xandros9's iOS and Android Adventure

[xandros9]

OK got another update here.

The Alpha has disappointed me with picture quality but that is mostly because of CyanogenMod not properly dealing with the camera or something. It's supposed to be a nice snapper on the back like the S5, but alas.
I wish I had my 920 for some shots around.

I got to drive with this as my co-pilot.

It paired and otherwise worked. Although for some reason the phone would appear to play music but the car wouldn't pick up on it if it was already connected prior. A reboot did fix it, as well as something else I did without a reboot, so further experimentation necessary.
The music app I use has an auto-play option upon Bluetooth connectivity which is really nice, although I still have to fiddle with it unless I'm starting off for the day.
Music would cut out for a second or so every so often. It may have been a notification though, I haven't noticed it yet.
I'm going to assume that neither is a common issue.

Google Maps navigation wasn't anything to write home about - it did deal with my missing turns like a champ though. Not saying "recalculating" is a huge plus in my book.

I don't think Cortana will read my texts for me, but I haven't gotten any while driving yet. She has surprised me before so here's hoping.

I have almost zero experience with Google Now as it is now. I did use it a bit some number of years in that awkward space between "a couple" and "a few" ago. (the phone was a secondhand HTC Aria on CM10.2/Jelly Bean) So I can't comment on it's capabilities thus far. Although I hear OnTap has some potential.

Smart Unlock is quite nice, I set it to disable the pattern (I use a pattern for security instead of a PIN. You know, that draw-on-the-dots lockscreen thing?) whenever the phone is...
1. connected to a trusted device like the car I drive
2. in a trusted location like my home
It also has options like facial recognition, voice recognition, on-body detection which are fairly self-explanatory. The last one is quite interesting, attempting to infer from its sensors when its on your person and remain unlocked.

The person who does the unofficial CM13 port has added fingerprint support (a recent breakthrough happened on fingerprint support for ROMs-that-are-not-stock.) and it only confirmed that the fingerprint scanner in my mushy excuse of a home button was broken. (I tried it on the stock ROM) I have parts arriving sometime next week, but I'm not keen on the adhesive-melting I have ahead of me. Earned a 5/10 repairability score from iFixit.

In other news, I got nostalgic again and spent time fiddling with a Treo 650 and m500 I have lying around. I'm sad to report that VersaMail is dead to me. Although I did realize how much I missed that click of a HotSync button. And Outlook 2016 synced with them. Shoutout to pizzaboy192 for making it possible!
The Treo still can be used as a phone on AT&T - it's Cingular-branded though. Close enough.
The recent .122? build of W10M has impressed me on how much it has cleaned up since I last hard reset the 521 I use as a test device now. The Store isn't as unreliable as it once was which is very good. Maybe I'll be tempted back soon enough.

 

[xandros9]

Time for another update!

Recently, I realized the fingerprint scanner wasn't working, so I order parts and such to open the phone with. Unfortunately the adhesive used to hold the device together was, in a word, sticky. Too sticky.
A significant time was spent with an iOpener and worrying I would crack the glass by being too impatient.

It didn't crack. Nothing broke actually, except the ribbon cable connecting to the old home button, but that was already broken I suspect. (and that was replaced)

Now instead of a matching mushy home button with a non-working fingerprint scanner, I know have a button that matches the metal frame instead, is still mushy, is looser and now can scan my fingerprints. I think that's a solid tradeoff. But I'm trying to sell the phone now. I'm not entirely sure why, but I think I need to downsize, get something with a better shooter, and the button irked me. (being as picky about details as I am)

I do now have my sister's iPhone 4 to play with, I think I'll make that my apps phone for here on out. iOS 7 is surprisingly not as restrictive as I thought it would be. Performance is as meh as you would expect though.

-

I got a Palm Pre 2 a few days ago. Mr. Morford of webOS Nation has had a chunk of his collection up for grabs for some time. (I bought a Pre+ from that same listing a year or so ago.)
I even got a Tungsten E2 tossed in. Needs a new digitizer, but like other old Palm stuff I used it's so much easier to open and repair than any modern phone I've fiddled with. That is something I know for sure I will miss going forward.
Except for the Zire 71 that is. That had a tiny switch spring that tries to fly to the moon at the slightest bump and getting the ribbon cable connecting the sliding parts together was a huge pain as well. Still beats that one experience with adhesive though. And I can put that back together as well as it was before too.

