The great Android experiment

[sinime]

I miss my webOS.... My wife is about to throw her 830 in the trash because she's been having issues. I told her to swap out her SD card as I think that may be the culprit, but she is pushing toward getting an android device. IDK, we left WP7 for IOS because of the app gap and wound up switching back to WP after about 9 months... I just don't want to go down that road again, buying an android, only to have her wanting the new promised WP flagship when it comes out in a couple of months.

Although,I am kind of jonesing for a device that can run the Fallout 4 companion app.

 

[fatclue_98]

I miss my webOS.... My wife is about to throw her 830 in the trash because she's been having issues. I told her to swap out her SD card as I think that may be the culprit, but she is pushing toward getting an android device. IDK, we left WP7 for IOS because of the app gap and wound up switching back to WP after about 9 months... I just don't want to go down that road again, buying an android, only to have her wanting the new promised WP flagship when it comes out in a couple of months.

Although,I am kind of jonesing for a device that can run the Fallout 4 companion app.

There are worse things in the world than getting an Android. I'm putting a T-Mo 640 through its paces because it's only $99 at Walmart.....and because I'm a gadget-aholic with no signs of improving. Therapy is for quitters. Anyhoo, this is a very nice little device especially for the price. Beats anything at this price point and they're rumored to be the first 8.1 phones to get 10 whenever it comes out.

 

[Euell Gibbons]

A few more quick thoughts:

The iHeartradio app works perfectly on this phone, so score one for Android here.

I was not expecting to miss any WP apps when I went back to Android, yet there are a couple that aren't available that I sorely miss.

So far the device lag/freezing I saw earlier in my Android days is not there yet. However, Android devices are notorious for degrading in performance over time. So the jury will be out on that one for a while.

 

[Euell Gibbons]

And in an ironic twist, I have now installed MixRadio on my G2, which is funny because it wasn't available on my Ativ!

 

[jonahtrav]

That's one of my favorite apps... That's nice to know it's made it to android if I end up getting an android phone as the battery life on my 920 is going down hill.

 

[crystal_planet]

I've running with an LG G4 (previously a 1020) for a couple of weeks and here are my findings:
- Android has got the apps and strength in numbers thing. It's all about choice, choice and choice. I love the fact I can now run apps that specifically deal with my line of work.
- The G4 is a flagship, so that means 29736 processor cores and 20 billionty gb of ram - it's all about specs in Android land. That's kind of scary when you think about it.
- No lag as of yet - but I run lean and mean. BTW - it's not "fixed" with the latest o/s - plenty of people complain of it on the board.
- My battery life on my G4 far outpaces anything I've ever owned before, (aside from maybe my old BB Curve 8350). Weird.
- The saying "there's an app for that" is totally a trueism. The flip side is, that's because you need apps for the simplest tasks. Nothing is baked in like Windows Phone. On a foundational level, WP's o/s kicks the living crap out of Android all day every day.
- I actually had to get apps and tweak the o/s to get unread counts for my email. Even then, the counts are wildly inaccurate - it says I have 7 unread messages when in actuality I have 2. That's an example of Android and I've learned to accept the little flaws and foibles of the platform - like every other Android user.
- The G4 itself is simply a gorgeous piece of hardware - Nokias are tough as nails - but really utilitarian in aesthetics. This phone reminds me of a beautiful watch that gets used on only special occasions.

I may return after my two year cycle finishes, or maybe not - depends on how Nadella handles WP10 in the future. We need WP to stay and grow, if only to keep the other two on their toes.

 

[rhapdog]

I've running with an LG G4 (previously a 1020) for a couple of weeks and here are my findings:

Thanks for an honest and unbiased review.

 

[Euell Gibbons]

Another thing I discovered that WP8 kicks Androids *** in: Car bluetooth integration. When I get a text on my WP8, my car stereo offers to read and respond to the text, all via voice commands. It then asks me to confirm the response, and I can change it if necessary. It works beautifully, and intuitively. I'm still searching for a solution in Android that will off the same functionality. Right now texts aren't available though the car stereo at all.

And this worked straight out of the box, without any intervention from me at all.

 

[Steve Adams]

I have been on the fence this past couple of weeks, after finding the asus zenfone 2 and zenwatch2. I am so disappointed in MS for not allowing some freedom when it comes to wearables, and in all reality the app gap is there and real. I can get a brand new zf2 for 280 dollars, and the watch for 180.

My 1020 is an awesome phone, however, since I cracked and replaced my screen, its' beginning to let go from the body again. I can see it when I am taking off my case etc. Its last me almost a year now. That's pretty good. I usually go through a phone every 6 months or so, because I get bored. MS is taking to long to get with the program so to speak. No apps, no wearables, etc. With new vehicles coming out with android car installed, Its only a matter of time. Unless MS tactics of getting the app dev's in the game, WP is dead in the water. There will be a few holding on, but WP needs growth now, In North America, or its not going to survive here.

 

[sinime]

I'm doing an experiment with Android as well and got one the other day...

