Switching platforms? | Thinking of leaving?...comment here!

[Robinsonmac]

I hate to say it but I am now in this boat. I used Android since the original droid phone but was dying for a Windows phone since last year. Finally I got a 950XL in January. The thing is fast, camera is great and it isn't too too big. The problem I have is that now, after spending $800, it isn't Microsoft's focus for a while. Apps work, for the most part. I am not a huge app guy but some of the issues I am having are simply functionality of the phone. One, almost, deal breaker for me is that notifications cannot keep going until I dismiss. Many times at work my phone is on vibrate (which sucks on the xl) and I dont notice I got a text until hours later. With android I could set it to remind me every XX minutes.

I spent a good part of the morning looking at the S7 Edge.. Nice phone, pricey as well but it may be worth it.

I just switched from my busted ICON to the GS7 & it works great. I installed a windows launcher for live tiles & a dark theme. Camera is great too.

Here's a couple of screen shots:

 

[libra89]

I just switched from my busted ICON to the GS7 & it works great. I installed a windows launcher for live tiles & a dark theme. Camera is great too.

Here's a couple of screen shots:


View attachment 124792View attachment 124794

Wow, thanks for the screenshots! What is that launcher called? I am so curious since it is the best one that I have ever seen.

 

[Robinsonmac]

The launcher is called Windows 8 Style. They have a free & Pro version. The thing about this launcher is the tiles are 10 times more customization than the tiles were on my ICON. The widget tiles are interactive, They not only show info but I can scroll & tap in the tile. So in the outlook widget I can scroll the list of emails & choose which one to open. The Cortana app works great, the only thing missing is like another poster said reading & responding to texts and "Hey Cortana" which I never used anyway. At build they did say that both of those functions would make their way to the app in the summer along with Cortana being able to push my notifications to my PC. I just linked the People tile to my contacts in Outlook & now it shows my contacts photos on the tile.

I switched the Windows Central & Android Central app tiles to their widgets so they show info rather than just a static logo

.

 

[casab1anca]

Wow everyone just nitpicks on a simple feature and wants to drop the platform.

Quite the contrary, there are only two reasons why I'm still on WP: calendar and notification count on glance/lock screen, custom linked inboxes. Almost everything else is a regression from WP8. And those unique features are becoming less useful by the day since the OS itself is so unstable.

 

[libra89]

Switching platforms | Thinking of leaving...comment here!

You're making me want an android again but I need my WiFi calling at work and I love the small size of the SE. I can lust from afar, right? Lol

 

[thalador]

The launcher is called Windows 8 Style. They have a free & Pro version. The thing about this launcher is the tiles are 10 times more customization than the tiles were on my ICON. The widget tiles are interactive, They not only show info but I can scroll & tap in the tile. So in the outlook widget I can scroll the list of emails & choose which one to open. The Cortana app works great, the only thing missing is like another poster said reading & responding to texts and "Hey Cortana" which I never used anyway. At build they did say that both of those functions would make their way to the app in the summer along with Cortana being able to push my notifications to my PC. I just linked the People tile to my contacts in Outlook & now it shows my contacts photos on the tile.

I switched the Windows Central & Android Central app tiles to their widgets so they show info rather than just a static logo

View attachment 124796View attachment 124795View attachment 124797.

Thats great to know. I did a search in the play store and came up with some similar things, but not exact. The closest, with a pro and free version, was Launcher 8 WP style by Xinyi Network . Is this the one? I have my old S4 and will play a bit on that to see how it works.

 

[Queen Kong1]

You leave then all the good things happen! u watch!

 

[Robinsonmac]

Thats great to know. I did a search in the play store and came up with some similar things, but not exact. The closest, with a pro and free version, was Launcher 8 WP style by Xinyi Network . Is this the one? I have my old S4 and will play a bit on that to see how it works.

Yes, that's the one.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[casab1anca]

Every time I decide to leave the platform, things temporarily get better and I end up staying. Another thread suggested a soft reset to fix some of the issues with 14295 and it seems to have made my phone more stable. Also GroupMe got an update today and the UI is now cleaner and faster.

Until next time I guess...

 

[Arcalis]

I'm leaving Windows phone in a week or two when my current contract expires. At this stage I'm 90% sure that I will be picking up the iPhone 6s. As an Android user for many years before moving to WM with the HTC 8X, it's the last of the 'big three' mobile OSs that I haven't tried personally- I thought it's worth a shot.

I'm leaving because I'm now completely bored at how slow WM10 is developing. I'm leaving because of the infamous app gap. But I'm mainly leaving because I'm sick of the apps I do use being terrible versions of the Android/iOS counterparts. I'm not a phone gamer and I'm not one of these people who has 50,000 apps on their phone. But the apps that I do use are nearly all s***. Using Facebook on my girlfriend's iPhone is a dream compared to the experience on WM10, for example. And don't get me started on the festering **** of an app that is Skype on WM10.