I did not realize how much I missed webOS. I also did not realize how many band-aids it needed to hold together in the years since. A couple webpages refuse to load, the clock app only can be set for weekends, every day, or weekdays. (and a patch to fix that ended up meaning my alarm didn't go off this morning)
It's been interesting though. Foregoing easy access to Facebook and Messenger, sometimes inconsistent performance, unreliable browser, mediocre-at-best battery life, a camera that makes the Alpha's snapper seem like a DSLR and location services only a few steps above "SoftGPS" on PalmOS... but on the other hand, webOS. Hands down, the best user experience I have had on a phone, under the sun. (except for errors and other unintentional bad things - Blackberry 10's a runner-up, then Windows Phone 8.) I cannot get over the excellent design. From the mirror, sliding action, working with Touchstone... the cards, notification system, keyboard, Preware...

Parts are cheap too.

A friend has bet me that I would be back on a less-outdated smartphone by Saturday. Challenge accepted. If the Alpha goes, an iPhone 4 would be my newest phone.

 

[libra89]

So it sounds like you are choosing webOS, or is it just another contender? What about GroupMe? Also thanks for updating us!

Since you mentioned the iphone 4 as a possibility if the Alpha goes, what do you think about the iPhone SE? The price is nice, for once and it packs a lot of updates. Also, Apple has a thing that if you still have the 5s, you can get $150 in apple store cash/credit, and use that amount towards the SE. I just figured that I should ask since you mentioned that.

 

[tgp]

Since you mentioned the iphone 4 as a possibility if the Alpha goes, what do you think about the iPhone SE?

I'm not xandros, but I like what I see with the iPhone SE, with one exception: the 4" screen. I'm using Android primarily because it is more economical than iPhone. If the price were out of the equation, I could easily switch. I'm no fan either way. I am as objective as anybody you'll ever meet. The SE is certainly within my budget, but there's no way I'm using a phone with a 4" screen!

The price is nice, for once and it packs a lot of updates.

Few people will dispute that Apple writes the manual when it comes to updates. On the other hand, I feel that updates are in a way overrated. I do think, though, that WP fans see them as critical for closing the proverbial gap, and (often major) bug fixes, whereas iPhone and Android users look forward to them for new features, and bug fixes (which are usually relatively minor issues).

I like updates as well as the next guy, but if my new iPhone or Nexus never got an update, I wouldn't be crying (not very hard anyway :crying: ). I buy what I buy because it is perfectly suitable in the state it is in when I buy it.

 

[libra89]

I'm not xandros, but I like what I see with the iPhone SE, with one exception: the 4" screen. I'm using Android primarily because it is more economical than iPhone. If the price were out of the equation, I could easily switch. I'm no fan either way. I am as objective as anybody you'll ever meet. The SE is certainly within my budget, but there's no way I'm using a phone with a 4" screen!



Few people will dispute that Apple writes the manual when it comes to updates. On the other hand, I feel that updates are in a way overrated. I do think, though, that WP fans see them as critical for closing the proverbial gap, and (often major) bug fixes, whereas iPhone and Android users look forward to them for new features, and bug fixes (which are usually relatively minor issues).

I like updates as well as the next guy, but if my new iPhone or Nexus never got an update, I wouldn't be crying (not very hard anyway :crying: ). I buy what I buy because it is perfectly suitable in the state it is in when I buy it.

I like that you answered, so it's fine. I agree about Android being more economical for what you get. Haha, I understand the screen thing. I prefer the size of it a lot.
You have a great point about updates though. They are important to me, but I do probably overhype them. In this case though, I have a 5s and the hardware updates sound amazing, aside from the front camera. Even with that though, there is flash, which is something that my sister's s3 has had for years now. I'm on T-Mobile in an area that has band 12 throughout the state, and it hurts not to have a phone that has those capabilities. I run into low signal enough often enough for it to justify it. That's something I have never seen with the 5x, and the 640 since it has that band. Wifi calling saves me at work, where I already have low signal lol.

After that though, I might not care as much for updates. I know that I could have went with the 6s, but it's going to take a while for that to go down to a price that I can afford, since I want to buy it outright. The SE is already there, so I am so stocked about this! I feel weird writing this on a Windows forum but whatever.

 

[xandros9]

So it sounds like you are choosing webOS, or is it just another contender? What about GroupMe? Also thanks for updating us!

Since you mentioned the iphone 4 as a possibility if the Alpha goes, what do you think about the iPhone SE? The price is nice, for once and it packs a lot of updates. Also, Apple has a thing that if you still have the 5s, you can get $150 in apple store cash/credit, and use that amount towards the SE. I just figured that I should ask since you mentioned that.

