iOS vs Android when using Microsoft Services

[anon(9907244)]

I agree that the Outlook app for Android is terrible. There is no support for contact pictures so I don't use it.

 

[GhostITMG]

So, my questions on this thread is this: If I was to switch to Android, what's the best phone I can buy to make sure I can pull out as much of the Google services as possible? I really don't want the phone reporting back to Google HQ at all. I've chosen to let MS track me and my info, I'd like to not spread that across multiple ecosystems any more than necessary.

 

[rdubmu]

I have used Microsoft services on iOS, windows phone and android. Android by far offers more in terms of functionality but with Microsoft services its ****ty on android. Outlook app on android has issues with calendars, while contacts are not editable.

On iOS, the apps are faster, updated more and work as well as they do on windows.

 

[jacob103]

Which operating system is better when using Microsoft services extensively? I have no point of reference as I have never owned an Apple or Android product (and not that anxious too either) but I'm leaning towards one of them for my next phone. I'm just tired of feeling like I'm making due with what windows10 mobile offers me. I've only been a windows phone user for about a year now (Palm and BlackBerry before that) but have been relatively "all in" on Microsoft services for quite sometime.
So, when you're "all in" with things like OneDrive, Office365 subscription, Outlook2016 desktop client, and even an Outlook.com email account.... which OS (ios or android) works best?

iOS definitely has the best besides Cortana. Cortana blows on iOS.

 

[Mister Wolf]

I've been on Android for about 2 weeks with the One Plus now. I didn't bother with Cortana or Groove. I have Outlook and the Xbox app. Both run better and faster.

Even the Windows Central app is better.

 

[Bertram hein]

Which operating system is better when using Microsoft services extensively? I have no point of reference as I have never owned an Apple or Android product (and not that anxious too either) but I'm leaning towards one of them for my next phone. I'm just tired of feeling like I'm making due with what windows10 mobile offers me. I've only been a windows phone user for about a year now (Palm and BlackBerry before that) but have been relatively "all in" on Microsoft services for quite sometime.
So, when you're "all in" with things like OneDrive, Office365 subscription, Outlook2016 desktop client, and even an Outlook.com email account.... which OS (ios or android) works best?

Depends. Outlook/callender/weather is better on windows 10 mobile, rest is far superior both visually and programming wise on android

 

[Haxcid]

I have both, I have a LG V10, my personal phone and I have a iPhone SE work phone, all the apps are better on the iPhone which makes me sick cuz I am an android guy

 

[newnews]

I prefer use mail and calendar in W10M, but OneNote is definitely worse in W10M because it does not have ink support

 

[dorelse]

To be honest...the only metric I cared about when choosing between iOS or back to Android was the track record for OS upgrades. I've been burned too many times on Android, and therefore chose iOS.

I then used Paul Thurrott's guide, 'iOS for the Windows Guy' and plugged in MS's services. Do I love iOS...nope...do I love the fact that everything's available (and rock solid) on it...absolutely.

Cortana works well, I really have no complaints on MS services running on iOS.

 

[anon(50597)]

To be honest...the only metric I cared about when choosing between iOS or back to Android was the track record for OS upgrades. I've been burned too many times on Android, and therefore chose iOS.

I then used Paul Thurrott's guide, 'iOS for the Windows Guy' and plugged in MS's services. Do I love iOS...nope...do I love the fact that everything's available (and rock solid) on it...absolutely.

Cortana works well, I really have no complaints on MS services running on iOS.

Good information.

Sent from my Alcatel Idol 4S

 

[Lych]

Which operating system is better when using Microsoft services extensively? I have no point of reference as I have never owned an Apple or Android product (and not that anxious too either) but I'm leaning towards one of them for my next phone. I'm just tired of feeling like I'm making due with what windows10 mobile offers me. I've only been a windows phone user for about a year now (Palm and BlackBerry before that) but have been relatively "all in" on Microsoft services for quite sometime.
So, when you're "all in" with things like OneDrive, Office365 subscription, Outlook2016 desktop client, and even an Outlook.com email account.... which OS (ios or android) works best?

Can't speak for iOS as I haven't owned an iPhone after the 6+ came out and I don't have it any more, so no idea what has changed.

