Pulled the trigger and got a HTC One M8

[Editguy1900]

After downloading apps I forgot how so many apps I used to use never was there for WP. How many apps were richer in content. It's pathetic these devs don't support WP and upsets me to see such the difference. WP design is simply just better. But we need apps on this OS. .

If you forgot about them, how important were they in reality? We all use some apps, but I think there's an over-emphasis to how important they are.

 

[Flagz]

Well it's not the importance, let me try and explain.

My Fiance used a Windows Phone (Lumia 810 - then eventually an 8X) until last week. While she was at the mall she asked the Tmobile rep if she can remove JUMP because frankly Tmobile doesn't look like they're getting any Flagship Windows Phone anytime soon. He went on to explain that with JUMP she can try other operating systems at basically no risk. She shrugged it off and said she really liked Windows Phones and yadayada.

Last week while our sister was upgrading (8X to a GS4) she decided to take the leap. At first she was worried as we invested ALOT of money into the market within Windows, but after 45 minutes with the phone she said she would do it again. The Phone works (aside from Minor Hiccups) AND has extra features to boot. She's of course using all the gimmicks (which aren't really gimmicks - not ground breaking, but useful) and loves the overall experience. She misses the clean look, live tiles, Cortana and a few other built in features, but the quality of everything is well done!

She's replaced her default SMS App to WhatsApp (Something you couldn't do on out phone) and Music to Xbox Music. She's enjoying a WORKING DirecTV App (we emailed them about our old WP app 7-8 times), the Snap Chat video feature to talk to her work friends, our Bank app (she just deposited a check via pictures - honestly wish we had that, hell wish our bank HAD an app on windows phone), and a lot more. She always is a big Candy Crush fiend on her Kindle Fire, now she can play anywhere so she loves that.

I find myself using the MOGA Controller to play more games on her phone, INCLUDING Minecraft Pocket Edition (which we wont get!) and I'm also using the Watch_Dogs companion app (we also lack). She also has our local news station (they don't have a WP app) & we can check our Employee Database Pages & work schedule with an App via our Hospital - which isn't going to be available as told by my administration. I can also check MY OWN statistics online for song plays, downloads via her phone, which again lacks an app for my Phone. It's honestly amazing. She's having such Joy BECAUSE of new apps. You really look at your phone differently when there's an app for everything.

If you're not an App person, fine but PLEASE leave us App Junkies alone. I'm thinking seriously of getting an HTC One M8 - especially after seeing her joy with the new device. Honestly, I never really took a good hard minute to think about how much more Android Users and iUsers get to enjoy a cell phone because of a few really useful apps. Oh Windows Phone Gods PLEASE HELP ME, I don't wanna make the switch, but it honestly looks greener on the otherside (especially if you're a Tmobile user). No good looking Hardware coming so really there's no hope, the switch is inevitable.

 

[Chregu]

I also understand people leaving the platform for apps. I might be one of them too soon.

It never bothered me as much, until I got an iPad. Even the Microsoft apps are better on this thing, Onedrive, Office, they are amazing. Also, the quality difference is enormous for all the other apps, and they are updated very regularly.

For now my 8X is fine, after they finally, finally updated Spotify (which took forever, and it still hasn't caught up to the iOS apps) and Whatsapp (which still has some inconveniences) I can keep it without a problem until autumn when the HTC W8 and the iPhone 6 will be announced. But then everything is open, iOS is a tempting, tempting alternative.

 

[jonahtrav]

Yea there is no doubt there are more apps and the quality is better in the other two ...android and apple world. I think there might be some hope in the near future now that Microsoft has opened the gates(no charger for the OS) for other companies to make windows phones. If there is an app you must have then maybe you have to leave , but you got to admit the OS on windows phone is the sweetest out of the three.

 

[aitt]

If you forgot about them, how important were they in reality? We all use some apps, but I think there's an over-emphasis to how important they are.

Oh they were important. The fact that I waited for so long and gave up on them. And even then the dev for the ones we do have have just been crapped on. I mean we can sit here all day long and talk about this. Fact is people on here complain day long about apps and features. Some are willing to put up with. Some don't. I don't restrict myself to OS just because if that. I'll still keep my WP and will wait for progress to move forward. Until then I'll use android as my daily driver.

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

 

[eusty]

I've gone the other way! One of the issues I never switched to WP a few years ago was the lack of apps, but after checking which ones I *actually* used on Android I found most of them if not an alternative on WP.