It's got to the stage where I'm wondering why I'm even bothering with the platform any more. There's nothing to keep me here, if I think about it. The MS services I use are all available on iOS and, anecdotally, are a lot better than WM. Sure, I like WM10, but I think I like it in this weird Platonic sense- I like the idea of WM, out there somewhere in the ether being the OS to rule them all. The reality of course is the complete opposite.

I tried WM for 4 years. I tried really hard the past 18 months thinking it would get better....only for things to continue at a snail's pace. It's just not good enough for a company the size of Microsoft. Maybe things will change in the next few years but I'm really not holding my breath.

 

[purrpullberra]

I feel your pain. I loved my 920 and got several friends to make the switch. But soon after 8.1 the ecosystem started to lose its momentum. I got the 1020 too. I thought things would grow. But things got stagnant and even backwards. And I brought 6 friends to the crappy party too! I've been nearly mortified at what the ecosystem has turned into. I and another of the 6 I brought to windows phone are on iPhone6S+'s and couldn't be happier. We are really disappointed with the 640XL on T-Mob because we had to buy it unlocked from Germany. That SUCKS! MS has refused to build modern phones even if the 950XL has neat water cooling it is still a little too ****-like in quality of feel and operation. Only the children are still on windows phones and that will surely embitter them to Microsoft products for the rest of their lives.
No Joke.
This has been a heinous level of neglect and abuse of a supposed ecosystem. I love a LOT of my MS stuff, some apps, my Surfaces, Xboxes. But the people running things deserve scorn and hatred for how badly they've screwed up their phone situation. People responsible should lose not just jobs but careers. Thankfully Ballmer is gone. I "get" the new mobile strategy to ignore mobile so it won't look like such a failure until they're ready with a working OS and a Surface Phone put together. If that ever actually happens I'll be surprised.
I'd be less surprised to hear that they are giving up entirely, again, AGAIN, in a year.
And that would probably be the end of my enthusiasm for MS. Apple has been pulling my towards them with good phone hardware (see, I'm not unreasonable! I'll accept far less than perfect) and a stand against the DOJ I'm proud of. I'm really quite ashamed of MS for being so unprofessional and so anti-consumer with respect to mobile. Again. AGAIN. And I'll bet yet again. Move on, there is a real good iPhone available and several very high quality Android phones if that appeals to you. Go for it and don't look back.
From someone who lives on a MS salary for 10+ years.

 

[libra89]

I'm leaving Windows phone in a week or two when my current contract expires. At this stage I'm 90% sure that I will be picking up the iPhone 6s. As an Android user for many years before moving to WM with the HTC 8X, it's the last of the 'big three' mobile OSs that I haven't tried personally- I thought it's worth a shot.

I'm leaving because I'm now completely bored at how slow WM10 is developing. I'm leaving because of the infamous app gap. But I'm mainly leaving because I'm sick of the apps I do use being terrible versions of the Android/iOS counterparts. I'm not a phone gamer and I'm not one of these people who has 50,000 apps on their phone. But the apps that I do use are nearly all s***. Using Facebook on my girlfriend's iPhone is a dream compared to the experience on WM10, for example. And don't get me started on the festering **** of an app that is Skype on WM10.

It's got to the stage where I'm wondering why I'm even bothering with the platform any more. There's nothing to keep me here, if I think about it. The MS services I use are all available on iOS and, anecdotally, are a lot better than WM. Sure, I like WM10, but I think I like it in this weird Platonic sense- I like the idea of WM, out there somewhere in the ether being the OS to rule them all. The reality of course is the complete opposite.

I tried WM for 4 years. I tried really hard the past 18 months thinking it would get better....only for things to continue at a snail's pace. It's just not good enough for a company the size of Microsoft. Maybe things will change in the next few years but I'm really not holding my breath.

Good luck with your trial, I recommend trying it! I have no regrets trying all of the platforms, because I learned a lot from it, including what apps are important to me too.

 

[ClixT]

Good luck with your trial, I recommend trying it! I have no regrets trying all of the platforms, because I learned a lot from it, including what apps are important to me too.

I should've tried android.. I was a big Android fan but I got tired of the tweaking and switched to WP. Man Android Gingerbread.... Lol. I'm back with my 950XL again and I only use my SE as my Spotify player when I'm running or when I'm bored haha.

 

[libra89]

I should've tried android.. I was a big Android fan but I got tired of the tweaking and switched to WP. Man Android Gingerbread.... Lol. I'm back with my 950XL again and I only use my SE as my Spotify player when I'm running or when I'm bored haha.

Haha. It's about whatever works for you. To be honest, there was a promo with the 5x and that was what inspired me to try it, along with how WP was looking at that time. Before the SE, I felt like iOS had a high cost of entry, so it was my last choice. That's part of it, but just like you, I didn't like that it felt too complex for me.

