webOS Refugees - Meet Here

[nyquistjack]

I wanted to start a thread where we could gather to give each other tips, ideas and to commiserate together.

Precentral Name: nyquistJack
webosPhone: 2 Sprint Pre- (wife and I)
other webOS Devices: Touchpad and wifi only Pixi (for my son)

Windows 7: 2 Sprint HTC Arrives (wife and I)

PSA: Don't Hesitate , Install Mango
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1164891
Plenty simple instructions, took about an hour.

For those still trying to figure out if Win7 is their future platform:
Feel free to ask me to compare anything between webOS and Windows 7. I've already posted several comparisons in this thread and I plan on aggregating them together at some point.

Good Posts that I've stumbled Upon
http://forums.windowscentral.com/marketplace-games/179607.htm
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1147892 (xda forum-Mango Tips and Tricks)

Current Windows Phone 7 Devices - Front Page Article
http://www.windowscentral.com/transitioning-windows-phones-device-roundup

 

[nyquistjack]

Just started exploring around on the windows 7 community. Seem like friendly folk. The hacking community is definitely much less user friendly. They would benefit from some Rod-like leadership. I guess the xda developer forum is where most of the hacking goes on.

Windows Phone 7 Development and Hacking - xda-developers

I think I am going to take on updating to Mango tonight or tomorrow morning. I am going INSANE with no multitasking.

Oh, and if anyone finds a hack to make the charging led on the arrive blink to new notifications...please oh please let me know.

 

[Garrett92C]

I guess I count as a webOS refugee, so I'll pop in here to say hi. I'll still be using my Touchpad for stuff and maybe a Pre3 (if there's a firesale and I catch it in time. lol), but I mainly use WP7 now. I'm also very excited to begin digging into the WP7 SDK.

For people coming over from webOS, I highly recommend checking out Tim's guide to transitioning. You can find that here: From webOS to Windows Phone 7 - Welcome to your new home | wpcentral | Windows Phone News, Forums, and Reviews

 

[smartpatrol]

Nice to see all the webOS/Pre Central people showing up here. WP7 seems like a natural place to go for former webOS users. They're used to cheering for an underdog with superior software!

I'm a former Pre- user. I used one for a year, then I bought into the Android hype and "upgraded" to an Evo 4G. Loved the better hardware, but the OS was very underwhelming. I ditched the Evo earlier this year for an HD7, and I definitely plan to stick with WP7 for the forseeable future.

 

[slick5150]

I was a long time Pre/FrankenPre+ user on Sprint as well until about a month ago. With no sign of the Pre 3 coming i made the decision to switch to the HTC Arrive and promptly installed Mango on it.

All in all I've been happy with the phone. There are still features missing that I loved in WebOS but by in large it is a solid operating system. Really looking forward to the Mango apps hitting soon!

 

[willied]

I was a long time Pre/FrankenPre+ user on Sprint as well until about a month ago. With no sign of the Pre 3 coming i made the decision to switch to the HTC Arrive and promptly installed Mango on it.

All in all I've been happy with the phone. There are still features missing that I loved in WebOS but by in large it is a solid operating system. Really looking forward to the Mango apps hitting soon!

What features are missing? I'm just curious, as I haven't had much experience with WebOS to be honest.

 

[nyquistjack]

What features are missing? I'm just curious, as I haven't had much experience with WebOS to be honest.

Here is my personal list:
1) Notifications: webOS had a notification system that was both in your face and out of the way. I never ever missed a notification, but at the same time it never interrupted me. It had something like wp7's toast notifications, but after the notification came up (never stopped what you were doing) it hid itself in a tiny icon at the bottom of the screen (or the top on the touchpad). When you were ready to triage you could go one by one, tap the notification you want to act on and it took you to the corresponding app. You could dismiss one notification at a time or dismiss all notifications for a specific app.