I have no idea anymore. I'm just making do with webOS for now.
I set GroupMe to send text messages instead, although for some reason one of the conversations is not sending me texts, ah well maybe I'll bother support.

I'm a fan of the iPhone 5 form-factor and would definitely consider the SE, although the omission of 3D touch is a problem here, although I almost always don't buy new. I don't know how long the Pre will last, I know any use of the iPhone 4 wouldn't be too long... I have no clue where to go next actually so I'll just stay in this holding pattern.

I wouldn't give the 5S at $150 although that doesn't sound that bad for a no hassle trade in actually.

 

[libra89]

I have no idea anymore. I'm just making do with webOS for now.
I set GroupMe to send text messages instead, although for some reason one of the conversations is not sending me texts, ah well maybe I'll bother text messages.

I'm a fan of the iPhone 5 form-factor and would definitely consider the SE, although the omission of 3D touch is a problem here, although I almost always don't buy new. I don't know how long the Pre will last, I know any use of the iPhone 4 wouldn't be too long... I have no clue where to go next actually so I'll just stay in this holding pattern.

I wouldn't give the 5S at $150 although that doesn't sound that bad for a no hassle trade in actually.

Ohh okay, I see. Either way, I will continue to follow your updates, because they are very interesting.

Yeah, I wouldn't buy new either usually, but since I'm down for the 16gb, I love the idea of getting my SE for $249 (full price is $399 or $499, based on size preference). I hate selling devices and getting that amount off is something I'm down for, lol.

It's going to be interesting to see how much other sellers (not Apple, not the carriers either, businesses + individuals) will sell this for though.

 

[libra89]

Hey Xandros, this is related but not exactly related. How have your friends/social circles/family dealt with your phone changes? I must ask because even my family was over my phone changes, and my friends noticed some of them, haha.

Any general updates on your phone adventures?

 

[xandros9]

Hey Xandros, this is related but not exactly related. How have your friends/social circles/family dealt with your phone changes? I must ask because even my family was over my phone changes, and my friends noticed some of them, haha.

Any general updates on your phone adventures?

Oh, I forgot! I had written a Part IV to add, since I got a 640 and am currently using it as a daily driver.

Well, in the past year I've gone through maybe eight phones? Most have been sold, but some are still here. My friends don't really mind although some have noticed the lack of iMessage when I switched away from the 5s. It has become my signature of sorts, and I think my mother isn't the biggest fan, but I don't think she's noticed too much.

I feel some people think I'm richer than I am, but I just deal with more budget-oriented/older phones and sell what I don't use anymore so it works out for the lowly college student I am.

But in short, yes, people do notice changes and point it out, like when I swapped my black cover for a white one when I fixed my broken 640's display. (more on that in a bit)
I called it the "Micheal Jackson treatment," to the enjoyment of some.

I'll finish up my update and I'll put it out soon!

 

[xandros9]

PART IV: Full Circle.

I think this warrants being called the fourth part because I'll just say all the posts in between was a third part.

But this update warrants it's own title.

In short, I'm back ladies and gentlemen! Well, for the time being that is.
When I started the adventure, I was leaving behind an 830 and Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1, as well as the then unusable state Windows 10 Mobile was in back then. The way I saw it, the future was bleak. I didn't see an end to this pile of bugs and oddities, and even now it still has some issues. How Microsoft has historically acted didn't make me confident, especially considering the pace at which Windows Phone 8.x was developed.

So I left.
iOS wowed me with its solidity and app quality as well as selection.
Android blew me away with its customization options, system stuff and numerous features I once only dreamed of, but neither really felt right. iOS did the job perfectly and fit in well with my peers but that was about it. I got Snapchat and a couple specialized apps, but I got bored, and I was fed up waiting for a jailbreak, which is as iffy as Microsoft fixing stuff. I enjoyed it though, don't get me wrong.

(and it wasn't until I really picked up webOS again that I realized how little I could get by on.)

Android let me stick my grubby hands into its inner workings. I didn't even use stock Android for my day-to-day affairs as a matter of fact. But I realized I couldn't afford to spend the time fiddling with the limitless possibilities on XDA. Figuring out whether a thing was compatible or not was awkward at times and the new launchers and icon packs got tiring. Combined with the unlimited settings, it was overwhelming.
There was always some cooler thing to try, but eventually I settled on a launcher and layout I liked. Even then, I was disappointed that despite Android's open-ness there was nothing remotely like webOS's user experience. Don’t get me wrong on this either, Android has some great usability tweaks I will miss like continuing to press volume down to activate quiet hours/do not disturb and preemptively dismissing alarms.
Those may actually tempt me back in the future, but for now, I’m going to sit tight.

