Using non-apple phone with apple laptop

[mtenenhaus]

My cell phone was stolen. Went to Costco to pick up another phone. Thought i was going to have a heart attack when i saw the prices for Apple phones. A brief search on the internet showed some NON-Apple phones for around $300...phones like the Note 9 for example. Our family uses Verizon.

I'm not very adept at computers or cell phones.

Would it be hard for a novice person like myself to use a non-Apple phone with an Apple MacBook Pro that's from 2015?

All i tend to do with the phone is make phone calls, take photos, do an internet search, check email and occasionally download a movie if i'm going to take a plane flight. I know i'd like to hook up my NEST thermostat and possibly some smart home devices like lights to turn on if i'm not home. I also thought of trying out a trajectory app. I think that's all. I don't play games or do facebook, twitter, instagram or stuff like that.

If i have to spend a fortune i guess i can but it just seems like such overkill for a person like myself.

As always I truly appreciate your thoughts and insight.

[lazyworm]

you need to clarify exactly what you where using the old apple phone and the laptop for? itunes? something else?

a non-apple phone does not need a laptop to provide all the functions you described. For transferring data (like pictures) from phone to laptop, you'd need to install a different transfer app (Android File Transfer)

[mtenenhaus]

i understand.....the phone has a calendar and so sometimes i would insert a doctor's appointment time on my phone and then i would connect the phone to my laptop and the appointment i added would show up on my laptop calendar.

or

I would take photos with the cell phone and then instead of using up all the memory on the cell phone i would connect the phone to my laptop to store all the photos

would the Note 9 or some similar NON Apple cell phone do this for me seamlessly?

i hope that helps

[Librarian]

If you can stand Google, using Google Calendar will work on your phone and your laptop.

[lordmorgul]

[mtenenhaus]

thank you...i'll review those options

[the86d]

I haven't done it in a while, but I used to access my phone data (pictures in my case) from even a Linux box.

Cloud data, via web interface, should be platform independent (Windows, iPhruity Status Symbol [*Mac], or Linux), providing it has a browser that is supported/industry standard.