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

[nate0]

Uh??!! Is this 2011?

Ya really...those poor deprived iphone users. The fact that iOS got around for all these years without one though is pretty darn impressive.

 

[Timbre70]

It's the best innovation from fuitella since sliced bread .

 

[digitaldd]

It's the best innovation from fuitella since sliced bread ??????.

I thought all the Fruitella/Nutella comments were supposed to be geared toward Microsoft?

 

[libra89]

Microsoft Outlook users will soon be able to add and edit contacts on Android - Android Authority

Finally! This would be nice.

 

[camaroz1985]

Microsoft Outlook users will soon be able to add and edit contacts on Android - Android Authority

Finally! This would be nice.

It's about time!!

 

[libra89]

It's about time!!

Right! I'm seeing on Phone Arena that the same update is being pushed to iOS too.

 

[camaroz1985]

On the iPhone I just use the Apple contact app to add or edit contacts. So far it has been syncing fine to my Live/Outlook acccounts. If the Outlook app could merge or link contacts I would probably use it instead.

 

[libra89]

On the iPhone I just use the Apple contact app to add or edit contacts. So far it has been syncing fine to my Live/Outlook acccounts. If the Outlook app could merge or link contacts I would probably use it instead.

I do the same as you. It has always worked without a hitch on iOS for me, aside from that time when Exchange syncing broke for a bit and drove me nuts lol.

 

[jdballard]

Bixby is awful and I miss the full functionality of Cortana.

You and me both. I love Cortana's integration with apps on Windows mobile. As for Bixby, yeah, it's awful. If you download Package Disabler Pro from the Play store, you can disable the Bixby button completely; it doesn't launch another app. I did it and it works great and I have had no issues.

I miss the UI. W10 style launchers help but live tiles are awesome and I don't think there's any real replacement for them on Android.

Nope, no solid replacement. I use Arrow, but I wish MS would come up with their own launcher with live tiles.

There are several overlapping apps that are just plain confusing (e.g. Samsung Pay vs Android Pay, Bixby vs Google whatever it is, etc.)

So true. And LG is coming out with LG Pay. Most people will tell you that Samsung Pay is better than Android Pay, but I can't remember why. I don't use either.

MS apps are generally better on Android than on W10M, but the Outlook App is driving me nuts. Doesn't updated the # of emails on the home screen and the way it manages multiple accounts makes my head hurt. I've given it a solid try and am going to look for an alternative

Look for Nine Mail by the developer/company 9Folders. Works great with Outlook.com and Office 365 accounts. It allows you to edit your contacts (who knows why MS's own app won't let you, although that feature is now on iOS and coming to Android), but it also syncs your tasks and notes. It's on sale for $9.99 and while it's been on sale for a few months, who knows how long it will last. Two-week free trial, if I recall correctly.

That all said, the S8+ is great. No regrets on switching. A few small changes and it would be perfect. Being able to replace Bixby w/ Cortana, getting live tiles, and more seamless integration with One Drive would pretty well make me not miss W10M at all.

Me either, although I switched about a year ago to the HTC 10 and just recently to the S8 (not S8+). As for the seamless integration with OneDrive, I've found it pretty seamless. What's not working like you'd expect?

 

[tgp]

Most people will tell you that Samsung Pay is better than Android Pay, but I can't remember why.

Android Pay uses NFC, and requires that the vendor has terminals with tap to pay capability. NFC is also used by Apple Pay and Microsoft Wallet. Samsung Pay uses MST, which emulates a credit card. You can use it pretty much anywhere you can use a credit card.

Supposedly LG Pay also has MST, but I've not seen concrete evidence. I think it is only active in South Korea so far.

 

[PerfectReign]

Android Pay uses NFC, and requires that the vendor has terminals with tap to pay capability. NFC is also used by Apple Pay and Microsoft Wallet. Samsung Pay uses MST, which emulates a credit card. You can use it pretty much anywhere you can use a credit card.

Supposedly LG Pay also has MST, but I've not seen concrete evidence. I think it is only active in South Korea so far.

Hmm, never heard of MST. I am putting in 170 new credit card terminals in my offices here and we're only looking at NFC. We want Apple Pay, Android Pay.

I hope MS updates Outlook to allow for encrypted email on Ios devices.

 

[N1cks]

I have an Android phone that meets everything but the integration with my Outlook contacts and calendar. I noticed that this is generally an Android thing that only a select few can totally do right, like Blackberry. For my life, read-only contacts/calendar is not enough for me, I need to be able to read AND edit. iOS does this without a hitch, just like Windows Mobile, but of course with the "apps". I could care less for phone only stuff. As a chronic switcher, that does nothing for me, I need to be able to create a contact and/or calendar event in my phone and have that reflect on the server so that no matter what phone I decide to use, my updated calendar and contacts are with me.

I've been reading this thread with interest - specifically the issue re: two-way syncing of Outook.com contacts.

I've recently been experimenting with a Samsung Note 3. Because it's old, I flashed to a custom ROM called LinesageOS (Nougat) & installed only the basic Google apps (Gapps) as I only use MS services.

