I originally posted a version of this in the comments to the article about 5 tips for moving to iOS.
Windows phone/mobile diehards had plenty negative to say about that article, along with the one yesterday about things converts will love about the iPhone.
I don't expect that I'll change (m)any minds with this, and I'm not really even trying to. I just want to share my experience and my take on this particular topic. If you're all in on your Windows Phone and Windows Mobile, God bless and more power to you. It takes a certain kind of person to be able to do that, but I'm not him (or her).
I wanted to be, but for my specific situation it just wasn't feasible.
So, I ditched my Windows Icon on Verizon back in January 2016. "New every two" was up, my Icon was doing some funky things, no new Windows phones were available, I couldn't upgrade beyond windows 8 (I think; i don't recall the version I was on, but there was a newer one available that was a PITA to move to for someone not overly techy and with not a lot of free time), and not a soul I knew used Windows Phone.
All my family members had Apple devices, so it was really a no-brainer to switch to an iPhone to get us all on the same ecosystem to be able to text, video chat, and be able to easily track what they're doing on their phones. (There was no way on earth they were all moving to WP).
Like I said, I didn't want to necessarily, but I didn't have much choice given the above. And you know what? I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm soooooooooooo glad I did.
I was a WP evangelist, too. Always talking about how good the cameras were, how cool live tiles were, etc etc, to anyone who'd listen (their listening lasted all of about 13 seconds before their eyes glazed over and I could tell they'd tuned me out).
But the point eventually came when I tired of all the sh*t that came with being on WP: The neverending waiting and wishing and hoping for the next great phone, for the next great software upgrade (slow ring, fast ring, insider previews, reboots, etc), for a fast camera, for the next halfway decent app to come to the windows ecosystem.
Ok, actually, I take that last one back. I didn't care a whit about the "App Gap" when I was on WP. I didn't use all that many of them and don't care too much about games, so it wasn't a big deal to me.
Not a big deal, that is, until I moved over to an iPhone (I've got the iPhone 6S, by the way). I found a ton of apps that were actually useful in my everyday life. From banking (I use a relatively small credit union in socal that never would have had an app on WP, along with a Cap One CC), to entertainment (HBO, Showtime, Starz, Epix) to sports (watching March Madness games on my phone was really cool), to lots of useful travel apps. Honestly, even if I could go back to WP now I don't know that I would.
All in all, and this is the point I most want to make to you diehard windows phone adherents, I just had to recalibrate how I look at my phone. I loved my Icon. LOVED it (ditto for my 928 before it). And I looked at it as a cool piece of technology. I know, there's no shortage of people who feel that way about the iPhone, but I'm not really one of them.
These days, as an iPhone user, I view my phone as a tool. That's it. I need my phone to be able to reliably make calls and send texts. I need to be able to keep in touch with my family. I want to be able to take reasonably good pics with it (and with my iPhone 6s, they're pretty darn good).
The iPhone does all of those things exceedingly well, and very reliably. It just works. It almost never crashes (ymmv). The camera is lightning fast shot to shot. All the things I struggled with on my Icon are non-issues on my iphone. I certainly ain't no apple ****** (still use PCs and that will never change), and I don't talk up my iPhone every chance I get, but as a tool it does what I need it to do and that's enough for me.
So, blast away if you want on this, but I don't regret ditching WP, not for a single second. I do have occasional pangs of what could have been, but MS dorked it up, pretty much at every turn.
Now, that said, I haven't completely ditched the MS ecosystem. From my years using windows phones, I'm dug in on several fronts. My main personal email address is on Outlook. I also used OneDrive for my cloud storage, so I've never moved over to iCloud, and I used OneNote a lot too. And of course I've always used MS Office.
I continue to use all of those things on my iPhone:
Love it or hate it, it's true that MS has done a bang-up job on their iOS apps.
If you really make a point to use what's available from MS, you can mitigate a lot of what you likely dislike about the apple experience (iCloud, iTunes, keyboard).
So that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. My life with an iphone is just waaaaaay easier. To quote Kramer, "I'm out there and I'm lovin' every minute of it!"
I gave up the struggle and the pain and the annoyance and the frustration that is inherent in owning a Windows Phone, but I still get to continue to use all the great stuff I love about Microsoft that they do well. You can try to tell me below there's nothing annoying about your Windows Phone experience, but I'll know your lying, even if you can't admit it to yourself. :devil:
And for the record, too: should MS actually defy everyone's expectations and come out with a new phone or whatever is the next evolution of mobile telephony, with an experience that isn't as painful as it is a joy to use, I'll happily jump back in with both feet.
In the meantime, though, I urge you to join me and just give up the ghost. Come to the dark side. I'll buy you a beer when you get here. You'll see just how simple it can be to own a mobile phone.
Windows phone/mobile diehards had plenty negative to say about that article, along with the one yesterday about things converts will love about the iPhone.
I don't expect that I'll change (m)any minds with this, and I'm not really even trying to. I just want to share my experience and my take on this particular topic. If you're all in on your Windows Phone and Windows Mobile, God bless and more power to you. It takes a certain kind of person to be able to do that, but I'm not him (or her).
