Has anyone gone from WP to iPhone and still using all MS services?

[steve_w_7]

I am getting ready to jump from Windows Phone to the iPhone and I still plan on using all of my Microsoft services (Outlook, OneNote, One Drive, etc.)

I am wondering if there is anyone out there who has done this (or has attempted to do this) and how you made out? Has Microsoft made the transition as easy as it appears to be? From my perspective, there seems to be no downside.

 

[David Ginsburg]

I didn't make the jump to iphone, but jumped to Android. I use Outlook and OneDrive along with office, MSN money and sports.

While I miss the tiles and some of the functionality of the windows phone and cortana, all my microsoft services work really well. The new outlook app while missing a few features I would like works really well. OneDrive = no problems. Office = no problems.

Minus some of the WP phone features, I haven't missed the microsoft features. They are better than what is currently offered. WP10 will probably bring them on par with ios and android.

 

[dgr_874]

I have an iPhone 6 plus that I go back and forth from my Lumia 1520 with no issues. In some ways, the apps even work better. Like when I email myself my paystub every two weeks in a PDF, I can save that PDF directly to my OneDrive on the iPhone. I have to do some crazy things to eventually save it on my Lumia. Word works great and so does the MSN apps (news, sports, food and drink etc.)

Other than the live tiles and Cortland (both I like very much), I have not found any downside to using Microsoft apps on an iPhone. Some even work better.

PM me if you have any specific questions.

 

[rdubmu]

I went from 4 years of windows phone (HD7, Titan 2, Lumia 920) to iPhone 5s and now 6 plus. I find the Microsoft apps outside of One Note, better on iPhone than on windows phone. Office is much better and it integrates nicely with one drive. Email works great, and you can download the outlook app, or use built in. You will be happy with Microsoft services on the iPhone. 100% satisfied. I did find one note to be better on windows phone

Outlook.com doesn't play as nicely with android with contacts and calendar...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mike Gibson]

I transitioned my wife from a 920 and SurfaceRT to an iPhone 6+ and iPad 2 a few weeks ago after her 920's battery started going bad (or something in the power system). We're light users of phones and tablets so I can't comment on everything but, for the stuff we use, she's doing fine. Some comments:

1. OneNote works fine on both devices (for viewing her recipes in the kitchen)
2. OneDrive appears to work fine on both devices
3. She likes having email and texts synchronized between the iPhone and iPad
4. If security was a concern then the fingerprint reader on her iPhone would be great

The downsides to the transition:

a. No freaking shutter button to rapidly wake up in camera mode and take pictures
b. No way to place specific contacts on her start screen (e.g. our daughter, me, and Home)
c. Transferring contacts from the phone to iCloud was a pain in the a**
d. Contacts in general are a pain on iOS
e. iOS versions of the apps we use are not necessarily better their WP8 versions (e.g. Fly Delta)

I can say from our limited experience that neither of us is feeling the Apple Magic(TM) with these iOS devices. They're just different and not necessarily more intuitive. The lack of a shutter button is a what-were-they-thinking omission in such an expensive device, imho, and even though the iPhone 6+ is supposed to have OIS we don't think it takes better photos than her 920.

Anyway, I wanted to have all three ecosystems in our house. I have WP81, she now has iOS, and our daughter is a long-time Android user (Galaxy Note 4).

 

[steve_w_7]

So, I visited an Apple Store for the first time in my life over the weekend. I'll have to admit that it felt icky when I first walked in, but that all went away rather quickly once I started talking with one of the salespeople.

After spending a long time playing with the devices and asking questions, I have decided that I am going to leave Windows Phone for the iPhone 6. There are a few things that I will miss about WP, but none of them are deal-breakers. The main thing is Cortana. She really is that much better than Siri. The other thing that I found that I will miss is the People Hub. Microsoft has done a really good job with that part of the OS. Unfortunately, the way things have been progressing over the years, I would expect to see them abandon the People Hub in the near future anyway. It's really one of the last remaining features that really set this operating system apart when I picked up my first Windows Phone back in 2010 and I'm afraid it will go the way of the Me tile, and the old Photos Hub. It's a shame, really.

So anyway, thanks to everyone who helped out with my questions. Microsoft services-wise, this will be a very smooth transition. And you know that feeling of disappointment that every WP user has pre-loaded into their gut -- you know, those nagging questions: "Will that new app/home automation device/web cam, etc. be available for WP?", "What is the next app that's going to pull support from the platform?", "Will my phone get the latest update?", "Will the next flagship be available on my carrier?", "Next year, things will be better, right?" That feeling is gone now and it feels pretty good.

 

[mjrtoo]

So, I visited an Apple Store for the first time in my life over the weekend. I'll have to admit that it felt icky when I first walked in, but that all went away rather quickly once I started talking with one of the salespeople.

