Want to Switch from Iphone

[RobertP1]

Let me start by saying that I have had almost every phone out there. It is a hobby and I love them all for one reason or another. My Daily Driver is an Iphone 6S+ and I have no problem with it. I want to make the switch to the 950XL. I want it for a few reasons, one being it is not the same freaking phone as everyone else in the world. It seem that everyone has an iPhone or a Galaxy.

I am looking for inspiration to make the move. Give me some reasons to switch. What is better about the 950XL over the Iphone 6s+???

Thanks

 

[N_LaRUE]

Well it's really a personal choice.

Are you a Microsoft person to begin with? Do you use their services? Then you may benefit more having a L950XL using Continuum for example.

If you're highly app centric, then you may find Windows restrictive. There's many apps still missing on the platform though there are some third party suppor. So you have to decide if that's ok with you.

The OS is still going through a transition with a mix of good and bad builds. You may find it a bit frustrating at times.

Other than that, I'd recommend getting a cheap Windows phone, load Windows Insider on it and try it out first. Make sure you like what you have. Of course the L950XL will be a better phone overall but it's the experience of the OS that's most important.

 

[ananve]

you have asked for it so here it is:
- L950xl has great 20mp camera. The pro functions are very rich and very easy to set. And you have a real camera button too
- Liquid cooling is very unique feature for a phone.
- Mozo cases can be very creative and create more distinctive from the other phones.
- Extremely flexible home screen.
- This is the home for Cortana.
- Now you can joy Windows Central Great community.
- micro SD
- Wordflow is available worldwide.

More to follow.


Posted from Lumia 640 W10M.

 

[aximtreo]

I think you made the best argument for the 950 XL yourself. You want something that's different from everyone else. Best reason I can offer. I have the 950 XL and while most don't notice, those that do are very impressed with the phone overall. Get and wear the smirk with pride.

 

[Summer_Moon]

Let me start by saying that I have had almost every phone out there. It is a hobby and I love them all for one reason or another. My Daily Driver is an Iphone 6S+ and I have no problem with it. I want to make the switch to the 950XL. I want it for a few reasons, one being it is not the same freaking phone as everyone else in the world. It seem that everyone has an iPhone or a Galaxy.

I am looking for inspiration to make the move. Give me some reasons to switch. What is better about the 950XL over the Iphone 6s+???

Thanks

Interesting, never thought someone with an iPhone would actually ask this kind of question

Anyways, so reasons 950XL is better than iPhone 6s+. First up, the camera. I know the iPhone is praised in tech journals that it has a superior camera to everything and everybody should bow down to it, but I am seriously in love with the camera on the 950XL. It is actually quite amazing, but it's one of those things that you have to try it to see.

Second, continuum. This is actually probably my main reason for wanting the phone. You will hear a lot of people on either side of the fence, either they hate it or they love it. It does require additional hardware, but once it's running it is awesome. I have wowed quite a few of my family members with it.

Third, the home screen. While it's not exactly "better" it is definitely different than the iPhone. And to me different is better and love being able to customize it. The live tiles are great too (assuming of course that the developer actually implemented this feature into their app).

I really don't know if the iPhone can do this, but being able to reply to an incoming message from the action center or the notification is really nice to have. Also, this irritates me about my iPhone - I can't share a picture through Bluetooth. The 950XL can (or any windows phone with Bluetooth).

One caveat to all of this. You have to be willing to fully switch to Microsoft services. If you don't or are not willing to, then you will most definitely hate the experience. I really think this needs to be a waiver that people need to sign before purchasing a Windows phone, something like "I promise not to whine or complain if I choose not to use Microsoft's services".

So in conclusion, there are some nice benefits to the 950XL. It can be rough, especially if you are used to having any app that you want (really everything is there except for SnapChat and banking apps) or if you are unwilling to move to using Microsoft only services.

I hope this helps , also if you can, go to a Microsoft store and try it out before you buy it.

 

[ananve]

I am actually about to come back to add to the point about sharing over Bluetooth and continuum but it's been mentioned already. Answering from notification is the unique benefit that I used to Wowed people as well.

Well, there are more benefits for guys like me who use Surface as things are synced across devices and more sync are coming along nicely.