I wanted to be, but for my specific situation it just wasn't feasible.
So, I ditched my Windows Icon on Verizon back in January 2016. "New every two" was up, my Icon was doing some funky things, no new Windows phones were available, I couldn't upgrade beyond windows 8 (I think; i don't recall the version I was on, but there was a newer one available that was a PITA to move to for someone not overly techy and with not a lot of free time), and not a soul I knew used Windows Phone.
All my family members had Apple devices, so it was really a no-brainer to switch to an iPhone to get us all on the same ecosystem to be able to text, video chat, and be able to easily track what they're doing on their phones. (There was no way on earth they were all moving to WP).
Like I said, I didn't want to necessarily, but I didn't have much choice given the above. And you know what? I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm soooooooooooo glad I did.
I was a WP evangelist, too. Always talking about how good the cameras were, how cool live tiles were, etc etc, to anyone who'd listen (their listening lasted all of about 13 seconds before their eyes glazed over and I could tell they'd tuned me out).
But the point eventually came when I tired of all the sh*t that came with being on WP: The neverending waiting and wishing and hoping for the next great phone, for the next great software upgrade (slow ring, fast ring, insider previews, reboots, etc), for a fast camera, for the next halfway decent app to come to the windows ecosystem.
Ok, actually, I take that last one back. I didn't care a whit about the "App Gap" when I was on WP. I didn't use all that many of them and don't care too much about games, so it wasn't a big deal to me.
Not a big deal, that is, until I moved over to an iPhone (I've got the iPhone 6S, by the way). I found a ton of apps that were actually useful in my everyday life. From banking (I use a relatively small credit union in socal that never would have had an app on WP, along with a Cap One CC), to entertainment (HBO, Showtime, Starz, Epix) to sports (watching March Madness games on my phone was really cool), to lots of useful travel apps. Honestly, even if I could go back to WP now I don't know that I would.
All in all, and this is the point I most want to make to you diehard windows phone adherents, I just had to recalibrate how I look at my phone. I loved my Icon. LOVED it (ditto for my 928 before it). And I looked at it as a cool piece of technology. I know, there's no shortage of people who feel that way about the iPhone, but I'm not really one of them.
These days, as an iPhone user, I view my phone as a tool. That's it. I need my phone to be able to reliably make calls and send texts. I need to be able to keep in touch with my family. I want to be able to take reasonably good pics with it (and with my iPhone 6s, they're pretty darn good).
The iPhone does all of those things exceedingly well, and very reliably. It just works. It almost never crashes (ymmv). The camera is lightning fast shot to shot. All the things I struggled with on my Icon are non-issues on my iphone. I certainly ain't no apple ****** (still use PCs and that will never change), and I don't talk up my iPhone every chance I get, but as a tool it does what I need it to do and that's enough for me.
So, blast away if you want on this, but I don't regret ditching WP, not for a single second. I do have occasional pangs of what could have been, but MS dorked it up, pretty much at every turn.
Now, that said, I haven't completely ditched the MS ecosystem. From my years using windows phones, I'm dug in on several fronts. My main personal email address is on Outlook. I also used OneDrive for my cloud storage, so I've never moved over to iCloud, and I used OneNote a lot too. And of course I've always used MS Office.
I continue to use all of those things on my iPhone:
- I do all my backups (camera roll and all) to OneDrive instead of the icloud, and it works without a hitch. The OneDrive app is great.
- MS Office apps are great, too (i use them sparingly, however).
- I have the Outlook app, and it's ok, though I prefer using the iphone mail functionality (I hate the focused inbox).
- I never got into Groove because I was already dug in on Amazon for music back when I had my 928 and Icon, and the Amazon Music app is incredible on iOS.
- I also still play the xbox game Wordament.
- The Microsoft Pix app is very cool, too (contrary to popular belief, it was not created in order to make your camera go slower. :smile: ).
- I almost forgot about Microsoft's Wordflow! I pulled down that keyboard app and it works like a charm, too.
Love it or hate it, it's true that MS has done a bang-up job on their iOS apps.
If you really make a point to use what's available from MS, you can mitigate a lot of what you likely dislike about the apple experience (iCloud, iTunes, keyboard).
So that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. My life with an iphone is just waaaaaay easier. To quote Kramer, "I'm out there and I'm lovin' every minute of it!"
I gave up the struggle and the pain and the annoyance and the frustration that is inherent in owning a Windows Phone, but I still get to continue to use all the great stuff I love about Microsoft that they do well. You can try to tell me below there's nothing annoying about your Windows Phone experience, but I'll know your lying, even if you can't admit it to yourself. :devil:
And for the record, too: should MS actually defy everyone's expectations and come out with a new phone or whatever is the next evolution of mobile telephony, with an experience that isn't as painful as it is a joy to use, I'll happily jump back in with both feet.
In the meantime, though, I urge you to join me and just give up the ghost. Come to the dark side. I'll buy you a beer when you get here. You'll see just how simple it can be to own a mobile phone.
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