My Experience with 8.1, My Paradigm Shift to Android and my Dead Sprint back Home

z33dev33l

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Well, I've had an interesting couple of weeks in the cell phone world. I have been predominately a Windows Phone user since three days before the HD7 initially released (Managed to get one early) and have used most every Windows Phone since. I am, however, a developer and thus I do keep an Android device around to play with as I see fit. Well, this last week my trusty old 920 took a swim, courtesy of my three year old. It was an accident and it had a good life, I'm not too torn up about it. Problem is that I didn't want to shell out another $600 for a phone right away so I turned towards my Galaxy S4 for technological sustenance in the meantime. Considering I'd grown used to the wordflow keyboard and the notification panel, it couldn't be too painful, right? Wrong. This was awful.

First things first, this S4 had been purchased only weeks earlier. I got it for cheap so why not? Well, I got used to the cheapo fisher price feel after enough time but when I went to charge it for the first time, nothing. Absolutely nothing. So, I, after much scrutiny, had them send me another charger. This one showed charging but was dying faster than it charged even when it was off. I popped out the USB board and popped another one in and 4 days later had a functional phone. (As functional as Android gets anyway) So, I go to type. I don't know how anyone is comparing that to wordflow because it's awful. Samsung's swype-style keyboard is hands down the worst keyboard I have ever used. I corrected more words than it got right. Well, that sucks but whatever, it's temporary. Sure, it's possibly the most used feature on a phone but I'll put up with a lot.

Next trouble, the games that I'd downloaded on everything from my nexus tablets to my old G1, only about 2/3 of them would load. So many different hardware variations that on these apparently high end phones they couldn't load half the games. Well, there goes the whole apps argument. It has more apps... if you can use them. Then the apps they did have, Snapchat, vine, etc. were infinitely worse than Rudy Huyn's offerings... Like painfully bad. Yes, I do love snapchat. It sucks to see that a company like that can't pull it together as well as one guy.

Honestly, I don't see how anyone could use Android. I made the hastiest transition into a high end Windows Phone I could get by trading for the 1520 and I will never look back to Android for a daily driver again. I didn't want the 1520 because of the size but I needed something worthwhile as a daily driver and that thing was awful. android may seem like a pleasant alternative guys, but once you go Windows Phone, you develop standards.
 

SSgt Bruskowiz

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As a former droiduser I can say..your going to miss droid.
You are going to miss the sudden crashes and the forced closes of apps, not to mention the unexpected reboots.
WP8 is dull in comparison with Droid, everything works...yak....
Droid is sometimes just like Russian roulette, it work's or it almost works.
 

Markham Ranja

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Glad to hear that you're back to WP. However, I strongly disagree with your assertions that Android is as bad as that. My situation is the other way around - I have an L920 that I cannot use as a daily driver - the OS is not capable of some things I need (half-sensible email attachment capabilities for one) and there are a few apps that are important to me as well. In general, I've had none of the issues with Android that you detail (although I have only used Nexus devices), but I will agree that WP is more stable overall. Just that, to me, function always trumps form, I think. So all this that people say about consistent UIs and whatnot really don't make a difference to me.
 

worldspy99

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Glad to hear that you're back to WP. However, I strongly disagree with your assertions that Android is as bad as that. My situation is the other way around - I have an L920 that I cannot use as a daily driver - the OS is not capable of some things I need (half-sensible email attachment capabilities for one) and there are a few apps that are important to me as well. In general, I've had none of the issues with Android that you detail (although I have only used Nexus devices), but I will agree that WP is more stable overall. Just that, to me, function always trumps form, I think. So all this that people say about consistent UIs and whatnot really don't make a difference to me.

We know social is pretty bad on WP and that you can't play Quiz Up with your friends or you can't use Uber or Nest.....

Whatever....

