Why I left WP8 and Glad that I Did
It?s been three days since I ended my affair with Windows Phone 8 (Lumia 920). I hadn?t even planned on buying a new phone. I went to the AT&T store with my family to help them switch plans so that we could all enjoy more data for a much lower cost. After running the numbers with the sales associate it was proven to me that my wife and I could get new phones for just $3 more a month than what we were currently paying.
When the sales associated asked me which phone I wanted, I asked her what the ?hottest non-Apple phone was.? She said, ?The Galaxy S5.?
I walked over to the display and picked it up to see what the competition had created. I placed my WP8 next to it to size it up. It looked good. I had to admit it.
Feeling guilty, I walked over to the WP display and looked at the new WP8 line-up. From the outside it didn?t look like much had changed. I knew that the new 8.1 update was on the way, but I kept asking myself if that was really going to change anything?
My wife walked over to me and tried to talk me into an iPhone 5S. Ironically, her pestering made me think more and more about my two year departure from Android.
Originally I left Android because I felt like the platform was becoming too open for its own good. I had installed several mediocre apps and over time the performance of the phone seemed to wane. Cleaning and repairing the software felt too much like maintaining another pc. I wanted a phone that just worked. So when I came across WP8, it had real appeal.
Truth be told I was content with the WP8 for the last two years. I had convinced myself that the lack of apps didn?t matter. I was really only upset about MyFitnessPal, which became useless after an update nearly 9 months ago, and the lack of my bank?s app. Other than that, I felt like I had all that I needed?or so I thought.
?So what did you decide?? the sales associate asked.
As I stood there, feeling guilty, my gut told me to make the switch. ?I will take the S5 Active,? I said.
Several hours passed before I was able to actually sit down with my new phone, and then several more hours passed before I could stop myself from using it. It didn?t take long for me to come to a serious conclusion?the Windows Phone platform is dead in the water. After a few hours with the mature Android platform it became crystal clear that WP is light years behind in every way imaginable.
Forget the fact that I now have access to all of the apps that I could ever want. Android has matured and developers have thrived and it shows. With multicore processors and years of app development now behind it, using Android feels like a guilty pleasure.
The apps on Android (that are also available on WP) are much, much better in design and function. The graphics are stunning and navigation is intuitive. I did not have to learn ?Android logic? to easily navigate and customize my apps. It became more and more clear to me that they way WP apps are laid out is overly restrictive. A platform that once seems intuitive is now a heavy anchor holding the platform back.
WP wants me to navigate only one way, it wants me to access tweaks in a specific manner, and it wants to present visual information in a fixed format. In doing so, I now see that the platform for what it is and why app makers resist it. Plain and simple, it forces app makers to work within a fixed logic, not the best or even the most creative logic. This alone stifles innovation. It places chains on creativity and limits possibilities.
In short, I am glad that I made the switch. Freedom. That is what it feels like using the Galaxy S5 after two years with the WP. I tried to support the platform, I really did (I even have W8 on my desktop and a Surface Pro 2?hell I have a Zune HD!). But now I see the writing on the wall. The WP is a failure because of its software, and at this point there is nothing it can do.
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