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Hey, i'm going to buy a new phone soon and im thinking to get a lumia. Is it worth it? Is it better than android and ios in someway? How about the dataplan? Is it much cheaper than the others? Really need an existing windows phone user to reply how they feel about their phone. Thank you very much for your cooperation
"Is it worth it" is a personal question - it depends on what you value, how much you can afford to spend, what phone you're thinking of (there are at least six Lumias in active production and at least one older model still being sold), what deal you can get it for... however, you're asking a forum full of Windows Phone users, so the general answer would be "yes".
Is it better than Android or iOS somehow? Yeah, a few ways. The interface is much more dynamic, presenting at-a-glance info and requiring less popping into and out of apps, plus the lock screen is pretty configurable. The battery life requires much less shepherding on WP8 than on Android, and there's also none of the malware found on Android. The built-in Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote) are better than any that I have seen for either Android or iOS. Xbox Music Pass (formerly Zune Pass) is very sweet, although it's not available in all regions; check this. Similarly, Here Drive (formerly Nokia Drive) is better than other navigation apps (built-in or third-party) that I've tried, but may not be available, or at least not free, in all regions. Developing for WP8 is really easy and you can use a large number of languages. The software keyboard is excellent; I prefer it over the iOS one (massively) and over most Android ones. The integration of Skype calls is really nice. The ability to switch between Live messenger, Facebook chat, and SMS/MMS in the Messaging hub is very cool. The fact that you don't need to install iTunes is a plus on Windows (unless you already use it... eww). All Windows Phones are required to have a double-action camera button (half-press to focus, full press to shoot) although you can also use tap-to-shoot. There are lots of Xbox Live-enabled games, many of them quite good, which are not only fun but also earn you GamerScore on Xbox Live. The Xbox Live integration also lets you message and game with your Xbox Live buddies, although you can't generally play between phone and console directly. Xbox Smartglass lets you use the phone to control, view, and interact with the Xbox 360. Generally speaking, phones are updated faster than on Android. If you let us know what's important to you, we could possibly list other advantages...
The data plan is a carrier thing, not an OS thing, but will probably be the same price and features as other smartphones. That's something you will have to research yourself, though.
I like the Windows Phone devices I have (an HD7 running WP7, and an Ativ S running WP8). They do have some limitations - WP8 has not yet been hacked much at all, so there's a lot less homebrew for it than there was for WP7 - but overall they are nice. They get good battery life (the HD7 not anymore, but it's 2.5 years old), have good (if not all-encompassing) app selection, and have a number of nice features (WiFi tethering built in, for example). The main thing keeping me on Windows Phone is that I have a legacy Zune Pass (the kind that allows 10 DRM-free downloads a month) and therefore I really want a phone that will let me stream or download all the other songs so I can discover new stuff and decide what I want to use my credits on each month (before I use them).
As the title suggests, I'm considering jumping from my HTC One to the Nokia Lumia 1020, and I have some questions. If this is the wrong forum, I'm sorry.
1. Is it possible (even through a hack) to set a homescreen background? I used to do this on the WP 7 themes on my iPhone, and it looked great with transparent tiles.
2. Has Google gotten into WP8? Voice, Gmail, Play Music?
3. Photo editing. What sort of post-processing options are there? I must have had 10gb of just photo apps on my iPhone, and I'm kinda struggling now on Android.
4. Keyboards? I've become a Swiftkey addict. Is there anything comparable to this in Redmond's garden?
5. Twitter and Facebook? My fiance has a Lumia 900, however her Facebook and Twitter apps look awful. Tweetbot was the best Twitter client I've ever used, so my standards are high.
Thank you in advance for any insight.
Start screen backgrounds are still not supported. There are pseudo-hacks to do it, using a large array of customized tiles, but there's still black or white behind them. The hacking scene or WP8 has been very limited.
Gmail works fine on WP8, as it did on WP7. There's no official app that I know of, though. Google has no official Music app for the OS, but there are plenty of third party ones (I cannot comment on the quality as I use Pandora and Zune/Xbox Music Pass). There's also Nokia's music app, which I don't use. Google Voice is similar; no official app but several third-party ones, and WP8 allows apps to integrate into the phone system and to continue calls when backgrounded (this is how Skype works).