Android:
Outlook is a bundled app, meaning you get contacts, calendar and email in one app. It feels crammed but otherwise useful (if they fixed that godawful bug where some characters turned people's names into gibberish). On Windows we had separate apps for these and I preferred that.
Skype is pretty much on par, I like the looks better on WP, but that's about it.
OneNote: liked it better on WP, but functionality-wise they're on par.
To-Do: pretty consistent between all platforms so far.
Office apps: never used them on Android, wouldn't know.
OneDrive: never used it on Android.

Nothing else really comes to mind as of right now, but feel free to ask.
As for how they perform: Under WP the lower-end and older devices might run them a bit more slowly, but haven't seen anything that's really frustrating (It might be there, but I definitely don't have any experience beyond high-end lumias and the 640).

On Android you might get buttery smooth performance or a horrible lagfest based on the device you're using. On a Galaxy S7 it's smooth sailing. On lower end devices with less RAM and weak processors you might as well just carry a laptop with yourself instead and tether your data.

 

[iJohnnyCash]

Xandros9 nailed it but I also wanted to throw in my 2 cents based on my personal experience with Outlook on Android and iOS.

Outlook contacts and calendar feed very well into the built-in apps on iOS. On iOS, it makes your Outlook account an Exchange account so if you make a new contact in the Contacts app, it will be automatically synced back to Outlook. Calendar events shown in Outlook show almost instantly on the built in app. I haven't tried creating an event using the calendar and then seeing if it syncs back but it should be just fine. If your contacts have birthdays in Outlook, it will populate in the calendar as well. Please note that if you click an email link from a text or a web page, it will open the Mail app and not Outlook automatically.

As for Android, you can set Outlook to be your default mail client for most phones. However, it only sync contacts and not your calendar. Either way, you have to add your accounts as Exchange accounts in order for your contacts to populate into the Contacts app, and the same goes with your calendar. Double calendar events are a thing sometimes. In my experience, it hasn't always shown birthdays of my contacts in Outlook on the calendar too.

Each has their pros and cons really. I use both and generally I prefer iOS for Outlook.

That isn't exactly the truth. I don't doubt that iOS have a out-of-the-box and nice integration with Microsoft Exchange and Outlook.

I doubt about that someone can't have the same features in Android also. First of all Outlook app have the big disadvantage that it support only one-way sync.

Personally I combine stock email client (not the Gmail app) and the android's account service with Outlook app. On the one hand I have a full-featured Outlook environment. On the other hand I have deep integration between Microsoft Exchange and the android, with calendar support of course.

The only hard part was that I should find the manual setting, but a 5min of googling was enough.

 

[libra89]

That isn't exactly the truth. I don't doubt that iOS have a out-of-the-box and nice integration with Microsoft Exchange and Outlook.

I doubt about that someone can't have the same features in Android also. First of all Outlook app have the big disadvantage that it support only one-way sync.

Personally I combine stock email client (not the Gmail app) and the android's account service with Outlook app. On the one hand I have a full-featured Outlook environment. On the other hand I have deep integration between Microsoft Exchange and the android, with calendar support of course.

The only hard part was that I should find the manual setting, but a 5min of googling was enough.

Thanks for sharing your experience. In my experience with many Android phones, it can also be phone dependent as well too. It sounds like you have a system that works great.

I didn't have one before Nine.

 

[anon(7901790)]

Which operating system is better when using Microsoft services extensively? I have no point of reference as I have never owned an Apple or Android product (and not that anxious too either) but I'm leaning towards one of them for my next phone. I'm just tired of feeling like I'm making due with what windows10 mobile offers me. I've only been a windows phone user for about a year now (Palm and BlackBerry before that) but have been relatively "all in" on Microsoft services for quite sometime.
So, when you're "all in" with things like OneDrive, Office365 subscription, Outlook2016 desktop client, and even an Outlook.com email account.... which OS (ios or android) works best?

I have owned devices from all three. I've owned a Lumia Icon, an iPhone 6s Plus, and now a Galaxy S8+. I also have a Galaxy Tab S2. Here is my two cents. I have a Office 365 subscription with 1TB of OneDrive space. I use MS Office at work everyday, and use OneDrive everyday.

Because of the different technologies, it's kinda hard to make a true apples to apples comparison. My old iPhone 6s Plus had "3D Touch." This allowed app makers to add some nifty functionality. Of all of the things about my iPhone, it is 3D Touch that I miss the most. It is rather useful. Microsoft added 3D Touch support to all of its iOS versions of its apps.

