Samsung Galaxy S4 is making a lot of noise after its unveiling last week. The successor to Galaxy S3, which the South Korean electronics company touted as a “life companion,” has a number of proprietary software features that can help users look after their health, enhance their photography experience, and make mobile use all the more easier.
While there is a lot to love about the GS4, many of the innovations integrated into it can be enjoyed via third-party apps. So before you ditch your current phone for S4 to enjoy its “cutting edge” features, you might want to consider checking out the apps that you can use as alternatives to its features.
S Translator – Talk Translate, Mail Translator, World Lens, Google Translate
Samsung’s built-in language translator (S Translator) is definitely nifty when it comes to converting SMS, emails and instant messages into your native tongue. You may speak or type into the app to translate speech or text.
Language translation services are not a new thing, though. In fact, if you head onto Google Play Store or over at Apple Store you will find a host of translators that does the same tasks as S4′s S Translator. Talk Translate, for instance, can translate and read up to 30 languages and has a voice recognition capability. The same thing can be said about Mail Translator, a free language translator app that is capable of converting emails to 56 different languages. Of course, you cannot overlook Google’s translate app, which you can download free of charge. You can use it to translate both text and speech in 60 different languages.
Dual Shot Mode – Duo Cam
If your phone is equipped with two cameras–one at the front and one at the rear–normally, you will have to choose one of the two when taking a photo or video. Not so with S4. Its dual camera mode lets you take photos and videos in two directions at the same time. Simply put, the front-facing camera will give you a thumbnail view, while the rear-facing camera provides you the remainder of the image you are trying to capture.
For an iOS phone, there is an app called DuoCam that you can use as an alternative for S4′s dual camera mode. When you launch the app, you will be taken to a simple camera. When you click on the button, the shutter snaps anything that the main rear-facing camera sees. Then, it also takes a photo of you through the front-facing lens. You can visit your DuoCam image library to see the two photos and you have the option to put them together to create a 2-sided print, blend them together into one, and a number of other variations.
S Health – Calorie Tracker, Runtastic
Samsung Galaxy S4′s S Health is a great feature for health buffs. It can help track diet, detects temperature and humidity of the surroundings and is also connected to a pedometer. However, with increased focus on living a healthy lifestyle, there has been a slew of health and fitness apps available and most of them can be downloaded for free. For instance, if you are watching your weight, you can use Livestrong’s Calorie Tracker that lets you track down your calorie, carbohydrate, fat and protein intake. It also lets you calculate your nutrition intake and it has a dedicated calorie tracker community that will help keep you motivated in reaching your fitness goals. Runtastic, on the other hand, which is available both on Google Play and Apple Store, helps you keep track of every step you take. It also provides a number of other fitness metrics like distance, time, calorie consumption and step rate.
Gesture-control function – Google Gesture Search, Good Mood Droid
Samsung sure packed a lot of gesture-based capability on Galaxy S4. From automatic brightness adjustment, screen tilting to smart video pause whenever you look away from the screen, there is no denying how intuitive S4 is. But, there are also a number of gesture apps you can download that performs similar functions as those available in S4. For example, there is Google Gesture Search that allows you to access applications, settings, contacts, music and bookmarks on your Android device by merely drawing letters or numbers on the screen. Then, there is Good Mood Droid (GMD), an app that lets you control your mobile device using multitouch and multitask gestures.
Samsung Galaxy S4 is surely an excellent smartphone considering that a lot of improvements were done to it so as to make it more distinct from its S3 predecessor. However, looking past the nice aesthetics and hype over its features, it cannot be denied that the technology integrated into it are not exactly new nor are cutting-edge in nature. With a few search on app stores, you will find that there are some features you can install in your current phone that are almost similar as those incorporated in S4. In any case, though, it is still up to you whether you would like to give Galaxy S4 a try.
This article was written by Ericka, an avid writer who is interested in discussing things related to technology. She is also a regular contributor for www.movingpictures.tv.
The post Alternative Apps for Samsung Galaxy S4′s Software Features appeared first on Hack Illusion.
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