I use a Nexus everyday as a tablet and a WP device for my phone and everything is just fine with the world :)
 

z33dev33l

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Glad to hear that you're back to WP. However, I strongly disagree with your assertions that Android is as bad as that. My situation is the other way around - I have an L920 that I cannot use as a daily driver - the OS is not capable of some things I need (half-sensible email attachment capabilities for one) and there are a few apps that are important to me as well. In general, I've had none of the issues with Android that you detail (although I have only used Nexus devices), but I will agree that WP is more stable overall. Just that, to me, function always trumps form, I think. So all this that people say about consistent UIs and whatnot really don't make a difference to me.

The nexus keyboard is slightly better but not by much. I searched for four days for a keyboard 1/10 as good as the 8.1 keyboard to no avail
 

worldspy99

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The nexus keyboard is slightly better but not by much. I searched for four days for a keyboard 1/10 as good as the 8.1 keyboard to no avail

+925!
I have a Nexus 4 and a Nexus 7. The keyboard is better on the tablet than the phone. But Word Flow on my 810 still runs circles around both the Nexus devices. This after the fact that Google reminds me every time I use the Swype keyboard that personalization is on!
 
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It's interesting because i have exactly the same problem but on WP 8/8.1. Microsoft keyboard, also on workflow, is missing a few key input methods that force me to go around with a Galaxy Note to send sms/emails in a certain form of Chinese. But your analysis is skipping on a key element. CHOICE. While i agree that the Samsung keyboard and the prediction and the swipe function all suck like a huge big family with the same DNA, Android, unlike any other OS around, gives you the opportunity to go pick your keyboard of choice (mostly free so they can pick your data and spy better). In my case i use Touchpal X and i can grant you that's a pleasure to use and a joy for the eyes. On top of it, it also allows me to type pinyin chinese in swipe mode with a speed that is unknown to most other keyboards in the Android world.
While the new wordflow keyboard is one of the fastest, most accurate ones, the input system in WP is still deeply lacking. And WP has no alternatives but that keyboard. In my opinion, you felt the limits of the keyboard on your G4S because you were using it as a WP device, instead of leveraging the high customizability of the system. If you are a developer you should know that on Android you have to tune your device based on your needs, including interface, keyboard, mail client etc. Something WP doesn't allow. An English user may not realize it but global users, especially those who need multiple languages do feel the pain. As much as people insist in saying WP is ready, for as many other, more demanding users, the OS is simply not ripe.
 

z33dev33l

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It's interesting because i have exactly the same problem but on WP 8/8.1. Microsoft keyboard, also on workflow, is missing a few key input methods that force me to go around with a Galaxy Note to send sms/emails in a certain form of Chinese. But your analysis is skipping on a key element. CHOICE. While i agree that the Samsung keyboard and the prediction and the swipe function all suck like a huge big family with the same DNA, Android, unlike any other OS around, gives you the opportunity to go pick your keyboard of choice (mostly free so they can pick your data and spy better). In my case i use Touchpal X and i can grant you that's a pleasure to use and a joy for the eyes. On top of it, it also allows me to type pinyin chinese in swipe mode with a speed that is unknown to most other keyboards in the Android world.
While the new wordflow keyboard is one of the fastest, most accurate ones, the input system in WP is still deeply lacking. And WP has no alternatives but that keyboard. In my opinion, you felt the limits of the keyboard on your G4S because you were using it as a WP device, instead of leveraging the high customizability of the system. If you are a developer you should know that on Android you have to tune your device based on your needs, including interface, keyboard, mail client etc. Something WP doesn't allow. An English user may not realize it but global users, especially those who need multiple languages do feel the pain. As much as people insist in saying WP is ready, for as many other, more demanding users, the OS is simply not ripe.

Like I said, I spent a week or so trying to find a decent keyboard to no avail. To an English speaking user, there's nothing comparable in quality on Android. I can not attest to the issues of others though I'm sure they're justified. For the record, agree after week 1 I rooted and tried the top 6 rings on xda and tried at least 8 different launchers looking for something that truly differentiated. It didn't. Their supposed gesture launchers are beaten out even by the sad array of gestures in Windows phone. Customization isn't the issue. I just want a phone that works and works well. I do want to ask, what apps are you lacking? From a developer standpoint, I want to know what's keeping people away.
 