I thought that I could keep the Nexus but there were some things about Android that really bothered me, like the lack of choosing what runs in the background and some other things. So then I tried iOS and found that I don't have to deal with those things, and my entry point was a used 5c/5s.

It's a bit of a story why I had both at one point in time that I'll spare you and any other readers.

 

[FurY2007]

After years of Windows Mobile, WP 7, 8, 8.1 and W10m I must say I have had enough of my 1020 and whilst I was holding out to purchase the Surface phone and that won't happen now until begin/spring 2017 I am going to go and buy myself a Samsung S7. No iPhone for me, because I want a bit of the flexibility that Android gives plus a flagship with SD card capability, good camera ... I will see what MS bring in 2017 and will then make a choice again, or not who knows?

 

[anon(5671144)]

Well I've been on my new S7 for a couple of days now and so far it's been great. Biggest wins for me over my 950 so far are

• Battery life - I can make it through an entire day of regular use including web browsing and spotify streaming without a single charge, my 950 would be 2/3 dead by lunch
• Samsung Keyboard - It was a bit of a surprise how good this keyboard really is and the word recognition with swipe is so much better than WP10, back to the good old days of the WP8.1 wordflow keyboard which was great.
• Banking apps - being able to see my balances on the home screen via a widget.
• Lastpass password manager - the app existed on WP but the Android one actually works as a service filling in passwords for me in apps and webpages.
• Spotify app - just works, on WP I would constantly get "Resuming ..." and "Loading ..."
• No random rebooting - my 950 would randomly reboot at least 3-4 times per week
• Finger print scanner - it's almost instant to unlock your phone and integrates at an app level so can be used to authenticate secure apps. The iris scanner in WP10 never really did it for me, was more of a pain than a help.

There are still things I like about WP and miss, such as Cortana but for now, the experience on the S7 has been so much better especially since ditching Touchwiz and installing Nova Launcher and there's a bunch more launchers out there to try.

I really do hope that one day MS can get it all together and I can return to the platform. I've been with WP since the start way back when Samsung were in the game with the Omnia 7. But for now, it's a Samsung that has drawn me away and my experience with Android over the last couple of days has been much less frustrating and I'm still learning my way around the OS.

 

[garak0410]

Well I've been on my new S7 for a couple of days now and so far it's been great. Biggest wins for me over my 950 so far are

• Battery life - I can make it through an entire day of regular use including web browsing and spotify streaming without a single charge, my 950 would be 2/3 dead by lunch
• Samsung Keyboard - It was a bit of a surprise how good this keyboard really is and the word recognition with swipe is so much better than WP10, back to the good old days of the WP8.1 wordflow keyboard which was great.
• Banking apps - being able to see my balances on the home screen via a widget.
• Lastpass password manager - the app existed on WP but the Android one actually works as a service filling in passwords for me in apps and webpages.
• Spotify app - just works, on WP I would constantly get "Resuming ..." and "Loading ..."
• No random rebooting - my 950 would randomly reboot at least 3-4 times per week
• Finger print scanner - it's almost instant to unlock your phone and integrates at an app level so can be used to authenticate secure apps. The iris scanner in WP10 never really did it for me, was more of a pain than a help.

There are still things I like about WP and miss, such as Cortana but for now, the experience on the S7 has been so much better especially since ditching Touchwiz and installing Nova Launcher and there's a bunch more launchers out there to try.

I really do hope that one day MS can get it all together and I can return to the platform. I've been with WP since the start way back when Samsung were in the game with the Omnia 7. But for now, it's a Samsung that has drawn me away and my experience with Android over the last couple of days has been much less frustrating and I'm still learning my way around the OS.

Did the same myself...went to Android after years with Windows Mobile/Phone and I am enjoying it yet missing Windows Phone OS.

And have you tried Cortana on Android? It is actually pretty darn good. A lot better than I expected. Still no reading and responding to text via Bluetooth but it does everything else quite well.

 

[anon(5671144)]

Looks like Cortana for Android isn't available in Australia as yet

 

[chmun77]

You leave then all the good things happen! u watch!

We have been watching for so long and nothing is happening. What makes you think things will be happening in another year or 2?

 

[Kevin Rush]

We have been watching for so long and nothing is happening. What makes you think things will be happening in another year or 2?

First, it's not true, that nothing is happening. What makes you say that? Have you not noticed Microsoft has been publishing update changes to develop the mobile OS more often, and more publicity, than the goggle or aplle. Admittedly, Microsoft is far behind on the list of potential improvements, but... For those of us that live our lives accomplishing work and having fun with our families, ... Windows Mobile 8.1 works perfectly fine.

Microsoft is slowly improving Windows 10, and while I wish improvements and innovations would come faster, my Windows Phone does what I need it to do.

I get it, that some people like to chase the cutting edge technology.

I'm not going to abandon what I appreciate, (Windows Mobile) just because some others have given up. My Windows Phone does what I need it to do.