Need Guidance Thinking of making the switch from Android

[MATT_AUSTIN1]

Okay... Here is my dilemma with making the switch. I have always been a Android and IOS user I have an APPLE TV and a Chromecast. I also have Android and IOS tablets. I use them to cast to chromecast and apple tv. I love everything about The Lumia Icon. But the quality of the apps. Do you guys find it hard knowing like the Facebook app looks and performs better on Android and IOS? Or apps like Instagram and Group Me? I can't fathom why Group Me looks and performs better on Android and IOS when its own by Microsoft. I have used Windows 8.1 and I love it. NOTIFICATION CENTER YES! I am just having a hard time getting over the fact that some APPS look better on different platforms. What is everyone thoughts. Sorry for punctuation and blabbering i just typed this up pretty quick.

 

[ssapre]

You would probably love the new Word Flow keyboard on Windows Phone and can type this more quickly !! :smile:
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IMO, I find it good with most of the well known apps. Most of the social apps have nice look and feel when you use it on WP. If you are looking for any specific app or a particular feature, you might be disappointed, but they have all the basic needs in nice attractive layouts.

 

[garak0410]

Okay... Here is my dilemma with making the switch. I have always been a Android and IOS user I have an APPLE TV and a Chromecast. I also have Android and IOS tablets. I use them to cast to chromecast and apple tv. I love everything about The Lumia Icon. But the quality of the apps. Do you guys find it hard knowing like the Facebook app looks and performs better on Android and IOS? Or apps like Instagram and Group Me? I can't fathom why Group Me looks and performs better on Android and IOS when its own by Microsoft. I have used Windows 8.1 and I love it. NOTIFICATION CENTER YES! I am just having a hard time getting over the fact that some APPS look better on different platforms. What is everyone thoughts. Sorry for punctuation and blabbering i just typed this up pretty quick.

While not a cheap way to test, I'd find a good price on a Lumia 520 (or 521), download the preview of 8.1 on and give it a whirl before taking the dive.

 

[dakranii]

Chromecast does not work on Windows Phone. I doubt it ever will. Because of that I barely use my Chromecast and I use my Rokus always and often (third party Roku apps available on Windows Phone).

As for apps looking better, I don't know. It seems to be a subjective discussion. I have Facebook on my WP, my wife has it on her iPhone...looks pretty much the same. Although WP doesn't have those bubble-chat things (which I don't care much for anyways). My main concern is what I think of the OS and I'll take less and subjectively less-better looking apps on WP8.1 than subjectively better looking and more apps on Android/iOS.

There are things I miss. I steal my wife's iPad to play Clash of Clans and Candy Crush. But I'm not willing to trade the OS for those, despite really enjoying them.

 

[MATT_AUSTIN1]

I appreciate the feedback. I used my friends Lumia Icon for a few days with Windows Phone 8.1 on it and I like it a lot. I am just wondering if its worth changing everything I have at home. See I use a Macbook Pro and a Galaxy S5 right now but i miss using that Lumia. Are their third party apps that make the Facebook experience more polish or the twitter app more polished or even the instagram app more polished. I am just looking for quality apps. That is what is holding me back. I just don't know enough about the apps in the windows store and stuff like that. Any suggestions would be great. I use Google Music a lot so I would need a new app for that as well. Hmmm sorry to rant on and on...

 

[Starrbuck]

I just came over from an iPhone 5 and I feel the FB app on iPhone 5 was more sluggish than on the Icon. I'm not missing any apps that I had on iOS that aren't on WP.

 

[bayanii]

I appreciate the feedback. I used my friends Lumia Icon for a few days with Windows Phone 8.1 on it and I like it a lot. I am just wondering if its worth changing everything I have at home. See I use a Macbook Pro and a Galaxy S5 right now but i miss using that Lumia. Are their third party apps that make the Facebook experience more polish or the twitter app more polished or even the instagram app more polished. I am just looking for quality apps. That is what is holding me back. I just don't know enough about the apps in the windows store and stuff like that. Any suggestions would be great. I use Google Music a lot so I would need a new app for that as well. Hmmm sorry to rant on and on...

1. Facebook : We have an official app, but like you said its limited. There are third party apps, but I haven't tried them out. I don't use facebook to often, so ita not a big issue for me.

2. Twitter: There's an official twitter app and I use it. I don't know what the other OS's are like, but the app for windows does what I need.

