Rumors about Windows Compatibility, Are they true?
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@dafyre Windows is not going to run native apps from other platforms. I have no idea where people are getting that idea.
Those articles all state clearly that apps with native will be able to be converted
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@JaredBusch said:
@dafyre Windows is not going to run native apps from other platforms. I have no idea where people are getting that idea.
Those articles all state clearly that apps with native will be able to be converted
But they can publish them directly to the app store with little changes and use the android subsystem that will be in Windows phone. meaning almost no app wouldn't put it in the store just for heck of it.
"Windows Phones will include an Android subsystem," said Microsoft's executive vice president of operating systems, Terry Myerson. "There, an app can be written that takes advantage of the Android code, but also the extensions you would write in the Windows platform to really delight the Windows user."
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@dafyre said:
I'd be interested in hearing from somebody that actually switched from Android to Windows Phone and what they like / don't like about Windows Phone (8.1 or 10).
Well, It took me a while to get used to it.
I initially made the switch as I wanted to upgrade from my ~3y/o droid. I didn't have the
to shell out for a decent droid so I, at Mrs nadnerB's suggestion, looked into WP8.
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The initial switch was a little difficult as the tile interface was midway between android's widgets and iOS' icons.
Email is fantastic, text messaging is pretty good (much better than the Android 2.x that I moved from).
I really like the phone call interface prior to a call (dial/answer) and mid call.
Internet Explorer is pretty stable, not so good for ML (not really tried other sites) as moving the cursor around to edit/copy text is pretty dodgy. This is my sole complaint.Many people use UC Browser, this is just a skin for IE as is Maxthon and I suspect all the other browsers in the store are the same. UC browser is pretty but, in my experience, significantly less stable than IE.
I really, really like the Cortana app and it's integration into the phone. I can only get the Alpha release but that's still very good. Feels more Beta than Alpha. (It's a region thing).
The lack of apps is bordering on cliché but for a reason. I would expect to see significant improvement post Windows 10 release. I am hesitant to run Windows 10 preview as I don't want to put up with the potential bugs on my older phone.
The NFC works well but unfortunately, Android to WP & vice versa doesn't.
WP8.1 is a grand offering being hurt by the available 3rd party apps and it's lack of market share.
If I had the money, I'd be upgrading my Lumia 620 to a 640 LTE or a 735 (basically the same phone hardware wise) but I think it would be best to hold off until Windows 10 is released.If I'm going to replace my 620, then I'm quite keen to have a phone with Continuum capabilities.
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I may be making a temporary switch back to Android due to a nice bit of hardware being available for 10% of the original purchase price (<7months old) but I'm a bit uncertain if I will like Android again. -
@nadnerB said:
Many people use UC Browser, this is just a skin for IE as is Maxthon and I suspect all the other browsers in the store are the same. UC browser is pretty but, in my experience, significantly less stable than IE.
This is the same on iPhone's. Safari is the only browser. Android is the only mobile OS that allows true thirdparty browsers. I think windows 10 may allow them on the windows phones though.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
@nadnerB said:
Many people use UC Browser, this is just a skin for IE as is Maxthon and I suspect all the other browsers in the store are the same. UC browser is pretty but, in my experience, significantly less stable than IE.
This is the same on iPhone's. Safari is the only browser. Android is the only mobile OS that allows true thirdparty browsers. I think windows 10 may allow them on the windows phones though.
I hope so. IE is much better than the stock Android 4.x default browser but it's no Firefox or Chrome.
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@JaredBusch said:
@dafyre Windows is not going to run native apps from other platforms. I have no idea where people are getting that idea.
Those articles all state clearly that apps with native will be able to be converted
I was wondering where that idea came from.
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I highly advise against running WP10 at this point unless you just like pain (and apparently I do, because I still am).
I have to reboot my phone nearly daily for one reason or another.
