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

[perpleSlerp]

So Long Windows Phone....

Well, I gave it the ole college try but alas.. after three months I'm going back to Android.

It has nothing to do with lack of apps.

Main reasons:

1. The simplest of tasks take 1-2-3 more steps to accomplish on Windows than Android
2. I.E. leaves a lot to be desired (too many issues to rant about)
3. Lack of true shortcuts/toggles
4. Voice To Text limitations. Just not well implemented and it's just a chore to use (and I use it all the time) and it's frustrating every single time.
5. Mic limitations: Can't use it for web browsing (I mean even my $29 LG Fuel had this feature).. which I used to use all the time, nor for note taking/dictating.. which I used to use all the time.
6. Dialer/keypad not well implemented. Again, too many taps to do simple things and then get back to the dialer.
7. Annoying lag/stutter when scrolling webpages.

There are other annoyances. And yes, these are just little annoyances, but taken as a whole it's one big annoyance for me. Also, I realized I don't need a 5" phone (never mind the 640 XL I have sitting in my drawer!). Going to have to see whats out there in the sub-5" category these days... might not be easy to find!

Still for $80 it's a great phone if you can deal with it's limitations (if you're coming from Android, that is) ... I tried, but I can't. :unhappysweat:

 

[chmun77]

Re: So Long Windows Phone....

Gotten myself a new iPhone 6s plus rose gold recently. Never missed any apps after the switch, and have better apps experiences than on WP. Yes, file management is more cranky than Windows Phone but still manageable. Furthermore, most of my stuffs are on the cloud. I will not be getting the new 950 because I see no perks using Windows phone. Continuum? I'm already using a full-fledged Windows 10 PC at home. So, I won't be seeing myself coming back to Windows Phone anytime soon until the app - devs situations picks up. Even surfing on the Safari has much better UX than using IE on WP 8.1.

 

[nightspark]

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

Really wanted a 950XL (dat camera), yet lack if availability from TMobile and no financing options from MS means I'm sol. Got into Project Fi and will be getting a Nexus 5X in a few days. The only silver lining about Android is that I get apps like VSCO Cam and a regularly updated Spotify (which hasn't been updated on WP since Feb). I don't want to switch, MS isn't making it easy to stay. Hopefully the Surface phones are made and apps that I use appear on Windows 10 Mobile.

 

[raghu1581]

Planning to switch to Android

HI All,

I am a windows phone user since its first launch.
I had Samsung focus, Lumia 900, Lumia 1020 and now Lumia 640.
Had a very bad experience with Microsoft support for MS Band. getting frustrated and planning to switch to Android.

Looking for valuable suggestions.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Re: Planning to switch to Android

HI All,

I am a windows phone user since its first launch.
I had Samsung focus, Lumia 900, Lumia 1020 and now Lumia 640.
Had a very bad experience with Microsoft support for MS Band. getting frustrated and planning to switch to Android.

Looking for valuable suggestions.

Are you looking for an Android Wear watch? You probably would have better luck asking at AndroidCentral or Connectedly.

 

[Xippee]

Leaving Windows Phone after 4 years

After 4 years with Lumia's, starting with windows 7, I've decided to throw in the towel and move to Samsung.

I've spent the last week mulling it over since my contract is up for renewal and I can trade in my Lumia 925 for a new handset. I was set on the 950XL since it fulfilled 2 of my 3 principle criteria:

1. The phone should look premium with metal finishing.
2. The phone should have bio-metric security (I've got way too many passwords!!!).
3. The phone should have a stylus since I'm tired of fumbling my way around OneNote.

The tech specs, needless to say, should meet minimum standards of all leading handset makers.

Originally the 950XL covered points 2 & 3 and I was willing to forego the metal finishing to stay with Windows 10 (I've been running 10 on the insider program for a while and love it) but last weeks news that they are no longer including the stylus was a deal breaker.