Worth noting are the security issues that occasionally pop up on sites. These just rub me the wrong way, despite using a phone that's more up-to-date/secure than most. I’m not sure if I wanted to trade for the freedom like I did on my Windows PC.
It's worth noting I saw news regarding Samsung KNOX as winning top billing across various services and whatnot, but I have been unable to lay my eyes on the original report.

And before I wrap up this section, I wanted to point out that as cool as Active Display was, the touchscreen was active whenever the clock and notifications showed up so that wrecked my experience with it. It would wake up the phone whenever the screen was touched. Glance doesn’t do that so that makes for a better experience for me.

During that time, I got nostalgic and picked up a Palm Pre 2 as earlier posts said. With it, I ended up learning how little I really needed in a phone. If you page to the beginning, I talked about a couple apps, all of which I either don't use anymore or realized I hardly used. Canvas? I access it exclusively from my PC’s web browser. Yik Yak? I just don't yak anymore.

Right now, my Pre 2 is used to play a game I like, titled "No Gravity." I play it on that because for some reason, the Windows version crashes at some semi-specific spot. It's cool how its universal though.

The big crutch though is that I have an iPhone 4. I upgraded my sister and it became mine. On the sole condition that it never be resold. So that's going to be my glorified Snapchat and bank connection, a couple important things I can get by with only sporadic use. (worth noting that its performance is unacceptable in some things, but I live with it.)

A few weeks ago, I couldn't resist that $30 Lumia 640 deal they had going, so I went out and picked one up at Best Buy. And I am impressed.
I know I'm generally easy to please in most things outside of phone-land, (and heck, the Pre 2’s slider design and mirror placement impressed me.) but this means something.
Interestingly, a WalMart I visited had Lumia 635's in stock for a whopping $108.

In regards to Windows 10 Mobile today: it’s usable! It definitely has some experience wrecking quirks but I’ll touch on them for a bit.
I can live with 10 Mobile 10586.164 and .218, and that means a LOT.

I was impressed with .107 on a test Lumia 521 I had actually, which spurred my acquiring of a 640.

In terms of hardware, the 640 is a great device. It’s bigger than I’d like, but I’ll live. The 830 was slightly smaller than this, despite both having a 5” display. But this Lumia has this professional, minimal cleanliness that looks nice – courtesy of the clean face of the device which lacks physical keys.

On 10 Mobile, Battery life has been stellar overall, having once gotten 20 hours of moderate usage before the phone hit 10%.

The camera is much better than it's price tag lets on. I won't say it can compare to my old 920 in low-light, but it's daylight shots are definitely something.

Unfortunately, I cracked the glass in a fall shortly after. A week after that, the parts I ordered arrived, and now it’s good as new. Save for a missing chunk of the plastic bordering the display and a FFC that is no longer sealed against dust, it’s like new again. It also has a glossy white back cover now, which looks terrific! This may not be a premium smartphone, but it wears its polycarbonate very well.
And as time passed, while the core of W10M’s experience was solid, serious issues began to come to light. Issues concentrated in a few major areas.

• Windows Camera
  • It’s Rich HDR feature was unreliable. Sometimes the camera got hung up on “Saving…” which results in the loss of the photo I tried to take or the missing of a shot I want. (sometimes both)
  • The “choose best lighting” feature is terrific, when it works. It works maybe 10% of the time though.
• GroupMe (an app)
  • While notifications worked on the 521, message notifications are utterly broken on this 640. Neither I, nor GroupMe support have figured out the issue.
• Groove
  • It’s pretty good and I love it from a design standpoint. The universal nature is a big plus. However it’s reliability is subpar. (sometimes the current playlist is lost, it plays a different song than it says, rarely crashes…)
  • But it can sort by Date Added now, which I appreciate to no end.
• Cortana
  • She crashes a lot when attempting a search. The Feedback section indicates I’m nowhere near the only one, so it’s nice to know it’s not just a fluke. But it makes it even more unacceptable.
• Windows Central (another app)
  • While the login issues where finally fixed, I found that replies I’ve written in the app did not appear when I revisited threads later. Now the reply button is greyed out. Ironically, I use the 8.0 app for my forums needs since the app seems broken again.
• Alarms & Clock
  • Once lost all my alarms after asking Cortana to set one.
  • Alarms are weird now.
    • I have an alarm set for 10:30 on Friday.
    • I change the alarm to instead go off at 10:00.
      • I set a backup alarm at 10:20 just in case.
    • I wake up before the alarm and turn both off.
    • My alarm goes off at 10:30.
  • Another thing is that sometimes the alarm dialog keeps coming back, meaning I need to hit dismiss twice or more to finally turn off the alarm.
  • I used to have the bug where an alarm would be set at max volume but be almost inaudible when it went off. A hard reset fixed that.
• Messaging
  • Messaging backup/sync is horribly broken and that should not be happening for as long as it has been.

