Thoughts while on my WinMo Vacation (trying out iPhone 6s+)

[macros_1]

Backstory - Dropped my 950 XL from about 8" last weekend and the display shattered (tiny shards of glass everywhere). Travelling for work and needed a quick replacement. Got an iPhone 6S Plus to tide me over and "see how the other 25% live" while I send in my Lumia to be repaired.

Sure it's only been two days, but I'm finding this "vacation" a little more difficult than I anticipated. I know I'm barely scratching the surface in terms of my iOS knowledge, but here's a few thoughts after my first full day:

iPhone/iOS > 950 XL/WinMo
TouchID seems so much easier than Windows Hello (Iris Scanning).
Notification options are more diverse.
Tons of Apps (yeah, like you haven't heard that before)
OS is more stable and polished (Lumia locks up at least every other day from random issues)
Hardware is more premium (not to say that I actually like it better)
Works on all carriers without limitations on features. VoLTE...got it. WiFi calling...check.
Not feeling like a third class citizen. Carriers don't care about WinMo. Accessory makers don't care about WinMo phones (except Mozo). App devs are apathetic about WinMo. Hell...even MS doesn't seem like it cares about WinMo as much as we do.
Nice to know if my phone screen shatters on the iPhone, it can be fixed in an hour or less. My Lumia? Oh that will be weeks...if they can get the part in.

950 XL/WinMO > iPhone/iOS
First party apps seem more robust (Mail, Maps, etc.)
Home screen/Lockscreen more customizable to my needs. Ex. on iPhone I can't pin individual mailboxes to the screen (only pick one or combined count)
I got texts over Bluetooth as long as your car supports Bluetooth no matter what car I've had.
Glance!!!!!!!! I can't believe how much I miss this feature.
I never really though I cared much for LiveTiles until they are gone. The iPhone interface just seems...not alive...just a bit stale.
Wireless charging. I'm going to tear my charger apart ripping the phone off tables since I'm so used to not being tied to a wire.
Hardware is more....friendly. Maybe it's just me, but I like the way the Lumia feels. Sure I've heard the complaints about how it's not as premium as the price, but something about it just "works".
PC Integrations, I love being able to get Texts and Call notifications on my laptop. Is that possible with iOS and a non-Mac?
Cortana seems more "personable" and is actually helpful. Maybe I just haven't gotten to use Siri enough yet.

For anyone who's made the move from WinMo to iOS, any suggestions or hints to make the transition easier?

The amazing thing to me has been that from everything I've read and all the people I've talked to who haven't used WinMo, it seems like the hardware and software are light-years behind Apple (and Google)....but so far, beyond the "App issue", they seem to be pretty evenly matched. I still feel guilty even trying out iOS, but I'm just not confident that WinMo has a future...no matter how good it really is or if others would "just give it a chance". (To those who are planning to go down with the ship, I salute you as I test out a life raft.)

Last thought, I truly wonder how successful Windows Phone/Mobile could have been if only Microsoft believed in it as much as we did/do (the people on this forum...I blame Nadella).

 

[libra89]

I would say that it really depends on what you care the most about.

I dabble with Windows 10 Mobile here and there, but my iPhone SE has been my DD most of the time. Microsoft apps are great on iOS, and it's very easy to make their apps to be used for everything. On my iPhone, I only use OneDrive, and Outlook, and both work just fine without bouncing off of iCloud and the Mail apps. I liked the way how everything works there, I finally understood the iPhone Pro comment after a month and some in it.

The reason why I say it depends on what you care the most about, is because that can shape how you feel overall. I could have stayed with iOS, but the lack of customization makes it hard for me to be fully OK with iOS, which is why I hop on the Android train frequently. If you care about customization a lot, you'll find it harder to adjust. If you don't, you'll be fine. With that being said, it's also a matter of identifying what is important to you to have in a phone. The cameras are sufficient, battery life is great but customization is lacking and that shapes how I see and feel about my iPhone.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

Backstory - Dropped my 950 XL from about 8" last weekend and the display shattered (tiny shards of glass everywhere). Travelling for work and needed a quick replacement. Got an iPhone 6S Plus to tide me over and "see how the other 25% live" while I send in my Lumia to be repaired.

OS is more stable and polished (Lumia locks up at least every other day from random issues).

is that 8 inches or 8 feet?

And the random lock ups, had you ever done a factory reset? Especially after the AU?

 

[Alain_A]

He wrote 8 inches

 

[macros_1]

is that 8 inches or 8 feet?

And the random lock ups, had you ever done a factory reset? Especially after the AU?

Yeah 8 inches. And I've unfortunately had to do many resets, which I guess is another benefit for iOS. The number of resets required on Windows is crazy!

 

[Chintan Gohel]

Yeah 8 inches. And I've unfortunately had to do many resets, which I guess is another benefit for iOS. The number of resets required on Windows is crazy!

you're having a bad experience, one that isn't normal with other users.

 

[fatclue_98]

you're having a bad experience, one that isn't normal with other users.