Lots of photo editing apps, plus time-of-shot "filters". I have no idea of their quality as a PC is, and always will be, better at that task.
Sadly, custom keyboards are not currently supported at all. The built-in keyboard is excellent, with nice new features like next-word prediction, but it's not customizable or aimed at specific nich users, nor is it (yet) replaceable.
I don't use Twitter, even the integrated functionality. The new version of the Facebook app is excellent, though. It's much faster, has more features, and looks better than the old app.
GoodDayToDie said:
Start screen backgrounds are still not supported. There are pseudo-hacks to do it, using a large array of customized tiles, but there's still black or white behind them. The hacking scene or WP8 has been very limited.
Gmail works fine on WP8, as it did on WP7. There's no official app that I know of, though. Google has no official Music app for the OS, but there are plenty of third party ones (I cannot comment on the quality as I use Pandora and Zune/Xbox Music Pass). There's also Nokia's music app, which I don't use. Google Voice is similar; no official app but several third-party ones, and WP8 allows apps to integrate into the phone system and to continue calls when backgrounded (this is how Skype works).
Lots of photo editing apps, plus time-of-shot "filters". I have no idea of their quality as a PC is, and always will be, better at that task.
Sadly, custom keyboards are not currently supported at all. The built-in keyboard is excellent, with nice new features like next-word prediction, but it's not customizable or aimed at specific nich users, nor is it (yet) replaceable.
I don't use Twitter, even the integrated functionality. The new version of the Facebook app is excellent, though. It's much faster, has more features, and looks better than the old app.
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Thanks for the responses. With regards to music, I had a 64gb iPhone 4S and still have an active subscription to iTunes in the Cloud. So I could store most of my music on my phone, and have access to the rest as needed. My One is only 32gb, so I keep some music on it, and the rest I stream via Google Play.
As for Google, does WP8 integrate with Google Voice at all? Or is there at least an app?
With photos, there are some apps from iOS that I truely miss, and haven't seen any alternatives on Android as of yet. I fear my pickings will be even slimmer on WP8.
Does the built in keyboard have anything akin to Swype? I'm fairly certain my girls WP7 does not.
As my girl does have WP7, she can't upgrade to the newest Facebook and is thus stuck with the awful one she currently has.
Thanks again.
As I mentioned, there are apps for streaming music from Google. Nothing official, but the reviews say they work.
There's one app I can find in the store, "Spare Phone", which claims to integrate somewhat (and has the WP8-specific app capability to do so). However, it looks like it can't recieve GV calls directly (forward to your mobile number or take voicemail notifications only) when it's in the background. I'm pretty sure the dev could fix this with enough effort. The app costs $3.49 USD, so I can't easily test if for you. There's no OS-level integration with GV, which doesn't surprise me in the least. Google is Microsoft's biggest competitor in this space...
I have no real idea what the photo app situation is like. There are tons of them, some well-rated, plus some built-in features of the OS. I still prefer to do my photo editing with the power and precision of a PC, though, so I haven't tried. The photos are overcompressed as is (all smartphone photos are), so manipulating them tends to produce artifacts anyhow.
Nothing like Swype, sorry. Microsoft really needs to get with the picture there. It's especially sad/funny, considering that Swype was originally for Windows Mobile and (according to a guy I know who works there) they'd be happy to bring it to WP, but MS hasn't allowed it yet.
Most of my FB on the phone is just done using the built-in integration (People hub, Messaging hub. etc.), but the new WP8 app really is excellent.
1. No you can't set homescreen background. I hope it will be coming in WP Blue update.
2.Gmail works fine, Xbox music is very much better option.
3. WP store is full of lots of photo editing apps, 1020 itself has proshot app. I think you would be very happy in this department.
4.No, unfortunately but you can expect it in updates.
5. Both official apps are very very good. FB just got updated and it's very good. You can also have beta app which updates continuously so FB support from MS is very much active. Official twitter app has everything you want, same as its iOS & Android counter part.
