My windows vs Android experience

[Robert Aspgren]

I got a Samsung s7 from work that I now use as my daily driver. But I do miss my 950 so, so much. Luckily I found a great launcher called Squarehome2. So now I have a android phone that kinda looks like a wp, but without the live tiles, which is a BIG deal. What I do like about android is that now I don't have worry about any app support. Now I know that my phone will work and that's really nice. I'm not a big app user, so no I don't really need the app support, but its nice to know its there. But yes I love the wp ui, the home screen with the live tiles are so much better than anything android can achieve and that's what's important to me. So would I have stayed with android if I didn't had to? No, actually not. Maybe I'm to much of a wp freak by now, but the ui and the personalization are the most important things to me when it comes to phones and on that point wp is definitely the best. But it needs apps to succeed, hopefully windows 10 S will help with that.

 

[leops1984]

I moved to Android on an HTC 10 from my Lumia 920 about a year ago. What do I like? I like the app support. You are definitely a first-class citizen for most third-party apps, something I never felt in Windows. The hardware itself is excellent - the HTC 10 is an underappreciated phone from the 2016 flagship generation. I got an unlocked device, so updates are at an acceptable pace - I received Nougat on it already. I have no complaints about its performance either in apps, or taking photos, or as a music player.

What don't I like? I still miss Metro. I really liked the tiled interface and appreciated its density. My current phone has a bigger screen, but the live tiles still allowed me to see more information at a glance from multiple apps. I miss the Nokia touches in hardware - the HTC 10 is well made, but it's not particularly unique. (And I miss wireless charging, but I'll acknowledge other devices have that.)

And to some degree I miss the apps. The very best Windows Phone apps - Nextgen Reader, Readit - were every bit as good, if not better, than their Android counterparts. To go back to Metro, there was definitely a design aesthetic there which I miss in Android.

From a purely functional perspective, Android wins hands down. But Windows Phone is still my first love in the world of mobile.

 

[lubbalots]

MS's incompetence in the mobile space is amazing! I switched to the iPhone when Nadella was accepted as ceo, fired Elop and team, and tried to attract Android users by changing WP UI language. Today, love iPhone and will never go back to wp. Regarding Nadella, he does not know anything mobile! His head will always be in the cloud. By destroying wp, he also destroyed the trust of major Devs and WP users. Trying to get back he will climb a way steeper hill.

 

[etphoto]

Simply put, as people transition to Android or iPhones, the app gap will become noticed more and more. This will prevent people from coming back to W10Mobile. So, MS did themselves a disservice by not even attempting to keep people invested in W10M.

Agree. Even losing money on the phone side of things MS should have realized the future in tech is mobile, so they should have kept their foot in the door until they developed what ever they are evidently going too. Now, because of the people leaving WP in droves, when they do finally release something its going to be harder to bring them back.

I was a big time WebOS user and when I finally was forced to change platforms I always told myself that if LG ever releases a WebOS phone I'd go back. Now, I don't think I would because of my investment in the Windows ecosystem. As my dad always use to say, you better "sh*t or get off the pot". MS better make their move in mobile (if that is what they eventually want to do) or its going to be too late (if it isn't already).

Sent from mTalk

 

[DragonPoo]

I've been a Windows portable fan since my Dell Axim x3i (acquired in 2004), then moved to a Kin (remember those?) and on to a Lumia 822. When it died, Verizon basically told me to leave if I wanted Windows, so I switched to T-Mo and a 640, but found the network lacking. I moved back to Verizon and got a Moto Z Play Droid.
I miss Windows. Ignoring the "app-gap," I find the OS is superior. Apps constantly crash on the Z Play. Performance is horrible, sometimes taking 2-3 seconds to acknowledge a screen tap. The only thing I find useful on Android is all those apps that weren't available for Windows.
However, I find that my usage is very low on those "app-gap" apps. I installed all those things I was missing on Windows, but hardly use them. My main apps are communication: sms and email. Even social apps like Facebook/Messenger, Twitter, etc, I simply don't use much. If anything, I get more annoyed at the constant notifications I get from them, like, "random person liked a picture!"
So, once a decent Windows device is available for the network that covers my home, I'm going back.