There are some which you can't get (my banking app) but I can live with that.
After years with Android and it's issues I've found WP to be a joy. That said I've only used it a free days... But I'm impressed, hopefully with Cortina (or whatever her name is!) it will get even better.

 

[aitt]

Yea there is no doubt there are more apps and the quality is better in the other two ...android and apple world. I think there might be some hope in the near future now that Microsoft has opened the gates(no charger for the OS) for other companies to make windows phones. If there is an app you must have then maybe you have to leave , but you got to admit the OS on windows phone is the sweetest out of the three.

And I'll come back to wp. But I forgot about having Isis and Google wallet. Now have access to my insurance. It's nice to have the profiles show for Netflix. I can still have pictures auto update to OneDrive. I still have office which is actually better on Android. Still have OneNote. I mean I'm not missing anything and gaining more for Microsoft app. Iono. We'll see how this plays out. But man this phone is very nice. The dot screen cover is pretty innovative.

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

 

[aitt]

If there is an app you must have then maybe you have to leave , but you got to admit the OS on windows phone is the sweetest out of the three.

I'm not leaving per se. Just reopening my option and not locked down in one environment. And yes hands down wp is the better. With that being said I'm liking this phone a lot. The build is what WP need for a flagship line up. When screen is off you can flip the screen in landscape mode hit volume button to activate the camera. Win. The smart screen had gesture features that is cool. Swipe down to voice call someone. Double tap to view time. I hope the rumored WP phone us this M8.

And for the apps people can say what you want. But I will say this. When I went to the ATT store. The promo table for the window phones made sure to have a display for apps... That tells you something about the WP mentality people have. The rep was still talking about WP7 and I had to check her and told her that WP is better than Android and she looked dumbfounded. But I'm also a realistic person. When I went through my app list I was like damn.

I can say though is the app gap is much improved, but they gotta get these app improved cause people coming from Android or iOS to WP for the most part will be disappointed.

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

I can't ever go back to android. Idc how good the apps are, the ui and experience still Sucks with Android.

I prefer a better first party experience vs top of the line 3rd party apps.

I played with my friends m8 and the phone is attractive but other than that the camera sucks and android is just....meh to me.

But to each their own lol.I'd go ios before I go android.

 

[A895]

Glad you are enjoying your device. I hope that the app problem is fixed soon on Windows Phone so people on other platforms who may be eyeing it won't be disappointed.

 

[aitt]

I can't ever go back to android. Idc how good the apps are, the ui and experience still Sucks with Android.

I prefer a better first party experience vs top of the line 3rd party apps.

I played with my friends m8 and the phone is attractive but other than that the camera sucks and android is just....meh to me.

But to each their own lol.I'd go ios before I go android.

I don't do iOS. That's probably the only thing I ever been biased about. iOS never impressed me at all. I've used Android for over 4 years since 2008. I still like the OS. I don't love it like I used. But I can see that Kit Kat has improved the experience and the M8 is very limited on features. Blinkfeed is okay. Kinda cluttered. I don't have an quarrels with the camera. It's not 1520 but I'm not a camera junkie, or I would had pulled the trigger on the 1020. The Live Tiles is what I'm missing the most right now and the Notification on WP is by far way better than on Android.

Having Google Voice is a big plus right now, even though AT&T Visual Voicemail is quite good. But I missed using my Google Voice for certain communication for people who I didn't want to give my real number to.

Time Warner TWC TV
Run Keeper
Better Red Box
WAY better Slacker
Better PayPal
Better MyFitnessPal
Local News. I used KVUE for WP and that app was so trashed, it don't even pull news feeds anymore. It's a dead app that MS won't remove no matter how many times I've complained it's a broken app
Better Groupon . The WP app is a joke.
Isis Wallet
Assurant ( my health insurance )
Amazon MP3
Capital One

I haven't even finished grabbing the rest of apps I use frequently. And of course we can say there's this app and that app that will replace this app and that. We can list all the 3rd party apps. But that's the biggest issue for me. We have to make sacrifices in order to be content. Look at the fiasco with WhatsApp. Things like this are bad for the better built ecosystem and will not get people to come on board.

