Android/iOS users, what's keeping you from switching to Windows Phone?

Nerdy Woman

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My comment wasn't directed at you per se considering I had never seen any of your posts before. Both you and ohgood failed to grasp my original question as to what to do about data mining. Nothing is truly free, there is usually a string attached. In the case of Google and others they want your info in return for their "free" services. Logging off as ohgood suggested is surely one alternative but "incessant whining" serves no purpose. It won't change a thing, let's be real. I can't fathom wasting so much energy on a hopeless cause. Personally, I have a "dummy" account on Google complete with fake name and fake address. While I realize this doesn't completely protect me, at least some vulnerability is mitigated.

BTW, I actually typed this post instead of using voice dictation to avoid any could/couldn't mistakes. My bad for not proofreading. I may have graduated from HS some 30+ years ago but I'm still quite literate.


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My apologies for assuming you were referring to my rants about Google as whining. I too have a fake account and try to live Google-free (including blocking adsense, double-click, and other Google analytics tools), which renders some websites unviewable and even sites like WPCentral are extremely slow to load. I consider that the web dev's problem. They must not want me looking at their content, but I always manage to find alternative websites that do.

I don't consider discussing the real cost of "free" services to be whining at all if it raises awareness. For instance, how many Facebook users realize that every time they like or share something they see in their newsfeed, their name and a live link to their facebook account is added to a list? I love my daughter but I don't need to be counted among the 9,473 other users who apparently love their daughters...

My apologies too for correcting the grammar. That particular phrase is a pet peeve of mine. Even a favorite author incessantly writes it incorrectly in dialog. :p I do understand how that happens if you're dictating or even if AutoCorrect is "helping" you. Shut happens.
 

anon(6038817)

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I can tell you that I've been testing a Lumia 822 as my primary smartphone for 2 weeks, coming from a BlackBerry Z30, and I am very seriously thinking about staying with Windows Phone going forward.

However, the only reason I might consider an eventual return to iPhone is apps. The app situation is certainly improving on WP, but it still doesn't compare to iOS & Android.

For example, I have a printer with WiFi printing capabilities. My wife enjoys the ability to print directly from her iPhone 5 via a dedicated app. Windows Phone does not have this app.

It's little things like this that make me ask myself why I'm holding out hope that Windows Phone may eventually have all the apps I want when iOS has them now.
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sk1rtsfly

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Honestly only thing making me going from my Note2 to a recently picked up 822, or even using one of my upgrades to get a new Nokia or Ativ SE is the lack of FoxFi, or any tether app. Im still unlimited data and I use quiet a bit of it. I can handle having to keep wpTorrent open to download something, although the ability to add it to one of the background running apps would be great. Honestly, Foxfi, or some type of tethering app and I'd be switching. I like the customization of Android, I have no problem with Google, Im just ready for something else though.
 

fatclue_98

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WP has had tethering for at least a couple of years.

All the major OSes have native tethering capabilities. Why would you need an app for something the phone does natively? The only exception I can think of is Bluetooth PAN tethering which iOS, Android and BB OS 10 have and WP doesn't.


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fatclue_98

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My apologies for assuming you were referring to my rants about Google as whining. I too have a fake account and try to live Google-free (including blocking adsense, double-click, and other Google analytics tools), which renders some websites unviewable and even sites like WPCentral are extremely slow to load. I consider that the web dev's problem. They must not want me looking at their content, but I always manage to find alternative websites that do.

I don't consider discussing the real cost of "free" services to be whining at all if it raises awareness. For instance, how many Facebook users realize that every time they like or share something they see in their newsfeed, their name and a live link to their facebook account is added to a list? I love my daughter but I don't need to be counted among the 9,473 other users who apparently love their daughters...

My apologies too for correcting the grammar. That particular phrase is a pet peeve of mine. Even a favorite author incessantly writes it incorrectly in dialog. :p I do understand how that happens if you're dictating or even if AutoCorrect is "helping" you. Shut happens.