I have serious misgivings about Microsoft's approach to Lumia. As flagships my instant disappointment with the 950s was the poly-carbonate casing. The excuse given was that these were left-overs in the pipeline from Nokia. That's a p****-poor excuse since the last Lumia flagship was 2 years ago and they've had plenty of time to change the casing to include a metal finish. In the o2 store the shelves were stacked with gorgeous looking handsets for Android and poly-carbonate Lumia's were definately the ugly sister. I'm not sure that MS can class the 950s as flagships since the aesthetic element is vital in the marketplace for premium handsets. If this were not the case then I don't understand why MS spend such resources on the beautiful aesthetics of the Surface range, I don't think they're going to start stripping out the design to encase the new Surface Book in poly-carbonate . My other worry is that we'll tie ourselves to 2 or 3 year contracts for a 950 and then next year they'll release the Surface phone as the real flagship and we'll all feel pretty cheated again (the same way we felt when they dumped windows 7 mid contract for people).

Prior to my first Lumia 4 years ago I had the iPhone 3g and so this is my first foray into Android with a Note 4. I'm quite excited about it but at the same time really regretful at the missed opportunities for the Lumia 950s since I love Windows Phone.

I'm also gonna have to stop browsing windows forums/websites and start look at Android ones instead. That'll be weird.

Anyway, this is a former Windows Phone Freak signing off.

 

[Nicholas Ek]

Re: Leaving Windows Phone after 4 years

definitely*
^ which is also subjective. Personally I prefer polycarbonate phones.

Not getting into details about why you would buy phones on contract, or how a "Surface" phone will make you feel cheated (???), but if you really need to use the stylus on your phone, I guess Galaxy Notes are for you.

Goodbye.

 

[InspectHerGadget]

Re: Leaving Windows Phone after 4 years

I made a similar decision. I have had the 1520 for about 18 months or so and wanted a new phone. I was 18 months ago tossing up between the 1520 and the Note 3. I have a Surface and wanted a pen which I thought would be very useful.
I ended up buying the Note 5. It is a great phone and I can revisit Windows Phone next year when they may offer something similar.

 

[aitt]

Re: Leaving Windows Phone after 4 years

That's why I refuse to be "loyal" to any brand, make , or OS.

I came to WP because of Nokia and left 2 years ago because of Android and returning to WP because of the 950XL and project Astoria.

I been through HTC, Samsung, ASUS, Nokia, and LG.

Leave, wait, return, and leave again. That's the beauty of technology. Being loyal only limits you.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[Dusan Randj]

Re: Leaving Windows Phone after 4 years

You can order premium looking cases from MOZO for 950s, they have metalic sides.
You have picked well, not the worst of Android, but Samsung with it's laggy interface. Hope you are satisfied with.

 

[garak0410]

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

OK folks...I've been with Windows Phone/Mobile since 6.5 and I've waited and waited and waited for it to take off...now, I am facing a tough, technical epiphany of staying with my Lumia ICON or giving into the temptation of continuing to "test drive" and make this Note 5 my daily driver...



It is killing me that I am liking the NOTE 5 a lot...and I mean A LOT. I seem more productive and I have a lot more of what I'd like to use on the go. I do prefer Live Files and "all in" with the Ecosystem. Cortana works way better than I expected. So, the battle I am facing is do I go back just for the elegance of the Windows Phone OS and be without a lot of these apps that do make my life easier? Do I continue to "wait" on the future (this time Universal Apps, Project Astoria / Islandwood) or go ahead and be in the "now" and "wait and see" what my Windows Phone options are again down the road? This has truly been agony since I love Windows Phone so much but I feel so much more productive with the Note 5.

 

[Jerry Stevens2]

Re: Leaving Windows Phone after 4 years

I've been a loyal WP fan ever since the Lumia 800. Tried Android recently to compare it (HTC), it was nice to have useful apps not available on WP but got bored with the Android UI. And on the HTC I didn't find the camera anywhere near as good as Lumia.

 

[Doug Swallow]

Re: Leaving Windows Phone after 4 years

I've been preparing myself for that possibility by just trying to keep up with what the high-end phones for Android offer, and a few interesting things I've come to discover about my requirements:

1) The Galaxy S6 Edge/Edge+ with the curved screen is the only thing that I consider in existence that differentiates a phone as something beyond ordinary. All the other phones out there are basically similar in look.

2) Motorola got it right in the Moto X Pure edition offerings for configuring the phone look, and offering it direct-to-consumer.

3) Qi wireless charging is extremely close to a must-have and I drastically move phones without it built in -- no crazy add-on cover -- to the bottom of my list of possibilities, no matter how much the rest of the phone is OK.

