Is there anything unique left in windows phone ?

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damonator98

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Lately, microsoft for better or worse has been giving away all the wp-only apps to other platforms. This is not neccesarely a bad thing, but it makes me wonder if there's anything unique left apart continuum which while being a neat feature in reality is not that special and needed. Also while exploring w10m preview I noticed some kind of androidishnes (compared what I saw to my friends one plus two running cyanogen) which led me to question if ms is giving away or simply removing (look at the photos app in 8.0, 8.1 and 10) wp uniqueness. Maybe I'm a bit pessimistic but and simply wrong (I would like to be proved wrong) but now only real day to day differences are menu + few core apps + some limitations (non existing functions) + missing apps, which makes wp look inferior to android in every way. What do you guys(and girls) think ? :)
 
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cracgor

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I agree. Maybe the only difference is the OS includes a lot that you use apps for on the other systems. The only reason it is that way is because the apps don't exist in windows. I remember when I switched to windows phone writing a review that the phone really was centered around you and your contacts. It made life easy to communicate across platforms. That and at the time live tiles seemed like a neat way to display information.

Fast forward to now, live tiles look messy as the system lets you use backgrounds. The information is not updated often enough and is often no different than an icon with the number count on it. A shell of the people and photo apps exist with limited functionality that requires opening the respective app. Even great apps like Zune were destroyed over time because of lack of users.

Then the final nail in the coffin for me was instability to the point I couldn't use it because of reboots and problems with the dual Sim variant and voicemail.

When everything became so bad that I switched to Android, I realized all the false things I let myself believe. I honestly believe that practically the cameras are no better on Lumia. Even the 1020, because of lag takes blurred pictures unless you are absolutely still. It makes the quick camera of the iPhone defeat it hands down in my opinion for daily use. The 950 series speeds that up, but it just brings the camera up to the level of the competition, not beyond. My LG phone feels smoother and faster than my 950xl did. I never had to hard reset it. I have many more apps. It is easier to use for normal functions. For example I used my Walgreen's card today on my phone. The process to load it used to take 15-30s. Now I can pull it up in 2-3s. It seems like a lot bigger difference in like. Apps don't crash or fail to load correctly nearly as much if at all. I hate in windows phone switching apps in the middle of typing something because often when it finishes resuming when switching back, all of my typing is gone. Same problem with downloads which disappear when switching apps.

I think every windows phone user owes it to himself to research the competition and try out one of the others for a week before committing to this OS any further. Sure each of us has spent a lot of time drinking this KoolAid and if users don't stay the OS will die, but I don't see how that is any of our problems. None of us are paid to beta test the hardware and software. Instead we are asked for our time and money. Microsoft isn't running a kick starter. They need to get over themselves.

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soil2oil

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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

I agree in the last part, they need to get over themselves.
The other OS's do have issues as well, they are far from perfect in their own rights.
But, we should watch it. Seems talk like this will get someone banned by mods in the WC forums, they are VERY controlling lately,lmao.
 

wpn00b

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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?



This was a great post. I agree with some of what you've said. It is all grounded in reality, but I must also agree that Microsoft was onto something back then in the days of Zune and WP 7/8 and it's gotten worse, not for lack of apps but for loss of actual innovation, creativity and differentiation.

I liked not needing separate apps for everything. I like Live Tiles. I like Microsoft. Honestly I don't think apps are the problem. WP7 solved that with the People Hub. It's just the black sheep of the mobile industry simply because it's different. We are near the end of a very long process of Microsoft slowly dismantling everything that was good and rebuilding it to be more like the others.

There are flashes of brilliance here and there but right now, they are simply putting humpty dumpty back together again. We know how that nursery rhyme ends but I still believe a major OS such as Windows is bound to rebound in the end. Plus I like being different.
 

RumoredNow

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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

But, we should watch it. Seems talk like this will get someone banned by mods in the WC forums, they are VERY controlling lately,lmao.

[INFO]
Nope. It's not the negativity or dislike of Microsoft's product or policies. Infractions come from disrespecting people.

Now if you want to earn violations, talking about Moderator Actions on the open board is a violation. If you have an issue with a post, use the report button. If you have an issue with a volunteer (Ambassador or Moderator) PM their Team Leader and discuss it in private. If you want to go over someone's head, our Community Manager, James Falconer is an approachable person and a very knowledgeable and helpful professional.