Things I don't like:
1) Settings menu is not laid out well (granted, the order of settings in WP8 is not great - Win 10 should at least help the organization)
2) In my car, Bluetooth SMS is garbage... I can get it to read aloud the last text message, but have to hit a button and say "read message", it then won't let me verbally respond, I have to jack with buttons and scroll through available canned responses on the radio screen (not a good thing to do while driving). My WP lets me verbally say read it or ignore, and lets me do voice to text to reply.
3) scrolling left and right within apps drives me crazy, like the settings app you swipe left or right and the screen starts to go and snaps back to the same screen you were on... seems the sensitivity is too low as you have to swipe almost all the way across the screen to get it to work at times.
4) Scrolling up and down in apps seems to be too slow and too fast... to slow for normal scrolling and too fast when you try to scroll up/down quickly... seems to be all or nothing.
5) Apps seem to overly rely on taps to the top of the screen. I don't seem to have to adjust my hand to reach the top as much on WP.
6) FB app sucks and without the Twitter/FB People app, I wind up not paying attention to twitter at all... To be fair, the WP FB app is bad too, but the People app seems to suit my needs well.
7) Apps list seems hard to find apps at times, a single in-line list is much better.
8) Widgets are great in theory, but they look like they don't belong when they are put together... just looks like a jumbled mess.

Things I like:
1) projecting videos to my TV at the touch of a button. (WP is supposed to have this feature, but either my TV doesn't like my WP or the other way around)
2) IR port on top to use phone as a remote for my TV and satellite box (although it doesn't seem to work for Xbox One - Although you can use the separate smart glass app)
3) More apps - especially Fallout Shelter and the Fallout 4 companion app that are coming soon.

I'm giving it a couple more days, but at the rate it's going, it will be in a card board box and back at the store before the return time is up.

 

[Euell Gibbons]

Settings are a mess on all of the platforms, Android, iOS and WP. In Windows 10 the new settings app is good, but not all of the settings have been added yet, you still need the Control Panel for some.

 

[Euell Gibbons]

A couple of weeks in have to say that Android is still a cluttered mess, WP8.1 is far superior in that regard. The app situation is still a problem in WP, but not the huge deal some have made it out to be.

The constant lag/freeze/restarts present in earlier devices does seem to be gone now with the LG G2. I still sometimes need to restart, but not very often.

I do, however, now see a much bigger problem for WP. Cheap flagship hardware for Android is now becoming available. The new OnePlus 2 phone has just been announced at a $329 price point. Other mfgs are following suit. My G2 still has flagship specs (Snapdragon 800, 2 GB Ram, 5" Full HD display, great camera), and I bought it new for $230. Right now WP has nothing that can compete with that.

 

[Steve Adams]

I beg to differ on the app gap. There are many many apps on android that I want on WP. And they are not fart apps or games. I do NOT game on a phone. But stuff I do use on android is NOT available on WP. I am guessing I have close to 20 apps that are not available or are dumbed down versions that the dev's made just to shut up people complaining about no apps for windows phone.

I HOPE I am making the right decision by buying the new 950xl when its released. If not, Im gone to the asus side of life.

 

[Euell Gibbons]

Well, I've had the phone long enough now to say that it is plenty stable, and free of lags/freezing. I'm a little surprised by this, actually. However, one thing that keeps popping up is battery life. Android is highly sensitive to "naughty" apps, apps that keep the phone from going into deep sleep. Yesterday, doing almost nothing on my phone at all, I was down 50% in battery by lunch. Other days I'm still left with 30% at bedtime. Android requires you to basically keep tabs on all of your apps, making sure to uninstall the bad ones. That sucks.

 

[fatclue_98]

Settings are a mess on all of the platforms, Android, iOS and WP.

You left out BB OS10. In terms of market share, they're very close to WP so inclusion in the conversation is not out of the question. Settings and notifications are one area where the "big three" could use some serious work and since webOS is dead and buried, they should take a peek at OS 10.

As for the lag, I've had the G2 and currently have a G3. Give it 6 months before reaching a conclusion, that's usually about the time all heck breaks loose and you start pulling your hair looking for answers. It doesn't matter if it's a factory ROM or a custom XDA special, the end result is usually the same. Hardware-wise, I do think LG is making the best Android handsets around but that's just my $.02. It's a shame that such fine hardware is straddled to an OS that can cheapen the brand so much.

 

[Euell Gibbons]

I hope you're wrong about the 6 month thing, but I guess we'll see. In the past it took at most a couple of weeks before the lag/freezes started, so I'm hopeful.

 

[Steve Adams]

I have yet to use an XDA developed ROM that is stable. NONE I have used were stable. The Factory ROMs on my android devices I used were stable but were just not smooth, and did not update after one go round. I wish phone companies would provide continued support.

 

[fatclue_98]

I have yet to use an XDA developed ROM that is stable. NONE I have used were stable. The Factory ROMs on my android devices I used were stable but were just not smooth, and did not update after one go round. I wish phone companies would provide continued support.

ROMs on XDA, and others like them, are not stable because the chefs take bits and pieces from different versions to create their own "vision" for what the OEM should've been. They're not optimized for your particular device on your carrier. Not too many people stay on one ROM for very long and move on. That's fine when you're a kid with no responsibilities and all the time in the world. I'd like to think that WP is the grown-up's OS and it should just WORK with no muss, no fuss.

Sent from my LG G3 via Tapatalk

 

[Steve Adams]

exactly agree. That is why I use wp. I have complained that android is laggy, etc. Everyone said use XDA and load a rom from there. So.....I did, guess what. They were almost unuseable. Work great for 15 min, then freeze and lock up. I do hope W10 mobile will be a good upgrade over 8.1 and get us the apps we want.

 

[Euell Gibbons]

There are some good ROMs out there, such as Cyanogen. The real problem with custom ROM's is the same problem with the stock ROMs; the developer stops working on it the minute a new version of Android becomes available. So there are never any bug fixes made past a certain point.