Windows 10 Mobile has come together to be a fine OS. Although the bugs are ridiculous and I still would not wish it on anyone. (I'm just getting fed up with Microsoft's perpetual beta, especially after axing QA. They've given away one of WP's greatest strengths to save a buck.

And I'm particularly annoyed at how I have an issue that came to light five months ago in the Feedback app, was acknowledged five months ago with a canned response...and still no fix.)

I'm not sure what keeps me onboard honestly. I think its some kind of charm. Many of its apps are outdated or not working as well as they should, but the overall feel somehow keeps me around. I really don't have a solid answer.

But to talk about some more positive stuff...

The design isn't that bad.
Glance is nice.
Windows Camera is my favorite camera app ever, when it works. And despite not having a vast featureset.
It's performance is great, despite the rare app crash. (not counting stuff mentioned above)
Features are coming back, I can pin documents to my start screen now. I missed that sorely.

I'm going to cut this off for now, but I'll leave it with a TV show reference. A show I just finished a few weeks ago.

"Daddy's home."

 

[libra89]

Wow, I didn't expect that post, thanks for the great update! It definitely gives some things to think about. I love the idea of the iphone 4 working for Snapchat and bank apps. It really sounds like the experience has been worth it, and that you learned and realized a lot about yourself and phones in general.

Also your point about the apps being many on iOS made me notice that since I have had an iPhone, I find myself downloading extra apps that are free temporarily just because they sound interesting. A few days later, I see the apps on my phone and I delete them since I can't even remember why they sounded interesting originally.

The tinkering point with Android is something that I also find to be interesting. I can picture that. Even so, I still find myself wanting to try the Nextbit Robin even though it would feel huge over the SE.

 

[xandros9]

Wow, I didn't expect that post, thanks for the great update! It definitely gives some things to think about. I love the idea of the iphone 4 working for Snapchat and bank apps. It really sounds like the experience has been worth it, and that you learned and realized a lot about yourself and phones in general.

Also your point about the apps being many on iOS made me notice that since I have had an iPhone, I find myself downloading extra apps that are free temporarily just because they sound interesting. A few days later, I see the apps on my phone and I delete them since I can't even remember why they sounded interesting originally.

The tinkering point with Android is something that I also find to be interesting. I can picture that. Even so, I still find myself wanting to try the Nextbit Robin even though it would feel huge over the SE.

I'd admit, performance on the iPhone 4 is horrible. Like I can live with using it every couple days, but not for any amount of daily driver stuff. I think I would take a Lumia 520's performance on 10586 over this one on 7.1.2 interestingly. Might be something on the fritz though.

Worth noting I don't get those fancy Snapchat filters.

And yea, size is still a concern, but the 640 taught me I could potentially adapt.

 

[libra89]

I'd admit, performance on the iPhone 4 is horrible. Like I can live with using it every couple days, but not for any amount of daily driver stuff. I think I would take a Lumia 520's performance on 10586 over this one on 7.1.2 interestingly. Might be something on the fritz though.

Worth noting I don't get those fancy Snapchat filters.

And yea, size is still a concern, but the 640 taught me I could potentially adapt.

I know it hasn't been a month since you last posted, but I'm still curious.

Are you still using the iPhone 4 for Snapchat, and bank stuff? Still using the 640 on Insider? Any updates?

I agree about adapting, I adapted to the size of the Nextbit Robin really quickly, but it has been sent back. I wanted to love it, but there's nothing to love about that battery life. I loved how unique it was though, and it has me thinking if I should give Insider a try on my spare 435 that I use for media. I feel so torn if I should do that, or just try the 550 again. So much has changed in W10M since I tried it in December. Everyone is tired of my indecisiveness. LOL.

 

[xandros9]

I know it hasn't been a month since you last posted, but I'm still curious.

Are you still using the iPhone 4 for Snapchat, and bank stuff? Still using the 640 on Insider? Any updates?

