HTC One M8 for Windows From An Android User's Perspective

[salmanahmad]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3AgcltUM9s

you don't who that is, he is a pretty awesome technology reviewer on YouTube, and he makes great content. But you can search up more about him on his own channel.He was an iOS user for a pretty long time, until he decided last year to try out Android and Windows Phone, he went with Android and has been using it since then.He finally tried a Windows Phone again, and we'll let's just say it wasn't his favorite OS.Your thoughts on the video?

 

[Muessig]

I just watched this, I like Linus and watch his videos.

I think he makes a few good points, but his complaints about speed dialing and screen brightness aren't really valid problems - for example; he could use speed dial or pin the contact to the start screen to call a contact quickly. He uses a lot of google services, so naturally he's going to find friction there because of google's lack of support for the OS.

I agree with his assessment for an 'enthusiast' that's straight out of Android use, though - they're going to try to get their favourite apps and they're going to be shocked when they either can't find them, have to use third party alternatives or are presented with cut-down versions or even worse, scam apps.

I think MS have to overcome the app problem and increase the quality of the third party apps - whether that's giving developers access to more features for feature parity across platforms or just helping to drive more development to the OS. I also think it's not going to be a quick process.

 

[Felix Bank]

I subscribe to his channel and thought it was kinda fair. I've have 4 Android phones over 3 years and have recently moved to Windows, Lumia 930.

Some of what he says is subjective, like the lack of customization and the tiles interface. I ROM'd, tweaked, ran various launchers, and all sorts on my Android phones and guess what? I got bored. Just wanted a smartphone, not a product to mess around with. So after a while I just ran bog standard with stock keyboards, on my Nexus 4 & 5, and Xperia Z1. I ran a custom ROM on my S2, that's the phone I learned stuff on.

He mentions the lack of screen when typing. That's probably an HTC thing cause on my 930 its just over half height. Oh and the keyboard is much better than stock Android and definitely SwiftKey.

Factual stuff he mentions is the lack of apps on Windows OS, that are available on Android and iOS. But I feel that is not Microsoft's fault.

 

[Poirots Progeny]

That was a reasonably fair review. I think he wants a device with more flexibility, and the ability to tailor it as he will. I can understand that. And yes, apps and google apps are an issue, If you rely or need them.

The lack of smart dialing is an issue - the fact you can't search via phone number presents all sorts of issues, if you just want to check a number, got a missed call on a landline and want to assess who it is etc. Speed dial - well, again, this is a design issue: Pin it or don't.

Ultimately, android is a more feature rich and mature os and eco system. It's also older. With each update wp gets to that level. Perhaps, if he tries WP again at a later point, he'll find it works for him. That's the beauty of choice.

I have a number of WP devices, and have used msft stuff from the old xda days - I've seen a lot of back and forth. WP is getting there. Slowly, but it is getting there. Hopefully the devs see this and drop on board. I've also got android devices, Apple and BB. But I've got the luxury to chop and change as my needs do. If you're signing a two or three year contract - buy what works for you!!!!

 

[Brian McBride]

Last night my 920 leaped from my pocket in a suicide dive - likely depressed from all the other phone announcements in the last week.

Now that my cracked screen will force me into a new phone - Microsoft has lost my business. What brought me to WP8 was the tiles and the idea of Hubs. MS broke apart the media hub into individual apps (booo!) and has made little to no advancements to the people hub. Aggregating info in one area is a great concept - too bad they dropped the ball there, BIG time.

All in all, WP8 feels like a public beta by a company that cares little for the actual product. It has only been recently that I've seen updates happening on a regular basis - however I can't say the changes are making my phone that much better. Live tiles still fail to update themselves properly. Strange quirks and issues abound in the OS. And on the 920, stability has gotten worse with the 8.1 preview.

However, most of all, the app ecosystem really sucks. As the review pointed out, the store is FILLED with scam apps - ugh. Everywhere you go official apps just don't exist on WP8. It just isn't good. Worse, I personally find a few of the official apps running horribly. Clearly the company subcontracted a WP8 version, but no one there has a WP8 phone or cares to use one. So bugs, crazy battery drain, and crashes riddle these step-child apps.

If people from Microsoft read these forums... unlikely sadly... then I'd like to say that you've failed me as a customer and a fan of WP8. I really hope you get your act together and actually start competing in the marketspace.

 

[Ploydd]

I always love the arguments about the MS Store over the Google Play Store. When I was using an Android phone 2 years ago (Motorola Atrix HD), as "powerful" as it was the amount of slowdown on the system and limited ROM space on it made it virtually unusable after some time. The store had so many apps and such a selection that it was wonderful, or so I thought. People are quick to bring up scam apps and fake apps in the MS store lately, but no one seems to mention the fact that with the other two stores (Apple and Google), there ARE a few hundred thousand more apps, and with that just a higher percentage of crap apps.
I can't tell you how many times I downloaded an app and it was just loaded with ads and/or potential malware.

Ever since I made the switch over, not a single issue with bad apps or fake ones. I read the reviews just as religiously as I did on the Play store before anyone wants to accuse me of not doing so lol. I think Microsoft is doing the right moves and finally putting more attention into WP rather than just passing it off as "something to appease people with", which is how it felt in the past. I fully intend on getting the 830 and handing my 928 off to my son. Despite the naysayers I couldn't be more excited for it and especially the AT&T announcement, considering I'm an employee and will get a discount .