Experience switching from iOs / android / windows & pros/cons

[darkewaffle]

I have a Lumia 928 and have had it for almost a year. Personally I'm a pretty light user, just texting and browsing and some sporadic app/game usage. I don't feel it is dated or behind the times personally.

But it's been excellent for me and the very limited Android experience I've had with my parents' phones leads me to believe I'm happier on WP than I would be on Android. Some of WP's settings/menus are not as logically organized as they could/should be, but ultimately there hasn't really been anything I've wanted to do with it that it hasn't been innately able to do or I haven't been able to find an app for. I've got an NBA score/schedule app, some emulators, stopwatch, skydrive (onedrive) and my battlenet authenticator and I'm set.

I don't actually know how/if the Nokia apps are available on other WP hardware but I must say Nokia Mixradio and Nokia HERE services are pretty cool. The GPS has been very solid and I haven't truly gotten to use "City Lens" yet but the idea behind it is pretty sweet.

 

[wand3r3r]

I went and checked out the HTC One and S5 Galaxy and 925.

The s5 sure is a nice looking device, as is the one. I will really have to re-evaluate the playing field the next time I upgrade, the competition honestly looks pretty impressive.

I'm very disappointed in apple's lack of innovation between the 4s and 5s, a few more pixels and a fingerprint reader? (sure a faster processor, but does that mean the 4s was lacking? all the competition is up to date too)

 

[Imaginer]

Here's my opinion on the Windows 8.1 Notification Center and why I think iOS's is still superior....

The notifications isn't a show stopper. On the Start screen, any relevant apps you have pinned, would sport a number anyways (much like iOS does) to indicate changes. Live tiles would flip through the updated information (though it is not on demand).

I also wouldn't want my lock screen to become "just another inbox of notifications". If I receive a lot of them through many apps, then it very well would boil down to this.

On the bluetooth settings access of being forefront, it is slightly hidden on my HTC 8X from the first page, not a show stopper. It is the airplane mode that needs a slight scroll, as it is under tap+send and under Bluetooth.

Either way, a simple speedy scroll down for less accessed settings would be nice - which is ultimately what you are alluding to. Would be even better, if you can arrange that list similar to arranging your live tiles in accordance to one's own priority of access. Microsoft CAN do this if they wanted to too.

Which brings me back to your quote complaint about the ringtones implementation. That was a bit disconcerting. This coming to the Windows Phone from a texting EnV2 phone that boasts more range of sound options for those things. Still, this finally showed up.

But I still would stand by Windows Phone. Compared to the disarray of a stand out look of Android (for quick ease of access) or the levels of home screen swiping and folder access of iOS (along with being the sole provider of a single small screen size and horrid autocorrect listing implantations) I like using my phone for texting versus the iPhone my friend has.

 

[bearxor]

The notifications isn't a show stopper. On the Start screen, any relevant apps you have pinned, would sport a number anyways (much like iOS does) to indicate changes. Live tiles would flip through the updated information (though it is not on demand).

Right and everything is a matter of opinion. I think what I'm mostly complaining about is Microsoft's marketing. For instance, "glance and go". Microsoft was never able to fulfill this promise. Glancing at my lock screen doesn't tell me what's going on. Glancing at my start screen doesn't tell me what's going on.

On the other hand, once glance at my iOS lock screen, and I know what's going on. And I can show as much or as little information about each app that gets pushed to the home screen as I want. That makes it convenient. For me, Windows Phone becomes very inconvenient even though the whole OS was designed and sold around the idea of convenience. It just doesn't work as well as Microsoft wants me to believe that it does.

I also wouldn't want my lock screen to become "just another inbox of notifications". If I receive a lot of them through many apps, then it very well would boil down to this.

But that's exactly what I'm looking for. Let me start off with this. I hate the idea of a "Notification Center" to begin with. For me, it's a bandaid on the real problem of what to do with notifications since there's, currently, no better way to deal with them. So I want to be notified and then move on. So on my iPhone, I can set each app to not appear in the notification center, not give me a number badge and leave the message on the lock screen if I miss something. This way, if I'm away from my phone for 5 minutes, I can pick it up, turn it on, see everything I've missed, put it down, all in about 5 seconds. Windows Phone can't do that.

But I still would stand by Windows Phone. Compared to the disarray of a stand out look of Android (for quick ease of access) or the levels of home screen swiping and folder access of iOS (along with being the sole provider of a single small screen size and horrid autocorrect listing implantations) I like using my phone for texting versus the iPhone my friend has.

I don't agree with the concept of "home screen swiping" when comparing windows phone to iOS. You're just trading one set of swiping for another. Put your most commonly accessed things on one page and then if you need something else, you're swiping for it.

But don't get me wrong, Windows Phone is great. Especially if you're doing fairly basic tasks. But it has the potential to be so much more and Microsoft either can't see that or doesn't want to pursue it.

 

[Qbah]

I went iPhone 3GS -> iPhone 4S -> HTC One -> HTC One M8.

When going to Android, I was a bit lost at first, but as soon as I realized I have freedom to do whatever I want, however I want - there was no going back. Apps switch and data sharing between each other is so simple and natural. Same for moving between apps (facebook -> YT/Chrome etc). I control everything I want, how I want it. The battery is great. Build quality is amazing. I have an iPad Mini with Retina and it feels very limited in what it can do, compared to my phone... I still enjoy playing on it, but that's it.

 

[Imaginer]

Right and everything is a matter of opinion. I think what I'm mostly complaining about is Microsoft's marketing. For instance, "glance and go". Microsoft was never able to fulfill this promise. Glancing at my lock screen doesn't tell me what's going on. Glancing at my start screen doesn't tell me what's going on.

On the other hand, once glance at my iOS lock screen...

A potential social engineering security risk there. Having notifications, without unlocking, WILL pose problems. Hence I am fine with Live Tiles and their relevant information showing upon unlocking (though a need to on-demand cycle through the Live information would be nice).

 

[bearxor]

They won't pose problems for me.

But I'd agree that live tiles are borderline useless.
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