Just played with the Icon, have some questions for you old WP users...

[Fade_z]

Then why did MS developed their own platform. Should just have developed apps for Android and Iphone because thats what works and what people like. They would have probably made more money this way.

They got into the game late so it takes them a bit. I think WP8 was just to get their foot in the door and WP8.1 is the real deal. Can you imagine if WP8 never came out and it was only WP7 waiting to update to WP8.1. If this happened they would be super behind because a lot of apps were possible due to WP8.

In the short term they might have made more, but its not very stable when you don't have your own eco system, because android works better with google docs not office because google owns android.

And wp8 is not by definition a placeholder to get their foot in the door, just look at the early iOS and android versions.
You learn alot from feedback and updating regularly is accustomed in the mobile world.
In that sense ios 6 was a placeholder for 7, because 7 brought the "bang" and 6 was just a refurbished ios 5

 

[reidbp]

Thanks for the replies guys, appreciate it. Although I agree some of the features are nice, I don't think it can overcome for me where it lacks, even with 8.1. Maybe another windows phone will come out that has some things I want soon!

 

[JMBasquiat]

It doesn't really lack, as much as your needs are very specific. Sounds to me like you want to stick with Android and your notification light and are now just looking for reasons to confirm your choice.

Sorry if that comes off as rude, but it's how I'm reading your posts.

 

[tgp]

Thanks for the replies guys, appreciate it. Although I agree some of the features are nice, I don't think it can overcome for me where it lacks, even with 8.1. Maybe another windows phone will come out that has some things I want soon!

In my opinion the advantages of WP are mostly personal preference. In functionality even 8.1 won't offer much, if anything, over Android or iOS. And some deficiencies will still be there. Sure, you may prefer the UI, and WP will be a step in moving away from Google's grasp. But if those issues don't apply to you, then there's not a compelling reason to switch.

 

[Torch4x4]

Thanks for the replies guys, appreciate it. Although I agree some of the features are nice, I don't think it can overcome for me where it lacks, even with 8.1. Maybe another windows phone will come out that has some things I want soon!

I understand you, I have a similar post in android central asking people to help me to switch back to Android after enjoying WP for more than 1 year, still not convinced even if MS apps/services works well in Android, yesterday finally they released the OneDrive with auto upload, a feature that I love on WP, Pandora is not free anymore on WP, and there are some Android devices with wireless qi charger to choose, but there are some features that I can't live without, Here Drive with offline maps, contacts integration, pin almost everything to home screen, updates before the carrier with the developers preview program, and some others...

 

[Moiz Mian]

Disclaimer: I am buying the Icon, switching from many years of happy Android life simply because I like change and everything else in my life is a Windows 8 device. With that said... Does it not frustrate everyone that every time I see a "cool new feature" of WP it is something that you would figure would have been S. O. P. years ago? Microsoft is a pretty big tech company... I don't get it. Either way, I would like to know if anyone is a long time Android user that switched and was and still remains... Happy. I think the reviews are clearly biased so I'll wait for my own evaluation. I just don't want to end up saying "the only advantage is the camera."

Posted via the WPC App for Android!

I also have a Nexus 4 that I recently bought to compare with my 920. So I can give you the other side, trying to adjust to an Android phone. The big thing about Windows Phone is the smoothness and naturalness of the transitions, the scrolling, the keyboard, etc...One thing I can't stand about android is how unnatural it feels. I don't know if you've compared something like pinch to zoom or scrolling with an iphone or windows phone. It just feels a lot smoother. You also have bounceback at the end of lists, you have nice transitions and everything is fluid. Webpages render properly unlike Android where everything wraps including headers and such. This is the number 1 draw of Windows Phone for me. I totally get the lack of customizability and for me the trade off was worth it. And on top of that, WP8.1 will be getting every feature that Android and IOS have in the April update. The update is huge, and I think all of that is just icing on the cake. It will get all the customizability you have ever wanted. It's of course up to you though. The list of wp8.1 features is posted in this thread, and I don't believe that even covers everything.

In respect to Glance, I have no doubt it will be released in short time. They said the same thing about the Lumia 520 and 620, but glance did eventually make it's way to those phones too.

 

[slowburnaz]

In respect to Glance, I have no doubt it will be released in short time. They said the same thing about the Lumia 520 and 620, but glance did eventually make it's way to those phones too.

There is no Glance on the 520... just double-tap to wake.

 

[MobileVortex]

There are more and better calendar apps that are better then the stock one. I'm not a heavy calendar app user so i cant list them.

