Switching platforms? | Thinking of leaving?...comment here!

[fatclue_98]

Your soul.

Seriously, as much as I love th UI on Windows Phone, I am so disgusted with MS that I would have left by now if it weren't for Apple and Google. I won't be caught dead using an Apple product for many reasons and I refuse to use any product made by a company that is essentially another branch of GOVT that thinks my life belongs to them. So there goes my 2 options. If I were forced, I would go Android and disable everything Google. But I just can't do it...yet.

Technically you could but would involve hackery of the highest magnitude. You could sideload whatever apk you needed but if any of those apps require Google Play services then you're stuck. I have a BlackBerry Passport and I use Android apps that have been "patched" to remove GP services. I don't know if this exists for straight Androids but member Cobalt on Crackberry is revered for his tireless work getting GP services and even the Play Store on OS10 devices. The trick is to follow the steps set forth by the creator and not think you're smarter than him/her and try to take shortcuts or omit steps. That is a recipe for disaster and a free trip to Hard Reset-ville.

 

[Snoops8]

Your soul.

Seriously, as much as I love th UI on Windows Phone, I am so disgusted with MS that I would have left by now if it weren't for Apple and Google. I won't be caught dead using an Apple product for many reasons and I refuse to use any product made by a company that is essentially another branch of GOVT that thinks my life belongs to them. So there goes my 2 options. If I were forced, I would go Android and disable everything Google. But I just can't do it...yet.

Not a fan of google either. However, I do have an android phone, but it's made by Xiaomi and it's the Chinese edition (ordered online, I don't live in china) which has all google services stripped out (that's why I picked the Chinese edition). I have a hosts file which blocks all ads, and I can still install any app I want in the google play store. It was a piece of cake -- basically I just installed one app, which allows access to the play store without the use of any hackery whatsoever.

I've been thinking of returning to windows via Alcatel Idol 4s though, but all these talks of bugs and problems with Edge have me so far taking a wait and see approach.

 

[Player Piano]

Your soul.

Seriously, as much as I love th UI on Windows Phone, I am so disgusted with MS that I would have left by now if it weren't for Apple and Google. I won't be caught dead using an Apple product for many reasons and I refuse to use any product made by a company that is essentially another branch of GOVT that thinks my life belongs to them. So there goes my 2 options. If I were forced, I would go Android and disable everything Google. But I just can't do it...yet.

Perhaps wait for the upcoming Sony phones running Jolla. I know that got my attention.

 

[Awhispersecho]

I have a Passport as well and I am familiar with Cobalt though I haven't done any of that yet. Other than my pure hatred for Apple and Google, the main issue holding me back is that I like the benefit of being all in on 1 ecosystem. That's why as much as I love the Passport, and I do love it, I was never able to get myself to switch over to it. I should look into the Cobalt solution though. I don't know, I just feel like if I'm going to go elsewhere on the phone side of things, I'd want to go all the way and not just use a different phone. Really wish there was another OS out there.

 

[Joe920]

Huh, just learned that iPhones don't support the high quality aptx Bluetooth audio protocol. I think I enjoyed my brand new aptx compatible Bluetooth receiver with my 950XL for about a month before switching to the iPhone. d'Oh!!!!

 

[Chubbynaga]

Idol 4s in my experience using it was really good. Edge was great as well, no issue other than platform issues that affect all W10M users.

 

[Snoops8]

Idol 4s in my experience using it was really good. Edge was great as well, no issue other than platform issues that affect all W10M users.

I've heard that edge is really slow, drains the batteries, takes forever when using the back function, et cetera. The complaints reminds me of how edge was back on windows 8. I don't have experience with windows 10 mobile though. I also keep on reading about how people with 950 phones complaining about bugs and such and slow performance.

Are you saying the Idol 4s works just fine with edge and you don't have any of those problems? How's monument browser (I hear that has adblock)?

A question: I hear performance with windows 10 mobile is better with a fast processor. However, back in the Windows Phone 7/8 days, they were known as phones that could run extremely fast even with low end processors. What happened?

 

[fatclue_98]

I've heard that edge is really slow, drains the batteries, takes forever when using the back function, et cetera. The complaints reminds me of how edge was back on windows 8. I don't have experience with windows 10 mobile though. I also keep on reading about how people with 950 phones complaining about bugs and such and slow performance.

Are you saying the Idol 4s works just fine with edge and you don't have any of those problems? How's monument browser (I hear that has adblock)?

A question: I hear performance with windows 10 mobile is better with a fast processor. However, back in the Windows Phone 7/8 days, they were known as phones that could run extremely fast even with low end processors. What happened?

I have an Idol and I don’t have any performance issues with Edge other than rendering. Edge was never available on WP 8.1 so you must be thinking about Internet Explorer 11. Windows 10 Mobile indeed runs better on devices with ample RAM. Monument Browser isn't any better than Edge for rendering pages but it does have a built-in AdBlock and works with Continuum.

 

[anon(50597)]

I have an Idol and I don’t have any performance issues with Edge other than rendering. Edge was never available on WP 8.1 so you must be thinking about Internet Explorer 11. Windows 10 Mobile indeed runs better on devices with ample RAM. Monument Browser isn't any better than Edge for rendering pages but it does have a built-in AdBlock and works with Continuum.

Agree. No issues here with my Idol4s.

Sent from mTalk on my SP4

 

[Snoops8]

I have an Idol and I don’t have any performance issues with Edge other than rendering. Edge was never available on WP 8.1 so you must be thinking about Internet Explorer 11. Windows 10 Mobile indeed runs better on devices with ample RAM. Monument Browser isn't any better than Edge for rendering pages but it does have a built-in AdBlock and works with Continuum.