Here are the rules: Community Rules & Guidelines - Mobile Nations Forums Moderators have to abide by them as well.

Basically if you want to start a bunch of interpersonal drama, that is a no-go situation.

If you don't like Windows Mobile, just discuss the issues and not other users.[/INFO]
 
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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

I think every windows phone user owes it to himself to research the competition and try out one of the others for a week before committing to this OS any further. Sure each of us has spent a lot of time drinking this KoolAid and if users don't stay the OS will die, but I don't see how that is any of our problems. None of us are paid to beta test the hardware and software. Instead we are asked for our time and money. Microsoft isn't running a kick starter. They need to get over themselves.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

Nah i don't owe it to anything or anyone to test out the competition. I don't care for Android and ios only offers me a solid backup should Microsoft abandon windows but id be settling then.

I personally have had little to nonissue with windows phone except for the browser and in the messaging app for windows 10.
For me, the os offers a solid and cohesive experience within the Microsoft realm,I love live tiles and I find android to be an ugly mess with potential security issues....windows still has a lot of good on it and uniqueness
 
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Zeem Frostmaw

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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

Still super fond of the Windows Phone style and it's dark themes tbh. Makes the phone a joy to use.
 

cracgor

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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

Nah i don't owe it to anything or anyone to test out the competition. I don't care for Android and ios only offers me a solid backup should Microsoft abandon windows but id be settling then.

I personally have had little to nonissue with windows phone except for the browser and in the messaging app for windows 10.
For me, the os offers a solid and cohesive experience within the Microsoft realm,I love live tiles and I find android to be an ugly mess with potential security issues....windows still has a lot of good on it and uniqueness

That is the same attitude I normally held <unwanted insult removed by Moderator> in contempt for. Sadly I found myself choosing Microsoft products just because they were Microsoft products. I was close-minded. I don't even care if people are happy with WM10 and hate the experience on others, but it is the good consumer that checks out all his options before committing himself to something. For example I'm surprised how many people think the 950 is somehow unique in hardware, aside from the iris scanner, which is really less functional than a fingerprint.

I do appreciate your loyalty to windows and Microsoft, but I fail to see how every thing one company does has to be the best. I do not think <removed by Moderator as paraphrase of redacted insult> is a reasonable way to explain why something is worse. It makes me feel like you don't have much experience outside of WM which is my point. I believe the last remaining WM loyalists either don't know what the other OSes are like and base their decisions of what things were like 5 years ago, are afraid to admit that things haven't gotten any better in the past 7 years, or truly love the OS and will stay with it no matter how dysfunctional it is. Maybe you are really in that last camp, but if you don't use another phone, it is unfair to just label it as crap.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
 
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odin09

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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

I can't comment on Android as I have never used it. IOS on the other hand I have tried, on an iPhone 6. It is fine but I greatly prefer windows. I like my navigation with a back arrow. I miss the tiles on iOS. I did not like the lack of customization and I hated little things like adjusting settings. The keyboard was also a huge negative for me. IOS is good for many but is definitely not for me.
 

cracgor

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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

How so? I have used the HTC trophy, Lumia 1520, Lumia 1020, Lumia 640, and Lumia 950xl for the past 5 years. I was happy until the 950xl. I do not just label it as garbage. I had real problems that made the phone unusable. It rebooted continuously with SD card (which works fine in every other device I've used the card in), reboots occasionally otherwise, has no visual voicemail, and lacks so support for things like dictation and references I need for my job. All this taken into account led me to abandon my loyalty. I am not just labeling WM crap. I do like some things about it, but a lot of those are things I remember from WP7. Now I recognize just how behind apps I used regularly are. Facebook automatically suggests pictures for me to share and let's me apply filters in app. Kindle let's me look up words in a dictionary and estimates how long it will take me to finish a chapter. Windows central had a nice layout. My browser loads every page. I can see how I used to be the same. I even was pretty passed when I returned my 950xl, but I've since gotten over it and am now just disappointed in my experience.