For the downside of things, you can find it easily on this hatred coated internet. But hey, you asked us to do some persuasion here

Posted from my Surface 3 running W10

 

[RobertP1]

Thanks for the advice. I have played with the phone at the Microsoft Store. I liked the look and feel. Camera is HUGE for me and. I have heard many great things. I have had an Nokia 735 with the insider program on it and Windows 10 worked great.

The apps are tough, but am trying to make my life a little less app dependent. I have a Surface Pro 3 and work on Windows 10 at work, so as far as work goes it would be helpful.

My entire home is Apple and my wife and kids are 100% all in on Apple, so losing iMessage would be a bummer. But the main reason is to be different. My family and most people I meet act like they do not have another choice when it comes to a cell phone. I am not sure why that bothers me that much but it does...

I missed the boat a few weeks ago when the Microsoft store had it marked down $150.. I need to make another trip to the store.

 

[Summer_Moon]

Thanks for the advice. I have played with the phone at the Microsoft Store. I liked the look and feel. Camera is HUGE for me and. I have heard many great things. I have had an Nokia 735 with the insider program on it and Windows 10 worked great.

The apps are tough, but am trying to make my life a little less app dependent. I have a Surface Pro 3 and work on Windows 10 at work, so as far as work goes it would be helpful.

My entire home is Apple and my wife and kids are 100% all in on Apple, so losing iMessage would be a bummer. But the main reason is to be different. My family and most people I meet act like they do not have another choice when it comes to a cell phone. I am not sure why that bothers me that much but it does...

I missed the boat a few weeks ago when the Microsoft store had it marked down $150.. I need to make another trip to the store.

Well based off of that info, I think the 950XL is exactly what you need. Do note that Amazon sells it significantly cheaper than Microsoft. This part "I am not sure why that bothers me that much but it does..." is exactly why I remain on Windows Mobile. I have been asked numerous times why I "won't give up on Microsoft, everyone else has. Everyone else can see it is a failure and a horrible OS. All the smart people are using the best of the best now. You really need to grow up and move on." That really irritates me. So the more people say that to me the more I stay and get involved with the entire process. Thus the reason I am a Windows Insider and enjoy being there.

So if you have similar feelings, you will fit in perfectly with a Windows Phone. Any questions you come up with, WC is a great place to get them answered. I wish you luck!

 

[tgp]

My entire home is Apple and my wife and kids are 100% all in on Apple, so losing iMessage would be a bummer. But the main reason is to be different. My family and most people I meet act like they do not have another choice when it comes to a cell phone. I am not sure why that bothers me that much but it does..

I've said before that there is a time and a place to stand out from the crowd, but I do not believe a choice of smartphone platform is the the time or place. There is no advantage to it in real life (for that reason). You will lose support, which is currently WM's Achilles Heel.

I would liken it to buying a vehicle that burns CNG. You save on fuel, but the lack of places to refuel can be a killer. If you live in an area with CNG refueling stations and do not ever travel outside your home area, there are certainly advantages to be had. But you are limited in your use of the vehicle.

WM is similar. If you have a very narrow usage scope, and it does everything you need to do, then it can be an advantage. But you will be limited in what you can do.

But hey, if personal satisfaction is worth more to you than performance, then by all means go for it! Just be aware of what you're getting into.

 

[Summer_Moon]

I've said before that there is a time and a place to stand out from the crowd, but I do not believe a choice of smartphone platform is the the time or place. There is no advantage to it in real life (for that reason). You will lose support, which is currently WM's Achilles Heel.

I would liken it to buying a vehicle that burns CNG. You save on fuel, but the lack of places to refuel can be a killer. If you live in an area with CNG refueling stations and do not ever travel outside your home area, there are certainly advantages to be had. But you are limited in your use of the vehicle.

WM is similar. If you have a very narrow usage scope, and it does everything you need to do, then it can be an advantage. But you will be limited in what you can do.

But hey, if personal satisfaction is worth more to you than performance, then by all means go for it! Just be aware of what you're getting into.

I would have to disagree with your statements. I don't think WM has a "narrow usage scope". It works just like any other phone. The real difference is in developer support.

