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

[Darron Smith1]

Re: au revoir Windows Phone

Well, its finally happened.

After 16 years on Microsoft's mobile O/S, from Pocket PC 2000 thru, Windows Mobile (all incarnations) and the abomination that was Phone 7, to Phone 8, 8.1 and now 10, I have finally admitted defeat.

Sadly, I've lost faith in MS and Mobile and it just isn't working for me. Windows mobile was ahead of the rest, even if it wasn't polished and did everything and more that any competitors brought to the table, but since Windows Phone, apart from the awesomeness of the UI, it's always been slightly behind and I'm enough of suffering the mess (skype on Windows Phone 7 anyone?) and being an apologist. The reason it doesn't have market share is that its just not good enough to compete. There, I said it.

I'll miss the IU and some apps (6tag especially - it's the best Insta client on any platform imo)

I hope MS gets their act together, I really do. I don't think they will, but I hope they do.

Still have my Win10 Surface Pro 3 of course (and plenty other MS o/s devices) so still hanging around here.

I hear you brother... :/

 

[Blashkyrk]

So Long and Thanks For all the Fish

Just wanted to say thank you and good bye (rant warning).

I have been here since I bought my Lumia 1020 when it came out and continued onward with my Lumia 950.
But now I have to leave...
My 950 started to get erratic (more than usual that is) after staying in my inside pocket (under 3 layers of Gore-Tex) in a small rain weather. It was never wet or so but apparently the moisture got to it somehow and killed it. The red tell tale stickers under the cover are red now so no warranty for me, thank you very much. I can't have a daily driver phone that does not even cope with my own body humidity inside a rain jacket.

..anyhow, I pulled the trigger on a Samsung S7 and went back to Android where I once came from (no fruits for me!)
I must say that the return was awesome. Everything just worked and all the apps were there. Once again I can get all the apps that my friends use and love with the same quality and functions. Even Microsofts apps are better here. I'm no longer facing the fact that a certain apps is available for either Apple or Android but not for me.
Is the S7 perfect? Nope...
Is Android perfect? Nope...
But it is so much better on almost every level.
I feel sad writing this as I have fought for this platform for many years and tried so very much to make it work but when even the hardware failed me I just needed to leave. It is very unfortunate that Microsoft treats this platform and it's customers so bad. At least that is the way I feel. I feel that I got absolutely nothing back from Microsoft for trying their platform and staying with it. I use their products daily as I'm a software programmer and a systems specialist at work. So this is no general anti Microsoft rant. I like Visual Studio very much and also enjoy Windows 10 on a daily basis in my work, but their mobile platform have done nothing to impress me and I feel it is just dying now. This is so sad as it had all the potential in the world...

...so thank you guys for all the support and the arguments through the years!
I sincerely hope that Microsoft get their act together but I must say that the grass is much greener on this side

Best Regards
Me.

 

[Maurizio Troso]

Re: So Long and Thanks For all the Fish

Don't forget your towel (cit.)

 

[xandros9]

Re: So Long and Thanks For all the Fish

Yea, makes sense. Toodles!

We'll still be here, whenever you need us.

 

[maevinj]

Re: So Long and Thanks For all the Fish

Bye Felicia!

 

[libra89]

Because the camera is much better than my LG K7, and I can't be bothered to keep swapping the SIM cards at the moment, I have been taking my Lumia 640 with me as a sort of WiFi enabled pocket camera lol I find the images nearly as good as my little Canon ELPH 300HS most of the time. The advantage of my Canon though is that it has an optical zoom which my phone doesn't.

My Android phone enables me to live in the real world while my Lumia 640 allows me to dabble one foot in the Windows Phone world just in case things finally do take a turn for the better. Like that phrase hasn't been heard numerous times I know!

I can't say that I blame you about the SIM thing. I would say that it can be tiresome but as a chronic switcher, nah it never will be when I am frustrated, which is bound to happen. May I find a phone that frustrates me the least..lol.

That is a clever idea about the whole Lumia as a camera thing. I must ask, do you always do this with the two phone thing or do you just have 2 phones when you need to?

 

[anon(6078578)]

I can't say that I blame you about the SIM thing. I would say that it can be tiresome but as a chronic switcher, nah it never will be when I am frustrated, which is bound to happen. May I find a phone that frustrates me the least..lol.

That is a clever idea about the whole Lumia as a camera thing. I must ask, do you always do this with the two phone thing or do you just have 2 phones when you need to?

