Sounds like a few of us have left windows phone and Verizon over this. I'm a big proponent of windows phone but this experience really brought home how much of an experience I was missing on WP.
I left Verizon for T-Mobile and picked up a Nexus 5, a really good value phone. Spec wise the nexus 5 is very similar to the Icon: same CPU, RAM, storage and display resolution, but it is much thinner and lighter. One thing that irks me about WP these days is the performance rhetoric, it's just not true that it has great performance anymore on 8.1. Every demo video I see on WP Central shows "loading...", it's sad to see. Without a doubt the Nexus performs much better and faster than the Icon.
Anyways it pains me to say, but choosing Android, irrespective of changing carrier will provide a better overall mobile experience.
Thanks kahdor - and that's just what I did.
I just dropped off my beloved Nokia Icon at the local Verizon store yesterday and got a Samsung Galaxy S5. As a longtime proponent of the platform (and Verizon), it was really tough to finally throw in the towel.
But as soon as I have my QI charging back later today (thank you Amazon Prime!), I'm all set. I'm loving the full-featured apps in the Android space and finding all of the things WP is trying to do are already standard features built into this Galaxy S5. I no longer have to wait with baited breath for the next little nugget, update, BSP we've all been waiting for. I've got a non-hobbled, full-featured smartphone on the Verizon network and I couldn't be happier.
In hindsight, I miss the awesomely intuitive WP8.1 calendar view and the easy-to-use WP8.1 integrated email. Other than that, I've living the dream now.
I finally have all the features in Waze, MyFitness Pal, USAA, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and so many other apps that WP versions simply don't come close to. The mapping and voice search are incredible. I've been trying to stump it all day (like I could easily do with Cortana) and I just can't!
Sorry Microsoft and Verizon - your combination failed me yet again. ANd I had so much hope for WP8.x. Back to Android for me.