Finally got my first Windows Phone (Lumia 830) - initial impressions

[Vorkosigan]

Well - after some confusion with Rogers, my Lumia 830 was finally delivered on Thursday. Of course, they sent the sim card set up for the wrong account so I couldn't get fully activated until Friday - but just a minor annoyance.

It's a beautiful phone. I love the screen and the bright green back. Quite a change from my traditional BB phones. It's big though. Coming from first a BB Curve, and then a Z10 - this phone feels big in my hand. And yet - side by side with my Z10 it doesn't look huge. I'm sure I'll get used to it. What I can't handle is how slippery it is. I'm terrified of dropping it. I've ordered an Incipio (sp?) case from Microsoft though so that should take care of that.

I love love love how well OneDrive and OneNote work. The UI is nice and the live tiles work well. I'm having some difficulty remembering how to go back. BB10 is totally gesture based on their touch phones and it's been surprisingly difficult to transition to using a back button. I didn't think that would be the case. I mean - what's the big deal between swiping back and hitting a button? But apparently my muscle memory disagrees. I'm sure that will come in time though. It's only been a couple of days.

I also like that apps can install to the SD card.

I do miss the hub - but having the notification centre is good too. I've decided that I can live with having my accounts separated. I'm a bit worried about finding attachments from email - in BB10 Hub there is an option to just see all your attachments - but the search function in WP seems to be good so I think that will be okay.

I'm slowly finding replacement apps for most things. I'm going to try Keeper for my passwords - I always used the BB password keeper. Looks like I will be transferring manually but at least it gives me a chance to go through and get rid of any passwords I don't need anymore.

There's no app for my bank - but I can use the mobile site.

No PC Plus app - and I use that one a lot for the points card. I'll have to find an alternative or get a physical card I guess. If anyone else uses PC Plus and knows of a good alternative - please let me know.

Nice to see the Adobe photoshop app and of course I have purchased the Windows Central app.

I have a couple of questions though.

Email - I have an imap account for work - I can't flag emails though? Is there something I'm missing here?

LED indicator - another big thing for me on BB10 is able to see what kind of message has come in even when my phone is silent by the colour of the LED indicator. Is there an app for that that I'm missing?

So - so far so good. I'm still finding my way around. It feels weird to not close apps. Are they closing?

I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go. I'm using Search a lot in Windows Central!

Thanks for any and all help!:smile:

 

[abhinavsaprey]

Congrats on getting your new Windows Phone. The Lumia 830 is an awesome device to start with.

Good to see you are trying to figure things out slowly and steadily. You will learn how to use the back button eventually as time passes.

I don't know that much about imap mail accounts.

As for your LED notifications, the 830 does not have one... But it does support the Glance screen which gives you the same and more info about notifications, weather etc. You can find the glance screen in settings. It is like another locksreen but it stays always on.

Try that out and tell how it goes... And oh welcome to Windows Central.

 

[RumoredNow]

Hey Vorkosigan,

I've moved your thread to the 830 forum for a better fit.

One thing I can address is the notification light issue. There isn't one. But don't despair! IMHO Glance is much better. :grin:

Go to Settings > glance and turn Glance on. I like always on. The proximity sensor will keep the screen off when it is in your pocket or lying face down on a table top or desk. Then whenever you pick it up or take it out of your pocket, you see your Glance without having to do anything. I love the automagical aspect of it. Also at night I keep my Glance on green as it is easy on the eyes. When my 930 is on my Qi Charging stand at bedside I can see my statuses whenever I look over in the middle of the night. Or if it is a night I'm not charging, I see the status when I pick up the phone from it lays face down. Be sure to enable show date, show detailed notifications and show quick notifications to get the most out of Glance.

Then go to Settings > lock screen... Whatever you choose for detailed status (I pick calendar) and 5 quick status apps (I use phone/messages/primary email/secondary email/battery) will all forward to your Glance screen and you will see all this info every time you look at your phone automagically.

Speaking of automagic; be sure to check out Quiet Hours and all that can do for you. I think you'll like that too.

I'm glad you are digging the new 830. I've changed OS a few times and have found I need to explore how the new one works more than try to make it function like the old one. You'll pull out less hair that way and appreciate the differences more.

Keep on keepin' on and I look forward to reading more about your journey.

 

[aximtreo]

As for imap email, go to email and add a new account. When asked for the type that says other. Under this, you can add an imap account. you will need to know the carrier info and a quick call to them will give that info to you. I use pop and it works quite well on my ICON.

Let us know if this works for you or you have any other questions. We are here to help.

 

[Vorkosigan]

As for imap email, go to email and add a new account. When asked for the type that says other. Under this, you can add an imap account. you will need to know the carrier info and a quick call to them will give that info to you. I use pop and it works quite well on my ICON.

Let us know if this works for you or you have any other questions. We are here to help.

Thanks. I got my email added ok. I just can't see how to flag an email.

 

[anon(123856)]

Thanks. I got my email added ok. I just can't see how to flag an email.

Welcome! To flag an email tap on the left side of the email and a check box should appear. Tap the check box to select it, then tap on the ellipse (three dots) in the lower right hand corner and select set flag.

I forgot to mention you can get the check box to appear using one of the icons at the bottom of the screen. I don't know what it's "official" name is but it's the second from the left. Either method will work.

Enjoy your 830. I'm still very happy with mine.

 

[mj0]

I'm having some difficulty remembering how to go back. BB10 is totally gesture based on their touch phones and it's been surprisingly difficult to transition to using a back button. I didn't think that would be the case. I mean - what's the big deal between swiping back and hitting a button? But apparently my muscle memory disagrees. I'm sure that will come in time though. It's only been a couple of days.