Well the problem is I always enclose my phones in a case and it means having to break apart the case and phone each time to swap the SIM so i am always concerned that doing this too often I'm going to break something lol

I take it only when I need it ie when I know I want to take a bunch of decent photos. The only problem is that the OneDrive WiFi upload doesn't work as well as it used to on 8.1. It seems that when I come back to my WiFi all the photos files are listed with upload errors and retry doesn't do anything. I basically have to grab them all for that session and re-upload them again manually. I hope that one gets fixed as I like having things work seamlessly so I don't have to 'remember' to back them up each time.

I was thinking I might switch back to using it as my main phone for a while but to be honest, the little android does everything I need and then some so there is no hurry for me. I am content to use it like I used to when I had a PDA for the time being. I am still curious as to when (or if?) T-Mobile is going to have an official release of Windows 10 Mobile for the 640...

 

[badMojo69]

I think the Arrow Launcher on Android has more users than there are native WP users, that's sad. Also I noticed that IOS10 will have a new widget page. If they let you make it the default page and give the ability to change default apps that would be enough for me to switch.

Android is meh...I use it now because I had to leave WP behind to get a Smartwatch. I'd rather be on IOS if not WP, but their current OS and Smartwatch offering is crap.

 

[wgs84]

I can't say that I blame you about the SIM thing. I would say that it can be tiresome but as a chronic switcher, nah it never will be when I am frustrated, which is bound to happen. May I find a phone that frustrates me the least..lol.

That is a clever idea about the whole Lumia as a camera thing. I must ask, do you always do this with the two phone thing or do you just have 2 phones when you need to?

But constantly switching back and forth between your devices instead of sticking to just one device/one platform as your primary precludes the possibility of you breaking in and becoming comfortable/familiar with any one of your devices, does it not? When I switched to my GS7 last month, I gotta tell you, it was overwhelming as heck, and this is coming from someone who has used Android since its Froyo days. There were so many functions, and there was SO much stuff that needed to be configured that, honestly, I wasn't very comfortable using it at the beginning. Skip forward to a month-and-a-half later, it now has that nice, familiar feeling to it, like a pair of broken-in leather shoes, and now I absolutely love using this phone. But that only happened because I kept using it day after day, week after week, letting it mold itself to how I use it, as well as affording me the chance to learn it inside-out.

I still keep my Lumia on, active and updated, but I just keep it SIM-less, mostly to check out the progression of W10m.

 

[libra89]

But constantly switching back and forth between your devices instead of sticking to just one device/one platform as your primary precludes the possibility of you breaking in and becoming comfortable/familiar with any one of your devices, does it not? When I switched to my GS7 last month, I gotta tell you, it was overwhelming as heck, and this is coming from someone who has used Android since its Froyo days. There were so many functions, and there was SO much stuff that needed to be configured that, honestly, I wasn't very comfortable using it at the beginning. Skip forward to a month-and-a-half later, it now has that nice, familiar feeling to it, like a pair of broken-in leather shoes, and now I absolutely love using this phone. But that only happened because I kept using it day after day, week after week, letting it mold itself to how I use it, as well as affording me the chance to learn it inside-out.

I still keep my Lumia on, active and updated, but I just keep it SIM-less, mostly to check out the progression of W10m.

You have a great point about the switching. You are right about things being overwhelming on Android. It took my third Android for me to really learn things. It's really interesting that you say that though. Out of the switching I do, it primarily stayed in my iPhone SE, so I feel like I have a good handle on iOS. However, the lack of customization bothers me. Otherwise, nice battery life, and a solid device in general.

I just want to have a phone that allows me to have a good balance between battery life, customization and simplicity. It sounds like you found a great mix of what works for you in the S7 and that's awesome. The SE ticks 2 of those three things for me, my Lumia could tick them all if I had the apps I am used to.

I got my Nextbit Robin last night, and I'm hoping that it could be a decent middle ground for me. I'll see how the battery life goes. If it is decent enough for me and my usage, I can take a break on the switching hopefully (unless I just feel like it, which can happen too based on what I'm doing).

 

[VineRider]

I finally gave up. After 7 years or more on Windows smartphones, I switched to IOS. The straw that broke the camel's back was the never ending issues with my Lumia 950. On my 3rd replacement for reboots and finally, when the last lockup occurred when I was driving and had to reboot my phone to take a call, that was it. I've had the 6s IPhone for 2 weeks now, not a single hiccup. The MS ecosystem is fully supported and apart from Groove Music, the app quality is on par, or better than on Windows 10 Mobile. It was hard to move as I'm a die hard MS fan(atic), but I just need a phone to work. I'm happy with the decision.

 

[dellaster]

Well, I almost switched. I was using a refurb Galaxy S3 for a month in preparation to buy a brand new Android smartphone and made the mistake of turning on my nearly four year old Lumia 920 again (W10M preview). Fell in love all over again!