3. Instagram: There's an official app for instagram, but I use the 3rd party app 6tag. Its better than instagram IMO.

4. Apps are slowly coming out, but don't hold your breath. Windows is more OS than app driven.

5. You seem pretty immersed in the apple ecosystem. You definitely dropped a good amount of cash. I would test wp8.1 a bit longer before investing in a new ecosystem.

Good luck in your decision. I'm a huge fan of the Windows ecosystem, but your decision is pretty big because you are deep in the apple. Do the 520 idea a try. They are cheap and its a good tester phone. If you don't like it, you got yourself an MP3 player. A pretty awesome one for the price.

 

[mtalinm]

Yes the apps are worse. Pretty muvh across the board.

 

[wpfan1995]

Windows Phone apps are developing now!
As with new API from Microsoft apps will get more convenient to use!
You''ll never get bored from a windows phone than android(laggdroid)

 

[skiahh]

Okay... Here is my dilemma with making the switch. I have always been a Android and IOS user I have an APPLE TV and a Chromecast. I also have Android and IOS tablets. I use them to cast to chromecast and apple tv. I love everything about The Lumia Icon. But the quality of the apps. Do you guys find it hard knowing like the Facebook app looks and performs better on Android and IOS? Or apps like Instagram and Group Me? I can't fathom why Group Me looks and performs better on Android and IOS when its own by Microsoft. I have used Windows 8.1 and I love it. NOTIFICATION CENTER YES! I am just having a hard time getting over the fact that some APPS look better on different platforms. What is everyone thoughts. Sorry for punctuation and blabbering i just typed this up pretty quick.

Specifically regarding the FB app, I find it to be identical to the one on my Android phone I just left.

 

[anon(7901790)]

I switched from a Galaxy Note II to a 928 back in August. I haven't had any issues and I can do everything my GNII could do except download pictures from my waterproof camera directly to my phone using the Eye-Fi card. Also, you don't need to switch from Mac to Windows. The Icon will work just fine with your Mac. Probably better than the S5.

Unless you have some Android or iOS apps that are actual show stoppers, you won't have any problems.

 

[csorian0]

Don't know if you've done it but I did it yesterday, from a GN2 to a Lumia Icon. The real question was if I could live without the Chromecast integration and the Google Apps I used the most (Drive + Keep).

So far, the answer has been overwhelmingly yes. I got the Icon b/c of the camera and have been super impressed with it based on my research (and I research everything to absolute dead horse status) and I'm looking forward to seeing how 8.1 integrates in.

You mentioned you still have Android devices, I have a Nexus 7 and a 10" Android tab should I ever need to use my Chromecasts. But you can create a Google mail account and everything came over immediately, all my emails and contacts, no problem. And I'm really enjoying OneNote.

And big tip: If you use Bing Rewards, you can get 100GB of OneDrive for 100 points, which you can easily get in a week or so. Totally worth it and I'm super excited I made the switch. I'm a developer though, so I'm looking forward to making anything I can't find or tweak to my liking. I figure, it's a year to use it before I can upgrade again (or sooner, since I enrolled in VZ Edge), I figure why not give it a go. So far it's been great. Some apps need updating (Amazon Kindle) but for the most part, I love the aesthetic of the OS. Super clean, NO lag compared to Android so far.

 

[savagelizards]

Okay... Here is my dilemma with making the switch. I have always been a Android and IOS user I have an APPLE TV and a Chromecast. I also have Android and IOS tablets. I use them to cast to chromecast and apple tv. I love everything about The Lumia Icon. But the quality of the apps. Do you guys find it hard knowing like the Facebook app looks and performs better on Android and IOS? Or apps like Instagram and Group Me? I can't fathom why Group Me looks and performs better on Android and IOS when its own by Microsoft. I have used Windows 8.1 and I love it. NOTIFICATION CENTER YES! I am just having a hard time getting over the fact that some APPS look better on different platforms. What is everyone thoughts. Sorry for punctuation and blabbering i just typed this up pretty quick.

I came from Android to the Icon on February 20th. It was a mixed bag at first, but I can tell you that 8.1 is a HUGE step forward for the OS. It really cannot be overstated. You will certainly find an issue with an app here or there, but every day it gets a little bit better. Microsoft is heavily invested in the success of WP (they just parted with over $7.5B last Friday to close the Nokia acquisition), and the first payoff of that is WP 8.1. The "One Microsoft" plan, in its fullest form, is to allow developers to code a single app and have it work on phones, tablets and laptops. Apple chooses to do this a different way, but Microsoft is doing this to leverage numbers and increase the return for developers.

