Androidbros: help me pls
 

After a gruesome basketball incident in which my iPhone 5S was rendered unusable, I've used it as an excuse to get a new phone, and I'm making the switch from the cozy pleb shelter of iOS to Android 5.0. Gonna need some help though, I haven't used the OS in very, very long, and when I did, I knew nothing about it. So I've got a few questions.

1. I'm planning on getting the vanilla HTC One. Is there any compelling reason to get any other model?

2. First time switching phones mid-contract. I'm currently on T-Mobile, and the phone I'm looking at is an Unlocked Verizon, which claims to also be unlocked on GSM, which is what T-Mobile uses. Can I trust that claim and what exactly do I have to do to get the phone "activated"?

3. Lastly, and most importantly, having chiefly used iOS for upwards of 5 years, there are some features I would find incredibly hard to do without.

Recommend me replica tweaks/applications of...
• iOS Control Center (which also works in lockscreen)
• An iOS-style keyboard, if possible
• Safari-style browser tweak
• The best NDS and PSP emulators out there, preferably free

thanks androidbros

Well I'd personally recommend the Galaxy S5, based on its graphics and size, but that's just my opinion.

And as for emulators there is a wide variety out there.

PSP Emulator


Nintendo DS Emulator


GBA Emulator


N64 Emulator


And I noticed you asked for free apps. That's simple. Just use Aptoide.

The HTC One looks like a good choice. Looking at the benchmarks there are better phones out there but they generally cost a lot more, it's a decent phone and you shouldn't run into any major problems with performance. I'm not really too sure about the whole contract issue as I've never had to switch mid-contract so I can't really help you with that.

As for applications there are quite a lot. I don't see the need for a control centre for as you can just swipe down to bring up the notification tray which has most stuff in control centre. This one looks best though and it supports lockscreen.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...enter&hl=en_GB

There's quite a few iOS keyboard out there but few have any sort of text prediction. Although it's not a complete replica SwiftKey comes with a theme feature where you can buy/select skins for your keyboard. This one looks the most iOS-like to me and is completely free.
http://swiftkey.com/en/wp-content/up...te-300x258.png

PSP emulator: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...psspp&hl=en_GB

NDS emulator: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....dsemu.drastic

The NDS emulator is $5.99, if the price is an issue I'd just get an APK from somewhere and install it. Most of the other NDS emulators (that I've used anyway) are fairly slow and kinda suck.

It's without a doubt a better phone, I don't if it's worth the extra $200 you would spend on it though.

Would recommend HTC one or M8 Google play edition

Anyways, if you're thinking of using an android phone, don't use any tweaks to make it look like and feel like iOS because thats stupid. Why buy an android phone if you want it to look like an iPhone? Why not just buy another iPhone? Also, it will probably make the phone laggy/buggy if you make it look like/feel like iOS because devs for those tweaks and replicas are not that great in updating and fixing bugs with their software

Meizu/OnePlus One (second one is the best right now)

I have a OnePlus One and I totally recommend. It's quite easily the best phone for it's price, not only does it have great specs but it's also running Cyanogenmod which allows for some amazing features and customization options which stock Android doesn't offer. From what you said it sounds like you're trying to make your phone kinda iOS like? There's a theme for that. The whole invite process used to be a little tedious but they now allow anyone to buy it on a Tuesday which makes it a whole lot easier

Ya I would go for Oneplus one over an HTC one

I'm pretty sure I'm not asking for iOS themes or makeovers.

I'm literally looking for a control center and keyboard because I've been using iOS for over five years and it's become a necessity. Calm down there, guy.

@everyone else: Thanks a ton, I'll give them a look. I appreciate it.

I only know keyboards that need root. If you are going to root it, problem resolved :)

Why would a keyboard need root?

If you want a truly great Android experience, please don't try to recreate Apple's OS with ****ty add-ons. Take the time to get used to how things work. You're buying an Android, so give it a chance ^.^

Okay guys, pretend I never said keyboard.

Control center. That's it.

Literally one thing guys, I'm not looking to recreate iOS at all, I just want this one thing or any alternative that lets me control brightness volume and media playing from the lockscreen and anywhere within the device. It's just an accessibility thing that I use too much to do without. Like the Start menu.

A control center is already provided. The stock lollipop control centre is probably the best I've used, the 4.x KitKat control centre is also pretty cool, but it doesn't show notifications on your lock screen. If you're purchasing an M8 though I'm not too sure what edits they've made to their ROM.

This is the 5.0 keyboard:
http://cdn.cultofandroid.com/wp-cont...-PC-layout.jpg

This is the HTC One M8 keyboard:
http://www.technobuffalo.com/wp-cont...d-1280x853.jpg

This is the 5.0 "control centre" next to the iOS control centre:
http://cdn.redmondpie.com/wp-content...em-toggles.png

I know you discarded the idea of a different Android keyboard, but thought I'd still give my information.
You can download SwiftKey or Swype on the Play Store (I use Swype) and they both offer keyboard customization (Swiftkey more than Swype imo). No root required.

I also use as said above, Aptoide, for free apps. Also no root required.

Excellent. I'll be getting the vanilla HTC One M7 so it looks like I'll have access to that sweet 5.0 control center which was my main concern.

Thanks.