No apologies needed. I welcome civil discussion from adults who know how to behave. When creating a post it's impossible to cover every angle and explain every point so it's up to someone else to provide a counterpoint. That's the theory anyway.
 

chezm

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As much as I like WP, the lack of features android offers hurts ppl from coming over. Its not bad by any means but OS needs aggressive releases now more than ever. When my friends ask me what WP has OVER Android other than camera technology (which with newest Androids is closing gap), I can't specify any strong points. Shame, hope MS begins steeping its game up in 2014 more than it has.
 

anon(8938849)

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As much as I like WP, the lack of features android offers hurts ppl from coming over. Its not bad by any means but OS needs aggressive releases now more than ever. When my friends ask me what WP has OVER Android other than camera technology (which with newest Androids is closing gap), I can't specify any strong points. Shame, hope MS begins steeping its game up in 2014 more than it has.

I can add a couple things. Most importantly, WP is unified. The benefits of this are very underrated in my opinion. When the whole system has a unified look and feel throughout, and everything operates the same, even with downloaded apps, it adds more than just visual improvements. It's smooth and fluid, sleek and intuitive.

Android feels clunky, bloated, confusing (to the average user) and inconsistent. It's not intuitive. It's not just fragmentation, but even on a new device running 4.4.2, depending on the OEM skin, you have an inconsistent clunky overly complicated user experience. Even stock Android fits this description when compared to WP.

People talk about customization all day. But if you're not rooting, which most people don't, what have you got, launchers. You change the home screen, that's about it. It's skin deep.

I tried for years to do something as simple as get a light settings background, and even with custom roms and xposed framework, I just couldn't get an attractive, unified light theme. WP can do this out of the box I discovered, to my amazement. And not only that but it changed the theme more completely than Android ever could, throughout every aspect of the system including many 3rd party apps!

With the choice of light or dark background, and all the theme color choice combinations, and how deep the changes go, it straight up trumps Android in my opinion.
 
C

Craigtrain

Android feels clunky, bloated, confusing (to the average user) and inconsistent. It's not intuitive. It's not just fragmentation, but even on a new device running 4.4.2, depending on the OEM skin, you have an inconsistent clunky overly complicated user experience. Even stock Android fits this description when compared to WP.

I respect your opinion, but Android isn't clunky or confusing to anyone. Especially stock Android.
 

Nerdy Woman

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As much as I like WP, the lack of features android offers hurts ppl from coming over. Its not bad by any means but OS needs aggressive releases now more than ever. When my friends ask me what WP has OVER Android other than camera technology (which with newest Androids is closing gap), I can't specify any strong points. Shame, hope MS begins steeping its game up in 2014 more than it has.

Security.

Why Windows Phone is More Secure than Android | Windows Phone content from Windows IT Pro

How Windows Phone guards against malware

How Secure Is Android, Really? (more pro-Android than the others, and raises some excellent points about the greatest threat being unwise users themselves).

Productivity. Native integration with OneDrive which is a storage option within Office desktop. I can create a PowerPoint on my desktop, save to OneDrive, and view on phone without ever telling anything to sync. If I save contacts in my Outlook desktop app, they're automatically available on my phone. Automatically seeing OneNote and OneDrive files and Outlook calendars that clients have shared with me.

If your primary use of a smartphone does not require working seamlessly across all your devices, then WP may not have distinct advantages for you. For me, it enables me to be more productive.
 

anon(2701007)

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As a former hold out I can say it was the app selection and hardware selection. My first flirt with Windows Phone was the HTC HD2 running WP 7. I was unable to find the apps I used at the time and the lack of any main screen customization. I returned the phone within two days of buying it. My 2nd flirt was last year with a Nokia 925. While there was some 3rd party apps that can mimik what I needed, I was still feeling like it was missing something. I sold that one on eBay a few weeks later. My curiosity sparked again when I got a Dell Venue Pro 8 over the holidays. It was after I got comfortable around using Windows 8.1 that I was once again interested in giving WP another try. So I about another Nokia 925 and made it my primary driver for a week. This time the MSFT eco system started to be evident. Then I heard about a WP 8.1 Dev preview. Once I installed and started to use it, I felt that WP was finally on par iOS / Android. I sold my Nexus 5 and gave my iPhone 5 to one of my kids and that's a wrap. If there is one item that I struggle with after using the platform for the last 2 months is that I wish the exclusivity on devices wasn't an issue. I wish MFST would offer all of the Nokia Lumias to all carriers. I'm not going to dump my carrier because a competing carrier got a high end exclusive. Well until then I'll clutch on with my 925.
 

anon(8938849)

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I respect your opinion, but Android isn't clunky or confusing to anyone. Especially stock Android.

