Do you think WP8.1 is on par with IOS and ANDROID?

[Ezhik]

Google Now - a creepy feature that few people use.

How to tell that somebody has not used an Android device for more than 5 minutes.

Google Now is an AWESOME feature - though much more useful in the US than where I live. On my trip to NYC it showed me a lot of cards: nearby attractions, time at home, currency converter, weather, traffic, all without me having to do anything. And that was on an iPad with the Google app.

Creepy? A little bit. But I like it. If you don't, you can just turn it off as it is an opt-in feature.

 

[anony_mouse]

How to tell that somebody has not used an Android device for more than 5 minutes.

Why do you think I haven't used an Android device for more than 5 minutes? (I assume that's what you are implying, although your sentence doesn't make sense)

Google Now is an AWESOME feature - though much more useful in the US than where I live. On my trip to New York (city) it showed me a lot of cards: nearby attractions, time at home, currency converter, weather, traffic, all without me having to do anything. And that was on an iPad with the Google app.

Creepy? A little bit. But I like it. If you don't, you can just turn it off as it is an opt-in feature.

That's exactly what I have done, but thanks for the advice anyway.

 

[Ezhik]

Why do you think I haven't used an Android device for more than 5 minutes? (I assume that's what you are implying, although your sentence doesn't make sense)



That's exactly what I have done, but thanks for the advice anyway.

Well if you disabled that feature then why are you judging it? Seems rather illogical to me.

 

[Jekemi]

I think that WP 8.1 narrowed the gap significantly, but not entirely.

As a Windows Phone 8.0 user I think that even though it looks like they improved the customization, they can do more.
They can add features to change the boring settings background, let the music player's lock screen show the ALBUM art, not the Artist Art (or have they fixed this in 8.1?), and perhaps give the ability to have the background image be a slide show which changes from time to time.

Furthermore, although the amount of apps on the store is sufficient, they can still improve. With improve I don't just mean add more, I mean improve the quality.
One nagging thing as a WhatsApp user is the inability on the app to change my background, send non recorded (downloaded) audio and video and generally just make it as good or better than the Android version. I realise Windows don't own WhatsApp, but perhaps some copy protection of some sort is preventing the WhatsApp crew from giving us those features?

I hope the music player and especially video player in 8.1 has better functionality
And one last thing (I'm unsure how it is on 8.1), improve Internet Explorer to the level of Chrome on Android.

Personally, if they fix all of these things then I will consider Windows Phone above and beyond Android (never had an IOS device, so I can't say about that).
Windows Phone has great potential. The Live Tiles is unique and with better integration with Windows 8 on PC, what can possibly hold Windows back from Android?

But that's just my opinion. :smile:

 

[Qtweeder]

i know it can be, its not the default though, have been using android since the G1, its not an interface i like personally, it feels cobbled and afterthought, plus the fact that android isnt a pure concept/environment, as its affectively an emulation layer, hence the battery life/specs that are needed, far from purist, which i am into

and btw, that screenie you showed, whats up with those drawers with multiple icons showing, that's just horrible aesthetically, i must be be getting too old!

Cluttered mess? Android can be as clean as you want it to be.

Sent from my XT1060 using Mobile Nations mobile app

 

[anony_mouse]

Well if you disabled that feature then why are you judging it? Seems rather illogical to me.

My point wasn't whether the feature was good or not, it was about whether people find it attractive or not - attractive enough to make them choose one phone over another. I've never heard anyone mention Google Now outside of an internet forum, so I don't believe it's very high in the general public's mind yet.

And to answer your question, I disabled it after I had tried it. It seemed to be a way to find information that was already easily available on my phone - you might save a few clicks in some circumstances, but to me it wasn't worth giving up so much personal information for such a small benefit.

 

[Rodrigo Mendes]

Amazing how people are never satisfied. Even when you notice a HUGE effort from Microsoft to improve the WP8's gerenal experience, which is already smooth since always.

 

[anony_mouse]

plus the fact that android isnt a pure concept/environment, as its affectively an emulation layer, hence the battery life/specs that are needed, far from purist, which i am into

Could you explain what you mean by Android being an 'emulation layer' rather an a 'pure concept/environment'? Are you referring to the Dalvik virtual machine? Isn't it basically the same as the .NET CLR, as used by Windows Phone?