I agree about adapting, I adapted to the size of the Nextbit Robin really quickly, but it has been sent back. I wanted to love it, but there's nothing to love about that battery life. I loved how unique it was though, and it has me thinking if I should give Insider a try on my spare 435 that I use for media. I feel so torn if I should do that, or just try the 550 again. So much has changed in W10M since I tried it in December. Everyone is tired of my indecisiveness. LOL.

Oh, I've actually been meaning to write another update, thanks for the quote!

Alrighty...on an unrelated note, I did get these Palm PDAs to sync with Outlook, which syncs with Outlook.com so its pretty cool how this old tech can connect. I also upgraded this m500 to Palm OS 4.1, 14 years after the update was released. Call me speedy.
I also found out just how much I missed the days of pushing just one button and seeing my calendar or to write in a note.
(Hint: A lot. Enough to make me consider using a Palm m-series going forward.)

I'm kinda sad ATT is killing it's 2G network. I would've loved to keep this Treo I have lying around alive for longer.

Anyways, I lent my Galaxy Alpha to an acquaintance who broke it. I got an iPhone 5 from the guy to compensate. That 5 has been handling Narwhal (reddit), Snapchat, banking and not much else. Still trying to sell the Alpha piecemeal.
I'd use it as a phone but its unfortunately locked to Sprint and it doesn't have enough space so no dice.

But hey, a 2012 device runs great on the latest OS. Take that Microsoft!

The 4 has been largely retired. I might try to revert it to OS 6. I'm kinda bound by word to not get rid of it, so it'll stick around indefinitely.

Let's see, it's been a couple Threshold builds and hard resets since, what has changed...

Well, GroupMe messages are still broken for some reason, I'm not sure what's going on here. I need to see if other OSes have the issue.

I tried Redstone builds twice, which worked for the most part but were just too quirky and unreliable for my needs. The features added are nice though.
Well, I've been keeping pace on the Release Preview ring and its nice hearing about all the bugs being squashed, but it hasn't changed my experience a whole lot.

I have a 5C arriving any day now. I'm trying to get rid of the 5 I can't use to cover most of it but nothing yet. (so if anyone wants to buy it )
I also found out from AT&T support is that I'll have to call them every time I change from Windows Phone to iPhone if I want to use tethering. Which I guess was what I was doing before without realizing there was a pattern.

I'm having trouble dealing with W10M's unreliability, hence the iPhone again. (boring, and I WILL miss some features, but it's safe and reliable. 10 has let me down during some important moments.)

BEGIN LIST OF ISSUES. SKIP IF YOU'D LIKE.
Do know that I have hard reset about five times in the past couple months. Twice using WDRT.

- Cortana still likes to crash when searching. Not as bad as it was earlier, but still irritating when I have to type again. I've found using Edge is a decent workaround. (and it also seems she forgot she could track packages on my phone)

- Groove is better but still has awkward quirks during use. (Turns screen off at Now Playing, when I turn it back on it's at Tracks/Artists/etc and takes a couple seconds before the Now Playing bar even appears.)

- Photo picker is still as unreliable as it was months ago. I try to attach, say, a photo to send as MMS and first Photos crashes, kicking me back to Messaging, when might crashe again, either throwing me back to the home screen or to the list of conversations. I've taken to opening the photo picker and waiting to see if it'll crash first before I waste my effort.

- I use Lumia Camera Beta and it seems the Choose Best Lighting feature is more reliable now but I haven't used it enough to say for sure.

- Between both Windows Central apps and Edge, I'm stuck with a subpar forum experience and I can't even moderate. Saw a spam post and tried to deal with it using Edge. (Since I can't do anything on the apps.) No dice. I did end up "liking" the post though, so I really showed them. I still can't post using the universal WC app.

- I was watching a movie on my phone last night. (The Departed) And a really minor issue really reared its head on this one.
I got a text message and I opened the quick reply box to reply. I couldn't reply. The keyboard was unusable. It was like typing on an old, lagging iPhone for those who've had the misfortune.

Except unlike iOS, W10M never caught up, it just spit out gibberish as I slowly tapped on different keys (I'm talking a good second or two between letters) and it'd interpret every couple taps as a swipe from one letter to the next one I tapped.

Maybe it was the movie, so I left the Movies & TV app and went to Messaging. No dice.

A reboot made that issue go away. (it's always been there to a minor degree though)

- Swiping to the All Apps list often makes the keyboard pop up. annoying but not data-risking.

- EDIT: I also forgot, auto-photo upload broke for me/doesn't work consistently.

