Any Android Converts?

[nyc_rock]

I am seriously thinking of ditching my GS3 for the Lumia 920. I have some specific concerns and wanted to know some general thoughts on people who have made the switch. Im sure some of this is covered in other threads, but I was hoping just to get these answers addressed all in one place. Thanks in advance.

-Does WP8 have anything close to Googlenow?
-Does GMail sync calendar and contacts?
-How does Nokia maps compare to Google maps? Is traffic info reliable? Is search info reliable? I was in an att store yesterday and searched for Starbucks. The results I got back had the closest one 30 blocks from the store even though there was a Starbucks right next door.
-Does IE have in private browsing?
-Is there an app that replaces Youtube that makes not having Youtube acceptable?
-When you hit the search button, can you search the local storage of the phone? I noticed that the search button brought me to the Bing search screen. Can you search within the app you are currently using without jumping out to bing? For instance, email.
-Any general thoughts comparing the two platforms? I know they are very different, but if you have been married to Android for a while and made the switch, you know what I am asking.
-How has the lack of apps been for you? I have done some research and the two I would really be missing is Concur Solutions, United Airlines and Starbucks. Ok, thats three.

Any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Again, sorry if this is repetitive to other threads.

 

[robstunner]

I switched, and im still not 100% decided on what to keep.

I like to think of Wp8 right now, as the equivalent to when Android when it was in it's Froyo days; great, just not mature enough. I kept swapping back to my then iPhone as it had more apps and content than the Froyo phones, yet always wanted to give Froyo a try. I feel im in that stage right now with my lumia 920, I want to like it but i keep looking at my One X and playing with that too. Im going to give it a week, and then either keep the Lumia, or exchange it for a One X+. My biggest draws to a smartphone are screen, camera and battery life. Right now the One X beats the lumia on battery life (suprisingly), matches it in screen quality and camera.


- Pressing the search button in the mail app (which has a search button on the screen as well that you can press) brings up bing search, not mail search.

-No private browsing that I can find, and more importantly, no option to "word wrap" like on android

-Yes, metro tube works great, but hyperlinks to youtube dont open up directly to metrotube, just the mobile site.

-Havent played with nokia maps too much, but I prefer waze to the two options you asked about.

-Eh, not really a google now thing, but i never liked that anyway. Just a location storing battery hog that tells me info that I can find myself within seconds.

-gmail does sync contacts, calendar, and mail

 

[nico002]

So much faster, so much more intuitive, so much more stable, so much more enjoyable to use.

 

[lottidah]

I'm a convert. I'm still using my Android phone to play WWF and Draw Something - the WP apps for these games are not good yet. And Facebook is nearly unusable for me on WP. But, wow I love my phone and the OS. I can't see myself going back to Android. In fact, when I do use it now it feel so cheap and chintzy to me (HTCSensation). There are still a few things I need to figure out (like why I can't touch in the middle of a word to correct one letter, or why I can't use voice to type out this long post instead of my finger lol) but I'm not going back! Hurry up, apps, catch up!!

 

[Iamdunne]

I switched, and im still not 100% decided on what to keep.

I like to think of Wp8 right now, as the equivalent to when Android when it was in it's Froyo days; great, just not mature enough. I kept swapping back to my then iPhone as it had more apps and content than the Froyo phones, yet always wanted to give Froyo a try. I feel im in that stage right now with my lumia 920, I want to like it but i keep looking at my One X and playing with that too. Im going to give it a week, and then either keep the Lumia, or exchange it for a One X+. My biggest draws to a smartphone are screen, camera and battery life. Right now the One X beats the lumia on battery life (suprisingly), matches it in screen quality and camera.


- Pressing the search button in the mail app (which has a search button on the screen as well that you can press) brings up bing search, not mail search.

-No private browsing that I can find, and more importantly, no option to "word wrap" like on android

-Yes, metro tube works great, but hyperlinks to youtube dont open up directly to metrotube, just the mobile site.

-Havent played with nokia maps too much, but I prefer waze to the two options you asked about.