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I am a localizer/translator. Obviously, most jobs are done on a desktop with specific translating software. However, since i am Italian, work from English and operate in Taiwan, i need to have proper professional linguistic tools to communicate with my customers. Android offers Pleco (75 euros for the whole package if i remember and it's well worth that price with OCR video recognition that works, and a variety of other functionalities) and Hanping (among others). I use those daily, intensively to translate emails, communicate, improve my chinese etc. I asked the devs of both Pleco and Hanping if they were planning to invest in the platform and both told me it's not in their plans. I tried any Chinese tool on the market and they are all trash, including things like YiXue (Which i bought) etc. They just don't deliver. Can't translate sentences, (not even Bing translator can do it properly, and when it does it lacks PinYin, leaving you with a bunch of unknown ideograms on the screen).
- I lack proper news aggregators. I own Flux, Weave, Collector, testing Paper Boy, and a bunch of others. None of them delivers. They are buggy, slow, crash, stop working even with 3G/4G on. None of them is able to support OPML, none of them offers simultaneous regrouping like Taptu. If you have like 170 feeds it's pretty hard to categorize them all or migrate them from a platform to the other. Sharing is terrible. I want to attach something on IM+ PRO and there is no option, i want to attach to Skype and still, there is no option. What does WP offer me as a sharing? Facebook/Social, and "emails". Who the heck shares on email? I need to send articles or text or videos instantaneously on IM+ PRO (Skype couldn't share videos/photos till a while ago so i had to buy IM+ Pro which, they told me, is not responsible for connectivity issues in China (As if Taiwan was China).
- This leads me to miss good multiplatform messengers that actually work, too.
- Office insists in not opening password protected files from Office 2010 and i happen to have only encrypted or password protected files on my devices (What happens if you lose it?).
- On the side, WP also lacks encryption. If you lose the device everyone can just see and read whatever they want. On Android i have Documents to Go which works fairly well and also directly connects to cloud services (dropbox, mega etc.) and there are solutions for encryption.
- The keyboard you like lacks input for traditional chinese with pinyin insertion. Only offers me simplified with pinyin. Taiwan uses Traditional Chinese so i can't send emails in Simplilifed; there are alternative inputs for Traditional, but like many foreigners, we use PinYin to communicate in Chinese. There isn't any alternative keyboard. In uservoice it was asked in 2011.

My Galaxy Note is plasticky, looks cheap, has a design that sucks i hate it but DELIVERS. It boosts productivity and it's not emtpy advertising. Once you learn to master the ecosystem between notes, split screen, smartpen + the things Android offers, working becomes a breeze. WP made my life a nightmare in that area. Want to write a note and i get primitive apps written by elementary school students, handwriting is shaky and all strange in many of them, as opposed to the ink-like experience of the Note. I keep a note opened and the browser in the split screen, copy/paste from broswer to notes in one second with the Pen, then attach the notes and deliver them to any other app from a list of dozens. All this while listening to music if i wish so letting YouTube float. WP makes me use one app at a time, Youtube stops as soon as i open something else and music ends. What sort of experience is that? All this while i try to find a proper way to share my content with translating agencies waiting for data, terminology research etc, but without having proper dictionaries, language tools etc.
- Browser is terrible too, keeps resizing without me wanting, keeps getting back to home without me doing anything. Again, sharing content is very Microsoft oriented. It's as if they want to keep their ecosystem self contained even when they are unable to offer the apps people need. These are just a few of the issues i encounter daily with the device and which 8.1 Dev Preview hasn't solved, although admittedly it's just a Beta. My fear is that Microsoft doesn't really understand a fair share of users and why people like me are forced to go back to other platforms or, at best, carry two devices.
This for the dev side. I won't enter in the area of the terrible service Nokia Taiwan and Microsoft service staff during our chat, this latter aspect limited exclusively to the non US staff that answers when the US staff is not there, while the experience with the US staff was extremely positive. However, when my device had issues in Taipei the Nokia service refused to acknowledge the issue and told me i should have tried the phone before. Samsung changed my device straight away for much smaller issues in Taipei. So if you're wondering what is keeping people away my answer is A) Unripe OS that doesn't deliver or caters for advanced power users; B) Lacking market where there are mostly copies of the originals and most of those with bugs; C) In my case, Microsoft and Nokia services did their best to keep me away from any other device carrying this specific OS and made by this specific brand. This was the same case of HTC that refused to acknowledge the fact my device kept rebooting all the time years ago. I threw the device in the service center and bought other brands. Then HTC started to have the issues we all know and in the US they launched a specific campaign aimed at improving their service. This means that arrogance wasn't paying.
My case is that of a user who wants to complete its migration to Microsoft (Including emails, browser, search engine etc.) and simply can't because whatever Microsoft is offering is not on par with competitors (including the serches on Bing, which i use for professional purposes). I hope this helps.
 
