Wp8 from android

[kregstrong]

So I used to have a trophy for a bit, liked it a lot. Been using android ever since. Android 4.0 really turned out great and ive loved it since then. Had galaxy nexus now I have gs3. Love both those phones and running stock android jelly bean on both. I plan on buying the HTC 8x for Verizon. I'm a bit worried tho that I'm gonna miss the android ecosystem. I love the Google apps, maps, music, keeps all my music synced. Gmail. Lots of cool stuff. Can anyone just help me see that wp8 will be a good change lol. I don't have a facebook and I know that's a big feature for lots of people, having it integrated to contacts. I don't use MSN messenger. I love on android being able to change notifications sounds with edge by downloading tones. So I just need some advice on what I'm gonna like and such and if it might be a bad switch. By the way I have a surface as well. Like it so far except I'm very dissapointed with the music app because the cloud sync is pretty terrible and no editing my songs. Very confusing.

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[Heron_Kusanagi]

It might be a bad switch if you are entrenched into the Google ecosystem. But given that you do have a Surface, I see little point in going WP8 unless you love the hardware from Nokia, HTC or Samsung and they come only in WP8.

 

[Winterfang]

Don't bother with Windows Phone 8 right now, maybe in the next wave of phones, it will be more google apps.

 

[migespy]

So I used to have a trophy for a bit, liked it a lot. Been using android ever since. Android 4.0 really turned out great and ive loved it since then. Had galaxy nexus now I have gs3. Love both those phones and running stock android jelly bean on both. I plan on buying the HTC 8x for Verizon. I'm a bit worried tho that I'm gonna miss the android ecosystem. I love the Google apps, maps, music, keeps all my music synced. Gmail. Lots of cool stuff. Can anyone just help me see that wp8 will be a good change lol. I don't have a facebook and I know that's a big feature for lots of people, having it integrated to contacts. I don't use MSN messenger. I love on android being able to change notifications sounds with edge by downloading tones. So I just need some advice on what I'm gonna like and such and if it might be a bad switch. By the way I have a surface as well. Like it so far except I'm very dissapointed with the music app because the cloud sync is pretty terrible and no editing my songs. Very confusing.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

I am curious as well for some info/advice. I am deep into android for mobile, but deep into Windows for PC/desktop. I love windows 8 and after seeing the WP8 press conference I am interested in moving over. I am curious on your experience with Surface? I am very close to buying one. I have the Nexus7 right now. I am much more integrated in Android on my Galaxy Nexus rather than my N7. I use my N7 for surfing and light music. What do you think about switching over? Can you go into more detail on Xbox music confusion and your cloud sync issues. I have a Zune pass but I use Google Music to stream my library. Hows the switch and whats the limit on Xbox Music cloud storage?

 

[aubreyq]

The only advice that I have for those that are deep into the Android ecosystem is to stay with Android. Why change if things are working fine for you? Android will give you a better experience with Google products than Windows Phone will.

 

[kregstrong]

I am curious as well for some info/advice. I am deep into android for mobile, but deep into Windows for PC/desktop. I love windows 8 and after seeing the WP8 press conference I am interested in moving over. I am curious on your experience with Surface? I am very close to buying one. I have the Nexus7 right now. I am much more integrated in Android on my Galaxy Nexus rather than my N7. I use my N7 for surfing and light music. What do you think about switching over? Can you go into more detail on Xbox music confusion and your cloud sync issues. I have a Zune pass but I use Google Music to stream my library. Hows the switch and whats the limit on Xbox Music cloud storage?