4) The Lumia 950 XL is rather feature-complete and easily matches or bests spec-by-spec most every other phone available. Its most significant detrimental factor is I can't buy it today, and I don't have a fixed date for availability. And I'm nervous about the state of Windows 10 Mobile (nervous in that I see it as the major delay in availability of this hardware). And it's among the least expensive, too.

Any other concerns/considerations are software-based. I very much dislike many things I see in Windows 10 Mobile vs Windows Phone 8.1. I see too much of the good things about the UI being changed, and for the worse, and without even providing some options the user can make to keep familiar behaviors. I would call it Androidization. Mostly as a general disdain towards the Android ecosystem, but you see elements with a lot of similarities -- circle photos on contacts. I can't describe how much I think that change is a step backward in look. And it would so easily be a simple configurable option. But no, it's just forced upon us all.

So at the moment, I remain all-in for the 950 XL, and I'm sure any rumored "Surface Phone" too, as I'd love the annoyance of new flagships coming annually or even more often in the Windows Phone ecosystem. But in a way it boils down to expense, too. I'd need the Dual SIM version of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ which runs around $1050, a whopping $400 over the 950 XL Dual SIM version, with very little to show for it except an outdated Samsung physical shell look, but with a very nice futuristic functional curved edge screen. And I'm not really willing to pay so much more for what I still consider so much less.

 

[InspectHerGadget]

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

I've had my Note 5 now for about 10 days.

Pluses:

Amazing build quality
Camera is superb
Screen is first rate
Call quality and Speaker

Negatives (Positives on Nokia 1520)
Miss tile setup on home screen
Individual email tiles for my email accounts
Windows Phone easier to setup
text in car not available

 

[vlad0]

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

I need to get a new phone soon and need to make a decision. Its between the ip6s and the XL..

I've had my current phone since 2012 .. as much as I am going to miss the 41mpix sensor and the fat xenon flash I need to get something that has a decent browser.

I am in real estate so accurate maps for the US are extremely important, so the main question is: Is there a Google maps application for windows, and if not are there any 3rd party apps or workarounds?

Currently I have native apps for Here and Google maps on my phone so I know how unreliable here maps can be for my area, so there is absolutely no way I can survive with here maps alone.

This really sucks because I am all in on most Microsoft products and I really don't want to deal with an Apple product, but if I can't rely on my smartphone for work there is no other way.

I am also reluctant on getting a phone with a Snapdragon 810 CPU .. those things are way too hungry and run hot. You shouldn't need to liquid cool a mobile CPU.

 

[donkiluminate]

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

While I love WM i've lately been getting a little disenfranchised with it lately and having gotten a new job recently where I work in the bowels of a hospital I am now in need of a phone with wifi calling. Before getting this job I've been finding a way to make do but my hand is now being forced. Yet I'm still holding out a hope of hopes that native wifi calling will be added soon so I can get a 950xl.

Here is my laundry list of what's been pushing me to change platforms yet before I list them let me say that i think that 950xl is a fantastic looking device and I really like the core of WM it's just the practical side of me keeps on piping up.

1. The lack of communication.
i.e. launch dates, future features to expect AND count on
2. Lack of focus/true platform champion within the company.
It just feels like nobody in the company really cares about the platform
3. Edge browser currently sucks.
I know it's a technical preview but no syncing, customization, too many steps to get to favorites, and just plain slow to render?
4. It feels like MS has ditched Agile development and is pioneering a new development process called Just around the corner
5. While it used to not be a big issue but the app situation is starting to become an issue for me.
i wound up buying a burner android phone just to have access to certain apps.
6 MS apps get more love on other platforms.
Onedrive, for example is a heaping pile on WM. The Onedrive app on my little Moto E runs faster than Onedrive on my 930.
Related note: App store is a mess
7. No Stylus support
Nitpicking, I know but man I'd love to have stylus support
8. No multi-window support for phablets
Nitpicking, I know but man I'd love to have multi-window support

All that being said I still do all I can to stay on WM but the lack of wifi calling is going to be what's going to push me to an iPhone. I don't know how much longer I feel like swapping my nano sim card out of my 930, popping it into an adapter then dropping that into my old 925.

But hey life could definitely be a lot worse, when the most pressing matter on your mind is whether to spend several hundred dollars on a cell phone.