Of course with the seamless multitasking I would typically do this:
a) Get a text from the wife, say while playing angry birds.
b) Tap the notification
c) open the keyboard and type response
d) hit enter
e) swipe the gesture area and I am instantly back in my game

2) Cards. The mango update was a huge improvement. but nothing matches the cards and the stacks with webOS. Made bouncing around the phone and doing different things a breeze

3) Another notification thing: a freaking visual notification. I am blow away that wp7 doesn't have a notification light

4) Pandora

5) Just type. This one you have to use to appreciate it. Almost anything I wanted to do, search for, etc I just opened the keyboard and started typing. If I need directions, open the keyboard, type "quiznos" and tap map. If I needed to take a quick not. Open the keyboard, type "that website is cheeseeater.com" and tapped "create note" If I wanted to find a contact, open keyboard and type "wife" and so on

6) The gesture area

Thats all I can think of for now.

 

[Garrett92C]

2) Cards. The mango update was a huge improvement. but nothing matches the cards and the stacks with webOS. Made bouncing around the phone and doing different things a breeze

Heh, I keep trying to flick cards off the screen in Mango. lol

 

[Res215dg]

I migrated from WebOS about 3 weeks ago- mainly due to my Palm Pre Plus falling apart on me- otherwise the OS was always great to me thanks to the best homebrew community out there...

Precentral Name: Res215dg
webosPhone: 2 At&t Pre Plus- I was counting the days for the At&t Pre to release and was there at the At&t store in the morning right when they opened to buy one of the two they had in stock...aww the memories The 2nd Palm Pre Plus I grabbed for my GF in a trade over at Precentral forums

Windows 7: HTC Surround Love it!

One feature WP7 needs that really all other OS phones have is seperate multimedia and phone volume controls!!!! It's annoying playing some loud music and forget to turn the volume down and the ringer blasts- Was this feature implemented in Mango?

 

[nyquistjack]

These are the things I am loving about Windows 7 so far (Mango)
1) FAST...wholly crap fast. No lag, no lag at all. Buttery smooth is the word I'd use to describe it
2) Web browser is quite nice, works loads better than the touchpad (amazing how much DOESN'T work on that thing)
3) Tiles are neat, I think I like em
4) The visual search thing in mango is just fun. Point the camera at a qr or upc code and in like a second it has a result. I was pretty blown away as we had nothing even close to that in webos. I can actually see myself using it.
5) The people hub. I mean..come on, its pretty awesome. That's the sort of thing I always thought webOS should do. They started the social network integration game, but got totally left in the dust. The metro UI really shines in that app (the side swipe)
6) The camera button is just plane sweeeet!
7) Auto upload pics to sky drive...sexy
8) wireless sync, booya
9) A multiplayer scrabble game...amazing webOS never got one
10) I just...just...WOW...is this thing FAST

MAJOR Frustrations
1) Why oh why oh why don't more things go into landscape. I have the Arrive and am usually in landscape but apps constantly won't rotate...drives me insane
2) No notification light...phones have had them since 1992
3) I don't get the zune pass. Why can't I "favorite" a song?

 

[nyquistjack]

Heh, I keep trying to flick cards off the screen in Mango. lol

I know what you mean. I actually feel all squeemish having apps runnig I just don't want there. I also found that no matter how hard I try, swiping up never brings up the launcher

 

[stephenjxn]

Goodbye WebOS... Hello old friend

Ive had my minus Pre since the early launch day. I still love this OS and I waited for years to have the Pre 3 in my hands. But alas this will never be. Thanks HP for destroying a once creative and inovative company. PALM. (Heres hope that it can be resurrected back from the dead)

Today I laid down my green for an HTC Arrive. Im staying with Sprint due to their great plans and Im "grandfathered-in" so to speak. I didnt want an IPhone because Ive never been accused of being a automoton (an andriod..get it?) I wont buy something because everyone else thinks its cool. Android was just too fractured. The OS functioned and looked diffrently on every phone sporting its candy coated goodiness. Applications worked on one manufacturer platform but not the other. If you want a OS update..get another phone. Although Apple and Android have plenty of applications, why would I want navigate thru 30,000 frat boy "fart" games?

What attracted me to Windows was its fluidness and mature elegance. It comes with a mobile version of MSOffice. No more additional 3rd Party software to purchase or install! (yeeeeah booowwiiieee). The Arrive has keyboard. Ive perfected my two thumb typing method long ago and cringe when I think of "hunt and peck" typing on a tiny mobile phone's virtual keyboard.