I actually love the surface, I've had pretty much every tablet that has been on the market, every version of the iPad, galaxy tab, transformer prime, kindle fire, nexus 7. And without a doubt I'm loving the surface. Best build quality out of any tab. Stellar screen. Fast and smooth. Apps aren't there yet but being windows that's gonna be on the way. I was kinda iffy about Xbox music and still am, but I found an awesome Google music app on the store, g8 music, works like a charm. Xbox music tries to cloud match ur songs in ur library, and misses a lot of them, I have 155 albums and it only finds 94. They are going to have a way to upload ur music similar to googles way soon, just hasn't happened yet. The Xbox music pass is pretty awesome tho, stream any song u want on any device and save it as well. But I'm loving the surface with the touch keyboard, pretty awesome to plop it on that keyboard and go to town, in a league of its own in that category, and the track pad is pretty good but a little small. Gets the job done.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[nathanb131]

Well I'm fairly embedded in Google. I use gmail/gcal/gvoice/and gmaps extensively. But I've been following Microsoft's new rollouts and am really impressed with their skydrive/cloud stuff. Especially since my favorite program of all time 'onenote' is deeply embedded.

Skydrive's storage is cheap (I'm one of the old mesh users that got the 25gb free but can add much more for very little compared to dropbox). So it will simplify my life greatly to be able to have all my music, notes, docs, photos etc on skydrive on all my devices pretty seamlessly.

With Android I have notes scattered between evernote and onenote (their onenote client isn't quick enough), got my pics between dropbox, skydrive, and picasa(g+), to-do's and such on other 3rd party apps, etc.

And I'm constantly trying to modify, customize, and streamline because it's generally glitchy and lags a lot. I hate that I can't snap a quick pic with it, even when it was new (Droid 3).

It's stupid easy to sync my gmail and gcal to MS live/skydrive so the transition for that won't be so bad.

I know I'll be leaving some behind with Android (gmaps being the most painful).... but putting most my cloud stuff on skydrive just feels more cohesive and complete. I'm looking forward to being able to take quick pictures and having the original, uncompressed version being auto-uploaded. I'm looking forward to a better one-note experience the most.

I'm just tired of searching for new cool apps, the new windows phones will do 80% of what I do with my Android in a much smoother way. I'm willing to give up some of the customizability to have it 'just work' since MS has finally made their version of 'just works' good enough for me to live with.

It will be nice to not constantly hope that MY particular android phone will be updated to gingerbread, ice cream sandwich, jelly bean, etc and hope that the new update will finally let me take a quick note or pic without dealing with lags and crashes. I just want it to behave the same 6 months from now as it does now. I'm switching to W8 and everything will be synced between far fewer cloud services so that I can always do a full factory reset every 6 months or so and still have it run 'like new' without having to consider 'rooting' it just to be rid of all the bloatware that comes with most androids.

So yeah, sort of long, but those are the reasons this google/android guy is counting down til december when I'm able to upgrade to the 8x and stop constantly hoping for that 'ideal' android phone down the road.

 

[rockstarzzz]

^^ Excellent first post.

 

[Ellroy80]

I'm in the same position as the OP. Been on Android for the past couple of years (Epic 4G running CM9) but am looking for more stability - the ringtone volume constantly changes, so I miss calls, it randomly reboots, etc etc. I'm also looking to ditch Sprint and go on a low cost pre-paid plan, either T-Mob or Straight Talk. Routinely use Gmail, GVoice, GCal, and GMusic.

I'd like to go WP8, or at least look into it further, but there's a few things holding me back. 1. What could I use for voicemail instead of GVoice? 2. What could I use for GMusic? Both Gmail and GCal are easy to take care of by having them sync with Outlook/Hotmail. 3. Where do I get an unlocked phone from? 4. Is there any WP8 phone out there that comes close to the Nexus 4 for a reasonable price? I know nothing is going to be as inexpensive as it, but I might consider a WP8 phone (preferably Nokia) if something's close.

 

[nathanb131]

I'm in the same position as the OP. Been on Android for the past couple of years (Epic 4G running CM9) but am looking for more stability - the ringtone volume constantly changes, so I miss calls, it randomly reboots, etc etc. I'm also looking to ditch Sprint and go on a low cost pre-paid plan, either T-Mob or Straight Talk. Routinely use Gmail, GVoice, GCal, and GMusic.