Instagram has 3rd party app instance which is very good, even you can save photo in it. Official Vine app is coming till then 6 sec is available.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Google Voice is handled quite nicely by Metrotalk. It takes some work to get setup properly, but once setup works very seamlessly.
Google has no official apps (aside from a poor Google search app) on Windows Phone, and the only thing known on the horizon is an official YouTube app (a joint project between Microsoft and Google). Otherwise Google has been pretty anti-Windows Phone. If you want the quality and selection of Google apps and services that you find on an Android phone, you simply won't get it anywhere except Android. Windows Phone and even iPhone don't compare to what Google offers on it's own platform. There are third party apps, and some of them are decent.
The Twitter and Facebook apps for WP8 now very closely match the functionality and look/feel of their official counterparts on iOS and Android. They still aren't as awesome, but thankfully, because of the tight OS integration, they aren't necessarily needed as much as you would need them on iOS or Android.
Nothing close to Swype and I'm gonna take a guess and say that it won't be coming anytime soon. There just isn't a demand for it. Clearly there is one here on this site (and other enthusiast sites), but this is a site made up of hardcore tweakers and enthusiasts. In the real world, most people do not know what Swype is and simply don't bother to learn it even if it is available to them. The Windows Phone keyboard is an excellent stock keyboard, and with some of the improvements being seen in Windows 8.1, you can expect it to get better as time goes on.
Almost any kind of configuring, tweaking, or hacking you may be used to on Android goes out the window with Windows Phone 8. For the most part, the operating system just works, so you don't always need it (like iOS), but some people still have that itch to tweak, and if that's you, Windows Phone 8 may not make you happy. But then again, I used to be that type of person, but once I got used to a platform that just worked and didn't need me to go ROM hunting every week, its just became so much better. The operating system is just so much more secure than WP7 or Android, so there isn't much of a development/hacking community for it.
As with any upgrade, new line, or purchase, you should have an opportunity to try it for a bit before you go past the point of no return. So your best bet is to try it as your main driver for a week and see how it works for you.
prjkthack said:
The operating system is just so much more secure than WP7 or Android, so there isn't much of a development/hacking community for it.
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You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Security, in the context of operating systems or really anything else, is about granting or revoking authorization for access or activity. The key point, there, is "authorization". Authority is a property of ownership. However, I actually have relatively (compared to other OSes) little ability to authorize, *or* revoke authorization for, actions occurring on what is nominally my phone. So, which of the following is true?
A) It's not my phone; it's actually owned by Microsoft, the OEM, and the operator (but mostly Microsoft).
B) The OS is "so much more" locked down than WP7 or Android, and is actually pretty meager on security features.
Did you know that on some Android ROMs, you can do things like prevent apps from making using of certain capabilities while still using the app? That on WP7, you can disable the "Microsoft, may I install or run sideloaded apps?" check that the OS makes periodically without your authorization? Now *that* is an increase in security!
GoodDayToDie said:
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Security, in the context of operating systems or really anything else, is about granting or revoking authorization for access or activity. The key point, there, is "authorization". Authority is a property of ownership. However, I actually have relatively (compared to other OSes) little ability to authorize, *or* revoke authorization for, actions occurring on what is nominally my phone. So, which of the following is true?
A) It's not my phone; it's actually owned by Microsoft, the OEM, and the operator (but mostly Microsoft).
B) The OS is "so much more" locked down than WP7 or Android, and is actually pretty meager on security features.
Did you know that on some Android ROMs, you can do things like prevent apps from making using of certain capabilities while still using the app? That on WP7, you can disable the "Microsoft, may I install or run sideloaded apps?" check that the OS makes periodically without your authorization? Now *that* is an increase in security!
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Whether the product is yours or not does not matter much here. At its base level, all the platforms are "locked down" to a certain extent, some more than others, and what you can do is limited by what the OEMs (Microsoft, Apple, or Google) say you can do. Now you can go ahead and throw hacks at it, tear it apart, or throw money at it to completely change it, but that's going beyond the scope of this discussion. They choose what permissions you may alter or ask for. Finding loopholes to get around permissions or authorization goes beyond what the original manufacturer intended, but its pretty fair to say that its far easier to circumvent security on Android than on any other platform. Android's inherently more "open" platform allows for greater risk at times because it isn't as locked down as iOS or Windows Phone.
