Sunday, February 22, 2015

Replace Samsung Apps With These Better Alternatives


Samsung phones have been among the most popular because they are very capable devices with handy features built in. There’s S Health, S Note, S Voice, and so much more.
However, even if you don’t have a Samsung phone, you can still get the same features that those apps provide. Also, these alternatives are a good way to avoid the Samsung-provided apps if you don’t like them.

For Imitating S Health

google_fit_s_health
There are a few apps you can use to replace S Health. Google Fit can help you track your fitness goals and record your progress just by carrying your phone with you while you walk, run, or bike.
MyFitnessPal can help with counting calories and making sure that you’re eating just the right amount.
Finally, to get your approximate heart rate, you can use an app like Instant Heart Rate, which uses your phone’s camera and flash to track color changes in your finger that are used to get a rough estimate of your heart rate. In other words, you can use it without your phone actually having heart rate-monitoring hardware.

For Imitating S Note

evernote_s_note
S Note is a great application for taking handwritten notes, especially with the S Pen on Galaxy Note phones. However, Evernote has the capability for you to make handwritten notes as well (and plenty of other uses), so there’s little need to have to use S Note.
If you don’t have a Galaxy Note phone, you can also just buy a stylus or a pen/stylus all-in-one for cheap. Evernote is by far the best solution because S Note has the option to synchronize handwritten notes to Evernote; it’d be easier to just use Evernote from the beginning since it includes all of your notes, no matter what type they are.

For Imitating S Voice

s_voice_google_now
S Voice can be replaced by Google Now, which varies in effectiveness based on how many of Google’s services you use. If you’re just doing random Web searches, then Google Now is great for everyone, but if you need it to make appointments in your calendar for you, it might be best if you’re already using Google Calendars.
You can do all sorts of things with the voice controls of Google Now, and it really is changing the way people search. It can even remind you where you parked. It’s a very solid alternative.

For Imitating Touchwiz

touchwiz_google_now_launcher
Touchwiz, the default launcher and user interface that comes with Samsung phones, has certainly gotten better in recent years, and there’s hope that it might actually be awesome (gasp!) as the Lollipop updates start rolling out.
However, for the time being, I still can’t recommend it. In fact, any other launcher will be great, with my two top picks being Buzz Launcher and the Google Now Launcher.
Buzz Launcher is highly customizable and lets you make your phone truly yours, while the Google Now Launcher makes using Google Now easy and keeps the rest of the experience simple and intuitive. However, there are certainly plenty of launchers to choose from, including some super simple ones.

For Imitating Hancom Office

hancom_google_drive
Samsung phones come with the Hancom Office suite, which is alright enough for viewing office files. However, there are plenty of excellent options you can install on both Samsung and non-Samsung phones, such as Google Drive, Microsoft Office, and Polaris Office.
With all of these options, you will still be able to work on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. If you’re not sure which one to pick, just install all three and then uninstall the ones you end up not liking or not using, or check out some of our comparisons.

For Imitating the GALAXY App Store

galaxy_store_amazon_store
Samsung devices come with another app store, the GALAXY App Store. While you can’t get it on other phones, there is still another app store you can add to your device if you’d like more than just the Google Play Store: the Amazon Appstore.
While I personally don’t like other app stores because they cause fragmentation, I won’t tell others that they shouldn’t add them to their phones. And if you do add another app store, you might as well add the one from Amazon. While it’s not as great as the Google Play Store, it’s still a pretty nice addition to gain easy access to some extra apps. They often have great deals on free or cheap apps too.

Which Samsung Apps and Features Do You Want?

With these apps, you’ll get the same popular features that come with Samsung phones. If you have a Samsung phone and don’t like the Samsung apps that come with it, these are great alternatives that provide the same functionality.

Best of all, they’re easy to get and work on any phone running a recent version of Android.

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