I'd like to go WP8, or at least look into it further, but there's a few things holding me back. 1. What could I use for voicemail instead of GVoice? 2. What could I use for GMusic? Both Gmail and GCal are easy to take care of by having them sync with Outlook/Hotmail. 3. Where do I get an unlocked phone from? 4. Is there any WP8 phone out there that comes close to the Nexus 4 for a reasonable price? I know nothing is going to be as inexpensive as it, but I might consider a WP8 phone (preferably Nokia) if something's close.

I'm in the same boat as you! Your list:
1. I looked at the wp store and saw some decently reviewed gvoice apps. Of course it wouldn't be as good as on Android, but at least we'll still be able to get our vmail transcribed and to look it up!
2. I've been trying to find the 'perfect' music solution for a while that serves as a good place to purchase, stream (rent), and store my own library in the cloud. Currently using Amazon to buy/store and Rhapsody to stream and hate that it's two separate things. I know from looking at them that gmusic is very similar to amazon in terms of what it offers. Though info is lacking, I THINK the new xbox music is going to handle streaming/purchasing/personal-library-cloud-storage. I'm very excited about that, however, I just discovered that xbox music won't work on win7.... even within a browser... I guess if I have to pay $40 to upgrade my old laptop to W8 then fine but that's just perplexing to me.
3. You answered your own here, though I've been itching to jump to the new outlook online and getting the 8x will be the final straw. Gmail just seems to keep getting less intuitive to use. The few times I need to print/attach/create calendar event etc from email I have to hunt around for those buttons and commands...and it just looks cluttered. I hate to sound like I'm defending Apple's 'keep it simple so grandma can use it' philosophy but just really like Microsoft's metro interface across most their products now. It just 'feels' right. Still versatile and robust, but uncluttered and slick.
3. Can't help you here, I'm just on Verizon all the time. Which I suppose is sort of a blessing right now because choosing between 8x and 920 would be really hard. I'll let Nokia's exclusive lose that choice for them for this round.
4. Don't know what you mean as 'comes close to'.... Performance? Specs?

I'm pretty well set to jump but IF I did change my mind and stay with Android I would ONLY ever go with a Nexus phone. So tired of hoping for updates, researching how to hack my phone just to remove bloat and lag that never should have been there in the first place on my 'flagship device'....

It may be true that Android has solved lag and glitch with version 4 but that's what we were told about Gingerbread, then ICS was the savior, but now all the reviews state that 'this device will be much smoother once they upgrade to Jellybean....' So it may be true this time, but I really want to be done thinking 'the next' upgrade will finally make Android both powerful AND smooth. It's downright embarrassing to me to not be able to whip out my 'flagship' Android from early 2011 and not be able to take a quick pic. My f'ing Treo was quicker and more stable, even for taking pics...from 2006.

From pretty much every review of the W7 Phones, one thing was consistent. That even though they weren't as powerful spec-wise, they were smooth and reliable. Like iphones without having to have an iphone. Now that their specs are close enough to the cutting edge Androids AND their ecosystem is now GOOD ENOUGH, I'm switching and I have a feeling I won't be looking back.

 

[nathanb131]

I'm in the same position as the OP. Been on Android for the past couple of years (Epic 4G running CM9) but am looking for more stability - the ringtone volume constantly changes, so I miss calls, it randomly reboots, etc etc. I'm also looking to ditch Sprint and go on a low cost pre-paid plan, either T-Mob or Straight Talk. Routinely use Gmail, GVoice, GCal, and GMusic.

I'd like to go WP8, or at least look into it further, but there's a few things holding me back. 1. What could I use for voicemail instead of GVoice? 2. What could I use for GMusic? Both Gmail and GCal are easy to take care of by having them sync with Outlook/Hotmail. 3. Where do I get an unlocked phone from? 4. Is there any WP8 phone out there that comes close to the Nexus 4 for a reasonable price? I know nothing is going to be as inexpensive as it, but I might consider a WP8 phone (preferably Nokia) if something's close.