That being said, being more locked down inherently offers more security or at the very least, piece of mind, whether that be protection from scripts or hacks, viruses, financial security, or just preventing errors/crashes. Denying or granting access to certain activities, or just flat out not having the option to deny/grant certain activities can be the base for a safer, more reliable, more secure operating environment. "Security" and being "locked down", in some cases, go hand in hand. Of course it can mean many different things to many people.
Now you could also be referring to other "security" features like corporate encryption policies or secure NFC or stuff like that, but that wasn't part of the original discussion, so my use of the word security does not include any of that, but I understand that certainly those types of security features may or may not exist between platforms.
So I have another question.
I've been quite spoiled by 64gb of storage on my 4S combined with iTunes in the Cloud and lately been forced to stream from Play Music due to my One only having 32gb of storage.
Does WP8 have any sort of set up where I upload my music collection to the cloud and can download/stream from there? I do have a 50gb AT&T Locker account, but I'd rather use something that's a little more polished.
OGhoul said:
So I have another question.
I've been quite spoiled by 64gb of storage on my 4S combined with iTunes in the Cloud and lately been forced to stream from Play Music due to my One only having 32gb of storage.
Does WP8 have any sort of set up where I upload my music collection to the cloud and can download/stream from there? I do have a 50gb AT&T Locker account, but I'd rather use something that's a little more polished.
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Yes, you have 7GB of skydrive space for free, can be increased for additional cost.
mcosmin222 said:
Yes, you have 7GB of skydrive space for free, can be increased for additional cost.
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I have over 60 gigs of music alone.
OGhoul said:
I have over 60 gigs of music alone.
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I doubt anybody is going to give you 60 gigs of storage for free (ATT does not count, since you pay for it anyway)
There are apps which can stream from Google Music.
Alternatively, get a phone that has a microSD slot; my ATIV S has 80GB of total local storage, never mind the amount I have in my butt.
mcosmin222 said:
I doubt anybody is going to give you 60 gigs of storage for free (ATT does not count, since you pay for it anyway)
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iCloud.
OGhoul said:
iCloud.
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so then what's the problem?
I mean, you can stream it the same way you did on your HTC one.
But unless you want that camera badly, there is no real reason to get the lumia 1020.
lumia 820 or Ativ S are probably better for you.
mcosmin222 said:
so then what's the problem?
I mean, you can stream it the same way you did on your HTC one.
But unless you want that camera badly, there is no real reason to get the lumia 1020.
lumia 820 or Ativ S are probably better for you.
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The camera is the reason I'm considering a WP. Don't get me wrong, I like the Metro UI. I would usually install a Metro theme on my iPhone when I had it. I'm tremendously underwhelmed with Android and in particular, the camera in my One, which is what prompted my questions.
Basically, if I can get WP8 to do things close to as seamless as they are on iOS, I'd really consider switching. If I'm reading this correctly, SkyDrive offers automatic syncing of photos to my PC from my phone, the way iCloud does?
OGhoul said:
The camera is the reason I'm considering a WP. Don't get me wrong, I like the Metro UI. I would usually install a Metro theme on my iPhone when I had it. I'm tremendously underwhelmed with Android and in particular, the camera in my One, which is what prompted my questions.
Basically, if I can get WP8 to do things close to as seamless as they are on iOS, I'd really consider switching. If I'm reading this correctly, SkyDrive offers automatic syncing of photos to my PC from my phone, the way iCloud does?
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Yes windows phone will upload full res images to skydrive. Great feature actually. BTW have you looked at Xbox music? Its similar to Google play music and iTunes streaming. Take a look, it might be what your looking for: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/music
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Xbox music, Pandora, Nokia Music all work great on my 1020. And something new in WP8, it can sync from your iTunes library. (new WP8 desktop app, no more Zune app like used for WP7)
Did you ever get the 1020 and what were your thoughts?
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk 4
Hello guys i have been using smartphones for almost half a decade now starting from symbian to android. But i haven't used ios and wp8 yet.