-Eh, not really a google now thing, but i never liked that anyway. Just a location storing battery hog that tells me info that I can find myself within seconds.

-gmail does sync contacts, calendar, and mail

I am also coming from an HOX and want to keep this because love so much. Kind of a cross between IOS and Android. I have a HOX and IPAD 3 so screens are important to me. As far as text wrapping I have been told by a few people it is a HTC thing not an android thing.

 

[awesomeindeed]

GMail does sync calendar and contacts.

The hardware search button is ALWAYS going to bring you to Bing search, that's its normal function. Most apps that have searchable results will have a dedicated search soft button on the screen.

Local storage is not searchable from Bing search... Apple has a patent on that and the latest updates for the GS3 and Note 2 remove that feature. If you still have universal search on your GS3, you may have an update waiting that will remove it.

Not sure about InPrivate browsing.

Nokia Maps rocks. I would easily put it on par or even a little better than Google Maps. Nokia Drive+ and Nokia Transit are fantastic as well, and free. They can also be used offline.

Youtube is in the Store, and there are 3rd party apps as well.

I was a diehard Android user until I just jumped and made the switch to WP this past February. My first WP7 phone was the HTC Titan, then the Lumia 900, and now the Lumia 920. In that short time frame, the platform has matured a whole lot. I still enjoy using it, nothing I do feels like a chore, and everything is quick and intuitive. The fact that I don't actually NEED apps for most things I used to do on Android is still a huge plus in my book. The lack of apps was a little unnerving with WP7, but WP8 brings a ton more to the table and it seems to be growing at a pretty rapid pace. With the amount of $$$ Microsoft is throwing at advertising for the platform I would be hard pressed to say that it would be much longer before all the big name apps are on WP8. Developing an app for WP8 versus Windows 8 since they share the same kernel now is pretty much as easy as adding a few more lines of code, and bam, you also have a mobile app.

I have had nothing but good experiences with WP. It's simple, it's fast, it's intuitive and it just works.

 

[Pete C]

I switched, and im still not 100% decided on what to keep.

I like to think of Wp8 right now, as the equivalent to when Android when it was in it's Froyo days; great, just not mature enough. I kept swapping back to my then iPhone as it had more apps and content than the Froyo phones, yet always wanted to give Froyo a try. I feel im in that stage right now with my lumia 920, I want to like it but i keep looking at my One X and playing with that too. Im going to give it a week, and then either keep the Lumia, or exchange it for a One X+. My biggest draws to a smartphone are screen, camera and battery life. Right now the One X beats the lumia on battery life (suprisingly), matches it in screen quality and camera.

Matches the camera really depends on the situation, and I'd say it's a tradeoff on these two cameras. My wife has a One X and I used it extensively as our point and shoot for a couple months. I will agree that it is a great cameraphone. If you are outside in daylight, the One X is better and more detailed. It is also a far faster camera. However, in any low light situation...which occurs a lot if taking family pics indoors, the Lumia wins easily. The One X exhibits quite a bit of noise if the lighting isn't good. Lumia has very little noise, but a softer image as everyone knows by now. Still, if I had to keep one I'm going with the Lumia...even if it gets no software update. I like taking low light/indoor shots that much and they look REALLY good if you work with it and take steady shots.

As for the screen comparison I actually think the One X has a superior screen. Nothing pops like that screen does, and for whatever reason surfing the internet on the One X just looks better. Probably due to the whites looking SO white, whereas the Lumia's white is slightly dull.

 

[TechAbstract]

"like why I can't touch in the middle of a word to correct one letter"

Press on the screen and hold for two sec until you get a cursor and move it where you want it to.

 

[robstunner]

The word wrap is a HTC thing by default on android, however its an option on most stock browsers as well as chrome.

Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express

 

[mark1914]

I am on the fence too. I have a Note and my 920. Like another poster said I keep picking my Note up for Instagram, Draw, and Pinterest. I just got the 920 Sunday so I have a few more days to try and like it. Btw my Note is all stock. Non rooted.