 

[HeyCori]

I'll sum up my experience with Android in one word: underwhelming.

Excluding the obvious app gap, there are a lot of nice things about Android. But as a whole, I'd much rather use Windows 10. Android is a clunky OS (IMO). And had Microsoft not of blatantly given up on W10M, then I'd probably be looking forward to their next device.

 

[1jaxstate1]

I use to switch between Windows, Android, and iOS, and to be honest, they all do pretty much the same thing. I then started moving the switch between Android and iOS, because the app game is a real issue. Now I've been mainly on Android for about about 2 years.

Fix the app gap, or have a viable alternative to the app gap, and I'd gladly return to Windows.

 

[madchadmi]

Yes, one reason, the apps I need are on Android. SiriusXM, Life360, QuickenMobile, WEMO, etc. The day I switched to Android I installed at least 20 mainstream apps and felt immediately relieved!
I installed apps that were non-existent or not even near the quality on Windows Phone. I love Windows Phone.
Allow me to run apps from the Android Store, and I easily switch to Windows phone. Microsoft needs to change this one simple thing, and windows phone can have a chance. They can make the best operating system and/or hardware, but without a true mainstream ecosystem, they are screwed. People have already spent hundreds to thousands of dollars on apps over a 5 to 7 or even 10 year period. You can't expect people to start from scratch and wait for the apps to come.
I bought a LUMIA 950XL and waited. The apps never came despite that I love that Phone and windows 10 mobile os.

 

[NokianWP]

The thing that kills me, and always has killed me about android, is the sheer number of notifications. Even with extreme tweaks to the OS, the top of the screen is still clogged with notifications of all sorts.

 

[TLRtheory]

With all the doom and gloom... yeah, I started exploring other options.

I knew right off the bat that it'd take an epic phone to tear me away from Windows Mobile... so I got the flossiest, most appealing powerhouse on the market, the 18K Gold Xiaomi Mi Mix... and yes, I went all out - so mine is the 6GB RAM, 256GB storage monster phone.

It's a stunning phone that people will not stop asking me about. It's almost impossible to be out without complete strangers asking me what it is and how I like it.

Honestly... I think I'm about to sell/return it and go back to my 950XL. Since I'd adequately amassed 600+ good Windows Store apps/games that would get me whatever I needed out of the platform, I'd found my way of overcoming the "app gap," and realized that there was really no reason for me to leave.

Even in this super good looking package, android and I just don't get along. The most joy I've gotten out of it have been my local techie circle who want to ogle and fawn over it.

Maybe I'll unshelf my iPhone 6s... I've got the feeling that it'll go right back though since its already had the chance to steal me from my 950XL and is shelved - I dislike the interface, HATE not just having a traditional file system, feel like I'm never in control, and I've never been impressed with iPhone cameras' inability to maintain detail when zoomed into a fine detail that's over 5ft away. It takes fast pictures, but zoom in and most Lumia cameras absolutely annihilate iPhone cameras in detail.

I'm likely gonna be with Windows Phone until they just pull the plug on us at this rate.

 

[NokianWP]

To this day, I haven't found a good YouTube app (play music with the screen off, good UI, ads and commercials COMPLETELY blocked) or an app equivalent to Readit. Cortana feels like an app wrapper on android, and Telegram feels....different on android. But not in a good way. More like, they threw everything together (sharing is worse; less clear, stickers are all stitched together) as well as the Google play store always giving notifications, even if I tell it not to. I have a 950XL, and a OnePlus One on v6 of android. I hate how difficult everything is to tweak, and I spent two days just to make it look good, only to have a slow charging glitch, the inability to Update the OS, and other issues. None of the apps feel that consistent, and all of them have annoying ads, or other BS. The default messaging app and phone app are awful, and I dislike the third party ones. Keyboards are generally worse than both the 8.x and wm10 keyboards, although the new gboard app is just "ok". Android has come a long way, but is still rather...clunky. The only things that would really make me switch, would be a notification LED, a working Chase app, and uBlock origin for the browser. iOS still is eating paste, and I'm sick of iOS after years of being on it, till godawful iOS 7. Still no type C, still no headphone jack, still no dark theme or real customization.

