Is this the best forum for getting help with my WP?

[ArgentaLupa]

Trying Windows phone

Hi

I've been a long time Android user for about 5 years now, but have decided to give WP a try.

I've just got a Nokia Lumia 635 It's a budget phone and a bit of a come down, as I've always had high end phones before, but it was free and allows me to try WP before I decide what high end phone I'm going with for the next two years, and I've got a couple of questions about it/WP

Notifications: They're very limited. I only seem to be able to set one notification for anything; In other words it will alert me once when a message comes in, but that's it. No subsequent alerts for the same unread message seems to be possible. With Android I can set it to alert me every few minutes until I read the message. This means I'm constantly looking at my phone in case I've missed a message. Is this a limitation of the phone or WP?

Running Apps: I got a message yesterday saying that a large number of Apps were running and I might like to close some down to improve battery life. However, although it took me to running apps page I couldn't see any way to terminate any. Does WP auto manage Apps or do I need to manually shut them down occasionally, and if so how?

Live tiles: How do I know what is and what isn't a live tile other than playing around with them? I've installed the twitter app, but the tile isn't live, so I'm not getting updates on my desktop like my Android widget would give me. Do I need to look for a specific third party app to do this?

Keyboard: Is anyone using 3rd party keyboards? The default one isn't terrible, but after a world of Android keyboard options I don't really like it that much. I've looked in the store but there appear to be very few options and, at first glance, most of then just seem to add language options.

Also, If I have any further questions is this the best forum to direct them at or is there somewhere else more suitable for this kind of 'WP defector' stuff?

 

[ShinraCorp]

Re: Trying Windows phone

Hey,

Glad you're trying out the windows phone platform. I'll try to answer your questions the best I can.

Notifications work a bit differently on Windows Phone. While it won't annoy you every few minutes until you look. The notification icon right beside the wi-fi icon will stay there until you see the notification center. There is no way as of yet to remind you to check your notifications.

To eliminate the running apps you just need to press and hold the back button, this will enter the app switch screen. You only need to press X or swipe down on the apps you wish to eliminate. Windows phone can only save up too I believe 5 apps in a state, the oldest app that's running will be eliminate if you launch a newer one.

Some apps do not have live tiles, I do not have twitter so I can't say if it's normal or not. There was another twitter app that did live tiles.

I do not know about a 3rd party keyboard since I gotten use to the default one.

You're also posting in the correct forum if you have any questions related to Windows Phone.

 

[ArgentaLupa]

Re: Trying Windows phone

Thanks ShinraCorp. That long press on the back button I didn't know, and looks useful.

Are there any WP phones which have LED notification at all? I'm liking WP so far, but the only thing that's irritating me is the necessity to physically check my phone for notifications, in case I've missed anything.

 

[aikidaves]

Re: Trying Windows phone

Are there any WP phones which have LED notification at all? I'm liking WP so far, but the only thing that's irritating me is the necessity to physically check my phone for notifications, in case I've missed anything.

I haven't seen any yet. WP will support it when the first update to WP 8.1 is released, but no OEMs have as yet announced any phones using it. The HTC One M8 has an LED, but they'll have to issue a firmware update to enable it, and they haven't said whether they plan to do that.

 

[scdkad]

Re: Trying Windows phone

The only indication of any alerts, emails, toasts etc is when the "newspaper" looking icon appears at the top. Not sure what more you would want-when that icon is there you've got something to check..

 

[RumoredNow]

Re: Trying Windows phone

Android users are Pavlovian Response conditioned to a blinking LED. They can't imagine getting along without it. Here's how.

Set up your 5 most important notifications for quick status in Lock Screen settings and a bonus in notification area of LS settings. Enable Glance. Enable Glance to display Lock Screen notifications. I keep my Glance set to always on. If it is in my pocket the proximity sensor keeps the screen off. If I have the phone out, I place it face down and that also keeps the screen off. Any time I look at my phone I get all my most important notifications simply by "glancing" at my phone. Automatically and with no more action than looking at the screen.

(For my use)
Lock Screen notification = Calendar
Quick Status = Phone, Messaging, eMail 1, eMail 2, Battery Charge Level

That's 6 pieces of info plus Time and Glance also throws in an Alarm icon next to the Time if you have a pending Alarm upcoming.

Total of 8 pieces of information at a "Glance." No button pushes, No actions required. Each clearly labeled and readily understood what category is being displayed. I can even tell which eMail has a new message in the inbox due to the position of the eMail envelope icon.

I keep saying Glance wallops the snot out of a blinking LED. I just don't get the appeal of memorizing what red blink means versus crimson and then staring at the phone for several moments trying to decide just what shade of red that is that you are seeing.

​Glance FTW!!!!!

 

[Arkajyoti Misra]

Re: Trying Windows phone

Android users are Pavlovian Response conditioned to a blinking LED. They can't imagine getting along without it. Here's how.

Set up your 5 most important notifications for quick status in Lock Screen settings and a bonus in notification area of LS settings. Enable Glance. Enable Glance to display Lock Screen notifications. I keep my Glance set to always on. If it is in my pocket the proximity sensor keeps the screen off. If I have the phone out, I place it face down and that also keeps the screen off. Any time I look at my phone I get all my most important notifications simply by "glancing" at my phone. Automatically and with no more action than looking at the screen.

(For my use)
Lock Screen notification = Calendar
Quick Status = Phone, Messaging, eMail 1, eMail 2, Battery Charge Level

That's 6 pieces of info plus Time and Glance also throws in an Alarm icon next to the Time if you have a pending Alarm upcoming.

Total of 8 pieces of information at a "Glance." No button pushes, No actions required. Each clearly labeled and readily understood what category is being displayed. I can even tell which eMail has a new message in the inbox due to the position of the eMail envelope icon.

I keep saying Glance wallops the snot out of a blinking LED. I just don't get the appeal of memorizing what red blink means versus crimson and then staring at the phone for several moments trying to decide just what shade of red that is that you are seeing.

​Glance FTW!!!!!

And After Lumia Denim update, u get the weather on Glance too!!

 

[ArgentaLupa]

Re: Trying Windows phone

Thanks for all the replies. The glance feature sounds really good. Unfortunately, it's not available for the phone I'm currently using. This means I still have to physically press the power button to 'wake' the phone in order to see any notifications. otherwise it just sits there in complete darkness and silence, and I'm oblivious to any waiting alerts. This was potentially a deal killer for me when considering WP. However, as it looks like it's a limitation of my phone and not WP (at least Nokia's version) so I'm a bit happier now.