The devices i had used so far are:
Nokia 5233
Nokia c6
SE live with walkman.
Se mini pro
Samsung galaxy y.
Sony xperia j.
Now i am quite bored of the same android. I had used custom roms on everyone of my phone but now i dont care if i can use custom roms or not. I just want a decent phone that can provide me a decent daily usage. Starting from watching youtube videos to playing some games.
Now before i finalize my decision i need to know few things.
1) Does windows market place have at least some free games(that is fully free not trail)??
2) Does the fb app of wp really s**ks??
3) Does wp have a youtube app.??
4) Does wp have basic apps like facebook messenger, whatsapp, a nice photo editing app like picsart in android??
5) And the most important what is meant by developer unlock and interlop unlock???
6) Can i do the above two things on nokia lumia 520 or acend w1?
And the main question which one of these i should buy?
Thank you guys.
Regards,
Totally noob in WP.
Lots of free games, and most of the "trial" games are just a "buy the game to remove ads" trial; the game is otherwise fully functional. Even a number of Xbox Live games are free.
The FB app is pretty good, in my limited experience. I actually almost always just use the built-in FB integration and have no need for the app; just about the only things I use FB for these days are a great big address book + ability to see event invitations + ability to see posted photos, and the built-in integration handles all of that quite well. The app is pretty fast and fluid, with lots of features, though, as of the last update or two. There's always the browser in any case; touch.facebook.com works fine last I checked (or the full site, but it's not mobile-friendly).
There are many Youtube apps (plus again, you can just use the browser for HTML5 videos). Google has gotten into a pissing match with Microsoft over the official Youtube app though, so sometimes it's just blocked from working. There are alternative apps that I've never seen blocked (even though they work just like the MS app...), though, and there are apps for other video sites too,
Facebook messaging is built in to the "Messaging hub" of the OS, or accessible through the FB app; there are also dedicated messenger apps that can use it. Whatsapp is available. I don't know picsart at all, but there's some basic photo editing built into the OS, plus a crapload of apps for it.
Developer unlock is the ability to install unsigned apps (usually meaning apps in development, but also homebrew apps which aren't allowed in the store. It's the equivalent of the "Allow installing apps from untrusted sources" (or whatever) checkbox on Android. Interop-unlock is a hack that allows the installation of higher-privilege apps this way; without it, you can only sideload apps that have pretty limited capabilities.
All WP devices can be dev-unlocked; it's an official feature. If you want to sideload more than 3 apps at a time, though, you'll need to buy a developer account (~$20 USD/year). Interop-unlock is currently only available for Samsung WP8 devices, although Huawei phones *supposedly* can support custom ROMs (but this news is months old, and I haven't actually seen these ROMs myself) which would give the requisite unlocks too.
Do bear in mind: the phones you've mentioned are the lowest-end WP8 models, with the slowest CPUs, least RAM, least network technology support (no LTE, for example), and least internal storage (although I believe both support microSD, which can be used for photos/videos/music but not apps). Between the two, I would recommend the Lumia just because it will have Nokia's collection of apps.
Thank you mate now i atleast have a basic knowing of WP.
Can you please explain what is sideload??
Well i can manage a few more bucks to get lumia 620 but i just want to have a feel of WP for now since i have been using android since 2011 so i need to see if i can adapt to WP.
Sideloading is installing apps from unofficial sources (in the case of WP, installing apps from anywhere except the store). There are two ways to do it in WP8:
1) "Company" apps that are available from your organization. These apps are signed, but by a company certificate rather than Microsoft's store certificate, and installing them mostly just requires that you have the relevant account set up on your phone. Then email yourself, or open in the browser, the relevant .XAP files (XAPs are application packages, much like APKs).
2) "Development" (or homebrew) apps are unsigned apps directly produced by Visual Studio or similar. They can (currently) only be installed using the Windows Phone SDK, which includes a program called XapDeploy.exe ("Application Deployment" in the Start screen) on your PC (connected to the phone using USB). This is the type of sideloading that requires dev-unlock (or interop-unlock, for highly-privileged apps) on the OS, and without interop-unlock, you will be limited in how many such apps you can deploy at once.