 

[tgp]

I would have to disagree with your statements. I don't think WM has a "narrow usage scope". It works just like any other phone. The real difference is in developer support.

The (lack of) developer support is exactly what gives it a "narrow usage scope".

 

[real0395]

Disclaimer: I didn't intend to write a huge essay on this, it all sort of came out as I was typing my thoughts. I know I come off as a "microsoft fan boy" or someone being paid to write great things about microsoft, but I actually just enjoy their services/products. I don't even know why I feel the need to justify this post, I guess I'm writing this for any potential trollers/attacks that I sometimes (*cough* all the time *cough*) see on tech sites/the internet in general.

I personally enjoy W10M and have the lumia 950xl, so I may sound biased in what I write. The funny thing is what you said about not having the same phone everyone else has is part of the reason why I go towards W10M (in fact before windows phone 7 came along, I was with Symbian on a nokia 808 purview! but I can't remember what the popular phone OS at that time was), but that's only a smaller reason among other things. I also will try not to repeat too much of what's already been written such as commenting on the camera. The list below isn't necessarily just reasons to convince you to go to W10M, but me trying to offer a balanced review from my observations/opinion on W10M as a whole and with some lumia 950xl specific things.

Hardware:

• Pros
  • expandable storage
  • 32gb internal storage
  • snapdragon 810 w/ "liquid cooling" (putting this in quotes because people seem to argue about whether it's REALLY liquid cooling)
  • nice camera
  • camera button (if that is important to you)
  • glance screen
  • USB-C
  • 3gb ram
  • dual sim (but they have single sim as well)
  • on-screen naviational buttons as opposed to being capacitive/permanently on the phone. This is a pro in my opinion because you can hide it/customize to change the colors, and you won't accidentally touch them if say you're just handling the phone while watching a video. Also it will change orientation depending how you hold the phone, where if it's built in as a capacitive hardware then obvioulsy it can't do that.
  • larger phone (if you prefer large phones)
  • wireless charging
  • replaceable battery (though I heard they are hard to buy?)
• Cons
  • battery life is good enough for me to get through the day, but I know for some people it isn't enough. Though part of it is optimizing the software, so battery life has improved for me as the builds progressed
  • no double tap the screen to wake it up (hopefully it'll come back soon)
  • USB-C (if that is not desirable to have for you)
  • some say it doesn't "look or feel" like a premium flagship phone because of the plastic, there are some backcover creakiness issues but for some people and me but it's really only a minor annoyance in my opinion
    • I will always appreciate a nice lookig phone, but I'm personally a function over form kind of guy. I'd rather have the hardware that actually makes a device premium/high-end rather than one that just looks like it without having the hardware to back it up.
  • larger phone (if you don't like large phones)
  • hard to buy replaceable battery? Haven't tried to purchase any myself, but heard they may be hard to get a hold of

Basic feel/operation of the OS:

• this is subjective, but OVERALL I like the organization and design of W10M. I have an iphone for work (they don't offer W10M as an option), and granted it's an older iphone 4S so the performance is likely subpar, but I really prefer how the OS works with W10M overall.
• quick note regarding actionable notifications (e.g. replying to a text message from the notification/action center), this is definitely in the most recent ios version as it is on my work iphone 4S

Apps:

• Pros
  • UWP Apps - if you are in the microsoft/windows 10 ecosystem then UWP apps are awesome especially with Continuum (though I haven't personally used continuum much). Basically it's the same app that runs on the phone/tablet/pc and it just resizes based on the device you're using. Also buying once will allow you to have it for all devices.
  • HOWEVER (and don't take this as a con), don't assume all apps are UWP even if it says "made for windows 10" in the app store, developers must still design/code the app to target the other device sizes. A lot of people get confused about this and then get mad. I do believe that UWP strategy has been picking up steam recently, so I think it will only grow from here even if the general amount of apps is currently much less than iPhone or Android.
  • There is some pretty decent 3rd party support for official apps that are missing though and some are better than the official apps... 6tag is the best 3rd party instagram app and (I think) he still plans to make it UWP so you could also use it on your pc/laptop (maybe the official instagram app will be UWP eventually, but I don't see it happening soon), mytube and tubecast are very good youtube apps, there used to be a pandora app for windows phone 8.1 (before the official one came out) that somehow allowed you to skip unlimited number of times

• Cons
  • Range/number of apps - I agree that if you are really dependent on apps/certain specific apps then you may become frustrated and W10M may not be for you (at least for now until it grows further)
  • some people complain that they can get better/the same microsoft services/apps on android or iPhone so there's
    "no reason" to stick with W10M.