Theres a lot to like about this phone. Microsoft has hit a home run and I am becoming a quick fan. Thanks for the invite. Im glad I came.

 

[selfcreation]

MAJOR Frustrations
1) Why oh why oh why don't more things go into landscape. I have the Arrive and am usually in landscape but apps constantly won't rotate...drives me insane
2) No notification light...phones have had them since 1992
3) I don't get the zune pass. Why can't I "favorite" a song?

1) yeah the lack of landscape does suck a little , it sorta forces to to be int he view that the DEV decided and thats that ( sorta ahs to do with the METRO UI slide over thing )

2) return your phone and get an other model ( some WP have notification LED )
3) what you mean FAV a song?? like creat a playlist? ... or have a playlist with 1 song = fav lol ..


and ill say it again: ALL OF you claiming that WP7 doesnt have LED notification .. your ALL WRONG!!!! ROLF!

its not the OS its the phone! if you want LED notification return your phone and exchange it for the Model that does!

not 100% sure witch ones they are , but we have at lease 3 models out of the 12 that do it.

ALL AND ALL!!: Welcome to WP hehe keep asking question in the forum we have a very active community and most of us are NOT fan boys so we dont mind giving advice on other phones/topics. w/e


I my self had a PALM PREE (1) with bell when it launch back in the day  so I understand a little where all of you are coming from 

I also miss my custom Loading screen on my Pree ( instead of having that HP or palm logo fade in and out )

 

[nyquistjack]

1) yeah the lack of landscape does suck a little , it sorta forces to to be int he view that the DEV decided and thats that ( sorta ahs to do with the METRO UI slide over thing )

2) return your phone and get an other model ( some WP have notification LED )
3) what you mean FAV a song?? like creat a playlist? ... or have a playlist with 1 song = fav lol ..


and ill say it again: ALL OF you claiming that WP7 doesnt have LED notification .. your ALL WRONG!!!! ROLF!

its not the OS its the phone! if you want LED notification return your phone and exchange it for the Model that does!

not 100% sure witch ones they are , but we have at lease 3 models out of the 12 that do it.

ALL AND ALL!!: Welcome to WP hehe keep asking question in the forum we have a very active community and most of us are NOT fan boys so we dont mind giving advice on other phones/topics. w/e


I my self had a PALM PREE (1) with bell when it launch back in the day  so I understand a little where all of you are coming from 

I also miss my custom Loading screen on my Pree ( instead of having that HP or palm logo fade in and out )

Thanks for the welcome.

In response to the LED thing, I know the Arrive has an LED (its active when the phone charges and when the battery gets low). Is there a hack or something that makes it work for notifications?

The favorite thing explained better:
I was looking for one or two optioms:
1) A button that says "Favorite" which allows you to choose song, artist or album. Then you have a list of all your favorites for later reference.
2) An "add to playlist" button that lets you add the current song, album, etc to a on-the-fly playlist.

 

[selfcreation]

Thanks for the welcome.

In response to the LED thing, I know the Arrive has an LED (its active when the phone charges and when the battery gets low). Is there a hack or something that makes it work for notifications?

The favorite thing explained better:
I was looking for one or two optioms:
1) A button that says "Favorite" which allows you to choose song, artist or album. Then you have a list of all your favorites for later reference.
2) An "add to playlist" button that lets you add the current song, album, etc to a on-the-fly playlist.

there is a HACK for the LED i think , i remember reading up on it on the XDA dev website ( the kings hackers (mostly they all work for MS and HTC so they have alote of insight )

for the FAV song , nothing Pre-mango any ways, the only thing i can see is to have a FAV play list and simply add songs or albums to it as you go along. the only work around I KNOW so far.

you have the : add song to now playing list: one thing your gona notice on WP7 is there is ALLOT of **Click AND HOLD** to do stuff ..(also the 3 little dots at bottom that pull up menus ).. so id practice in ALL my hubs click and holding every thing to see witch once give you pop up menu/settings.. lol

 

[nyquistjack]

there is a HACK for the LED i think , i remember reading up on it on the XDA dev website ( the kings hackers (mostly they all work for MS and HTC so they have alote of insight )

for the FAV song , nothing Pre-mango any ways, the only thing i can see is to have a FAV play list and simply add songs or albums to it as you go along. the only work around I KNOW so far.

you have the : add song to now playing list: one thing your gona notice on WP7 is there is ALLOT of **Click AND HOLD** to do stuff ..(also the 3 little dots at bottom that pull up menus ).. so id practice in ALL my hubs click and holding every thing to see witch once give you pop up menu/settings.. lol

I don't have my phone on me (stupid job doesn't let me bring it in). I'll take a look but I don't remember seeing the ability to add a song to a playlist. I remember seeing the ability to create a playlist but not to choose one to continue adding things to. I am on mango though, maybe something is wonky.