That's exactly what I told a former girlfriend who'd had her Yugo for 6 years.

 

[macros_1]

you're having a bad experience, one that isn't normal with other users.

The suggestion of resetting to reduce the chance of lingering issues after major upgrades has been pretty standard since WinPhone 7 and NoDo. Though I do challenge the notion that it isn't normal. Heck, talk to MSFT support and it's the first thing they suggest if you have any type of issue and a common suggestion from the community. In fact, I would say that if you don't need to...it isn't normal.

 

[macros_1]

As a quick update to my post, I'm starting to settle in to the new phone. My first observation is that the battery life is about beyond amazing. Typically I can get through a day with about 30% left on my 950XL. I've gone through two days with still 30% remaining on the 6S+. I was expecting it to be similar or worse but I almost feel like I'm back in the Blackberry days where I only needed to charge my work BB once a week.

I still don't like the home screen and I like LiveTiles more, but I'm getting used to how things work. I miss Window's keyboard, though I understand I can swap out the keyboard on iOS, I'm still using the built-in one. Siri is growing on me and has become more helpful each day. I installed Cortana as I like the condensed day view with news about my interests in the morning.

The funny thing is that beyond LiveTiles, there always seems to be an app or something available (many times from Microsoft) that allows me to get the same experience or better that I had on my Windows device on iOS.

think most of my previous disdain for iOS was just a firm desire to prove that Windows Phone/Mobile was a better platform. To anyone on the fence about trying out iOS, give it a shot. It might just surprise you.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

As a quick update to my post, I'm starting to settle in to the new phone. My first observation is that the battery life is about beyond amazing. Typically I can get through a day with about 30% left on my 950XL. I've gone through two days with still 30% remaining on the 6S+. I was expecting it to be similar or worse but I almost feel like I'm back in the Blackberry days where I only needed to charge my work BB once a week.

I still don't like the home screen and I like LiveTiles more, but I'm getting used to how things work. I miss Window's keyboard, though I understand I can swap out the keyboard on iOS, I'm still using the built-in one. Siri is growing on me and has become more helpful each day. I installed Cortana as I like the condensed day view with news about my interests in the morning.

The funny thing is that beyond LiveTiles, there always seems to be an app or something available (many times from Microsoft) that allows me to get the same experience or better that I had on my Windows device on iOS.

think most of my previous disdain for iOS was just a firm desire to prove that Windows Phone/Mobile was a better platform. To anyone on the fence about trying out iOS, give it a shot. It might just surprise you.

I remember a few years back - my friend came with an iphone and she wanted some videos from my laptop - buy did we struggle transferring them. you can't copy directly, you have to use itunes. So I downloaded itunes and tried syncing them but nothing worked. we tried for an hour and then just gave up. Her phone didn't have bluetooth which was pretty standard years ago. So yeah, me and ios - no thank you

The same happened last year - again my friend had an iphone - can't copy anything to his phone. Seems like a wall between different platforms

 

[macros_1]

I remember a few years back - my friend came with an iphone and she wanted some videos from my laptop - buy did we struggle transferring them. you can't copy directly, you have to use itunes. So I downloaded itunes and tried syncing them but nothing worked. we tried for an hour and then just gave up. Her phone didn't have bluetooth which was pretty standard years ago. So yeah, me and ios - no thank you

The same happened last year - again my friend had an iphone - can't copy anything to his phone. Seems like a wall between different platforms

Can't be sure if it's new in iOS 9 or not (or what version you and your friend were using last year), but just yesterday I plugged my iPhone into my laptop and the phone asked if I wanted to allow access to pictures and videos. I said yes and was able to copy over a 350MB file just like it was a USB drive.

Both platforms continue to progress to address pain points. Heck, I remember when I got my Samsung Focus and it didn't even have Copy/Paste....and we had to wait months for NoDo to come just for that core functionality.

 

[tgp]

I remember a few years back - my friend came with an iphone and she wanted some videos from my laptop - buy did we struggle transferring them. you can't copy directly, you have to use itunes. So I downloaded itunes and tried syncing them but nothing worked. we tried for an hour and then just gave up. Her phone didn't have bluetooth which was pretty standard years ago. So yeah, me and ios - no thank you

The same happened last year - again my friend had an iphone - can't copy anything to his phone. Seems like a wall between different platforms

See this...

Can't be sure if it's new in iOS 9 or not (or what version you and your friend were using last year), but just yesterday I plugged my iPhone into my laptop and the phone asked if I wanted to allow access to pictures and videos. I said yes and was able to copy over a 350MB file just like it was a USB drive.

This has been my experience as well. Chintan, didn't you get some kind of prompt when you plugged in the iPhone? I have been able to use an iPhone and iPad as a USB drive. I'm not sure why you couldn't.

 

[libra89]

What they both said. I have had an iPhone 5c, 5s, and SE (the only one I have out of this set) and this is the first I am hearing of this.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

Can't be sure if it's new in iOS 9 or not (or what version you and your friend were using last year), but just yesterday I plugged my iPhone into my laptop and the phone asked if I wanted to allow access to pictures and videos. I said yes and was able to copy over a 350MB file just like it was a USB drive.