Continuum

• Pros
  • connect your phone to a larger screen (either wirelessly via miracast OR wired with the hardware dock), hook up with either bluetooth mouse/keyboard and use your phone like a pc with your UWP apps (with the exception of running win32 software)
  • unique to W10M
  • you may not have a "regular" use for this (and that's ok), but it's really handy when/if you need it
• Cons
  • to some people this is a "gimmick" or useless if it doesn't run win32 software
  • miracast is slower than the wired hardware dock and may have some lag (for now at least, but obviously they will improve on this), so it's not necessarily say good for wirelessly projecting a movie onto a larger screen but great for things like typing a word doc or doing a powerpoint presentation
  • no win32 software as previously mentioned

Iris Scanner/windows hello

• Pros
  • I know apple has touch ID and windows hello supports fingerprint scanner even though the lumia 950xl doesn't have one, but I am happy with the iris scanner so far. It's still beta so it's not 100% of the time faster than using a fingerprint scanner, but it has been fast/consistent enough for me so far
    • caveat: when you do the initial set up, do the improve recognition like 15-20 times in various lighting conditions, angles, with/without glasses, etc. When you do this the iris scanner works well because it has much more data to work with. There have been people complaining that it takes a very long time for it to recognize them and then they dismiss it, but I think most of the time it's because they didn't input enough data for it to work well in a variety of conditions.
• Cons
  • The only con I've had with it so far (and hoping it's fixed now with .420, which so far so good after 5-6 days since setting it up) is that it would "forget" my data and I would have to repeatedly set it up again. It was/is definitely a bug in the software.
  • some people say they notice it as a big battery drainer, but I personally haven't seen it drastically effect my battery since I had that bug where it kept forgetting my data and I just left it off for a while till a new update came.

Ecosystem/integration with pc/tablets

• Pros
  • Tighter integration with Windows 10 tablets/pc (especially with the upcoming anniversary update)
  • Same Cortana on both pc and mobile,
  • There will be unified notifications across mobile and pc/tablet (i.e. dismissing on one device will allow you to dismiss it for all devices) (I think this comes with the anniversary update, but not completely sure)
  • I think there will be a hand-off like function where you can start something on one device and then finish it on another (I hate using the term hand-off because it kind of implies microsoft is ripping off apple but I don't remember the original term when microsoft first announced it) (and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing that companies copy from each other, but I hate it when people use that as everyone else doing it now as the inferior ones)
  • Soon you'll also be able to send/receive text messages from the pc (I think this is with the anniversary update, but not sure), kind of like imessage
  • Soon you'll also actually be able to use any windows 10 pc/laptop and essentially open/use your phone through the computer. On the PC/laptop the phone appears like any other windowed app which you can minimize, put in background, etc. (I think this is with the anniversary update, but not sure). I believe this will be similar to continuum except instead of needing say an unused monitor or TV screen, literally any (windows 10) screen will be able to connect to your phone.
• Cons
  • similar to the cons for apps, if you heavily rely on non-microsoft services like google hangouts, google maps, google drive (although there are some good 3rd party apps for this) etc. then you will probably find W10M frustrating as they (for now) will not provide their services for W10M.
  • It obviously works much better to use microsoft's services, but I disagree with whatever post that said you HAVE TO ONLY use microsoft services in order to enjoy the mobile experience. I mean if you use gmail for example, you can still login to your gmail and sync calendars/contacts/email, but I can't speak to how well it works since I've been using outlook for a long time now.