END LIST OF ISSUES. We now return to your scheduled programming!

The good things since though is that text message sync and backup works perfectly now (although it should've never been broken for as long as it was), I've got all the texts I've ever sent and received on a Windows Phone, and that's a HUGE step up over the iOS and Android implementations.

It's reassuring to see Instagram hit the platform and get an update. Not as much seeing Messenger has been delayed as much as it has. The outdated Messenger is hurting more than I'd expect. Subpar Microsoft offerings aren't helping either.

I'm still smitten with the option to pin documents to the home screen.

Battery life is still stellar. Overall performance is still excellent. If someone was looking for a smartphone with an unmovable budget of below $60, I'd recommend a Windows Phone.

Sorry if the writeup's a bit messy, I just wanted to get my thoughts down.

 

[libra89]

Oh, I've actually been meaning to write another update, thanks for the quote!

Alrighty...on an unrelated note, I did get these Palm PDAs to sync with Outlook, which syncs with Outlook.com so its pretty cool how this old tech can connect. I also upgraded this m500 to Palm OS 4.1, 14 years after the update was released. Call me speedy.
I also found out just how much I missed the days of pushing just one button and seeing my calendar or to write in a note.
(Hint: A lot. Enough to make me consider using a Palm m-series going forward.)

I'm kinda sad ATT is killing it's 2G network. I would've loved to keep this Treo I have lying around alive for longer.

Anyways, I lent my Galaxy Alpha to an acquaintance who broke it. I got an iPhone 5 from the guy to compensate. That 5 has been handling Narwhal (reddit), Snapchat, banking and not much else. Still trying to sell the Alpha piecemeal.
I'd use it as a phone but its unfortunately locked to Sprint and it doesn't have enough space so no dice.

But hey, a 2012 device runs great on the latest OS. Take that Microsoft!

The 4 has been largely retired. I might try to revert it to OS 6. I'm kinda bound by word to not get rid of it, so it'll stick around indefinitely.

Let's see, it's been a couple Threshold builds and hard resets since, what has changed...

Well, GroupMe messages are still broken for some reason, I'm not sure what's going on here. I need to see if other OSes have the issue.

I tried Redstone builds twice, which worked for the most part but were just too quirky and unreliable for my needs. The features added are nice though.
Well, I've been keeping pace on the Release Preview ring and its nice hearing about all the bugs being squashed, but it hasn't changed my experience a whole lot.

I have a 5C arriving any day now. I'm trying to get rid of the 5 I can't use to cover most of it but nothing yet. (so if anyone wants to buy it )
I also found out from AT&T support is that I'll have to call them every time I change from Windows Phone to iPhone if I want to use tethering. Which I guess was what I was doing before without realizing there was a pattern.

I'm having trouble dealing with W10M's unreliability, hence the iPhone again. (boring, and I WILL miss some features, but it's safe and reliable. 10 has let me down during some important moments.)

BEGIN LIST OF ISSUES. SKIP IF YOU'D LIKE.
Do know that I have hard reset about five times in the past couple months. Twice using WDRT.

- Cortana still likes to crash when searching. Not as bad as it was earlier, but still irritating when I have to type again. I've found using Edge is a decent workaround. (and it also seems she forgot she could track packages on my phone)

- Groove is better but still has awkward quirks during use. (Turns screen off at Now Playing, when I turn it back on it's at Tracks/Artists/etc and takes a couple seconds before the Now Playing bar even appears.)

- Photo picker is still as unreliable as it was months ago. I try to attach, say, a photo to send as MMS and first Photos crashes, kicking me back to Messaging, when might crashe again, either throwing me back to the home screen or to the list of conversations. I've taken to opening the photo picker and waiting to see if it'll crash first before I waste my effort.

- I use Lumia Camera Beta and it seems the Choose Best Lighting feature is more reliable now but I haven't used it enough to say for sure.

- Between both Windows Central apps and Edge, I'm stuck with a subpar forum experience and I can't even moderate. Saw a spam post and tried to deal with it using Edge. (Since I can't do anything on the apps.) No dice. I did end up "liking" the post though, so I really showed them. I still can't post using the universal WC app.

- I was watching a movie on my phone last night. (The Departed) And a really minor issue really reared its head on this one.
I got a text message and I opened the quick reply box to reply. I couldn't reply. The keyboard was unusable. It was like typing on an old, lagging iPhone for those who've had the misfortune.

Except unlike iOS, W10M never caught up, it just spit out gibberish as I slowly tapped on different keys (I'm talking a good second or two between letters) and it'd interpret every couple taps as a swipe from one letter to the next one I tapped.