Outlook crashes constantly - though, when it's working it's pretty good. Though I wish the nav buttons for Outlook were at the bottom instead of the top. On the Lumia 635 (small'ish phone) being at the top is no big deal, I can still reach it one handed with my thumb, but on a larger phone, no way, it will require two handed operation - and that will be frustrating!
I like the Podcast player - when it works. Like Outlook, it likes to crash often. Though to be fair, it seems to have the most problems when I'm starting/resuming a podcast when I'm in my driveway at home or work, the phone can still see the wireless networks at those locations, but barely. In this situation half the time I can't get the app to do anything.
FYI, don't uninstall the Podcast app to try to fix it. You can't redownload it from the MS store like normal (at this time). You have to hard reset the phone to get it back, learned this the hard way.
With the latest build something funky is really going on - the phone has started locking up completely and I have to pull the battery to get it to start over. Even long holding the power button won't power it down, instead I see the half covered screen that you are supposed to pull down to indicate that you want to shutdown, but it just hangs there too.
When I first started using Speech to Text it was great, then it suddenly stopped working. Even over a pushed out upgrade/update it didn't get fixed. I had to hard reset the phone to get it back.
I'm half tempted to roll back to WP8.1, but really I just want them to release the 640 XL so I can get that phone.
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Yeah. That's why I'm still on WP 8.1 not WP10. I tried it for a few hours, and well I couldn't even stand the GUI issues.
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The only GUI issue I have these days is that I can't pin the Podcast app to the main screen, otherwise the GUI works great.
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@Dashrender said:
The only GUI issue I have these days is that I can't pin the Podcast app to the main screen, otherwise the GUI works great.
The Podcast app in 8.1.1 for me is quirky, since going to Denim...it plays but doesn't stay running and it has problems playing 1.5x and 2x so I can skip commercials...
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@garak0410 said:
@Dashrender said:
The only GUI issue I have these days is that I can't pin the Podcast app to the main screen, otherwise the GUI works great.
The Podcast app in 8.1.1 for me is quirky, since going to Denim...it plays but doesn't stay running and it has problems playing 1.5x and 2x so I can skip commercials...
LOL I use the 30 second skip feature for that.
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If this is too much of a fork I'll ask it in a new thread
For those of you with extensive Android and WP experience - relative merits / comparison of the OS's?
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@MattSpeller said:
If this is too much of a fork I'll ask it in a new thread
For those of you with extensive Android and WP experience - relative merits / comparison of the OS's?
Hard to really compare them. It depends on what you use your phone for. If you use it mostly for Email, texts, calls, and web browsing I'd say the windows phone is a way better experience.
If you want to play games, use random apps etc Android would be the way to go. Note that currently there is no generic SSL VPN (openVPN) app for Windows Phone so if you need VPN you need either, an app from your vendor (currently many of the popular vendors have them). Or you need a L2TPw/IPSEC or IKEv2 VPN.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
Hard to really compare them. It depends on what you use your phone for. If you use it mostly for Email, texts, calls, and web browsing I'd say the windows phone is a way better experience.
If you want to play games, use random apps etc Android would be the way to go. Note that currently there is no generic SSL VPN (openVPN) app for Windows Phone so if you need VPN you need either, an app from your vendor (currently many of the popular vendors have them). Or you need a L2TPw/IPSEC or IKEv2 VPN.
^ What he said.
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My first smartphone was a WP7 device, and I've only had WP devices since then. I recently got a Nexus 4 just to play with it. It doesn't have a SIM card right now, so I can't speak to the calling/texting experience, but it is hard to compare them. The app experience is night and day. There are so many options for Android. Frankly it is overwhelming. Anyhow, I like playing with the phone, but that is about it. I like to play games on it. When it comes to day to day functionality of phone/email/whatnot, my WP is a breath of fresh air. Some of that could be chalked up to familiarity, but while there are a few tasks that are easier or simpler on the Android, the majority are much easier to do on WP.
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It me it seems the OS just gets out of the way more and lets me do what I want to do. With Android the OS kinda gets in the way of doing tasks more and doesn't let me just work without having to think about it. If that makes sense.