Live tiles

• Pros
  • Glanceable information from the home screen
  • Upcoming update (not sure when) of "chase-able tiles" where when you open an app through the live tile it will go to the specific thing it was showing on it at the time. So like if you have a news app and the live tile shows a specific story, opening the app by selecting the tile will go to that specific story
• Cons
  • some people also see this as a gimmick and not as useful as "widgets" on android where you can interact with it. I do agree it would be cool to interact more with the tiles and I think they are working on that (the last known thing I'm aware of involving this is the whole "exploding tiles" concept)

Overall, I will say I agree that when W10M was first released, it was not ready for prime time but it has come a long way since then. There are still some things being worked out on the mobile side so it can sometimes be unstable still, but I'm really happy with where things are going and how far they've come to the present. I think the biggest criticism most people have is the lack of apps/developer support, but if you don't need a lot of apps or do your homework to figure out if certain apps are absolutely necessary then you will know how to adjust accordingly or not if it's too important to have certain apps. Again, I really do think UWP apps are picking up momentum

The other thing is, and I'm agreeing with the articles I've read in the past here on Windows Central about this, is that you have to look at it from a bigger picture instead of isolating devices in their own categories of PC, tablets, 2-in-1 convertibles, laptops, phones, etc. The whole point is that Windows 10 is trying to be everywhere regardless of what kind of device, that's why you have hardware like hololens being developed/tested where you can run UWP apps on it. I also remember recently reading some article about microsoft opening up Windows Holographic to VR software and hardware makers. They are being very aggressive about this plan, though no doubt the mobile sector is their toughest challenge. With that in mind, I don't see them dropping mobile as some people (understandably) fear. I really do like the direction microsoft is going as a whole, though with some obvious bumps in the road, and I want to support that.

 

[Summer_Moon]

The (lack of) developer support is exactly what gives it a "narrow usage scope".

That is really not "narrow usage scope". I believe the usage scope is actually a lot broader than you are willing to admit. I have no idea what your personal opinions are about Microsoft or their mobile category. And I'm certainly not trying to convince anyone to purchase a Windows device (gave that up a long time ago), but it does get irritating when somebody makes these random claims like "narrow usage scope" and proceed to bash everything about a device.

I listed the caveats that I see earlier. I make it very clear exactly what you will lose and I really do not suggest Windows Phones to anyone because it will probably not be what they are interested in. If you use the device as it is intended to be used there is really only 1 thing that you lose - Snapchat. Which I also make very clear to anyone that is interested in a Windows Phone.

And it's not exactly like Windows Mobile is a vast wasteland with no apps and no developers. Also, one other thing "but I do not believe a choice of smartphone platform is the the time or place. There is no advantage to it in real life (for that reason). " First off, choosing a smartphone platform is exactly what everyone is doing. I'm not sure what phone you use, but you most likely have a favorite OS. I don't know your reasons for choosing a particular OS, but choosing one to be different and understanding what it means to be doing that is perfectly fine. Secondly, there are plenty of advantages to it, just look through this entire section of responses to somebody asking about it (coming from an iPhone) and you will see plenty of valid advantages (and yes, there are disadvantages too, which everyone has been listing).

I don't sugar coat Windows Mobile, but you chose to ignore everything good about the platform and instead went on to criticize everyone who chose to stay on the platform because of "being different". And then even continued to dis these people by saying "But hey, if personal satisfaction is worth more to you than performance". That's not exactly helpful. Now if you actually want to debate, then debate with valid reasoning. But leave the bashing and the belittling people out.

 

[Krystianpants]

Camera head to head: It uses 950 but it's similar to XL. XL does a bit better processing due to faster chip.

Camera phone head to head: Lumia 950 vs iPhone SE (6s)

Go through this thread and look at how awesome you can make your start screen look. I feel that you should see the whole thing because the variety is insane. And newer posts tend to have better start screens as people became more familiar with all the different things you can do. I guess you can start on the last page and go backwards.

http://forums.windowscentral.com/windows-10-mobile/340515-share-your-w10m-start-screens-backgrounds.html

A great review(though it's outdated and the OS has become much better, both performance and app wise). One of the best looking screens. Tiny bezel.

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL review: The Master Chief - GSMArena.com

Personlize the look of your phone to your own needs. You can do it because the back cover comes off and you don't need a case to make it look different. Doesn't have to look like everyone elses:

Products ? Mozo Accessories


A few examples:

 

[Jakoh]

Iphone 6s+ weighs 192grams.
950xl has a bigger screen and battery but weighs 178g.
Has a better screen in most ways.
GLANCE.
Better camera.
You can mirror it to most devices that support mirroring, unlike an iphone.
NFC bluetooth pairing - SOOOO SWEET.
Open payment system.
OneNote app has more features.