To anyone? Nobody in the world? As a point of fact, many people find Android bloated, clunky and confusing. Personally I know how to do everything on Android, but others don't. Many many people require constant help with their Android and I can understand why.

And it might not be extremely confusing, but stock Android is more cluttered and bulky than WP, comparatively speaking, and requires more processing power. They say kit Kat can run on devices with 512mb of ram, but they won't do it as smoothly as WP. And stock Android offers almost no customization other than what you can get in the play store.
 

Tre Lawrence

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The overall functionality of Android trumps most other concerns for now, IMHO.

For WP8 to be an option for more people, it has to be a complete alternative. Folks have to be able to do the same stuff on WP8 that they can do on their current platforms.
 
C

Craigtrain

To anyone? Nobody in the world? As a point of fact, many people find Android bloated, clunky and confusing. Personally I know how to do everything on Android, but others don't. Many many people require constant help with their Android and I can understand why.

And it might not be extremely confusing, but stock Android is more cluttered and bulky than WP, comparatively speaking, and requires more processing power. They say kit Kat can run on devices with 512mb of ram, but they won't do it as smoothly as WP. And stock Android offers almost no customization other than what you can get in the play store.

This post is your opinion, but you're stating it as fact. None of it is true IMO.
 

ohgood

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1 Security
.

Why Windows Phone is More Secure than Android | Windows Phone content from Windows IT Pro



2 How Windows Phone guards against malware


How Secure Is Android, Really? (more pro-Android than the others, and raises some excellent points about the greatest threat being unwise users themselves).

Productivity.

3 Native integration with OneDrive which is a storage option within Office desktop. I can create a PowerPoint on my desktop, save to OneDrive, and view on phone without ever telling anything to sync.
4 If I save contacts in my Outlook desktop app, they're automatically available on my phone. Automatically seeing OneNote and 5 OneDrive files and Outlook calendars that clients have shared with me.

If your primary use of a smartphone does not require working seamlessly across all your devices, then
6 WP may not have distinct advantages for you. For me, it enables me to be more productive.

1 in almost five years I personally haven't seen a hack, virus, Trojan, our any malware infect any a android, wp, or iPhone. yet.

2 see 1
3 sync works well on all the platforms, this isn't a stand out
4 sync, again
5 sync, yep, got it
6 OK
 

Tre Lawrence

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1 in almost five years I personally haven't seen a hack, virus, Trojan, our any malware infect any a android, wp, or iPhone. yet.

2 see 1
3 sync works well on all the platforms, this isn't a stand out
4 sync, again
5 sync, yep, got it
6 OK

Most people haven't. I test apps for a living, too. Then again, I avoid risky download behaviors.

I don't think MSFT (or even BBRY, for that matter) will make any headway using security as the sole rallying cry. It boils down to overall functionality, IMHO.
 

Nerdy Woman

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1 in almost five years I personally haven't seen a hack, virus, Trojan, our any malware infect any a android, wp, or iPhone. yet.

2 see 1
3 sync works well on all the platforms, this isn't a stand out
4 sync, again
5 sync, yep, got it
6 OK

I'm not talking about syncing, ohgood. I'm talking about opening Word or Excel or PowerPoint and having OneDrive storage right there, along side local and SharePoint sites. When I open Office on my WP, OneDrive and SharePoint are right there. Office files I've recently stored or accessed on OneDrive or SharePoint are immediately visible. Seamless.
 

fatclue_98

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Most people haven't. I test apps for a living, too. Then again, I avoid risky download behaviors.

I don't think MSFT (or even BBRY, for that matter) will make any headway using security as the sole rallying cry. It boils down to overall functionality, IMHO.

I agree for the most part. I think the average Joe just wants whatever's on his/her phone to work right straight out of the box. The folks at Apple targeted this area and ran with it very successfully. There is a new-ish focal point on cellphone security but it hasn't struck the fear chord that companies like Avast and others would have hoped for. That being said, there was an article on PhoneArena or MobileTechReview a couple of days ago that quoted an app tracking service as reporting that 80% of iOS apps are zombies. If true, it would constitute a swift kick in the cojones to Apple's app superiority. I'm talking a kick with a steel toe boot. It would also enhance WP's claim of quality over quantity.

Just my $.02 for whatever it's worth.

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