New WP convert from iOS

[tanyet]

Hi everyone

Just wanted you guys to know that I've been a diehard iOS user since day one but I've recently been contemplating a switch to a larger phone. My experience with Apple has made me more aware of design and interface than I ever thought I would be. The main things I look for in a phone is hardware design and UI smoothness. With that in mind I looked at almost every android phone out there but couldn't find anything close to the smoothness of the iPhones I've had. A friend told me about windows phone a few months ago and I decided to take a look at a few phones at the AT&T store.

I was simply blown away by the smoothness and polish of the windows operating system. I had no idea that there was a mobile OS out there that could rival the iPhone's smoothness but WP8 definitely does. Having said all that, I wanted to put some thoughts out there to get a little feedback about some things I was wondering about. Some of these issues are minor but they have been bothering me. I've got a developer's heart but no skill set and I'm really anal about UI characteristics.

Anyway here it goes..

I immediately noticed the animation transitions were as smooth or smoother than the iPhone's and a little research showed that MS and Apple have been sharing patents for awhile now. This explains a lot and I think the two phones are better for it but a few things are a little different. I know that WP uses the bounce-back feature that the iPhone has but it doesn't seem to be as well defined. Also the scrolling in WP is as smooth as the iPhone's but the scrolling in WP comes to a more abrupt stop where the iPhones "floats" a little while longer and comes to a perfect (IMHO) stop. Should a grown man worry about such things? Probably not but it's been bugging me a little rly: Is there anywhere online that someone can learn what MS and Apple are sharing with regards to patents? I would love to see the features that are shard between the two systems.

I rather like the app selection in the Windows store. I'm a firm believer that most people use about 20 or so apps and WP has most of the ones I use. One thing I have an issue with is that the WP8 apps don't seem to be written as well as the OS itself. Also, most of the apps that I love on the iPhone (ZIte, Spotify, etc..) seem to perform much better on the iPhone than the WP phone. I know this is not a MS problem but it makes me angry that developers don't take the millions of WP users as seriously as other platform users.

Anyway, just wanted to put these thoughts out there. I've really learned a great deal from this forum and I hope to continue to do so. Any geeky talk about transitions, bounce back, and scrolling would be greatly appreciated. Next up for me will be the new Nokia 1520. Can't wait.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Hi and welcome to WPCentral.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Tapatalk

 

[luk3ja]

I agree most developers don't put as much polish on their apps for Windows Phone even though it isn't hard to do! Coming from a developer... it is actually easier to polish a Windows Phone app than it is an iOS app. It is all down to animations which developers don't seem to realize the importance of them or don't seem to be able to implement them properly, I'm a beginner developer and I managed it in a couple of minutes. I think it may be partly due to developers never using animations at all for any version of Windows up until Windows Phone which is all about motion. I'd love to polish every single app out there if I could. There are some incredible apps out there that show that it is possible for a Windows Phone app to be as good as or even better in a couple of cases than an iOS app. I think the reason why some major apps aren't as good is entirely down to the development company the they choose. If you compare RightMove on iOS to Windows Phone you'll notice the Windows Phone version is more beautiful and has gorgeous animations where as the iOS version does not but there are many apps where the opposite is the case. When I graduate from university I hope to go straight into Windows Phone development and I will do my best to get contracted by all the major companies so that I can make the apps beautiful and smooth just for you

You sound a lot like me, I'm a perfectionist and also anal about UI design and experience. An ugly app has no place on my phone, even if it has great functionality.

 

[tanyet]

Thanks for the replies. It's nice to know there are people who care about these things out there. For me it makes the whole experience worthwhile. I'd gladly give up the whole android App Store for 100 to 200 polished WP or iOS apps.

One thing that always struck me about WP is that it looks much more like the operating system the iPhone should have but doesn't. When I think of designers like Dieter Rams it just seems like WP would be more in line with what he would come up with. It just has a beautiful European feel that I really love and can't wait to use on a daily basis.

 

[pmhgeneral]

Welcome aboard to WP central it's great your thinking about the 1520. Good luck with your choice and please join in when you can share.

 

[MoZZieZ]

Same thing for me, i used Android for years. a Sony Xperia S....... But WP8 WOW !
I own a Lumia 920 which is brilliant, i never ever had a faster phone than this one.

 

[ThaKrazyOne]

I was a die hard iOS fan, and actually still am because I have an iPad. But as of late I made the switch from an iPhone 4 to a Lumia 520. It wasn't bad of a phone but I felt that it wasn't beating out an iPhone so 2 weeks ago I switched to T-Mobile and picked up a used Lumia 810 and there was a huge difference. I know there isn't a lot of app support yet but I see it is starting to build up. I do miss the customization factor but I do see GDR3 will take care of some of those issues. I keep telling myself that I will be going back to an iPhone, but if WP8 keeps getting better and I can get my hands on a Lumia 925 or a Pentaband Lumia 1020, then I might forget about iOS for my phone needs.