Thanks for the info. Regarding Edge: I didn't mean WP 8.1 though -- I meant Windows 8 (PC). On Edge (win 8 pc), no matter the computer, every time I would hit "back" on the browser it would take forever to load the page.

 

[RumoredNow]

Perhaps wait for the upcoming Sony phones running Jolla. I know that got my attention.

Thanks for that. I missed it. Now it has my attention.

 

[Awhispersecho]

Yeah, Edge works really well at least on higher end devices. It's very fast on my 1520 and 950 Xl. It just absolutely demolishes the battery. I mean an hour at the most of using Edge and the battery goes from 100% to 0%. The only issue is that it still doesn't sync favorites from Edge on other devices to Edge on the phone because..well...Microsoft.

 

[libra89]

Yeah, Edge works really well at least on higher end devices. It's very fast on my 1520 and 950 Xl. It just absolutely demolishes the battery. I mean an hour at the most of using Edge and the battery goes from 100% to 0%. The only issue is that it still doesn't sync favorites from Edge on other devices to Edge on the phone because..well...Microsoft.

Yeah I wish that Edge was more ​battery friendly.
It really doesn't help matters when you have to use it as a workaround because that's your only choice and that's what you have to deal with.
For quick things, it's fine. For 15+ minute sessions, it goes quick.

In my experience, I have noticed​ that I get slightly better battery life by not using it.

 

[tgp]

Thanks for the info. Regarding Edge: I didn't mean WP 8.1 though -- I meant Windows 8 (PC). On Edge (win 8 pc), no matter the computer, every time I would hit "back" on the browser it would take forever to load the page.

Kind of a side note, but how are you using Edge on a Windows 8 machine?

 

[Player Piano]

Thanks for that. I missed it. Now it has my attention.

For me that was the biggest/most interesting news from MWC this year.

 

[libra89]

I have had my iPhone SE for almost a year and I still really like it a lot. Now that new storage levels have been announced, I'm debating if I should upgrade to the 32gb or not. I'm one of those weirdos who is fine with 16gb.

In related news, I have a Pixel on the way and since I just dropped money for that, I don't know if I want to drop more money at this time for a storage bump, but I don't think I would be opposed to doing it next month though LOL.

The X Compact was a bust camera wise. I think I'm done with Sony.

Edit: @Joe920 thoughts on the 128gb SE? Are you going to keep your 6s+ or go the SE route?

 

[Player Piano]

The original announcement out of MWC said a range of Sony phones will run Jolla. The X was the only phone they displayed. Having the XZ now for a few weeks the camera is very good even lacking OIS. I think what struck me about this news was that it confirmed the momentum Jolla was generating after China announced their large investment in the OS.

 

[libra89]

The original announcement out of MWC said a range of Sony phones will run Jolla. The X was the only phone they displayed. Having the XZ now for a few weeks the camera is very good even lacking OIS. I think what struck me about this news was that it confirmed the momentum Jolla was generating after China announced their large investment in the OS.

That can be interesting to try out. I don't have anything against Sony. Just tired of their smaller phones having cameras that suck in low light. The XZ is probably different though.

 

[Joe920]

Edit: @Joe920 thoughts on the 128gb SE? Are you going to keep your 6s+ or go the SE route?

Ha, I was just headed over to this thread to post about the availability of a 128GB SE. I think it would probably have been a better buy for me. The pricing on that model is close to what I paid for a like-new 64GB 6S+, and I'm already finding myself having to manage storage space by keeping some albums off the 6S+. 128GB would be great.

That said, having lived with the 6S+ for a while the thing I dislike the most is the fact that it takes bad low-light pictures. I guess I take a lot of sunset pics and late evening shots, and the grainy skies I get with the iPhone kind of kill those pics. I think the SE has that same camera, so it wouldn't resolve my biggest gripe with the iPhone.

On a related note, I'm still super annoyed with the default camera app forcing people to use 4:3 aspect ratio. The 3rd party camera apps that allow 16:9 are OK, but not great, so I can either have 16:9 pictures and a bad user experience, or an OK native camera app that shoots pics that look stupid on the phone (black bars on the side) or manually crop all pics down to 16:9. I'm still amazed there are iPhone users that say "just crop all your pictures if you like 16:9". Eh.. RDF much?

TL;DR: iPhone SE 128GB: same great apps + same crappy camera experience = no buy

 

[libra89]

Ha, I was just headed over to this thread to post about the availability of a 128GB SE. I think it would probably have been a better buy for me. The pricing on that model is close to what I paid for a like-new 64GB 6S+, and I'm already finding myself having to manage storage space by keeping some albums off the 6S+. 128GB would be great.

That said, having lived with the 6S+ for a while the thing I dislike the most is the fact that it takes bad low-light pictures. I guess I take a lot of sunset pics and late evening shots, and the grainy skies I get with the iPhone kind of kill those pics. I think the SE has that same camera, so it wouldn't resolve my biggest gripe with the iPhone.

On a related note, I'm still super annoyed with the default camera app forcing people to use 4:3 aspect ratio. The 3rd party camera apps that allow 16:9 are OK, but not great, so I can either have 16:9 pictures and a bad user experience, or an OK native camera app that shoots pics that look stupid on the phone (black bars on the side) or manually crop all pics down to 16:9. I'm still amazed there are iPhone users that say "just crop all your pictures if you like 16:9". Eh.. RDF much?

TL;DR: iPhone SE 128GB: same great apps + same crappy camera experience = no buy

Thank you for answering! That sucks that it takes bad low light pictures for you, but I understand why you wouldn't bother with it.