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z33dev33l

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I wish I could see from that perspective. Being from the U.S. And only speaking English and Italian I can't and I'm sorry. Do you have a comparable news app on another platform so I could see what you're after?
 

SSgt Bruskowiz

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@ ECTranslate
// Want to write a note and i get primitive apps written by elementary school students, handwriting is shaky and all strange in many of them, as opposed to the ink-like experience of the Note.//

Yes, in that you are absolutely right.
I got one of the little 6" phones (1320), and i miss that functionality
a real stylus like Samsung uses would be a great asset.
 
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I wish I could see from that perspective. Being from the U.S. And only speaking English and Italian I can't and I'm sorry. Do you have a comparable news app on another platform so I could see what you're after?

Compare Taptu with A) active widget (opens the articles it shows like Pulse and all the others on Android, rather than showing article pictures and opening the main menu of the app like in WP); B) batch RSS feed grouping functions (same for Pulse), + group/RSS merging (they call it DJ your news, lol but it works); C) Read articles actually disappear and don't stay there despite your options being set not to (Flux does that, try and see); D) Pulse is about to add OPML support as it's being requested by many users; Feedly already supports them since the end of 2013. None of the news aggregators in WP supports OPML. None of the news aggregators in WP supports group merging and batch categorization (like Taptu to be clear); Weave crashes when categorizing RSS threads and often doesn't move them even if you move them from NO CATEGORY to, say "IR DEFENSE" or "CARS". works 4 or 5 times, then after a while it crashes to desktop like an old LADA overheating after trying too hard to get to the top of a small hill to be clear. Also, try to organize 170, 200 rss threads putting them into the right place one by one, especially when you need multiple RSS aggregators because none of them has all what you need; or even worse, try to migrate them from one platform to the other seamlessly. Weave has Pocket/Instapaper but crashes too often; Flux has offline reading (so they claim but on metro in Taipei is slows down or stops remarkably and Taipei has 3g/4g virtually anywhere, go guess).
One more comment goes to those try hard third party apps that are substituting official ones we find in Android. They require authentication and usernames and passwords for MSFT accounts most times. I don't find them any safe. One thing is giving my account data to an official app. Another thing is providing that data to unknown developers who are creating third party apps linking to official services and often dealing with sensitive data (like end to end messaging apps building on Android-based apps like Telegram. But that is not an exclusive issue of WP. However the copies of originals in WP are many more. Add up the lack of encryption and you get the a good part of the picture. But i am going off topic as regards to your query.

Relating to this "I wish I could see from that perspective". You have to think why the WP market keep shrinking despite a minority of users (i keep thinking they have limited needs and so they settle for less). Perhaps you and others are exactly not seeing from the right perspective (take this as a very humble opinion and not as arrogance please). So you all keep trying hard in the wrong direction and trying to impose a vision to users, rather than offering users an optimal version of their vision. The excuse is that WP is a different concept and that if we don't like it we should go back to Android or iPhone. The issue instead is not the difference in the concept. It's in the way that concept is NOT offering an experience that can be DIFFERENT from Android/iPhone but ON PAR or better in terms of quality (Ecosystem, Apps, OS, Hardware is all there already, SW smoothness is gorgeous already, MSFT has most of the software to give life to a first class experience, however it's not leveraging it). WP grows in developing markets (those with less advanced needs but a lot of developers or people willing to experiment) and shrinks in the developed ones (those with users who need advanced devices that work seamlessly out of the box). It's growing also in the business area, but it's not said it'll even retain that area.