 

[admorris#AC]

I also have a Nexus 4 that I recently bought to compare with my 920. So I can give you the other side, trying to adjust to an Android phone. The big thing about Windows Phone is the smoothness and naturalness of the transitions, the scrolling, the keyboard, etc...One thing I can't stand about android is how unnatural it feels. I don't know if you've compared something like pinch to zoom or scrolling with an iphone or windows phone. It just feels a lot smoother. You also have bounceback at the end of lists, you have nice transitions and everything is fluid. Webpages render properly unlike Android where everything wraps including headers and such. This is the number 1 draw of Windows Phone for me. I totally get the lack of customizability and for me the trade off was worth it. And on top of that, WP8.1 will be getting every feature that Android and IOS have in the April update. The update is huge, and I think all of that is just icing on the cake. It will get all the customizability you have ever wanted. It's of course up to you though. The list of wp8.1 features is posted in this thread, and I don't believe that even covers everything.

In respect to Glance, I have no doubt it will be released in short time. They said the same thing about the Lumia 520 and 620, but glance did eventually make it's way to those phones too.

I wouldn't say that 8.1 is going to provide ALL of the features of iOS and Android, but it certainly will help wp get closer to them...at least Android.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[muneshyne21]

Yeah I dont think this guy really wanted to switch. There is a great article on Phonearena dealing with switching to WP and the app gap. The writer put it very succinctly. Windows phones will cover most needs of a typical smartphone user with some pluses and minuses BUT if you are looking for an Android/Google experience why would you even be looking into WP in the first place?

 

[Moiz Mian]

I wouldn't say that 8.1 is going to provide ALL of the features of iOS and Android, but it certainly will help wp get closer to them...at least Android.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Aside from apps, what would be really missing? You have full customization of notifications, notification center, quick settings (also customizable), Cortana which is supposedly better than Google Now or Siri, a better keyboard with swype like functionality, HDR/burst mode for the default camera app. Multitasking improvements, some sort of backgrounds (not leaked yet). And I still left a lot of stuff off.

Don't say apps haha, that one is a given and is definitely not a factor of the update

 

[Moiz Mian]

There is no Glance on the 520... just double-tap to wake.

Thanks for the clarification. Forgot, but I think then for double tap, they said the hardware didn't support it, but then in black they were like, oh it's supported now! Haha. I still think the Icon will get glance eventually.

 

[Fade_z]

Idk if anybody has said this already but it is rumored that the windows keys will light up acting as a notification light.

 

[admorris#AC]

Idk if anybody has said this already but it is rumored that the windows keys will light up acting as a notification light.

If that is true, that is a GREAT (and very doable) idea!

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[jleebiker]

Aside from apps, what would be really missing? You have full customization of notifications

No you don't. Can you set a custom tone for emails? No. Can you even use the included tones to assign one email contact one tone and another email contact another? No.
You do NOT have full customization of notifications.

 

[reidbp]

Yeah I dont think this guy really wanted to switch. There is a great article on Phonearena dealing with switching to WP and the app gap. The writer put it very succinctly. Windows phones will cover most needs of a typical smartphone user with some pluses and minuses BUT if you are looking for an Android/Google experience why would you even be looking into WP in the first place?

I was looking to switch because my primary phone use besides texting is work related and my old boss (who went from Blackberry to WP,) said it worked extremely well. I have been excited about this phone for weeks once I found out about it and was ready to reserve it in the store when I went in yesterday. Unfortunately after playing for it for about an hour it didn't seem worth it to me. Was especially disappointed in the calendar view which would have been really annoying to use for me. I was looking to switch, I was even excited to switch, maybe if some new features/8.1 release I will, but I'm not going to drop $ on a phone based on promises.

 

[Darren Walsh]

No you don't. Can you set a custom tone for emails? No. Can you even use the included tones to assign one email contact one tone and another email contact another? No.
You do NOT have full customization of notifications.

you can set a custom tone for email on gdr 3

 

[psiu_glen]

Skimmed through the first page, and saw a bit of the predictably argumentative end of the thread, I would suggest:

***IF*** you can hold out until early April, when presumably the WP8.1 Developer Preview will go live and people will start seeing what is officially getting released, do that. Wait to see what kind of features are actually finished on time and make the cut. Wait to see if Glance gets fixed to work on the Icon. I think if the 8.1 release is as successful as it *could* be, then it might be one hell of a phone for you.

There is a potential other path, which would be to find something like an 822 for cheap (used, off-contract) to play with for awhile. But dunno about that idea. Good luck.

 

[cknorthpole]

I'm using chronos calendar and I love it. After you set it up you customize it really well. Easy to create new events and is has a great week view.

 

[cbreze]

I use "splash ID safe" for storing critical info. I see on the app store this app is getting bad reviews for a whole slew of reasons. Does anyone here use it and can you confirm it works well? Its fine on my surface2, android phone and iPad, no issues at all. TIA