2015 - A year of change (for me)
Hey guys!
First of all, this is more of a blog/article type of post. If you are interested in the directions where mobile OS?es are going, this may be interesting for you.
Since 2011 I supported Windows Phone with all my heart but now, after 4 years, I switched to android. For the haters out there, don?t think I?m an Android fan now! I still love Windows Phone but there are few reasons why I switched to the android platform.
The biggest reason, of course, is the app gap. I know that all the major app?s are in the store but the quality just doesn?t matches the quality of the App Store or the Google Play Store. I learned to live with it, just like a lot of supporters out there, but the fact that I can?t get SnapChat or even a simple banking app is killing me. I don?t need the latest games or hypes (although some of you may consider Snap Chat a hype), I just want decent support by developers who don?t look at us like we are the retarded sibling of the pack.
The 2nd biggest reason is the fact that I got bored with Windows Phone. Looking at the same interface for 4 years Is getting me depressed. With WP7.8/WP8/WP8.1 they?ve added a TON of features to the OS but practically none to the tile system. Now you can add a background, resize the tiles and chose a colour pre-picked by Microsoft.
The third reason was the breakdown of my Lumia 925. I listen music A LOT. And after 1 year of heavy usage my audio port just refused to work properly. After returning it 4 times (!!) to Nokia the port was finally made but due to shipping the phone so much a problem with my motherboard occurred. That was a game-over for a wonderful phone which I still love today. The speakers didn?t work anymore and the audio port just said screw you.
This caused me to loan a phone from a friend, who is a gigantic Apple ******. Yes ladies and gentlemen?s, due to the lack of no money I turned to the dark side and used an iPhone 4s for 4 months. And guess what? It isn?t that bad to be honest. Yes, the interface is outdated and there is no way to customize your interface like you could on a Windows Phone? but it worked. All the apps are there and iMessage is light-years ahead of WhatsApp or BBM in case of speed. Their music app really does work like it should and you have iTunes to sync everything to your phone while you use beautiful software unlike the Windows Phone software that looks like it has been developed in under 5 minutes. BUT, I still missed Windows Phone. The notification centre on Windows Phone is much better then on iOS and the keyboard is so much more pleasant to use. It?s hard to explain but Windows Phone feels much more homely to me.
So in the meantime, while discovering the iOS experience, I saved up for a new phone. And there I was in the shop, looking at a gorgeous white Lumia 930. On the left was a bunch of plastic Samsung?s and on the right the iPhone 5S (since I live in Belgium, every phone you buy is off-contract. The only phone you could chose on-contract is the iPhone 5s/6). And when I went up the counter to ask for a Lumia 930 I saw a HTC one M7 lurking at me in the corner of the room. Since it is the older model they didn?t bother to put it under a shiny spotlight, but it still caught my attention. When tasting the Android experience through the eyes of HTC?s Sense 6 I discovered that Android isn?t as laggy as people told me. In fact, it was as fast as my precious Lumia 925! So there I stood, a HTC one or a Lumia 930. My gut told me to go for the HTC. Why should I pay 500$ for the Lumia 930 if I could get the HTC one M7, which is a great phone, for 400$ AND I can run all the apps I want.
This decision is the reason why I post this, maybe boring, article/blog. My opinion about mobile OS?es has changed. I used to think that it was Windows Phone all the way! In some cases this remains, but mostly on low-end devices. This is THE place where Windows Phone can shine if the developers finally decide to support WP. On the mid-range market I would say it is a tie between iOS and WP. You could score a iPhone 4s or 5 for under 300$ on ebay and this would probably be the better choice. Due to the lack of apps it would be kinda stupid to go for a Lumia 735, a selfie phone, which isn?t able to run Snapchat. I hope you guys see the logic in that! For the high-end I would definitely go with android since you get the most fun for you cash. If you spent 500$ or more on a phone, you should expect to customize everything and be able to run all the apps you want. Yes, if you have Samsung TouchWizz causes the OS to lag from time to time, but on my HTC One with Sense 6 I haven?t experienced any lag in the last couple of weeks.
For the moment being I?m still following Windows Central every day and still supporting the platform (like giving my old 920/925/830 to my family). I?m excited to see what WP10 will bring and if there is a successor to the almighty 1020. Until the app gap doesn?t close I?m sticking with Android, but be aware my WP-loving friends, one day I will return!
Greetings from Belgium!
J. VM
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