Former Blackberry owners now on a Windows Phone

[crack_me_up]

Hi there,

I'm hoping to start a hub to help former Blackberry owners that have made the switch to Windows/Microsoft. I've used BB for over a decade but I've just converted to a Nokia 830. I feel like an old dog learning new tricks! Any WP advice would be great and if there's any other former BB owners (expecially from the Q&Z series) you might be able to help share some of your discoveries and tips you found with the Windows Mobile platform.

Some questions:

• What are you using to replace the "remember" app from BB for to-do lists and notes. For notes I figure I will use OneNote but I still haven't figured out tasks. I want the ability to attach alarm reminders to a to-do task. I don't think OneNote can do that.
• Is there a way to quickly put the device in silent or vibrate mode?
• Is there a native timer and stopwatch or do I need to download an app?
• Is there an LED light that can flash for notifications?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[SteveNoza]

Hey welcome! I came over to Windows Phone because of Q10 double typing issue.
-For Remember replacement I'm using OneNote and Evernote, I started using Evernote with BB10 anyhow.
-As far as quickly silencing the phone, the easiest is just to press and hold the down volume key.
-I don't use a timer
-No LED notification, but with the 830 you can set Glance to show notifications (I think)

 

[noersetiawan]

Welcome!
- What you're looking for is Tasks, it's integrated into Calendar app, just go to Calendar tap the 3-dot button and select tasks. However there are plenty of alternative in Store just search for 'to do' or 'task'. Tasks is synced with Outlook, just like Remember is synced with Evernote, if you want advanced functions you might want to use Evernote or Wunderlist app instead.
- Yes, to silent just press the volume button all the way down, to control vibration, when you press the volume button the volume panel shows up, tap the down arrow, all the control is there.
- Currently there's no native timer and stopwatch, might come with Windows 10 later. Again, there are plenty of alternative in Store.
- LED flash currently isn't supported but will come with Windows 10 later. Glance screen does the same thing and provide more information, but is not as flashy as LED. Current phone that has LED and will be activated by Windows 10 are Lumia 73x and 93x.

 

[SteveNoza]

More info on Evernote;
It's functionally very much like Remember, it has alarms and uses tags. It has good functionality on Windows Phone except when you close a note to save it, pay attention to the sync progress and let it finish before closing the app because unlike BlackBerry, you need to keep Evernote open for the sync process to finish.
I also use OneNote for some previous Remember stuff, it's not as robust as Evernote, but it syncs flawlessly on Windows Phone.
I tried out Tasks, but found it a little cumbersome, and lacked features that I wanted, but we did get a update for Calendar since then, so it may be better now.
I use my phone to take notes, etc. in areas where I have little to no service, OneNote works great in this situation as it will sync later with no problems. Evernote gets a little glitchy in this situation, even when you pin the note or notebook to the device.

 

[crack_me_up]

Thanks for the info! I have tried Evernote in the past while I was still on BB but I didn't really embrace it. I have downloaded Wunderlist and I'll see how that goes.

So far I'm enjoying the device. I've discovered how to configure "quiet hours" to replace bedside mode from my blackberry. I also really like the WordFlow typing...it's fantastic!!! I didn't think I could find something as good as the swipe but it's getting there And I'm trying to utilize Cortana to her full potential. So far so good!

Cheers