what is up... thinking about switching from iphone.

[ironsoulreaver]

Hey, I am currently an iPhone owner considering making the switch over to windows phone. I am a long time user of windows mobile and an old school nokia fan, However when Android dissapointed me I jumped ship to the iPhone as soon as it came to Verizon. At the time windows phone 7 was unreleased (they announced it the next day actually). Now that Nokia has partnered up with Windows and Windows Phone 8 has brought along the NT kernal and has matured to be a suitible smartphone it is now back in my Line of sight. My iPhone just does not excite me anymore and themes and Dreamboard does not seem to satisfy my craving for something new. It's a difficult choice because my iPhone is the best phone I have ever had. It's stable and does almost everything.

My all time favorite phone was the samsung I730. That keyboard rocked and it was a fast phone that stood up to the demands of windows mobile. It had a crap battery though, and the call quality was horrid.

I would follow that up with the Treo.

so this brings on some questions for you guys...

Anyone here already switched from iphone, have an opinion on missing features you wish it had? Do you regret it?

Also, how is the quality of games for windows phone? do any of them carry decent quality graphics or emersive gameplay or are they mostly just time killers?

I have managed to find substitues for my other apps so far such as roku remote, rage comics, craigslist, ect. But I am curious about some other things. It looks like facebook integrates fairly well but is it good enough to ditch a facebook app all togeather? Can I see a full news feed with more than just my contacts? Can I see facebook groups?
How about good news apps and RSS feed support? Is there any unique apps I must get that arent games?

 

[DaiHoss]

Hey, I am currently an iPhone owner considering making the switch over to windows phone. I am a long time user of windows mobile and an old school nokia fan, However when Android dissapointed me I jumped ship to the iPhone as soon as it came to Verizon. At the time windows phone 7 was unreleased (they announced it the next day actually). Now that Nokia has partnered up with Windows and Windows Phone 8 has brought along the NT kernal and has matured to be a suitible smartphone it is now back in my Line of sight. My iPhone just does not excite me anymore and themes and Dreamboard does not seem to satisfy my craving for something new. It's a difficult choice because my iPhone is the best phone I have ever had. It's stable and does almost everything.

My all time favorite phone was the samsung I730. That keyboard rocked and it was a fast phone that stood up to the demands of windows mobile. It had a crap battery though, and the call quality was horrid.
Click to view quoted image

I would follow that up with the Treo.

so this brings on some questions for you guys...

Anyone here already switched from iphone, have an opinion on missing features you wish it had? Do you regret it?

Also, how is the quality of games for windows phone? do any of them carry decent quality graphics or emersive gameplay or are they mostly just time killers?

I have managed to find substitues for my other apps so far such as roku remote, rage comics, craigslist, ect. But I am curious about some other things. It looks like facebook integrates fairly well but is it good enough to ditch a facebook app all togeather? Can I see a full news feed with more than just my contacts? Can I see facebook groups?
How about good news apps and RSS feed support? Is there any unique apps I must get that arent games?

Just a quickie - as well as integrating there is also an official Facebook app for Windows Phone.

 

[vp710]

Anyone here already switched from iphone, have an opinion on missing features you wish it had? Do you regret it?

It's a tough question. The real missing feature is developer support. When a dev, or a company wants to enter the mobile market, the iPhone gets an app first, then Android and maybe WP. This is a problem that will most likely get solved with time, but be aware that you may end up being frustrated about a few missing apps. WP7 was a very restrictive OS and hardware maker couldn't offer last gen devices (so no powerful gaming), and developers didn't have access to some core functionality of the OS (for example they couldn't add a notification icon on the lockscreen or have access to music files) so it has generated a lack of interest.

This is all solved in WP8 but it will more than likely take at least a year or two until the platform is taken as a serious contender. However, the fact is Windows 8 apps for PC and WP8 apps will share a majority of their code. With W8 being shipped on millions of new PCs starting in October, it would make sense that the WP8 marketplace will explode next year.

More and better games are available on iOS. If you work in a specific field, iOS will most probably feature a lot more specialized app. For instance, as a musician, I have found there are almost no decent music making / helping apps.

Do I regret switching? Yes and no. No because the OS is just unrivaled. Smooth, intuitive and exciting with great integration. I've always been a fan of Nokia and I believe they will be the true innovators of the next decade, considering their risk taking past, amazing concepts and HUGE IP portfolio. Yes because WP as a platform is just not popular enough yet to attract all the big dogs which means less games, less specialized apps, less accessories and so on.

Also, how is the quality of games for windows phone? do any of them carry decent quality graphics or emersive gameplay or are they mostly just time killers?

Mostly time killers I would say if you compare both platforms offering. However, some of Microsoft Studio's games are gorgeous (which is a feat considering the hardware limitations) and even challenging. I'm not a big gamer so maybe someone could chime in and give you better advice.

I have managed to find substitues for my other apps so far such as roku remote, rage comics, craigslist, ect. But I am curious about some other things. It looks like facebook integrates fairly well but is it good enough to ditch a facebook app all togeather? Can I see a full news feed with more than just my contacts? Can I see facebook groups?
How about good news apps and RSS feed support? Is there any unique apps I must get that arent games?

There are some great news and rss feed apps. Actually a lot. I use NextGen Reader and WP7News as my mains. Check out Weave, Fuze, WonderReader, Time Mag etc.. Lots of them. This part won't be a problem. I'm not a FB power user so I can't really help but I've had nothing to complain about (except wonky notifications).

Some unique apps you should check: of course all of Nokia's apps, 627.AM, and many others. You should check w7appplist.com and their Community App Awards for more.

 

[ironsoulreaver]

Thanks for the input vp710, I am a music producer and Iv'e found a couple of great apps for iOS (garageband is a joke) but I just find them to difficult to use on that tiny screen. With that said I reserve my production for my computer and just play around with ideas on my phone when they occur. I actually find my self just beat-boxing or singing into the voice recorder and re creating it at home. Although one time I actually recorded a guitar only song from my iPhone using Pocket Guitar and an audio cable into my laptops mic in along with a basic audio recorder. So as long as there is something like a piano or whatever I can use to goof of with I will survive. I will miss pocket guitar though.


The NT kernel which will allow easy cross platform programming is exactly why I am eying WP8. The fact that a developer could potentially just click a button to port their software means there should be a lot of apps coming. I may even get back into programming just to try it. I expect great things to come out of WP8. I think Microsoft may actually have a chance at taking back a majority market share with it as long as they actually do have their S**T together unlike that WP7 disaster. I do however find it interesting how Windows has a bad name yet it is hard to find people who will switch to Linux or Mac OS but on phones it carries straight over like you would expect and everyone avoids Windows phone and all go for IOS or Android and they have to overcome that. I am sure they will though because they have the money to do that. I don't know how Apple was able to hype up their original iPhone so much even though it didn't support apps or really do much of anything at the time... It was like a dumb phone compared to windows mobile.

 

[vp710]

I don't know how Apple was able to hype up their original iPhone so much

Well, it's where Apple excels.

As for the musician apps, I kind of agree that on a screen that small, it's hard to do anything. But, for example, I'd use an app like iRealb on a regular basis on the road. There is only a couple of decent tuners in the Windows marketplace (SymphonyPro or Scorch, or aps like these.

However, what's scary is that the RT part of W8 may have no low latency support.

 

[ironsoulreaver]

IT's a shame there are latency problems. Notation apps would be nice. Latency wouldn't be so important for notation software. I don't usually write sheet music in real time. Sibelius does the job well on my computer.