On android, I would lose several great YouTube apps, a decent news app, Readit, a decent steam app, a decent version of telegram, the best camera I've ever used on a phone (960fps sony phone might eventually replace this), better messaging, calling, and file managing, along with a more cohesive ecosystem. Even the settings app on OnePlus is a dumpster fire. Which makes me all the more sad that Microsoft is abandoning windows mobile. In many ways, it far outclasses android and iOS for design, and sometimes hardware. But in others, it's so basic- where is an ad blocker for mobile? Refresh the android bridge, or better yet, let us DUAL BOOT WINDOWS AND ANDROID ON MOBILE.

 

[hellstrm_robert]

I have had lots of lumias past years since lumia 800 to lumia 950 XL. I think its very sad how MS have treated their phone fans, just as another comment said," I like W10M but it doesn't like me back". Few words but says a lot about MS and I 'm in the same boat taking off for the big jump to android this summer. Will go for Nokia 6 or Nokia 9. W10M fans feels dissappointed right now and have enough of this trolling around. Fans want MS to be committed to W10M but that started over a year ago when myerson stated that phone aint prio last year. W10M havent got any features added since early anniversary update over a year ago but some flashy icons and lots of feedback sources all over the phone isnt enough. Then we have MS aint saying **** about W10M, why is it so hard telling the masses the way MS is about to enter but silence is their way.MS SHOT THEIR OWN FEETS BY NOT SUPPORTING W10M, I'm sure it would be competive today if support would have been pushed until now. Besides that I think Windows 10 will suffer too in the future with no clear or always changing vision which way they are about to go.

 

[Quethrosar]

i miss movies and tv .......

 

[Stiv X]

Agree. Even losing money on the phone side of things MS should have realized the future in tech is mobile, so they should have kept their foot in the door until they developed what ever they are evidently going too. Now, because of the people leaving WP in droves, when they do finally release something its going to be harder to bring them back.

I was a big time WebOS user and when I finally was forced to change platforms I always told myself that if LG ever releases a WebOS phone I'd go back. Now, I don't think I would because of my investment in the Windows ecosystem. As my dad always use to say, you better "sh*t or get off the pot". MS better make their move in mobile (if that is what they eventually want to do) or its going to be too late (if it isn't already).

Sent from mTalk

Great analogy. I was going to buy into WebOS back in the day, but it was killed before I got the chance to upgrade from my two year plan deal. All I know who did get into it loved it. It might be a great way to explain what will happen to W10M if MS doesn't do something fast. Your dad was correct. MS better sh*t or get off the pot.

 

[sumton]

in short google is starting to make android a good alternative they are getting better than before im ok with android right now not happy but ok with it

 

[Manus Imperceptus]

My two cents, having moved from a 950 XL (which was vandilized back in february) to a ZTE Axon 7... These are some annoyances on Android that I never, or to a much lesser degree, experienced on W10M:

Bluetooth – sometimes connecting devices is hit and miss. NFC simply does not work with my Nokia 360 speaker.

Earbuds – disconnecting earbuds doesn’t stop playback with Jaybirds. Works with Rowkin. Dodgy...

Telegram messenger – no notifications. An app-issue, probably, but it worked on W10M.

Play Store – recent updates need to be removed every time an app needs to be updated or a new app is installed.

Volume – to adjust volume from stand by, you have to press the power button and unlock (or use fingerprint scanner, which works 1 in 3 times), open the running apps, choose the app and then adjust the volume. On W10M you press the power button and then adjust the volume with the volume buttons.