CONS:
• Contacts are only one-way sync from Outlook for Android. Also you can't currently edit contacts in Outlook for Android (apparently this is coming). But you can create & edit contacts in the browser at people.live.com (which is an okay work around for me, but not for my mum!).
• Microsoft's Cortana & Next lockscreen apps look for the Google Calendar not Outlook's Calendar. But you still get calendar notifications from Outlook for Android - so unless you really want Cortana to show you your daily schedule, this is not a big deal.
• Widgets! (see photo below of my Lumia 950xl's Startscreen vs the Android Home Screen). Yeah, I'm still working on arranging the Android Home Screen, but the widgets take up sooo much space & look ugly. However, they do have more functionality than Live Tiles.
• The OS is fussy compare to W10m (FYI I've never own an iOS or Android!)

PROS.
• Choice of browsers! I dunno if it's the custom ROM or the browsers, but pages load quicker & with less issues than Edge on my Lumia. I've been using Opera, and it's nice.
• Apps open and close fast - no 'resuming'. The Messenger app on W10m takes about a week to open by comparison.
• The wallpaper on the Android is a live map, which is cool
• The Nougat system menus pull downs have nice graphics.
• The Microsoft apps work well (haven't tried Groove yet). I quite like the Bing search app.


In summary, you can exclusively use MS Services on Android, but to the detriment of others app including Microsoft's Cortana and Next lockscreen.
To use Android fully, you really need to use Google Calendar and Gmail for contacts. I've read good things about Nine Mail which keeps Outlook.com and Google in sync. But by doing this, it's the thin edge of the wedge to surrendering yourself to Google (I suffer from an inexplicable form of googlephobia).

Now that I've played with Android, I no longer fear it like I once did. But, I think iOS is the better choice because it has two-way syncing for contacts and calendar (based on libra89's post) - which I consider important. Plus, the Today View in iOS looks much nicer than Android widgets & is more akin to Live Tiles.
I will also update my family to iOS over Android, mostly for the ease of contact syncing.

 

[nate0]

I want a OnePlus 5 now and only because it might look like an iPhone 7 plus

 

[fatclue_98]

Now that iOS is finally getting a file manager sometime in the fall I might be convinced to give it another look. They still have some work to do with battery life though. It's been terrible since 10.2 so that's still a major concern. Definitely keeping an ear to the ground regarding the Surface Unicorn so it's safe to say that Q3 is going to be interesting.

 

[camaroz1985]

Now that iOS is finally getting a file manager sometime in the fall I might be convinced to give it another look. They still have some work to do with battery life though. It's been terrible since 10.2 so that's still a major concern. Definitely keeping an ear to the ground regarding the Surface Unicorn so it's safe to say that Q3 is going to be interesting.

Not a concern on an SE

 

[libra89]

Now that iOS is finally getting a file manager sometime in the fall I might be convinced to give it another look. They still have some work to do with battery life though. It's been terrible since 10.2 so that's still a major concern. Definitely keeping an ear to the ground regarding the Surface Unicorn so it's safe to say that Q3 is going to be interesting.

I agree with you on that. Yeah I agree about the battery life on 10.2 too. I'm disappointed with it. Apparently, 10.3.2 isn't any better. Such a disappointment.

The iPhone 7 I had on 10.1.1 was great on standby time, now 10.2 on the other hand on my original 7 is just draining quicker on standby.

 

[fatclue_98]

I agree with you on that. Yeah I agree about the battery life on 10.2 too. I'm disappointed with it. Apparently, 10.3.2 isn't any better. Such a disappointment.

The iPhone 7 I had on 10.1.1 was great on standby time, now 10.2 on the other hand on my original 7 is just draining quicker on standby.

The tipping point on swapping the 6S+ for the S8+ was the totally degraded battery life on 10.3.2 on top of Apple's wisdom in silencing ring tones and notifications while wearing an Apple Watch. If I wanted my phone to stifle, as Archie Bunker would say, I'd flip the mute switch.

 

[libra89]

The tipping point on swapping the 6S+ for the S8+ was the totally degraded battery life on 10.3.2 on top of Apple's wisdom in silencing ring tones and notifications while wearing an Apple Watch. If I wanted my phone to stifle, as Archie Bunker would say, I'd flip the mute switch.

Ooh okay, in that case, I don't blame you at all. That sounds so annoying to deal with. I hear that the S8s apparently have decent battery life, I'm wondering how that would go for you.

It's interesting how we can reach different tipping points. I do hope that the S8+ would work out for you.

 

[camaroz1985]

I agree with you on that. Yeah I agree about the battery life on 10.2 too. I'm disappointed with it. Apparently, 10.3.2 isn't any better. Such a disappointment.

The iPhone 7 I had on 10.1.1 was great on standby time, now 10.2 on the other hand on my original 7 is just draining quicker on standby.

Is it tolerable with your battery case?

I don't have any direct comparisons for my daily use. I was using a 6S on 10.1, and it was fine, now I'm using the SE on 10.3.2 and it is great, but I don't know how much worse it is now compared to how it would have been on 10.1 or even 9 like when it was released.

 

[libra89]

Is it tolerable with your battery case?

I don't have any direct comparisons for my daily use. I was using a 6S on 10.1, and it was fine, now I'm using the SE on 10.3.2 and it is great, but I don't know how much worse it is now compared to how it would have been on 10.1 or even 9 like when it was released.

I haven't tried the original 7 with the battery case yet this time around. I want to see how this goes, but it should be just fine with the battery case. It actually goes like nearly 2 days with it.

As for the SE, I can't recall right now. I usually get a day and 4-6 hours on one charge on 9. It's hard for me to compare because my cricket SE isn't being used as a phone.