 

[realwarder]

It's a more personal phone with top notch camera. If you have can't live with apps, stay away. If you want to be different and have something super secure, want to unlock by looking at your phone, project as a full PC experience, and have frequent feature updates then 950xl is the way forward.

 

[cracgor]

That is really not "narrow usage scope". I believe the usage scope is actually a lot broader than you are willing to admit. I have no idea what your personal opinions are about Microsoft or their mobile category. And I'm certainly not trying to convince anyone to purchase a Windows device (gave that up a long time ago), but it does get irritating when somebody makes these random claims like "narrow usage scope" and proceed to bash everything about a device.

I listed the caveats that I see earlier. I make it very clear exactly what you will lose and I really do not suggest Windows Phones to anyone because it will probably not be what they are interested in. If you use the device as it is intended to be used there is really only 1 thing that you lose - Snapchat. Which I also make very clear to anyone that is interested in a Windows Phone.

And it's not exactly like Windows Mobile is a vast wasteland with no apps and no developers. Also, one other thing "but I do not believe a choice of smartphone platform is the the time or place. There is no advantage to it in real life (for that reason). " First off, choosing a smartphone platform is exactly what everyone is doing. I'm not sure what phone you use, but you most likely have a favorite OS. I don't know your reasons for choosing a particular OS, but choosing one to be different and understanding what it means to be doing that is perfectly fine. Secondly, there are plenty of advantages to it, just look through this entire section of responses to somebody asking about it (coming from an iPhone) and you will see plenty of valid advantages (and yes, there are disadvantages too, which everyone has been listing).

I don't sugar coat Windows Mobile, but you chose to ignore everything good about the platform and instead went on to criticize everyone who chose to stay on the platform because of "being different". And then even continued to dis these people by saying "But hey, if personal satisfaction is worth more to you than performance". That's not exactly helpful. Now if you actually want to debate, then debate with valid reasoning. But leave the bashing and the belittling people out.

There is more than just SnapChat missing. SnapChat is just the latest in social media apps that have been missed from the platform (before SnapChat, focus was Instagram and Pinterest). There's always missing apps and as a result features. Synology suite of apps to manage your NAS? Xfinity apps? Home Security App? Restaurant/Store specific app? Television channel app (HBO is the one I find most annoying to be absent)? Not to mention work related apps (Epic, Dragon EMR, etc). I also think there are a lot of useful apps and fortunately decent 3rd party apps, but there are more than 1 missing apps in the store. I would guess if you don't use any of these other apps or realize that they exist it is because you are content on Windows Phone and haven't looked at what is on the other phones, which is totally fine.

The difference between iPhone and Windows Phone users is iPhone users will see someone do something on Windows Phone and recognize the phone is different (looks or OS specific function). Windows Phone user will see someone do something on iPhone in an app and then look through the app store with fingers crossed. If you want to stand out, use a Windows Phone. If you want to be able to do the most on your phone, use iPhone. If you want to be in the middle, find the Android phone that is right for you.

 

[libra89]

I've said before that there is a time and a place to stand out from the crowd, but I do not believe a choice of smartphone platform is the the time or place. There is no advantage to it in real life (for that reason). You will lose support, which is currently WM's Achilles Heel.

I would liken it to buying a vehicle that burns CNG. You save on fuel, but the lack of places to refuel can be a killer. If you live in an area with CNG refueling stations and do not ever travel outside your home area, there are certainly advantages to be had. But you are limited in your use of the vehicle.

WM is similar. If you have a very narrow usage scope, and it does everything you need to do, then it can be an advantage. But you will be limited in what you can do.

But hey, if personal satisfaction is worth more to you than performance, then by all means go for it! Just be aware of what you're getting into.

This! Great analogy, by the way.