It will be there, and I will still be around for it, but for now, I might just enjoy the little perks that Android has. I will say though it will make it harder for convincing people to switch OS when MS keeps add all their apps to Android and iOS. I can vouch for that from my own personal experience right now. At least now I can have both OS and view side by side. The app drawer is boring. I may have to look into other launchers, but I didn't realize how lackluster the screen were after being with Live Tiles for so long.

 

[sejgiul]

Each to their own really...

I was in two minds whether to get a Moto G or a Lumia 630 (coming from a 620). I stuck with WP because I believe it can only get better. As for Android, how will that improve in the years to come? Or Apples? I can't stand the interfaces on either of those operating systems. Rows upon rows of static icons or useless widgets don't attract me. Regular updates from Microsoft are also a very nice extra. At least they don't drop support for older devices (excepting the case of WP7).

The reason I considered a Moto G was due to apps. Yes, we don't have all the apps like Android and iOS, most of the apps we do have are crap, but again, it can only get better. I can't see WP becoming worse and with the recent additions in WP8.1, making the os free to developers and more, there is hope. More and more official apps are arriving on the platform, and I believe WP is finally gaining traction.

I for one am very happy with WP8, but I can see why someone would move to Android. Moving to iOS from WP would just be silly though.

 

[Jazmac]

On that HTC M8 Aitt, I ain't mad at cha. I think you made a good choice.

 

[aitt]

Yeah I don't like the app drawer. As for widgets they no different than live tiles in a sense depending on how they are arranged. Blink feed is ok but cluttered. Not sure I'll get used to that. Use allot of flat widgets. Wizz had always been good for what I need. WP is better organized in showing the app list.

It's nice to compare the two though. Gives me a refresh between the two. I've already had apps crashing on me. Lol. Go figure.

Settings is way better organized on Android. I still have double tap. Cover gives me a glance type feel. Have do not disturb mode, drive mode and everything else I'm used to on the 1520. Might look into other launchers. I know Nova is pretty good.

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

 

[jlzimmerman]

I'll be interested to see how your Android holds up after the one year mark. My two Androids couldn't get out of their own way after a while.....it was constant battery pulls and reboots to get things to work.

 

[Beijendorf]

The HTC One M8 seems to be a brilliant phone. Beautiful design and build quality, great Android skin (Sense 6.0) and I can see how the applications on Android offer more, both in terms of quality and quantity considering it's the worlds most used mobile OS.

The only thing that didn't make me jump ship and go with the M8 was the camera. It seems to be a good all-rounder but the resolution isn't meaningful enough to take the kind of quality images other flagships can, least of all Nokia's.
It's great if you just want to upload the images to Facebook/Twitter/Instagram though, which is what HTC intended it for. Great images, regardless of lighting conditions, for social media consumption.

 

[aitt]

I'll be interested to see how your Android holds up after the one year mark. My two Androids couldn't get out of their own way after a while.....it was constant battery pulls and reboots to get things to work.

Agreed. All too familiar with my Nexus 7 doing that. And that's the basic of the OS. This Sense 6 seems to be very light on the OS. I still can pull up my HTC One X though and it still works the day I got it. No lag. WP needs a premium build like this. ICON has it but lack if carriers sucks.

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

 

[neo158]

Function over form, in my opinion.

If it works for you, I say keep it. I'd normally tell you to come back if you encounter any sort of problem, but the One M8 is just a beautiful phone...

Speaking of which, I'd love to have it run WP some time. *stares at HTC*

By the way, we can always pester those devs, and if we can't convince them, we have the great Rudy Huyn and all the other devs on the platform

Strangely enough the HTC W8 is supposed to be the M8 running Windows Phone 8.1 and it'll also have the dual rear cameras of the M8 as well.

 

[aitt]

Strangely enough the HTC W8 is supposed to be the M8 running Windows Phone 8.1 and it'll also have the dual rear cameras of the M8 as well.

There's a great deal of advantage if this makes way. Also the way that HTC has created the Volume button to turn on the camera is genius. I don't know if any other OEM does this as I'm not as Android savvy as used to be, but this could be a great implementation for the WP since dedicated camera button is no longer needed. This would be a great alternative.

 

[Pierre Blackwell]

I've always admired HTC's enginuity. My first smartphone and WP were both HTC designs. What WP were you using? I only ask because the M8 is considered a top grade phone. Unless you're using a 1520 or 1020 you're really not using a comparable WP. The 1520 is purely a work of art in my opinion.