I'll also try holding down on everything to see if there is something I am missing.

And also also, I will swing by the xda forums tonight and look for some LED hacking joy.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[preak]

Thank you nyquistjack for the good and the bad comparisons. I'm just visiting as I agonize over my choices; grab an unlocked Pre 2 and Frankenpre for Sprint or Mango. All of your info has given me a lot to think about. I don't know if I could survive without multitasking and swiping. Also, can you "multitask" to a notification without closing your current app?
So does the good outweigh the bad? This sucks.........
And thanks to all of you for your comments. Hope you enjoy your new home.

 

[nyquistjack]

Thank you nyquistjack for the good and the bad comparisons. I'm just visiting as I agonize over my choices; grab an unlocked Pre 2 and Frankenpre for Sprint or Mango. All of your info has given me a lot to think about. I don't know if I could survive without multitasking and swiping. Also, can you "multitask" to a notification without closing your current app?
So does the good outweigh the bad? This sucks.........
And thanks to all of you for your comments. Hope you enjoy your new home.

Mango does have "some" swiping. to illustrate with your example:
1) You are reading an article in an RSS reader.
2) You get a text from the wifey (pops up at the top exactly like Webos 3.0, you can even swipe it away the exact same way)
3) You tap it and it takes you directly to the conversation (so far it is identicle to webOS). Also to mention it, with Mango all of your chats are consolidated just like webos
4) Type your response and tap send
5) Hold down the back arrow for 1/2 second, brings up an ugly albeit functional version of card view.
6) tap the RSS card and you are back in action.

So in this scenario, things don't turn non-webOS-ish until step 5. With webOS you would either advance gesture back to the reader or else swipe up, slide over tap. Or slide up, then throw the card, then tap.

All things considered, it isn't as much fun and as fluid, but it does NOT feel like an effort. Unlike IOS and Android where you are presented with a list of icons, you actually get to see what is in the windows (although its a screen shot versus a live window in this case).

As far as the good outweighing the bad, so far that is a resounding yes. There is definitely a flow to it. Android is schyzophrenic, just all over the place. IOS is a glorified app launcher and extremely linear. WP7 is the only other OS that feels planned and I find myself having fun swiping around on in the OS. Lastly...you have to try the Arrive with Mango to truly appreciate how blazing fast it is.

Tonight I plan on putting together a "what WP7 does BETTER than webOS" post. There is more than I would have expected.

 

[smartpatrol]

Thank you nyquistjack for the good and the bad comparisons. I'm just visiting as I agonize over my choices; grab an unlocked Pre 2 and Frankenpre for Sprint or Mango. All of your info has given me a lot to think about. I don't know if I could survive without multitasking and swiping. Also, can you "multitask" to a notification without closing your current app?
So does the good outweigh the bad? This sucks.........
And thanks to all of you for your comments. Hope you enjoy your new home.

If you click on a notification, it suspends your current app. You can push the "back" button to return to the app you were in. (Of course, in Mango you can hold the back button and switch between all your suspended apps, webOS style).

From what I've seen of Mango, resuming suspended apps has been sped up immensely. Even graphically-intensive 3D games resume immediately. It's not "true" multitasking, but it's a better solution as far as battery life and performance go.

EDIT: looks like nyquistjack beat me by a minute!

 

[nyquistjack]

Oh, I wanted to mention this before I forget. You know how in webOS had to use it to appreciate its flow? I am finding WP7 to be the same. The way the Metro UI separates "scenes" is unique. Instead of tapping buttons to get into other sections of an app, you swipe left and right. There is less hunting around for what you want to click on. It's kind of fun actually swiping through the different options of an app.