I understand the OP saying that he doesn't want to have what everyone else has. I can relate actually. I have an iPhone SE, and it's nice but the lack of customization on the inside especially and outside is a bummer. As a result, I occasionally switch to W10M with a new production release, and I continue to try different Android phones, hoping to get that happy medium. 8.1 was, but I'm not going to get into that.

RobertP1, the difference between some apps is like night and day! However, it would help if you shared apps that you must have, even though you are trying not to be app dependent. If your uses are just email, camera, phone and text, you should be fine.

 

[Summer_Moon]

There is more than just SnapChat missing. SnapChat is just the latest in social media apps that have been missed from the platform (before SnapChat, focus was Instagram and Pinterest). There's always missing apps and as a result features. Synology suite of apps to manage your NAS? Xfinity apps? Home Security App? Restaurant/Store specific app? Television channel app (HBO is the one I find most annoying to be absent)? Not to mention work related apps (Epic, Dragon EMR, etc). I also think there are a lot of useful apps and fortunately decent 3rd party apps, but there are more than 1 missing apps in the store. I would guess if you don't use any of these other apps or realize that they exist it is because you are content on Windows Phone and haven't looked at what is on the other phones, which is totally fine.

The difference between iPhone and Windows Phone users is iPhone users will see someone do something on Windows Phone and recognize the phone is different (looks or OS specific function). Windows Phone user will see someone do something on iPhone in an app and then look through the app store with fingers crossed. If you want to stand out, use a Windows Phone. If you want to be able to do the most on your phone, use iPhone. If you want to be in the middle, find the Android phone that is right for you.

Fair enough. I honestly have never needed any of the apps you mentioned. I know they exist, I just don't have a use for them. But you do bring up the point that there may be more than 1 app missing (although it is definitely not devoid of apps). I have mentioned this elsewhere, but bots and well coded mobile web pages could change the entire app paradigm.

Although, I don't entirely agree that if you want to do the most with your phone then iPhone is the answer. If you mean apps-wise then yes. Otherwise I would greatly disagree as there is way more to a phone than just apps.

Overall though, fair analysis and you are right there is more than 1 missing, just not really heavily focused on as missing. (also note that while a lot of what you mentioned is missing, it does vary greatly on which brand you go with. You could choose to support only the ones that support Windows Mobile. Just a suggestion that I thought I would throw out there).

 

[cracgor]

Fair enough. I honestly have never needed any of the apps you mentioned. I know they exist, I just don't have a use for them. But you do bring up the point that there may be more than 1 app missing (although it is definitely not devoid of apps). I have mentioned this elsewhere, but bots and well coded mobile web pages could change the entire app paradigm.

Although, I don't entirely agree that if you want to do the most with your phone then iPhone is the answer. If you mean apps-wise then yes. Otherwise I would greatly disagree as there is way more to a phone than just apps.

Overall though, fair analysis and you are right there is more than 1 missing, just not really heavily focused on as missing. (also note that while a lot of what you mentioned is missing, it does vary greatly on which brand you go with. You could choose to support only the ones that support Windows Mobile. Just a suggestion that I thought I would throw out there).

Right now apps on phones are like programs on a computer. Sure every phone comes with a web browser, personal assistant, camera, calculator, etc, but apps do add to what you can do. Like I decided that I want to try to learn how to solve the rubik's cube really fast (speed cubing--look it up, it is awesome). There are surely a lot of websites and youtube videos available to learn the algorithms, but there are apps that will let you take a picture of the rubik's cube, and it will tell you what moves to make to solve it most quickly...let's you see what you were going to do wrong so you can learn from your mistake. In short, I think it is wrong to discount apps. Apps have come a long way from TalkingTomCat and the light saber/gun apps. Those were toys. Apps are pretty awesome now.

Regarding your last paragraph, I look at it more like what is the overall best decision for me to make in supporting any purchase I make. I mean it can work both ways. If there are apps that make a person's life easier on only one brand of phone, that is strong incentive to switch to that brand. Likewise if there are a lot of apps that are slightly better on another brand, that is also incentive to use that particular brand of phone. For whatever reason, the phone with the most support from developers is iPhone, followed in close second by Android, and in distant third by Windows. Like you said, if you never used any of these apps, you never know what you are missing and can be content. Happiness is all relative anyway. People were just as happy before smart phones made our lives easier.