WP going back to the store....going to Android

[trouble210]

Got my new WP 3 days ago, was excited - until - I tried to stream a few of my favorite radio stations, none of which are playable on WP. (All of which work fine on my wife's Android).

Too bad because I really like the phone, but if I can't get it access things I want, it's useless to me. Phone's going back to store.

 

[theetommyt]

I think I have to agree. WP8 and the devices are very close but not quite there yet. I really want WP8 to be there right now, but it just is not.

The US launch has been bungled (especially 8X on Verizon) by MS, HTC, Nokia, Samsung, and the US carriers. Apple does it best, but Android especially Samsung has been doing a great job in the last generation with advertising, marketing and a solid product launch.

Verizon cutting group messaging

Still no instagram (and a couple other apps) is a deal breaker for many. There are great alternatives, but there are also great alternatives to Facebook that no one is using which makes social pointless. This will improve if adoption improves, but it's a chicken/egg question as well.

Nokia's design is very nice, but it's too bulky of a device when you're a mainstream consumer looking at the incredibly thing iPhone 5 or very competitively thin Android devices. No doubt it's high quality but mainstream consumers, not fanboys or power users, aren't looking to go bulkier.

Random reboots across the entire platform, not good.

There are just a whole host of issues that are steering me away right now. I really want a WP8. What I want more though is a phone that has a mature app market, runs smoothly, and has a full featured OS.

My devices in the last 5 years: Blackberry Pearl, Palm Pre, Droid Incredible, iPhone 4, Droid Bionic, Droid Razr, Galaxy Nexus, iPhone 5, and my next device which looks like it's going to be GS3, One X+, or Razr Maxx HD. I had the Pearl for 18 months, Incredible for 12 months, iPhone 4 for 9 months, and Galaxy Nexus for 9 months. WP has the potential to be the best OS for me, but as I keep saying, it's just not there.

I've also had a Galaxy tab, Nook Color running Gingerbread, iPad, HP Touchpad (now running ICS), Galaxy Tab 7.7 (running Jelly Bean)

 

[Isror]

I think I have to agree. WP8 and the devices are very close but not quite there yet. I really want WP8 to be there right now, but it just is not.

The US launch has been bungled (especially 8X on Verizon) by MS, HTC, Nokia, Samsung, and the US carriers. Apple does it best, but Android especially Samsung has been doing a great job in the last generation with advertising, marketing and a solid product launch.

Verizon cutting group messaging

Still no instagram (and a couple other apps) is a deal breaker for many. There are great alternatives, but there are also great alternatives to Facebook that no one is using which makes social pointless. This will improve if adoption improves, but it's a chicken/egg question as well.

Nokia's design is very nice, but it's too bulky of a device when you're a mainstream consumer looking at the incredibly thing iPhone 5 or very competitively thin Android devices. No doubt it's high quality but mainstream consumers, not fanboys or power users, aren't looking to go bulkier.

Random reboots across the entire platform, not good.

There are just a whole host of issues that are steering me away right now. I really want a WP8. What I want more though is a phone that has a mature app market, runs smoothly, and has a full featured OS.

My devices in the last 5 years: Blackberry Pearl, Palm Pre, Droid Incredible, iPhone 4, Droid Bionic, Droid Razr, Galaxy Nexus, iPhone 5, and my next device which looks like it's going to be GS3, One X+, or Razr Maxx HD. I had the Pearl for 18 months, Incredible for 12 months, iPhone 4 for 9 months, and Galaxy Nexus for 9 months. WP has the potential to be the best OS for me, but as I keep saying, it's just not there.

I've also had a Galaxy tab, Nook Color running Gingerbread, iPad, HP Touchpad (now running ICS), Galaxy Tab 7.7 (running Jelly Bean)

In regard to the 8X, from my understanding this has been primarily the fault of HTC. When it came to having devices on the shelves on day 1, Nokia had product, and the sales have reflected that.

Apple has gotten terribly sloppy in the last year or so. Are they great at selling a product? Absolutely, they are even better at selling a product that consumers know a revised edition with minimal revisions will be coming to market less than 6 months from the original's release.

Instagram (kind of unneeded with all the options that Nokia shipped with its devices if you want to post "hip" photos to Facebook)

I prefer the design that Nokia & Verizon brought to market with the 822. It feels sturdy in the hand, and I've witnessed the same reaction of customers shopping at both the Verizon retail stores and Best Buy. Many of them wanted something in the slim department (what the 8X offered, but changed as soon as they got to use the 822).