 

[A895]

i know it can be, its not the default though, have been using android since the G1, its not an interface i like personally, it feels cobbled and afterthought, plus the fact that android isnt a pure concept/environment, as its affectively an emulation layer, hence the battery life/specs that are needed, far from purist, which i am into

and btw, that screenie you showed, whats up with those drawers with multiple icons showing, that's just horrible aesthetically, i must be be getting too old!

I use two folders in the docks with all the apps that I use. Any other apps that were carrier or Google made besides play store, search and the maps, I disabled or uninstalled. All android phones are clean on default. Just like you customize and clean up windows phone, you can do the same with android.

Posted via the WPC App for Android!

 

[anony_mouse]

and btw, that screenie you showed, whats up with those drawers with multiple icons showing, that's just horrible aesthetically, i must be be getting too old!

I find Android's folders very useful and rather elegant, while WP's live tiles are jarring and ugly to me. I guess different people have different opinions. Any views on dumping the tiles and making Cortana the new home screen?
Btw, I'm still very interested to hear what you meant by Android being an 'emulation layer'.

 

[Zacharyw70]

Is Xbox Music getting changed in 8.1? One thing I always thought was stupid is how you need a Music Pass to download music you already own to your device, without having to sync to the computer. It seemed stupid since on iOS or Android you can always download your synced music wirelessly.

 

[James8561]

No. The bar has a couple of advantages - critical information is always visible - not just notifications, but also whether the phone is connected to a network or is about to run out of power (except when specifically hidden by an app, in which case you will be actively using the app and will see/hear/feel notifications as they happen); no need to look at the whole screen or scroll through tiles (which, let's be honest, don't always have the clearest notifications); visible on lock screen; good summary of information when you have too many notifications for a single screen.
I have used WP and fully understand tile notifications.

the notification center on WP does have an icon on the top status bar that is present whenever you have notifications in the notification center.

 

[anony_mouse]

the notification center on WP does have an icon on the top status bar that is present whenever you have notifications in the notification center.

As I wrote in another thread, it's useful to know what kind of notifications you have. I want to deal with a missed call or an SMS urgently, but a mail to my spam account can wait. That's why I prefer the traditional notification bar at the top of the screen.

 

[James8561]

so you want each app to show its own icon at the top bar every time there's a notification?
adding another space for a # and given the amount of apps on smartphones, that bar will be ridiculously full and cluttered.
that kinda idea only worked on feature phones because...well notifications were few and far between back then.

 

[anony_mouse]

so you want each app to show its own icon at the top bar every time there's a notification?
adding another space for a # and given the amount of apps on smartphones, that bar will be ridiculously full and cluttered.
that kinda idea only worked on feature phones because...well notifications were few and far between back then.

Well, yes. Exactly like it works on Android. In practice I've never seen more than three or four notification items at a time, usually fewer, so this doesn't seem to be a problem in real life.

 

[X0LARIUM]

Umm..does any one know how much would 8.1 need ?

Coded from a Clover Trail+ Machine!

 

[Twitter@Firas_MD]

I think that, in many ways WP 8.1 can be better than both ios and android. That's not a fan boy talk ( also its my opinion)

It has the stability and the closed nature of IOS, along with some flexibility coming from android. The only thing holding WP back is the apps .. Only the apps. I can imagine that by the next year, WP will be something hard to ignore and every developer will think of making an app for it, and it will all be great!

 

[MikeSo]

It has the stability and the closed nature of IOS, along with some flexibility coming from android. The only thing holding WP back is the apps

With 8.1, I agree with this. The apps are what is needed most now.

 

[MikeSo]

Well, yes. Exactly like it works on Android. In practice I've never seen more than three or four notification items at a time, usually fewer, so this doesn't seem to be a problem in real life.

Well, there is the lockscreen notifications for a selected number of the most important apps that will still do this I assume.

 

[A895]

Well, yes. Exactly like it works on Android. In practice I've never seen more than three or four notification items at a time, usually fewer, so this doesn't seem to be a problem in real life.

As an android user, I can't tell you how many times, I look at an average android users notification shade and it is full of notifications. I only have one notification and that's for my battery percentage.

Sent from my XT1060 using Mobile Nations mobile app