Maybe it was the movie, so I left the Movies & TV app and went to Messaging. No dice.

A reboot made that issue go away. (it's always been there to a minor degree though)

- Swiping to the All Apps list often makes the keyboard pop up. annoying but not data-risking.

- EDIT: I also forgot, auto-photo upload broke for me/doesn't work consistently.

END LIST OF ISSUES. We now return to your scheduled programming!

The good things since though is that text message sync and backup works perfectly now (although it should've never been broken for as long as it was), I've got all the texts I've ever sent and received on a Windows Phone, and that's a HUGE step up over the iOS and Android implementations.

It's reassuring to see Instagram hit the platform and get an update. Not as much seeing Messenger has been delayed as much as it has. The outdated Messenger is hurting more than I'd expect. Subpar Microsoft offerings aren't helping either.

I'm still smitten with the option to pin documents to the home screen.

Battery life is still stellar. Overall performance is still excellent. If someone was looking for a smartphone with an unmovable budget of below $60, I'd recommend a Windows Phone.

Sorry if the writeup's a bit messy, I just wanted to get my thoughts down.

You're welcome! Thanks for the update! Hmm, it does sound like W10M has some serious annoyances for you at this time. I hope that it will improve.

I agree that the iPhone is boring and reliable. For that reason, I can't see myself selling the SE, if this week(end) happens to work out for me.

Sent from mTalk

 

[xandros9]

After being delayed + a trip the 5c is in my hands now!

For what is essentially 2012 hardware it's working quite well thus far, but we'll have to see how well it holds up in day-to-day usage.

I might be rehashing, but I still don't like iOS's lack of a text message sync and inability to display GIFs in the Photos app.

 

[libra89]

After being delayed + a trip the 5c is in my hands now!

For what is essentially 2012 hardware it's working quite well thus far, but we'll have to see how well it holds up in day-to-day usage.

I might be rehashing, but I still don't like iOS's lack of a text message sync and inability to display GIFs in the Photos app.

Glad that you finally got it! That was my first actual taste of iOS. What color is yours?

Let us know your general impressions.

 

[xandros9]

Glad that you finally got it! That was my first actual taste of iOS. What color is yours?

Let us know your general impressions.

After trying to decide between yellow and green, I got the white one!

It looks great, except I picked up my white 640 when I meant the iPhone and vice versa at least twice. I realize the size is a big differentiating factor, but welp.

There are some minor gripes but nothing really different since I wrote about iOS and the 5s a while back.

Battery life is mediocre right now, but then again I just got the phone so I'll give it time to settle and give me time to set it up as I wish. But on the other hand, the 640 may have spoiled me.
Also worth noting that the device is refurbished too, so that may or may not be a significant factor.

 

[libra89]

After trying to decide between yellow and green, I got the white one!

It looks great, except I picked up my white 640 when I meant the iPhone and vice versa at least twice. I realize the size is a big differentiating factor, but welp.

There are some minor gripes but nothing really different since I wrote about iOS and the 5s a while back.

Battery life is mediocre right now, but then again I just got the phone so I'll give it time to settle and give me time to set it up as I wish. But on the other hand, the 640 may have spoiled me.
Also worth noting that the device is refurbished too, so that may or may not be a significant factor.

Haha about picking up the wrong phone. Also guilty of that too. Apple has a good standard when it comes to refurbished phone, usually.

How's it been for you? Are you still using the 5c? How's the battery life been? Have you tried Windows 10 Mobile latest production build? Any general updates? I enjoy reading them.

 

[xandros9]

Haha about picking up the wrong phone. Also guilty of that too. Apple has a good standard when it comes to refurbished phone, usually.

How's it been for you? Are you still using the 5c? How's the battery life been? Have you tried Windows 10 Mobile latest production build? Any general updates? I enjoy reading them.

It's been quite good. I still use the 5c and it's been a good, reliable experience. I'm starting to miss jailbreaking but iOS updates though... I have to fight off the temptation to try iOS 10 too.

I do have the fast ring on my 640 so that's been fun.
I've established it to myself that I can't stand 10586's seemingly inherent bugs so I'm just going to chill with the Redstone builds, tinker a bit and reevaluate the whole situation for fun once it hits Production.

Not too much new otherwise though.

In other news, I ended up with a boatload of professional graphics cards to sell for this nonprofit so if you need 60 of 'em!
I'm trying to run them through the wringer as I speak, hopefully they aren't all broken.