I've yet to experience a random reboot with the 822. I know many are reporting it (from what I've seen mainly on the 8X and 920 on AT&T) but without know the apps downloaded, and how others use the device, I don't like to speculate what the root cause it.

All in all, I'm incredibly glad to finally be free of the two party system, iOS and Android. I was a staunch Android supporter, waited in line overnight for my Verizon Droid; but over the years, Android has become so overly bloated by carriers and manufacturers that I can't take it anymore. It's gotten so far away from what it initially wanted to be.

These are MY OPINIONS, not trying to discredit your statements, merely a response as to what I've personally witnessed in regard to your observations.

 

[tk-093]

Reboots across the platform? You've used all the phones? My 822 has yet to reboot, a nice change from the buggy GS3.

 

[diapers]

They screwed up the stream/podcasts thing for sure. how could they even miss that? I think instagram is overrated, if you want photo filters there's photogram.

 

[socialcarpet]

Got my new WP 3 days ago, was excited - until - I tried to stream a few of my favorite radio stations, none of which are playable on WP. (All of which work fine on my wife's Android).

Too bad because I really like the phone, but if I can't get it access things I want, it's useless to me. Phone's going back to store.

 

[CDG]

Reboots across the platform? You've used all the phones? My 822 has yet to reboot, a nice change from the buggy GS3.

I have had my 820 since launch date, no reboots.

 

[thegoodnotes]

Unfortunately, I too am contemplating this. I have an 8x which I think is a really nice phone (apart from the very flush buttons which makes for poor usability IMO). I liked it better than the 920 and compared to my iPhone 4, can't say I feel like it is much of a step down (though, Apple does have that extra 5-10% of polish and finess in its hardware - but it beats everybody in that respect).

Although I've only had the 8X for a few days, these are my major issues:
- No way to close apps in the multi-task app viewer. I know this is a popular request and I imagine will be fixed, but it is such a glaring mistake IMO.
- Poor battery life. I've heard it takes about 2 weeks for the battery to "settle", but so far I'm barely getting a full day's worth of usage. My iPhone 4 used to be at like 80% at the end of the day with the same usage patterns.
- TellMe is still far behind Siri and Google's version. I don't know where to find a comprehensive list of commands, but things like "Set calendar appointment" doesn't do anything. Without some of these what I call "basic" functions, TellMe is just a gimmick. Finding the distance between the moon and the Earth makes for a cute ad, but support for these workflow improvements is the real key IMO.
- No built-in turn-by-turn GPS. Given that every other phone offers this, it has morphed into a table stake for mobile devices these days. Any WP8 apart from Nokia is missing this key function. You might say, there's an app for that, but...
- Lack of apps! In the first couple of days, I thought this wouldn't bother me, but now it is starting to getting frustrating. I know Spotify, Pandora, and Mint are allegedly coming and in the meantime, I'm using Xbox Music and Slacker (but missing Mint), but the sheer lack of quality in the app store seems to be an issue. If you have any suggestions for a decent navigation app, I'm all ears! I am trying a 30-day free trial of Scout right now. Leaving on a trip soon, so I needed something. Also, to the people saying "Instagram doesn't matter" - you're totally missing the point. LOTS of people use Instagram - if the app isn't available to them, why in the world would they switch to WP8? It's like if a BoA app wasn't available - I would be thinking really hard why I would switch over when I wouldn't be able to do mobile banking. And the right solution is not "just switch your bank".
- The OS X Windows Phone Connector basically is useless. It doesn't sync at all. It crashes 100% of the time when I connect the phone (even after numerous re-installs).

Of course, this list is just a few of the things that bug ME in particular. The issue of course is that these are all better / not problems in Android / iOS. I switched over from an iPhone 4 and MSFT needs to ensure that people who do that don't feel buyer's remorse. That's the only way to turn them into evangelists because WP8 does have some GREAT things about it (the lock screen customization, the live tiles, the People hub, etc. etc.).

If the Google Nexus 4 actually becomes available, I would have to think hard about what I want to do. This saddens me because for various reasons I won't go into, I'm really hoping WP8 does great.