 

[Captpt]

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

I've come full circle..
I started my smartphone use with Windows Phone 7's Samsung Focus but low app count and didn't care for Zune interface, tried iphone and didn't care for iTunes and whole iphone/apple ecosystem, then went Galaxy S2 thru S4 then Note 4 and really found Android was getting messy and clunky. Then started reading up on the new MS Flagships coming and the 950/950XL looked like the real deal and been a big Surface Pro 3 user the past year and loving it so figured I'd pick up a 640XL before selling my Note 4 and I'm totally loving the WP8.1 experience.. DAMN, Windows Phones sure came a long way since WP7!!! Sold the Note 4 and eagerly awaiting the 950XL's release!!! I guess you can say I'm back where I belong
Funny thing I have to add, back during the early WP7 days guys on the forum would trash WP7 when issues kept popping up and I would always say Dude WP is in its infancy stage, give it time.. Well it's definitely matured nicely!! Can't wait for WP 10...
Is

 

[FXi2]

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

I gave iPh 6s a try but that was a waste of time and $. Nice device, no doubt, but WP is by far my preferred home.
I have told VZ in multiple places, forums, chat with reps as I closed stuff down and tonight responding to "would you be interested in a 735" that the only way to keep me (which we know won't happen) is to get the 950XL. Leaving VZ after 20+ years.
Do note that VZ has stopped their build out plans - as in they think they are basically done so any issues with VZ are going to stay issues. ATT is still hungry to catch up and is building. So one will improve the other will not. Kind of shows in the phones eh? Their customer services (and Apple's) has been first rate, no doubt. But it's time to move on.
We'll start with 950XL and 950 and branch from there. Maybe give the "old" Icon to some poor friend still stuck with VZ.

Does anyone know yet if ATT is supporting MS direct updates for the 950/950XL?

 

[anywhereanytime]

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

There is no way that Satya Nadella's "Cloud First, MOBILE First strategy" will survive with "NO smartphones"! I can hardly wait for the "Surface Phone" as I have a Lumia Icon that is my daily driver until that time - probably a year from now!

I also firmly believe that Samsung will "deliver a FOLDABLE smartphone device" in the next 6 months and the "we are in a whole NEW ballgame" as that's how I believe that Microsoft *** will disrupt this category ***!

Just READ al of the recent Microsoft PR about what Satya Nadella IS SAYING - especially about "new categories" - also, go to YouTube and look at Microsoft's latest "Future Vision" videos!!!!!!

Add to that that ALL "Microsoft device strategy" IS NOW under the "Surface Book MAGICIAN" named Panos Panay !!!!!!!!!

 

[API_Rock]

Time to give up windows phone ?

I am huge fan of windows/Microsoft, using windows phone since 2006, almost ten years with windows phone. I don?t like android ecosystem, but no other choice (Apple uhh windows is much better)

My Lumia 520 stopped working, in the mean time I got an android as a substitute.
I am using it from last month & really surprised about APPs.

I know all apps are there in windows phone which I need, but wait? They are just snapshots, nothing else.

I know some apps are really better in windows phone, compare to android, but some of main apps like

1. TeamViewer
2. HDFC bank (my bank app)
3. Xender
4. WhatsApp
5. Adobe PDF reader
6. Browser (Google chrome)
7 Moliplayer
8. Truecaller
9. IIFL (mobile trading app)

And may be more, but this are the apps I have checked & found that are beautifully designed for android, but on the other hand they are just apps nothing else for windows. I mean they functions, the features, the usefulness are awesome on android.

I know they have one answer, you need your bank app to see balance, transfer money here you go, but why should we waste our resources for 1 out of 100 people?

I know there is no comparison of windows/Lumia camera apps, lenses, the smoothness of windows phone, but there is a saying in corporate, hey that guys is punctual, that guy is nice, but who cares we want productivity.

Same goes here, A dev wants to develop app for windows but wait T & C applied by MS, like Xender/shareit can?t turn on/off wifi, I am thankful to them they still managed to launch there app for this OS.

You talk about Bluetooth that too require to be on settings screen to be visible to other, ohh men c'mon aren't you a smartphone?

The list goes on and on.

Yes I miss beautiful camera lances, the smoothness etc., but how much to compromise.

MS wants dev to build app, but on their own conditions, it?s like hey I am hungry give me sandwich but only butter sandwich, uhh!!