tried the iPhone and hated it....now I'm back!

[Timtcee]

My sister gave me her old iPhone 4s after she upgraded to an iPhone 6. Since 75% of the people I know have an iPhone and I have only ever had a Windows phone I thought I would give it a try.

There was nothing that the iPhone gave me that my Windows phone didn?t have except higher quality apps. The apps on the iPhone are more refined, well rounded and seemingly more thought out. The apps on Windows phone sometimes feel rushed and an afterthought. But there were no apps on the iPhone that I could not get on my WP. I can deal with the fact that the apps are not as great. They are there and I will use them; happily.

I missed the live tiles on my WP. I couldn?t stand that the iPhone is so static. It just sits there, doing nothing, just dead weight. It is not ?alive? like my WP. It doesn?t keep me informed at a glance through live tiles.

Siri is also not as smart as Cortana. She can?t remind me when I get to the store to buy a birthday card for my mom or tell me to leave early for my appointment because traffic is heavy. I know I sound like a commercial on that one but it really is true and when you?ve used Cortana and go over to Siri, Cortana is definitely missed.

There is one small thing I will miss about the iPhone though and that?s the very vast selection of emoji?s. There are so many and they seem more polished than what we have on WP. But again, it?s a small thing and no reason for me to stay with iPhone.

I?m glad I left and tried something else but I?ll never leave again. I just hope Windows 10 will allow the WP user base to grow because it truly is an amazing operating system and smart phone. I LOVE MY WINDOWS PHONE!! I?m back BABY!

 

[oviedofreak82]

I understand how you feel. I have both an iPad and a Surface RT as well as an L925. I find myself using my Surface more than the iPad, I have it solely for apps and left my kids use it. Outside of apps, I really don't see what draws so many people to Apple products but to reach their own. For productivity go with a Surface. For entertainment and social networking, the iPad/iOS is great.

 

[mj0]

Siri is also not as smart as Cortana. She can’t remind me when I get to the store to buy a birthday card for my mom or tell me to leave early for my appointment because traffic is heavy. I know I sound like a commercial on that one but it really is true and when you’ve used Cortana and go over to Siri, Cortana is definitely missed.

It's interesting that you mention this because this is exactly what I've been doing with Siri for the past three years. "Remind me to call so and so when I get to my office" or "remind me to buy this and that when I get home".

I really really *REALLY* don't understand why people think Cortana is so awesome, so great, so amazingly refined and top notch. I find her to be the most useless voice assistant available, Siri was significantly better and could do so many more things than Cortana. Cortana is beta and still in the works, might catch up to Google or Apple in a couple of years but certainly not yet.

A few examples? Sure: try to get Cortana to put an event or notification in your Exchange calendar. No go, only Cortana's own weird inaccessible internal calendar is being used for reminders or notifications. Getting directions is a major PITA, never got it to work ("take me home", or "how do I get home from here" both results in a Bing search). Background noise filtering is terrible - voice recognition seems decent when there's no background noise whatsoever but trying to get Cortana to do something on a moving train or in a car is near impossible. Also, I have yet to find a way to get Cortana to correct its pronounciation of some names - I have many friends and colleagues with foreign names and with Siri, all I had to do was say "that's not how you pronounce it" and Siri offered alternatives. After a few days I've stopped using Cortana altogether. My personal verdict? Nice toy, but useless for now. Will check back in a few months.

Obviously, YMMV.

 

[badshar]

While you may like WP more than the iPhone, you can't deny that WP's UI needs some updating. iOS and Android, both who borrowed WP's ideas for their modern designs, look beautiful, while WP looks almost exactly the same as what it was when first released in 2010.

 

[J Frost]

How is it the same as in 2010?
Transparent tiles, folders, new tile sizes, live tiles, etc..... All added after 2010.
I will admit that its not as polished around the edges, however year for year its taking greater strides in UI advancement. iOS was so vanilla for some many years with the UI and the device. Android is open source, so manufactures skin it to keep it fresh on the outside.

 

[jomargon]

I just made the switch to iPhone 6+ after being a Windows Phone user since WP7. There's indeed a big difference when it comes to the quality of third party apps. Even Microsoft's own apps in the Apple App Store are generations better than the ones in the Windows Store

 

[IgorVysoky]

I haven't switched yet but I've been thinking about it. Trying something else since my first and only smartphone is Lumia. However I wait till w10. I hope that Microsoft is saving their ideas, and new design for apps for w10 otherwise, bye bye. Even though I love it here. With my phone, with community, with being different. I just can't stand MS doing better apps for competing platforms...

 

[theta_orionis]

I bought my wife an I phone 6 for Christmas and I was fairly impressed with the design and screen. I prefer the look and feel of the WP OS for myself but, yes, the availability of apps I'm interested in is proving problematic. As an example, I wanted to treat myself to a Sonos system only to find that it did not support WP. There's a third party app called Phonos and from what I can tell it doesn't offer all the functions of the official app. Bummer. Add to this the fact that I've got an Icon and I don't know when or if I'll get cyan or denim or even W10 ( Verizon, regrettably, is holding all the cards.) I'm holding out for now, but the 6+ is starting to piqu? my interest.

 

[EBUK]

this is exactly what I've been doing with Siri for the past three years. "Remind me to call so and so when I get to my office" or "remind me to buy this and that when I get home".

Those examples aren't the same as the one the OP mentioned:

She can’t remind me when I get to the store to buy a birthday card

Can you ask Siri this type of question, and will she oblige? Will she tell you when you are at /close to a florist's to buy flowers?

Genuinely interested in this as I've only seen the MSFT adverts, which will naturally be biassed in favour of Cortana.

TIA

 

[mathsisbest]

Those examples aren't the same as the one the OP mentioned:


Can you ask Siri this type of question, and will she oblige? Will she tell you when you are at /close to a florist's to buy flowers?

Genuinely interested in this as I've only seen the MSFT adverts, which will naturally be biassed in favour of Cortana.

TIA

Cortana for me is much better than Siri. I have a British accent. Cortana is much better for location related tasks. Cortana does have a slight problem with the microphone though.

Remember Cortana is in beta, but it is already better than Siri.

 

[lovenokia]

While you may like WP more than the iPhone, you can't deny that WP's UI needs some updating. iOS and Android, both who borrowed WP's ideas for their modern designs, look beautiful, while WP looks almost exactly the same as what it was when first released in 2010.

I agree with you 100% windows phone needs to get a very large UI refresh. The UI was superior back in 2010, but that is no longer the case. The UI in windows phone is no longer the best, and needs to take that position again.

 

[theta_orionis]

Addendum: An update to Denim for Icon coming soon and a Sonos app due for WP. I'm staying put. Happy Christmas!

 

[etad putta]

Those examples aren't the same as the one the OP mentioned:


Can you ask Siri this type of question, and will she oblige? Will she tell you when you are at /close to a florist's to buy flowers?

Genuinely interested in this as I've only seen the MSFT adverts, which will naturally be biassed in favour of Cortana.

TIA

You be the judge...As Siri gets more powers in iOS 8, we ask: Do you use it to its fullest or is it still a party trick? | 9to5Mac