Overall, I prefer the Android versions of the Microsoft apps. The one exception is Office Lens. On the Windows Mobile and iOS versions, you have the option of scanning in multiple page documents. However, the Android version does not. To be fair, the multi-page option didn't arrive to iOS until recently. The Windows Mobile version had it baked in from the start. Unfortunately, I don't have my Icon or iPhone anymore. If I did, I could show you some side by side comparisons.

 

[Iain_S]

Definitely Android.

The reason is simple: iOS is a walled garden. Apple has the system pretty locked up and you won't be able to actually replace Apple's services with Microsoft's.
Android on the other hand allows you to replace everything with Microsoft's services. And even Cortana can be placed in the place of Google Now.

Now, mind you that just because Microsoft's services are better on Android it does NOT mean Microsoft's APPS are. For example the Outlook application is an unmitigated disaster.

The thing about Android is: you have tons of apps on the Play Store which will tie in with Microsoft's services and replace Google's offerings.

The only Microsoft service which is better on Windows Phone is Groove. But, if we're being honest, Groove s*cks when compared to Google's Play Music or iTunes. So, whatever the mobile system you go to, I'd honestly recommend you to ditch Groove anyway.

MS services and apps are far superior on Apple devices than they are on Android, email and calender, onedrive, groove, office all look and work better on ios.

 

[vEEP pEEP]

If I went Android - I would use Google services

If I went to Apple - I would use Apple services

 

[Legellan]

Just use the Microsoft Outlook mail and calendar app. It's great. It also allows you to hook in OneDrive, Google drive and Dropbox. If you've got a gmail account you can pull that in too. No need to use the Gmail or google calendar apps at all.

 

[Drael646464]

MS services and apps are far superior on Apple devices than they are on Android, email and calender, onedrive, groove, office all look and work better on ios.

Well I've heard people say google services and apps work better on ios, so that doesn't surprise me

 

[Jason Angle]

Which operating system is better when using Microsoft services extensively? I have no point of reference as I have never owned an Apple or Android product (and not that anxious too either) but I'm leaning towards one of them for my next phone. I'm just tired of feeling like I'm making due with what windows10 mobile offers me. I've only been a windows phone user for about a year now (Palm and BlackBerry before that) but have been relatively "all in" on Microsoft services for quite sometime.
So, when you're "all in" with things like OneDrive, Office365 subscription, Outlook2016 desktop client, and even an Outlook.com email account.... which OS (ios or android) works best?

The problem with this question is the response will always be conjecture based on the bias/preference each of us have. With that being said, I came to Windows mobile from a longtime Blackberry history (think pagers...), but I also have extensive history with Android but in the Open Handset form. Arrow Launcher, Office, Onedrive, Onenote, Mail and Calendar, Groove, and the others all look similar to what you currently have on both platforms.

iPhone will be the more secure option, with the Unix underpinnings that will leave most security concerns on Apple's proprietary hardware and software concerns. Exchange access does work out of the box, so does the security controls from Active Directory, but most require your company IT to enable them.

If you get a Blackberry Android security is still good, but you're going to be locked down on what you can do. Still all the MSFT apps are there but if you are a keyboard fan and willing to allow Google into every corner of your life... this might be the best option overall. All the old BB items are integrated already, coupled with Enterprise services this could be a winner. Exchange, Sharepoint, Active Directory, etc, etc, etc work just like they use to on the old BB platforms.

If you are the adventurous type, get a device that can have the bootloader unlocked, find a developer that gives you Android without Google forced on you and then install all the Microsoft services. Use a secondary store option to keep things updated and install other apps. This is the least likely option to work in a BYOD situation as most IT departments are going to say... no, absolutely not.

 

[MrElectrifyer]

Which operating system is better when using Microsoft services extensively? I have no point of reference as I have never owned an Apple or Android product (and not that anxious too either) but I'm leaning towards one of them for my next phone. I'm just tired of feeling like I'm making due with what windows10 mobile offers me. I've only been a windows phone user for about a year now (Palm and BlackBerry before that) but have been relatively "all in" on Microsoft services for quite sometime.
So, when you're "all in" with things like OneDrive, Office365 subscription, Outlook2016 desktop client, and even an Outlook.com email account.... which OS (ios or android) works best?

Way better on Android, hands down. On iOS, you can't have Microsoft services fully integrate with the OS and ditch whatever first-party option came on the device. Trying to use microsoft services by default becomes a time-waster if there's any crapple alternative...