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Wayne1970

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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

Finding windows phone to be the better choice. I am fortunate enough to have multiple devices, covering the 3 OSes. IOS...works great, I just don't like it. Android.....to be honest, I just hate Google.
To each their own...
 

slivy58

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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

When I jumped back onboard the WP bandwagon in late 2012 my Ativ S did feel unique, today though I'm finding it tough to see all the "real" advancements WP was purported to get which has now taken away from its uniqueness, MS porting apps and such to the other platforms (kind of irksome when they haven?t concluded their own OS) diminishes the distinctiveness between WP and the others.

Had no troubles in the beginning bringing WPs into the mix when recommending a phone but can honestly say, in the past 15-16 months, it doesn't even cross my mind as a contender, can count on two fingers those people I know who would be willing to go through the rigmarole of downgrading, upgrading, hard reset, soft reset and so on? HEY, there?s your answer, that is what?s so unique about WPs over the competition these days ;)
 
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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

Sigh, you made me log into the actual website for this post....

I am not anything similar to an <derogatory term redacted by Moderator>. I don't think Windows Phone is the best because it is Windows phone or for Microsoft. Labeling someone an <redacted> is precisely what is wrong with the community. You feel the need to label people who feel strongly for a product that you otherwise don't agree with.

I don't "NEED" to try them just to test out the competition because people on a forum, I don't know and have no significance in my life(or me in theirs) suggest to do so. It is not being a 'good consumer'. I work in sales and I actually work with ALL PHONES. A good consumer is someone who chooses what is best for he or she on a daily basis...not someone who flirts with every single OS.

Furthermore to clarify, in my own personal experience I was an avid android user from 2008-2012.

To this date, I've owned over 40 android models since its inception....my favorites being HTC as they were the best at the time.

I thankfully found Windows phone and got off Android but I am forced to use Android enough daily at work to know, the OS has gotten prettier but it is still <poor> to me. Ugly UI, Performance issues, Storage issues. I have to deal with it daily when my mother stops by to figure out why her phone is constantly running out of storage and why her phone's gallery is seemingly adding pictures despite her deleting a bunch.

Android is a <poor> OS to me and aside from its apps, I see no benefit to it over Windows Phone and if I truly was app centric, that's where apple comes in.

I also used Apple this year, courtesy of T-mobile, for their #phoneshame giveaway during the summer via Twitter. Got an iPhone 6. Beautiful hardware and I do like the OS more so than Android but I prefer the Live tiles and unique interface of Windows 10. I dislike Apple's "We know better than you" mentality. I dislike that the simplest of things such as making a ringtone are complicated. I dislike that I am forced to use iTunes. I dislike the fact that apple censors a lot of their apps based on their ideology and not necessarily because said apps are bad.

I am a user who prefers to be in ONE ECOSYSTEM and I see no real reason to be in multiple ones. I don't use Gmail, I rarely use Google unless Bing cant find something for me, I don't use hangouts because I use skype and other alternatives that are cross platform, and I only use youtube begrudgingly.

Desktop......Chromebooks are of no significance and use to me.

Apple's ecosystem is not that great and I find their hardware pretty but as long as Mac OS continues being a non-touch OS, i'd never buy it.

Microsoft's ecosystem offers me what I need and want and desire and the Windows Phone OS is an extension of that and despite lacking some apps I'd like to have, the OS to me is still better than whatever <poor alternative> Apple or Google throughout.

That isn't me being a <redacted>...that's me being someone who grew sick of Google and left 3 years ago and sees no real reason to go back to it today and someone who would only use Apple as a last resort if Windows phone ever was abandoned.

That's me being a good consumer to choose what works for me :)

I suggest you both not tell someone what they ought to do and stop labeling people as <redacted> simply because they do not agree with your ideology. Furthermore, you are on a windows phone fan site not a platform agnostic fan site.

<quotes removed... too much bother to clean it all up>
 
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RumoredNow

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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

[WARN]What did we just discuss about sticking to the issue and keeping off of other people as a topic?[/WARN]

Temporarily closed.
 

RumoredNow

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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

[WARN]If we cannot be respectful, this thread will be closed down permanently.

Do Not make things personal and call others out by name or quote. Stick to the issues and not other members.

Do Not use derogatory names for users of other platforms or sling the phrase "******" around.

Do Not assume you know what anyone else's experience is.