I will admit that part of the incentive of moving to WP was to unwind my relationship with Google, so I was willing to work my way through a few compromises. That said, WP 8.1 is just that much better. I feel much more comfortable recommending WP, and I am already looking forward to WP 8.2.

 

[anon(7901790)]

:grin:

Don't know if you've done it but I did it yesterday, from a GN2 to a Lumia Icon. The real question was if I could live without the Chromecast integration and the Google Apps I used the most (Drive + Keep).

So far, the answer has been overwhelmingly yes. I got the Icon b/c of the camera and have been super impressed with it based on my research (and I research everything to absolute dead horse status) and I'm looking forward to seeing how 8.1 integrates in.

You mentioned you still have Android devices, I have a Nexus 7 and a 10" Android tab should I ever need to use my Chromecasts. But you can create a Google mail account and everything came over immediately, all my emails and contacts, no problem. And I'm really enjoying OneNote.

And big tip: If you use Bing Rewards, you can get 100GB of OneDrive for 100 points, which you can easily get in a week or so. Totally worth it and I'm super excited I made the switch. I'm a developer though, so I'm looking forward to making anything I can't find or tweak to my liking. I figure, it's a year to use it before I can upgrade again (or sooner, since I enrolled in VZ Edge), I figure why not give it a go. So far it's been great. Some apps need updating (Amazon Kindle) but for the most part, I love the aesthetic of the OS. Super clean, NO lag compared to Android so far.

Welcome to the Dark side. Could one of those apps be to support Eye-Fi cards? :grin:

 

[prasath1234]

Ya you can switch but also have your iPhone or Android phones somewhere if u want to use your favorite apps. Welcome to wp world. :thumbup:

Sent from my C2305 using WPCentral Forums mobile app

 

[associatedpress]

Someone already mentioned 6tag as an Instagram replacement app, I agree. MeTweets is a good 3rd party twitter app.

Facebook... No really good substitute. I can't speak for android converts, but coming from iPhone, the app quality is not the same. If that is your one and only must have, no drop in app quality and functionality, Windows Phone (Icon or otherwise) just isn't for you. That being said, plenty of other benefits to be had and I'm enjoying my stay. I've been back and forth between iPhones and Windows phones a few times but the icon and the developers preview seems to me like what I've wanted since I tried the HTC titan way back when. A real alternative to iPhone and android.

 

[arn6735]

I've been a Droid user for almost 8 yrs but I'm just curious to try windows phone coz I hate the lags n bugs in Android environment. First I missed tweaking and personalization but when I figured out the smoothness and how easy WP is, no turning back for me...

 

[Schmakt]

I bought the Icon a month (or two?) ago coming from my third Android phone...
I was definitely apprehensive about the lack of good apps, but I figured I could deal with it to have my phone, PC, laptop, and Surface all be much more in sync...

That said, I really do like the OS... it's fast and responsive, and I'm one of the few who seems to like live tiles too...
I like that pictures taken with the phone automatically are accessible from my other devices too...

Other than that, I really wish I had not switched...
I miss the message-waiting indicator light, but the lack of quality apps is just killing me...
The camera is pretty great in certain situations... while I'm not really trying to use my phone as a camera replacement, the zoom on this camera is not as good as on the last Android I had)

The facebook app is terrible compared to the one for Android (so many missing features...)
I would rather use Chrome but can't...
The Amazon Kindle app is also missing lots of features...
There is no Amazon Cloud Player app (and the browser doesn't appear to support Flash, so I can't get to my music library)
Tether-X is a very poor substitute for PDANet...
The snapchat alert doesn't really work...
I cannot connect to my Onkyo receiver over the Network (it will play via Bluetooth, but I can't get to my music library, so it doesn't matter)
The ParkMobile app is basically featureless (used to pay for parking at muliple meters and lots where I live)

One of the reasons I wanted to go WP was to have everything sync... most apps I have tried do not (e.g. MS Solitaire, MS Minesweeper, GameSoft World at Arms...)

Of course, my primary issues are with the lack of apps and/or lack of functionality for apps... so not really the phone's fault. But I've been trying to cruise through these boards for a few days to learn a little bit more, and it sounds like most people just don't care... At this point, I'm thinking it was a mistake to switch. The faster and more responsive OS is nice, but it doesn't do me much good when I can't really do anything with it