The back button is indeed a big clusterf*ck in Windows Phone. Sometimes it acts as back button. Sometimes it closes an app. Sometimes swiping acts as back button. Sometimes swiping acts as horizontal toggle. Then there's Internet Explorer where the back button is totally irrational and pointless. Truth be told in the six months that I'd been using Windows Phone I never fully understood what Microsoft was thinking (or smoking) when they designed this button. I think the biggest problem is that every app developer is free to implement this button as they deem appropriate resulting in a plethora of different behaviors and designs.

So - so far so good. I'm still finding my way around. It feels weird to not close apps. Are they closing?

Usually they're not closing but freezing. You can see what apps are sort of running in a frozen state in the background by long pressing the back button. From this screen you can then also close these apps manually.

 

[WanderingTraveler]

The back button is indeed a big clusterf*ck in Windows Phone. Sometimes it acts as back button. Sometimes it closes an app. Sometimes swiping acts as back button. Sometimes swiping acts as horizontal toggle. Then there's Internet Explorer where the back button is totally irrational and pointless. Truth be told in the six months that I'd been using Windows Phone I never fully understood what Microsoft was thinking (or smoking) when they designed this button. I think the biggest problem is that every app developer is free to implement this button as they deem appropriate resulting in a plethora of different behaviors and designs.

It's rather frustrating to use the back button especially in IE which might forget the page that you were last on.

Usually they're not closing but freezing. You can see what apps are sort of running in a frozen state in the background by long pressing the back button. From this screen you can then also close these apps manually.

Some close when you exit via back button, some don't. It's a learning process just to find out which is which.

 

[raycpl]

It's rather frustrating to use the back button especially in IE which might forget the page that you were last on.

Some close when you exit via back button, some don't. It's a learning process just to find out which is which.

For IE, just swipe to go back/forth.. seems to work most of the time

 

[WanderingTraveler]

For IE, just swipe to go back/forth.. seems to work most of the time

I know that. It's just that its very frustrating to have the back button just forget the page you were just on.
This typically happens in opages that aren't exactly optimized for mobile or IE.

 

[mj0]

This happens in IE when swiping as well. I've had IE forget what page I was on before all the time regardless of whether I used the back button or the back swipe to go back.

 

[Vorkosigan]

The back button is indeed a big clusterf*ck in Windows Phone. Sometimes it acts as back button. Sometimes it closes an app. Sometimes swiping acts as back button. Sometimes swiping acts as horizontal toggle. Then there's Internet Explorer where the back button is totally irrational and pointless. Truth be told in the six months that I'd been using Windows Phone I never fully understood what Microsoft was thinking (or smoking) when they designed this button. I think the biggest problem is that every app developer is free to implement this button as they deem appropriate resulting in a plethora of different behaviors and designs.


Usually they're not closing but freezing. You can see what apps are sort of running in a frozen state in the background by long pressing the back button. From this screen you can then also close these apps manually.

Ah. Ok . That explains some of my confusion. In BB10 there's a lot of confusion with the back as well between how the android apps act and how developers can use the back button. I actually find that Windows is generally more consistent. But yeah, IE is a bit difficult to navigate. Hopefully Edge will be better.

 

[RSDC]

it takes time to learn windows phone.the cooolest thing is the LIVE tiles...

you will love it once you start with applications that support live tiles

 

[Maccabeus]

Great phone! Love mine; although, after 6 months, I just bought a used 1520 to try out the even larger screen size. (I got used to the 830's size very quickly). Not sure which Incipio case you ordered, but if it doesn't meet your needs, I've been very pleased with this one:
"Nokia Lumia 830 Case, Terrapin [Extra Slim Fit] Hybrid Rubberized [Black] Protective Hard Case for Nokia Lumia 830 - Black" which I found and reviewed on Amazon.

 

[a5cent]

I'm still finding my way around. It feels weird to not close apps. Are they closing?

By fussing over closing apps you're generally uselessly micromanaging technical aspects of your phone, which is something the OS can do better than you can. The OS will close apps automatically when it determines that it must close apps to free up memory, and leaving apps open allows them to reopen quickly rather than requiring the OS to relaunch them.

There are two reasons to close apps:

1) You want to reduce the list of apps displayed in the task switcher (long press back key).
2) You have an app that is misbehaving (has a bug) for which you want to force a restart.

 

[realwarder]

Welcome! To flag an email tap on the left side of the email and a check box should appear. Tap the check box to select it, then tap on the ellipse (three dots) in the lower right hand corner and select set flag.

I forgot to mention you can get the check box to appear using one of the icons at the bottom of the screen. I don't know what it's "official" name is but it's the second from the left. Either method will work.

Enjoy your 830. I'm still very happy with mine.

Long press on an email and select Flag is also possible for one email.

 

[JRF_1986]

Welcome OP! I too have BB10 (Z10 and Q10) and yes, the HUB is pretty awesome. I also own the 830 and I'm pretty sure you'll get to enjoy it as much as I have. I bought mine back in January after using a 1320 and have grown to like it a lot.
I think you can unify your inboxes, to keep them all together. Not too sure, but having individual tiles for my 4 accounts seems to work fine.

Enjoy your 830!

 

[anon(123856)]

Long press on an email and select Flag is also possible for one email.

Yup, that's even quicker!

 

[Ashish Gupta888]

There's no app for my bank - but I can use the mobile site.

Just to add, you can pin the mobile site directly to your home screen as a tile. While you are on the site, click on three ellipses from bottom and select the option - pin to start. You can also use an app called "Hot Tiles!" to give those sites more native feel by customizing tiles

 

[Miguel Agrela]

Great phone you have! No problems at all!!