 

[Juanrs104]

The way I see it is, if no one buys the phones or everyone returns them there will be no demand for apps. If there is not enough demand for apps, no one will make apps. I see what Microsoft is trying to do here. Soon every computer will be running windows 8, which will use the same apps as windows phone 8. I think we have to give it a little time to seed-in and grow. I'm pretty sure the first or second release of android wasnt perfect. I'm not 100% happy with my 8x but as time goes on I find work-arounds for the things I used to do in android, and as more time goes by I believe those things will be fixed.
I found android slow, ugly, and it crashed everyday for me. I couldnt open google maps without having to reboot the phone afterwards. So far I find my WP8 phone much faster, smoother, looks nicer and is more reliable. I've already had a few people here at work notice it and ask me about it. I'm not trying to persuade anyone to stay on WP8, just saying that the more people that return thier devices, or not buy a WP8 device at all is just slowing down what I think will be it's eventual dominance in the market.

 

[Mafiatounes]

Got my new WP 3 days ago, was excited - until - I tried to stream a few of my favorite radio stations, none of which are playable on WP. (All of which work fine on my wife's Android).

Too bad because I really like the phone, but if I can't get it access things I want, it's useless to me. Phone's going back to store.

Did you use TuneIn to acces the radio stations? Because the app works great on my phone

Verstuurd van mijn Nexus 7 met Tapatalk

 

[trouble210]

The way I see it is, if no one buys the phones or everyone returns them there will be no demand for apps. If there is not enough demand for apps, no one will make apps. I see what Microsoft is trying to do here. Soon every computer will be running windows 8, which will use the same apps as windows phone 8. I think we have to give it a little time to seed-in and grow. I'm pretty sure the first or second release of android wasnt perfect. I'm not 100% happy with my 8x but as time goes on I find work-arounds for the things I used to do in android, and as more time goes by I believe those things will be fixed.
I found android slow, ugly, and it crashed everyday for me. I couldnt open google maps without having to reboot the phone afterwards. So far I find my WP8 phone much faster, smoother, looks nicer and is more reliable. I've already had a few people here at work notice it and ask me about it. I'm not trying to persuade anyone to stay on WP8, just saying that the more people that return thier devices, or not buy a WP8 device at all is just slowing down what I think will be it's eventual dominance in the market.

Good point, and I hate to be 'that guy', but I gotta do what I gotta do.

I really do hope WP8 succeeds because I like everything else about it (runs great, cool interface, beautiful to look at). When (if) they get the streaming/app situation going, I'll come back.

 

[Juanrs104]

I agree with you. If it doesn't do right now what you need it to do then you just have no choice......Maybe you can post one of your streaming links on here and maybe someone can figure out how to make it work, until the app you are waiting for comes along.

 

[brmiller1976]

Don't return your 8X -- send it to me if it's a T-Mobile version, and I will send you a lightly-used T-Mo Galaxy S III in exchange. I'm totally serious.

Just make sure you agree to not demand a re-swap when Android slows down, crashes, or requires a factory reset after a couple of weeks of use... :-/

 

[stmav]

 

[Isolated1]

Just make sure you agree to not demand a re-swap when Android slows down, crashes, or requires a factory reset after a couple of weeks of use... :-/

Umm if anything, it seems that what you've just said also describes the situation many Lumia 920 users are experiencing right now. It goes both ways.

 

[lordofthereef]

So what were the radio apps you were having issues with?

 

[CJ Thunder]

Umm if anything, it seems that what you've just said also describes the situation many Lumia 920 users are experiencing right now. It goes both ways.

Gf's 920 I got on day three from a preorder has been perfect. I even asked her daily about battery life because this forum is over run with issues, and she said it is her favorite phone of all her phones, ever.

 

[lordofthereef]

Gf's 920 I got on day three from a preorder has been perfect. I even asked her daily about battery life because this forum is over run with issues, and she said it is her favorite phone of all her phones, ever.

that's largely irrelevant. The point was a Droid had issues. And windows phone 8 seems.to have the same/similar issues.

 

[MaulerX]

If you are having "issues" with certain radio stations, then the least you can do is let us know what they are. Tunein radio has pretty much any radio station imaginable. Did you try that?



On a side note, what's up with all these "new" users that seem to create an account only to say how they are leaving WP for "XYZ" ? If you are having issues, how about asking for help before making these threads?

 

[Joelist]

I suspect some of them are sock puppets and a lot of them are Android/Apple trolls. Their object is to flood WP sites with "issue" threads to scare people off of switching to WP.