Volume - when playing music via an external loudspeaker, you have to manually choose the media volume to adjust the volume, or it’ll just adjust phone volume.

Texting - text prediction is absolutely horrid; standard four-letter words, Danish and English both, have to be typed in their entirity. Android actually suggests gibberish before the desired words! No indication so far - three months - that it's "learning" my texting habits, unlike W10M. My wife has the same experience on a Samsung GS7, so seemingly a general Android issue...

Conclusion: Initially it was the camera tech of Nokia and the tightly designed tile-system of WP that made me choose Windows over Android. Even though W10M has been an unwanted move towards the Android style, if it wasn't for the cracked screen on my 950 XL, I'd be dumping the Axon 7 for my old Lumia in a heartbeat. The app gap is mostly theoretical for me. There are 3-5 missing apps that might at some time be a dealbreaker (public transport being the major one), but so far I could easily live without, as most are easily handled through Edge. In fact, I've always used Facebook via Edge on WM instead of the app, because I could thus avoid installing FB Messenger; with Android, I can't even access facebook on the browser - it bl**dy defaults me to the app, meaning I can't read or write FB messages to others without installing Messenger (which I simply refuse to)...

 

[PerfectReign]

The thing that kills me, and always has killed me about android, is the sheer number of notifications. Even with extreme tweaks to the OS, the top of the screen is still clogged with notifications of all sorts.

Yes!

I hate that on my S6. I just got a notification email on my X3 that another app will bite the dust - GM OnStar.

Sent from mTalk

 

[WinDork]

I parted ways with my Nokia Lumia 925 when it became clear to me that Microsoft was trying to make all their hardware into Windows desktop interfaces (e.g. Continuum, HoloLens). Well, I own a Dell Enterprise laptop running Windows 7, and a Dell Desktop PC running Windows 10. I don't need another hardware device to interact with the Windows desktop. So I migrated to Android, which has that Google ecosystem that I have long admired and utilize routinely. Still, I miss Windows Phone! I miss the colorful, kinetic tiles. I miss the Lumia Photo management suite of apps -- those are the best! The OS is special. It's magic! I would have been fine never using another mobile OS. To me, Windows and Microsoft Office have always been about productivity, organization and management. I was getting that with the Windows Phone, but without app support my ability to remain organized suffered. Once I'd had enough, I'd had enough.

Give me a Windows Phone that

-- will support Google apps -- specifically, Google Keep (I like the color-coded notes, they help keep me organized)
-- will interface with my 2016 Ford Explorer
-- will not force me to use the Groove app as my daily music utility (music is very important for my commutes)
-- will support Amazon and 8tracks music apps
-- will support other AI -- specifically, Alexa (she is light-years ahead of Google Assistant, Siri AND Cortana)

And I'll ditch my LG Google Nexus 5X in a New York minute and come back. Speaking of smartphones...

I can't bring my smartphone into my office, so I rely on web-based IM to interact with smartphone users on the outside. Gchat/Hangouts is perfect for this. I can't say the same about Skype or even Yammer, since no one I know uses them. So while Microsoft is busy cooking up that fantasy mobile platform, they can figure out how to promote Skype/Yammer and other (if any) options for web-based IM with Android and iOS (that isn't tied to a social media site like Facebook, which I don't and won't use).

 

[dameon_03]

I got into WM w/a 920. Loved the device and still have it. Wanted a large screen phone and could not get my hands on a 1520, so i ended up with a Note 3. I figured by time I would want to upgrade, there would be some good Windows phones available, but the pickings are slim. I check the site everyday to see about any new developments. I would like to come back, I miss the layout and WM itself. Hopefully MS or someone will put out some devices that will bring me back.

 

[FAHMI BASSEM]

Your post is so awesome!
the story of every WP7/WP8 fan! The sad story of WP slow death....