Oh, and I feel your pain about ring-tones changing and such. I don't really have THAT many apps on my Droid3 and I do love it's keyboard and will miss it. I will also miss the ultimate customization that Android offers. Like the keyboards, I love swiftkeyx and when it works it's great. But now, about every 10th time or so I try to type on my phone, key presses do nothing soft or hard keyboard. My only solution is to reboot it which takes several minutes. When it lags or actually works well is pretty random. It's changed my ringtone to a PODCAST on a few occasions. I'm getting really tired it re-updating the same app over several days. I used to love the constant app update notifications from the google market, made me feel like all my apps were constantly up to date. Well now it's just an annoyance and I'm tired of even being notified of it.

I hate the motorolla theming and am running a different launcher but because it's basically sitting on top of the existing theme and bloatware it lags all the time but is still preferable to stock. Yes I know it would be awesome if I rooted and flashed a new ROM and I've done that before...but I'm not a 17 year old kid with a ton of time on his hands. I have a career and a wife and kids and dog and house....spending 4 hours of my time to learn about roms and to execute the flash correctly just to have my phone be fast and stable (no guarantees of course!) is aggravating to think about!

Sorry about the rant, just wanted you to know that I feel your pain! I now am willing to trade a little less capability and a little less customization in exchange for a lot more usability!

 

[Ellroy80]

Oh, I hear ya!! When I first got my Epic, I thought 'This is cool, I can root it, customize it however I like, d/l a bunch of apps, etc etc'. Now I'm sick of having to root it to install custom ROMs, get the latest OS, etc. Like you, I don't have the time, I'm at the point where I just want things to work. And I'll never, and I mean NEVER, have an iPhone (or Apple product, fullstop!). And the ROMs don't seem to be as stable as the carrier version. But I'm also sick of not getting updates for 6 months+ because of manufacturer and carrier bloatware.

I'm with you, if I get another Android, it'll definitely only be a Nexus, straight from Google. Only because there's no bloatware, and you're pretty much guaranteed to get updates straight away. After installing Windows 8 (it's great BTW, worth the money! Worth investing in a touchpad as well), and after reading about WP8 and it's integration with Win8, Xbox etc., I was set on getting a WP8 phone - until yesterday's Google announcement. The Nexus 4 has the latest hardware, looks great, is inexpensive (very much so for what you get!!), is pentaband, and is unlocked. The last two might end up being the clinchers for me. I'm from Australia and travel back there on a semi-regular basis, so being able to use it over there by simply dropping in a different sim card is a bonus. My sister and her family currently live in Singapore, so again its the same issue. My next phone HAS to be unlocked. Also, I don't make many calls/send text's, so it's probably not worth me paying my current $80/month to be on a contract. Hence the appeal of moving to T-mo's $30/month or Straight Talk's $45/month plan.

However, the appeal of going to WP8 is still there. I played with a L900 and it was smooth as silk, so I expect WP8 phones to be even better. Plus, there's the integration with Win 8. If I end up going that way I'd go all out and get an L920. However, having to buy it unlocked means having to shell out probably $700. That might end up being the deal breaker. The difference between that and the Nexus 4 is a year on the T-mo $30/month contract, which is a big deal. I'm planning to wait for reviews, I'll make a decision after that.

FWIW, I read today that MetroTalk is a great Google Voice app. As far as music goes, Google Music is awesome. I buy my music wherever, usually on Amazon, but also via Google. I save everything to my computer in an MP3 folder. Google Music Manager then uploads it to Google servers, and you can stream it from anywhere. Great thing is that they let you store 20k SONGS, not 20 GB, for free. I think I currently have about 13k songs on there, which is about 75 gb. Not sure I'd ever get that free from MS. So, a good GMusic app is an essential for me.

Anyway, good luck with the HTC 8X - I'm sure you'll enjoy it!!

OP, apologies for the thread hijack.