Niggles Versus iPhone - Advice Needed

[MikeBee49]

Hi all,

I'm new to the Lumia 920. Just picked one up last weekend as a trial to replace my iPhone 5 with a Windows Phone device. So far it's working in most of the use cases, but there are a few really annoying things that I find with it compared to the iPhone. I'm after some advice on how to improve these as in general I quite like it.

1. Screen brightness is too low on 'auto' and when switching auto off the control is too granular. Is there any way to change this?
2. Music playing apps suck. I've tried the Nokia Music, the Xbox one, Listen and Cool Music Player. None of them really do simple things well like the default app in iOS. I just want to load up, select an album and have it play but the Nokia one bombards me with local gigs and related mixes that I don't care about. The Microsoft one I have to go through loads of screens just to get to music and the others just don't 'feel' like a Metro-style app.
3. Browser. Again IE11 is okay but tab support is kind of crappy compared to Safari. I've tried UC Broswer and Surfy, but again none of them have simple things optimised like switching between tabs easily. None of them have a 'back' button on the broswer and the back button on the phone often just quits me out of the app rather than going back a page.

Any advice appreciated!

Mike.

 

[k0de]

Welcome to Windows Phone. I won't say niggles but different and alien to you. Like yourself after spending a few years with iOS I migrated to Windows Phone. In the beginning my biggest obstacle was not learning Windows Phone but rather unlearning iOS. These platforms are very different. The only advice I have for you is to stop comparing the two platforms. And if you are serious to take WP8 for a
spin just adapt to the way things are done here and forget how things are done at iOS. I know it won't be easy for you but I speak from experience. The more you explore your Windows Phone the easier will be for you to navigate. I hope this helps.

 

[sdreamer]

1. Turn off Auto, switch it to high, then turn on Auto. For some, this affects the auto brightness. I thought it wouldn't but apparently it does from what I can tell.
2. The default music app I find to be the best and simplest. I believe just opening you just click Music then you just sort through what you want. If you find yourself playing a certain artist or album frequently, or even a playlist (that you some how concocted), then you can also pin them to the start screen totally eliminating the need to go through all the different screens. That said, making playlists is a pain depending on how detailed you want to be. It can be easy if you know exactly what you want, but you cannot edit playlists without using a computer, and even then, using the proper app can be a pain. This is probably the biggest downside for me.
3. The browser is actually IE10, it hasn't been updated to IE11...yet. If you want access to tabs quicker, change the app bar button. Open IE, go to settings, and change it to tabs so it's always there. The back button in most cases works as a previous page button (unless you switched into IE from another app, then it brings you back to that app, but if you've been browsing it works as the back button). Hopefully with WP8.1 we'll get IE11 and hopefully better support (there are quite a few sites that don't work with IE10 mobile that well, like T-Mobile for instance.).

 

[Microsoftjunkie]

hi,

#1. like someone else posted, change the setting to high, then auto. each level (low, medium,high), with auto, adjusts the brightness around the two.

#2. again, like some posted, pin your favorite albums, or playlists to the start screen. one press playback. you can create, not edit, playlists. you can create on PC then sync if u can. to help you more, you can download "quick control" and pin "back, forward, all play, play, pause, etc". so you get basic controls without going into an app. great for driving lol.

#3. for tabs, I'd suggest "Surfcube 3d browser". It doesn't have download capability but its extremely well put together. I don't think it have a back button tho.

-instant access to tabs (optional)
-cube interface, with gesture control and/or thumbstick control

I love it and think that you will too.