice , though even if I get an app that just is a simple glorified diary even then it could work, it just has to be a little polished and easy to use.

2) How do I keep control over all these phones? I am sure the parents will take time to learn it fully. So maintenance tasks ? Example - Do I make a new Google ID for the family as such and then handle the updating and installation of apps from there ? For the future too, they would require another phone each and 2 tablets. So Around the middle of next year, I would be unofficial "tech support" for 5-6 phones and at least 2 tablets. What would you recommend me to start with so that I don't face problems down the line ?

And finally , the last question, What FUN can I have with more than one devices in my home and what about them ?

1) Age specific apps ? Any of you who have older parents and have seen that they prefer using some apps , please let me know !

2) What phones should I buy ?

My mother is sold on the NOTE 2 ( Note 3 if the price is right when it comes in a few days now), mostly because of the stylus , she thinks making notes and shopping lists as I mentioned above would be easier for her on the NOTE with the stylus, rather than a keyboard. Any better suggestions ? Dad likes something stylish and I was thinking HTC ONE , there is only one drawback , that is the lack of a extendable storage , he is someone who really keeps on recording stuff from TV and makes me digitize those songs / programs / what not so I am thinking of getting him a 64 GB card and see an old man wonder with amazement that he can carry practically the whole nine seasons of X Files in his pocket :) So I thought maybe S4 /S3 or Note 2/ Note 3 as it happens. I would upgrade my own phone too, keeping this S3 as my secondary and finally putting the N958GB , my current back up, to the deep sleep in my footlocker along with my previous phones , yes, somehow I cant seem to make my heart to get rid of my old tech stuff , even have a Riva TNT 2 lying in there.

If you think that buying same model for all three of us would help in automation that would be acceptable too. Or you could suggest a nice cocktail of models if you think that would better suit me. I really want to get them to experience Android so I really would appreciate all the help you could provide. Any Ideas as to what all stuff they can and I can use android for in our daily lives as a family would be appreciated too.

Thank for reading guys, looking forward for the replies :) Cheers! :good: