Does any former Windows Phone user feel like moving to Android was a downgrade?

[Chuck Finley69]

I don't know about "downgrade," but very frustrating. I'm not totally unfamiliar with Android, having had a couple of phones that I barely used and two tablets. Never a long term daily driver.

I decided to buy a Blackberry Priv because it has a real keyboard like my long line of beloved Nokia Communicators did. What a mistake. It turns out that these things were never tuned to Android right and battery life is sometimes 8 hours!

One thing I hate is that it is Google. I hate the company, see the James Demore incident, their tracking of every word and deed for their benefit. Are you aware that their EULA's that you agree to let them own your work. Every document, every photo, etc. To my knowledge Microsoft and Apple don't do that, probably because they aren't really an advertising company nor intent on taking over the world.

There are several launchers that mimic the WP look. Square Home was the best. So it was nice to be on familiar turf. Some tiles are even live. And AMOLED actually outdoes the Nokia/MS Glance, an absolute must for me. But I really find the Notifications bar annoying on two counts. First is it's height, the symbols are SO tiny. Hey, Android, a few more pixels, please? Second is having to see what you are getting notified about. Unlike WP, once you swipe up the lockscreen, the tiles show what you've missed. On the Android's scorecard though, is double tapping ....it ALWAYS works.....to the home screen. I HATE the WP swiping the lock screen up, but it has me beaten into submission.

I guess if you stick with all the original Google services, it's not very complicated. But if you use the BB apps, and then add the MS ones like Onedrive, Cortana, and Bing, the complexity and trying to figure out what does what goes exponential.

Connecting the phone to the PC is absurd. I knew from prior experience you have to enable "USB Debugging", WTF is that about? I don't want to debug, I want to CONNECT. Well, it turns out on this Marshmallow Android, you have to first tap on the Settings...Phone....Version 7 times to become a developer which then let's you connect......oops, I mean debug. But wait. Now you have four options! And it defaults back to Charge Only after you disconnect! A good example of why I call programmers "***** geniuses." My long line of Nokia Symbian and WP phones you, as you know, just plug the phone in and Windows installs the correct drivers. Done. Charge AND transfer files all of the time, no problem.

I am going to look into Apple iPhone. As we all know, pro's and con's. Even my Apple-holic friend is honest enough to point out limitations, like a database program he had so much information on, just gone one day. Not not supported, gone. Steve Jobs' famous arrogance lives on. I don't know if there is a Glance like app. And no headphone jack for many of the last iterations. I hate Bluetooth, I have the worst luck with both the hardware and the pairing. To say nothing of charging the battery.

I hate this OS phone duopoly. I tell people my WP is what engineers call "elegant." Logical, easy to use. The look is pure eye candy and conveys information immediately. Now I have two options, waterboarding or the rack. Whichever I choose, pain assured.

Hey Paul, how go it? Sorry to hear about your PRIV frustration but it’s to be expected. It’s not surprising with a first gen Android device. Similar disappointments with the original Droids and iPhones from 2007-2011 era. Microsoft has plans with Android too but we’ll see. I carry a XR which I’d strongly encourage just from the longevity standpoint. The Microsoft apps for iOS have been fairly decent.

 

[nt40lanman]

I would consider it for me a downgrade for the most part. I'm still using a 640 but have purchased a S7 with Oreo to move to soon. I'm enjoying a handful of apps but the basics of the phone are disjointed. I've decided Android vs WP is a mall vs a department store. WP is a department store. All the departments and employees work together, are of one company, paid by the same management. Android is like a mall. All the stores are different companies and staff and may not even know each other. Very compartmentalized.

Certain basic and important things my phone reading incoming text messages are important and here in (almost) 2020 Android and Apple still can't do it!!!

 

[nt40lanman]

Got interrupted

I've tried to put as many MS apps and services on the phone to use my MS accounts including MS Launcher, cortana, Outlook with my Outlook.com and Office365 accounts, but it sll seems disjointed, unlike the fluid connection in my Win Phone. Maybe my efforts have made it worse

 

[Ryujingt3]

Got interrupted

I've tried to put as many MS apps and services on the phone to use my MS accounts including MS Launcher, cortana, Outlook with my Outlook.com and Office365 accounts, but it sll seems disjointed, unlike the fluid connection in my Win Phone. Maybe my efforts have made it worse

I actually agree with this. Whilst I am now on Android, with all MS apps and the MS launcher, after briefly powering on my 640XL yesterday, I also noticed that MS apps were far better synced together on W10M to work together than they are on Android.