Try to use specific examples and avoid broad sweeping strokes: always/everyone/all of them/etc.[/WARN]
 

damonator98

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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

Few days ago I looked at the prices my carrier was selling 950 and 950XL (600? and 700? respectively with dock included as a gift) and thought for myself that I'd never but them, because for this money you actually get the beta OS, which's just terrible considering that people who pay this money for a phone just want it to work and the chance to have bad experience is bigger than ever. I would have no problem having to restart phone, search for bugs or even reflash the OS, but my mom would go literally insane and would walk around all stressed if she had to beta test phone she had paid 700? for. I since jumping into Wp in late 2013 (lumia 520 and now 920), became some kind of wp ambassador in my family and among my friends, also I be came obsessed with phone news and many people started asking me to help decide which phone to buy. I've recommended wp to many people, ~7 of them have actually bought the phones. Now I feel quite guilty because apps never came and particularity in my region when companies release official app for public transport or parking, they all ignore windows. Moreover ms for some reason don't allow people to at least use English Cortana version in my region, leaving us with no personal assistant at all (I can't see how's that better especially when a lot of people can speak English pretty well). Just recently I stopped recommending WP because my eyes have opened somehow allowing me to see the flaws of the system, so I was eagerly waiting to upgrade to W10m hoping for something "special" which would bring my hopes up, but I was quite disappointed. I became a Nokia fan since my first phone in 2006 (Nokia 6020), since then all I wanted were Nokias. From time android showed up and my friends started carrying first smartphones with early android versions I have always hoped for Nokia to turn the android way, but sadly it never did. At first I didn't like WP, but as soon as got used to it I started liking it, then it really looked somewhat distinctive and innovative. Soon I discovered wpcentral and slowly became a fan of the community and my phone os. And only a few days ago I stopped to think for a minute, what I was missing while using Windows phone, I understood that I have always been living in hope that "next update will fix everything" and everything will Soon? be out of Beta?, apps will eventually (not)come(see Astoria being postponed). So I decided to give WP last chance till February or March, and if nothing improves I'll just simply buy used Lg G3 for a bargain. One day when situation improves I'll come back. :)
 

Guytronic

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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

Windows phone and it's operating system are definitely unique.

The question is "is the platform unique enough to satisfy the ongoing quest for the maverick users out there that thirst for a rebel OS"
So far no...

Still amazes me why WP or MM (whatever) hasn't flown to the pinnacle.
Even with limited apps and continual Microsoft caused lumps in the road Windows on a phone in my opinion should have reached fantastic levels.

Not to be perhaps...
There is tons of rhetoric/analysis why Microsoft Mobile is dragging an anchor.
I think Microsoft is the anchor in this case.

Maybe the company is just being nice at this point which is unheard of these days with corporations.
 

Laura Knotek

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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

Windows phone and it's operating system are definitely unique.

The question is "is the platform unique enough to satisfy the ongoing quest for the maverick users out there that thirst for a rebel OS"
So far no...

Still amazes me why WP or MM (whatever) hasn't flown to the pinnacle.
Even with limited apps and continual Microsoft caused lumps in the road Windows on a phone in my opinion should have reached fantastic levels.

Not to be perhaps...
There is tons of rhetoric/analysis why Microsoft Mobile is dragging an anchor.
I think Microsoft is the anchor in this case.

Maybe the company is just being nice at this point which is unheard of these days with corporations.
I believe that many of these issues are due to the fact that Microsoft bought a phone hardware company and didn't know how to best manage it. Microsoft has always been a stellar software company, but hardware was not its forte. Microsoft might have done a better job if it had contracted with a hardware company to make its phones, rather than owning the business outright (such as the way Google contracts with a hardware company to make its Nexus line). Google briefly owned Motorola Mobility but sold it to Lenovo, since it knew that hardware was not its forte.

I believe that Microsoft would be in a better place with mobile devices if it focused exclusively on mobile software and let another independent company handle the hardware.
 

Guytronic

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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

I believe that Microsoft would be in a better place with mobile devices if it focused exclusively on mobile software and let another independent company handle the hardware.

An excellent assessment!

Moving away from the very best hardware engineering element for Windows Mobile hardware has proven to be a very large error.
 

Laura Knotek

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Re: Is there something unique left in windows phone ?

An excellent assessment!

Moving away from the very best hardware engineering element for Windows Mobile hardware has proven to be a very large error.
Microsoft also laid off many of the employees from the phone hardware division, which doesn't help.
 
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