After spending a long time playing with the devices and asking questions, I have decided that I am going to leave Windows Phone for the iPhone 6. There are a few things that I will miss about WP, but none of them are deal-breakers. The main thing is Cortana. She really is that much better than Siri. The other thing that I found that I will miss is the People Hub. Microsoft has done a really good job with that part of the OS. Unfortunately, the way things have been progressing over the years, I would expect to see them abandon the People Hub in the near future anyway. It's really one of the last remaining features that really set this operating system apart when I picked up my first Windows Phone back in 2010 and I'm afraid it will go the way of the Me tile, and the old Photos Hub. It's a shame, really.

So anyway, thanks to everyone who helped out with my questions. Microsoft services-wise, this will be a very smooth transition. And you know that feeling of disappointment that every WP user has pre-loaded into their gut -- you know, those nagging questions: "Will that new app/home automation device/web cam, etc. be available for WP?", "What is the next app that's going to pull support from the platform?", "Will my phone get the latest update?", "Will the next flagship be available on my carrier?", "Next year, things will be better, right?" That feeling is gone now and it feels pretty good.

How about ttransferring anything via Bluetooth, or, saving file types other than
.jpg in an email? Important to you?

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

I tried to use an iPhone and Microsoft services while the services work fine. The experience itself just felt bland. I'm still loyal to the OS though.

 

[steve_w_7]

How about ttransferring anything via Bluetooth, or, saving file types other than
.jpg in an email? Important to you?

Bluetooth transfer not important. I've never done that before.

Please explain the 'saving file types other than .jpg in an email' question? Are you saying if someone sends me an Excel file or a PDF or a Word doc via email that I won't be able to save it to my one drive?

 

[TonyDedrick]

I'm getting ready to jump to Android and I'll continue to use MS services (OneDrive and Outlook).

 

[ianberg]

I have a WP, two iPads and a Win8.1 laptop No issues with using Microsoft services on any of these devices as designed. All I'd ask is to have ability to finger-sketch in OneNote on iPad like I can on the laptop (I'm not going to buy a Surface just for that)

Sent from my Lumia 710 using Tapatalk

 

[steve_w_7]

I tried to use an iPhone and Microsoft services while the services work fine. The experience itself just felt bland.

I will admit that is a true statement @Superboy Micah. If you want a good laugh, go to the iMore site and browse their "Show Us Your Home Screen" thread. It's just post after post of nearly identical home screens. Compare that to the similar thread on Windows Central. Windows Phone is so much more personable and I will definitely miss that aspect of the OS. However, I have dabbled in jailbreaking an older iPod touch in the past and I might wander down that rabbit hole again if I get too bored. There are some pretty cool themes that you can play with.

 

[mjrtoo]

Bluetooth transfer not important. I've never done that before.

Please explain the 'saving file types other than .jpg in an email' question? Are you saying if someone sends me an Excel file or a PDF or a Word doc via email that I won't be able to save it to my one drive?

You can certainly open PDF's on an iPhone, but I do not believe you can save them to your phone and then 'share' them to a cloud service like you can on WP. Especially other file types, like .zip files etc.

I'd have them demo that to you...

 

[theefman]

I will admit that is a true statement @Superboy Micah. If you want a good laugh, go to the iMore site and browse their "Show Us Your Home Screen" thread. It's just post after post of nearly identical home screens. Compare that to the similar thread on Windows Central. Windows Phone is so much more personable and I will definitely miss that aspect of the OS. However, I have dabbled in jailbreaking an older iPod touch in the past and I might wander down that rabbit hole again if I get too bored. There are some pretty cool themes that you can play with.

Any chance of a link to that thread? Thanks.

You can certainly open PDF's on an iPhone, but I do not believe you can save them to your phone and then 'share' them to a cloud service like you can on WP. Especially other file types, like .zip files etc.

I'd have them demo that to you...

Pretty sure you can, especially as they have support for onedrive, box and dropbox in office on ios.

 

[mjrtoo]

Any chance of a link to that thread? Thanks.



Pretty sure you can, especially as they have support for onedrive, box and dropbox in office on ios.

You can open them, but save to them, I'd double check.

 

[steve_w_7]

Any chance of a link to that thread? Thanks.

Here you go: Show us your iPhone 5S Homescreen: - iPhone, iPad, iPod Forums at iMore.com

Compare to this for WP: http://forums.windowscentral.com/windows-phone-8/201935-post-your-home-screen-color-theme.html

 

[steve_w_7]

You can certainly open PDF's on an iPhone, but I do not believe you can save them to your phone and then 'share' them to a cloud service like you can on WP. Especially other file types, like .zip files etc.

I'd have them demo that to you...

I have verified that you can, indeed, save files from email to OneDrive.

 

[theefman]

Here you go: Show us your iPhone 5S Homescreen: - iPhone, iPad, iPod Forums at iMore.com

Thanks.

 

[mjrtoo]

I have verified that you can, indeed, save files from email to OneDrive.

I would be interested in your actual real world experience when you get your phone.

 

[steve_w_7]

I would be interested in your actual real world experience when you get your phone.

Sure. If anyone is interested, I'll pop in and share my honest thoughts.