Both platforms continue to progress to address pain points. Heck, I remember when I got my Samsung Focus and it didn't even have Copy/Paste....and we had to wait months for NoDo to come just for that core functionality.

See this...



This has been my experience as well. Chintan, didn't you get some kind of prompt when you plugged in the iPhone? I have been able to use an iPhone and iPad as a USB drive. I'm not sure why you couldn't.

it was a few years ago, say 2009. And the second time was early 2015 - and his phone looked a bit old so I guess iOS9 wasn't on his phone by then

 

[macros_1]

So just wanted to post a final update to my thread. My vacation is over and I'm going back to my Lumia. There's a few final thoughts I had that I wanted to share with others who may take the plunge and move from WinMo to iOS.

1. There are tons of apps for iOS, but I found that I still only used a few. You'll always have the latest and greatest apps on iOS, but there are limitations that come with setting up shop in Apple's world.
2. There's so little customization on iOS things like:
   1. The homescreen is terribly boring. Why can't I show number of unread emails in each of my accounts rather than combined?
   2. Why can't I pin something to allow me a quick tap to call my wife?
   3. Want more than 4 items on your dock? Sorry...you need to jailbreak.
3. No Glance...absolutely the best feature on WinMo. I don't need to pick up my phone, just look over and see how many messages I have for work, personal email, texts, or calls. I don't want to pick my phone up to wake it.
4. I very much dislike Force Touch or whatever you call it. Had problems getting the phone to do what I wanted when I wanted.
5. Camera issues.
   1. Lense placement is just dumb...why put it where your hands are more likely to get in the picture?
   2. Nothing beats the two stage camera button on Lumias.

Overall, I liked the iPhone. But I missed being able to customize my phone the way I want to. With iPhone, you'll get a ton of apps....but give up the ability to really make the phone yours. I'm glad I did it, getting to see how the other half live and I'm much better equipped to answer the "why did you choose Windows" questions I get. Even with all its bugs, the low number of users, and the much written about impending death of Lumia, it is a great mobile OS.

I survived 36 days in my experiment. Interesting enough, my wife only made it 2 days before she begged me to move her back. Her review of the iPhone was simply, "this thing is a piece of crap."

 

[cnashx]

So just wanted to post a final update to my thread. My vacation is over and I'm going back to my Lumia. There's a few final thoughts I had that I wanted to share with others who may take the plunge and move from WinMo to iOS.

1. There are tons of apps for iOS, but I found that I still only used a few. You'll always have the latest and greatest apps on iOS, but there are limitations that come with setting up shop in Apple's world.
2. There's so little customization on iOS things like:
   1. The homescreen is terribly boring. Why can't I show number of unread emails in each of my accounts rather than combined?
   2. Why can't I pin something to allow me a quick tap to call my wife?
   3. Want more than 4 items on your dock? Sorry...you need to jailbreak.
3. No Glance...absolutely the best feature on WinMo. I don't need to pick up my phone, just look over and see how many messages I have for work, personal email, texts, or calls. I don't want to pick my phone up to wake it.
4. I very much dislike Force Touch or whatever you call it. Had problems getting the phone to do what I wanted when I wanted.
5. Camera issues.
   1. Lense placement is just dumb...why put it where your hands are more likely to get in the picture?
   2. Nothing beats the two stage camera button on Lumias.

Overall, I liked the iPhone. But I missed being able to customize my phone the way I want to. With iPhone, you'll get a ton of apps....but give up the ability to really make the phone yours. I'm glad I did it, getting to see how the other half live and I'm much better equipped to answer the "why did you choose Windows" questions I get. Even with all its bugs, the low number of users, and the much written about impending death of Lumia, it is a great mobile OS.

I survived 36 days in my experiment. Interesting enough, my wife only made it 2 days before she begged me to move her back. Her review of the iPhone was simply, "this thing is a piece of crap."

This is a good insight. I still have my iPhone 6plus. it sits on my desk at work and gets touched about once every 2-3 months for a couple minutes then it quickly gets thrown back on the desk. I can't believe I lived on iOS from the original iPhone until last year (with breaks in between for Android and Blackberry). I guess I didn't have a choice originally since Windows at the time was very weak. I did have the MDA and eventually a Palm Treo but it still wasn't a true smartphone by today's standards.

 

[macros_1]

This is a good insight. I still have my iPhone 6plus. it sits on my desk at work and gets touched about once every 2-3 months for a couple minutes then it quickly gets thrown back on the desk. I can't believe I lived on iOS from the original iPhone until last year (with breaks in between for Android and Blackberry). I guess I didn't have a choice originally since Windows at the time was very weak. I did have the MDA and eventually a Palm Treo but it still wasn't a true smartphone by today's standards.

One benefit to that 6 plus on your desk, it's really heavy and makes an excellent paperweight (j/k). The great resale value of the IPhone means you wont lose much money when you decide to sell!