In my case all what i want is a smooth, seamless experience with the capacity to move data from a tool (call it apps) to the other withouth having to resort to tricks and time wasting things as i do with Galaxy Note (not with all Androids) and get any "Official", good quality app i need from a complete market with decent searching functionalities. Doesn't look like much after you spend 700 euros and pay bucks for your unlimited data traffic, as well as for apps. However i am not getting it. In lack of that i'll just keep the phone as a spare and will have to use those tracking devices Google calls Android, unwillingly, very unwillingly.

We don't have to agree; we can also agree to disagree. However market share and figures don't seem to lead in the direction you are hinting at and in certain areas market is shrinking. Users are not happy, even those who, like me, took the jump from another platform to then find themselves lacking support, apps and with a subpar OS.
 
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z33dev33l

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I'm not demeaning in saying that I wish I could understand, only sympathizing. For what I use it for, Windows Phone has everything I could ask for and more... That's not to say it's complete by any means. No OS is. I simply want to help fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, I'll be mostly useless for translating apps.
 

tgp

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We don't have to agree; we can also agree to disagree. However market share and figures don't seem to lead in the direction you are hinting at and in certain areas market is shrinking. Users are not happy, even those who, like me, took the jump from another platform to then find themselves lacking support, apps and with a subpar OS.

You are indeed a power user. And I certainly agree that for your precise usage, Android is the way to go. Your use actually fits the stereotype: there's virtually no end to Android's capabilities, but it requires some knowledge to know how to exploit it.

I'm not demeaning in saying that I wish I could understand, only sympathizing. For what I use it for, Windows Phone has everything I could ask for and more... That's not to say it's complete by any means. No OS is. I simply want to help fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, I'll be mostly useless for translating apps.

Good attitude! Most users, even WP fans, would agree that it cannot match Android's capabilities. However, most smartphone users do not do more with their phone than what WP will do. If someone likes the UI, or likes Microsoft, or doesn't like Google, WP is a good fit. We need people like you to push the cause of WP.
 

metalchick719

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As far as Android goes, your experience probably depends on which phone you're using from which manufacturer. I have an HTC One that I quite like, though I've only used it as an actual phone twice since getting it last month. I definitely agree that Word Flow on Windows Phone 8.1 is superior to Swype though.
 
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z33dev33l

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I'd also love to applaud all of you in not resorting to, "It doesn't have * insert Google app here* it's useless."

Android has it's benefits. I just can't deal with sub par keyboards. Awful UIs, lag and force closes on an "octa-core" device.
 

peacefulberry

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EC: You make valid points: WP certainly isn't the OS for you based on your needs. I've always wondered from a WP user's pov, why Microsoft doesn't use all of their capabilities to give 100%. I, too, feel like Office could have been better, sharing could be better, the 6" phones could have split screen capabilities, etc. ...not to mention encryption and the ability to open password protected documents. They advertise WP as a business phone in some places,but the truth is, it is more of a recreational device. I suspect, however, that if the CEO and other execs of both Microsoft and Nokia truly use a WP as their daily driver that they have business apps and capabilities on their phone to conduct business as usual. What I'm simply asking is that they pass on these capabilities to their customers for a truly unique, professional and personal experience. If, however Nokia and Microsoft execs claim that they use their WP exactly how it is today, I would suspect that they are using 2 phones...(dare I say the OS that I suspect that they would have to use!)
 

tgp

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If, however Nokia and Microsoft execs claim that they use their WP exactly how it is today, I would suspect that they are using 2 phones...(dare I say the OS that I suspect that they would have to use!)

I've heard that a lot of Microsoft employees don't use WP, at least not as their primary device. I can't verify that though. My employer is a Microsoft MVP, and he says that at the conferences the market share among attendees seems on par with the overall market share. And these are people who live and breathe Microsoft!
 

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