Then Verizon announced the official W10M upgrade--and Groupon had a refurb Icon for $99--so I could move to a decent Lumia without risking much money, just in case a crucial app (for me) drops from the Store and I have to leave after all. I had a 1520 for a year and liked it, but it was too large. The Icon should be fine.

Oddly, although Android had apps galore, I only ever installed the same apps as on the Lumia 920 (functionally the same if not actually identical). And of those, only the weather apps were better IMO (e.g. Intellicast). Several were worse (there's nothing even close to Nextgen Reader or Manga Blaze). So, for me, there's effectively no app gap.

We'll just have to see how things go.

 

[libra89]

So it's been a day with the Nextbit Robin. After doing the initial charge, I charged again when I got home but I did use my phone normally for the most part. Even though I was trying to run the battery down to the end, I did get close to 20 hours since my original charge time. Not as impressive as it is with the iPhone but to be fair, setting up and tinkering things takes a bit out of the battery too and I decided to continue on anyway.

It's crazy how tweaking some settings can make a difference for battery life. I'll give it a week to see how things go when I'm not playing with launchers, icons and all of that.

 

[thron]

My 830 died and I could get a cheap Android phone and be on my way in a matter of minutes. But no, I miss what I have lost and purchased as close as possible replacement in the 640.

It is deplorable how difficult it is to find a Windows phone in stores. Cricket wanted to charge me $130 (plus "activation" ..for an already-customer) for the same device that's $28.99/$9.99 on their site. Another Cricket store in a Gamestop only had Androids.. Bestbuy only has old or T-Mobile Windows phones.. ugh.

Now I sit through a holiday weekend phone-less because I needed such a close replica of the phone I have lost. Not going anywhere until Microsoft kills W10 Mobile.

 

[Laura Knotek]

My 830 died and I could get a cheap Android phone and be on my way in a matter of minutes. But no, I miss what I have lost and purchased as close as possible replacement in the 640.

It is deplorable how difficult it is to find a Windows phone in stores. Cricket wanted to charge me $130 (plus "activation" ..for an already-customer) for the same device that's $28.99/$9.99 on their site. Another Cricket store in a Gamestop only had Androids.. Bestbuy only has old or T-Mobile Windows phones.. ugh.

Now I sit through a holiday weekend phone-less because I needed such a close replica of the phone I have lost. Not going anywhere until Microsoft kills W10 Mobile.

I'm sorry to hear you've had so many difficulties getting a new phone. :unhappy:

 

[RumoredNow]

My 830 died

HeyCori has your replacement: http://forums.windowscentral.com/marketplace-buy-sell-trade/426826-wts-lumia-830-extras.html

 

[ricardocr]

Based on many comments over here I think it is sad that those leaving are the longest supporting fans, wake up MS

 

[Vlad M1]

Guys, wanted to drop my 2 cents.
Let's not take things so dramatically

I've been with Windows phone 7, and I loved it until 10. I had the pones:
lumia 640, 920, 925, 930, htc hd 7 (old windows 7) etc...
I got lumia 950 xl just after launch BUT THAT PHONE made me leave the platform after 6 years. So many bugs, it was not fluent like windows phone 8. Got myself a samsung s7, and it's a beautiful phone, but I just don't like android. Sure, you have apps, but honestly ... I have a browser, it's more than enough for me.

I didn't even set pictures for my contacts or set custom ringtones, it's just not for me.
So the idea is this. tons of us left the platform, but I AM SURE that 90% who left (and once loved the platform) will come back when we get a cool phone (a surface phone) and the issues with the OS will be fixed. So although a lot are switching, don't be sad At least for me, I am sure I will turn back to windows when a decent flagship will be released.

Good luck

 

[kesken]

Even though I moved to the htc 10 (great phone) I still have my 920 as backup and every time I use it, it feels so much more natural and smooth than android. Everything just flows. But this is WP8.1. Using windows 10 moved me to android in the first place. Windows 10 had more features, but lost it's personality in my opinion. Plus bugs, bugs and more bugs. I'm still impressed with the hardware of the 920. What a work of art . I wanted to legitimize getting a new phone by saying that the 920 dies but it just refused to . Over 3 years and not a problem. Holding it is a bit bittersweet, because I have yet to see any modern phone offer that unique package, especially in the windows sphere. Software wise android works with everything. I'm not even talking about apps. Android is compatible with any smartphone related service out there. Windows 10 is still developing so I have high hopes. They really need to come good with excellent hardware and mature software. Sadly it may take a couple years for that to come to fruition.

 

[Blu3V3nom07]

I gotta say, though: I've been playing with the launcher Asus just put out, and I'm liking it loads better than my LG G4 original skin, and I just never liked Nova. Asus's is a little glitchy, I'm just glad not to be on the LG stuff, though.