Okay so security from microsoft huh... Okay thanks a lot mate.
||""Playing Asphalt™ 8 Airborne on my sgy. LoLz.
Joke of the year. Gameloft devs will die if they hear this. ""||
Please help me to decide. I have used android for long time. I want to try something different but I'm not sure . Any one here switched from the Note or an android phone?
argo1a said:
Please help me to decide. I have used android for long time. I want to try something different but I'm not sure . Any one here switched from the Note or an android phone?
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First of all, you're asking in the Windows Phone 8 General section, so you probably won't get an unbiased opinion, so be sure to check out other sources too, which should help you decide.
Honestly, I think I would go for the Note 3. I currently use both Windows Phone 8 and Android 4.4.2 (ATIV S and Nexus 4) and I think both of them are great devices. But I prefere using the ATIV S because of its camera, the keyboard and its performance.
But in case of a phablet, I think the Note 3 (with a good custom ROM) is a much better choice.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 has a great camera, a wonderful screen and Windows Phone 8 performs seemlessly on it. The Note 3 has a bit smaller screen than the Lumia 1520, does support input via stylus and can be used much more productively. If you need or want a stylus, you have no other choice.
The Lumia 1520 is a great phone though, but imho it is not a good phablet, because I simply expect stylus support from a smartphone with such a big screen. If you just want a phone that has a great battery, great camera, great screen, great performance, great built-quality all the advantages and disadvanteges of Windows Phone 8 and you want to try something different/new, you should totally get the Lumia.
Maybe take a look at some reviews, but I don't think that you are making a wrong decision when buying either of these devices.
If you want to change from ecosystem.......from Droid to WP8x
Then you should do a lot more than compare devices.
There is a upcomming update for wp8 ( wp8.1 ) so some of the stuf you read wil soon be obsolete.
Phablets is not only about stylus.
I got a 1320, the big little brother of the 1520.
And i like it better than the note I of my wife and the note II of my daugter.
The letterfonts are bigger, i dont need my glasses to work with it.
Its simply strait forward and does everything what it supose to do.
Battery life is a lot longer and also i find the gps a lot better.
Aspecialy with the Here maps and Here drive.
Also the Nokia camera-app is way better than the one on the Samsung.
But there is no possibility to change custom roms and root ( yet ),
but thats oke because it works great strait out of the box, no need for tinkering.
yeah, he should definitely take a look at Windows Phone 8.1.
The Lumia 1520 is great, but imho it is just another Nokia phone with a bigger screen. This is not bad at all, Nokia makes great phones, but it is not really a phablet like the Note 3.
If you want something that will work out-of the box for years, have a great performance as always and will just become better the more you use it, you should take the Lumia 1520. For everything else, like Custom-ROMs, stylus support, etc. you will have to get the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.
1520
HI
i own a nokia 1520 and i like it very very much. everything goes smooth and the phablet is very handy , long battery life ...in my case 3 days... beautiful design...much quicker browsing !!
there are so many android devices on the market and allmost everybody has such a phone.
with the 1520 you have something special in your hand. all my friends want to have a nokia 1x20 or x20 ...
go for the NOKIA LUMIA 1520 !!!!
I like the 1520. I can live with windows phone limitations. Android is indeed a better OS without a doubt cz you can drop your PC for an android phone but with WP you can't do a lot of things.. But I love the windows phone, its faster, more secure, stylish and has a better look. Its a matter of taste and a subjective approach... I chose the Lumia 1520 and didn't buy the Note 3.
argo1a said:
Please help me to decide. I have used android for long time. I want to try something different but I'm not sure . Any one here switched from the Note or an android phone?
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i switched android phone...
note 3 is more productive than nokia :good:
patraaas said:
note 3 is more productive than nokia :good:
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wel nee, Nokia is more productive ..........
serious
How come that N3 is more productive than a 1520, care to explane?
I heard that a lot, but they never could explane.
I, too, wanted to leave android and get a windows phone.
Until I realized what I used primarily, and how windows phones didn't have it (officially, or yet)
I didn't want a clone of VLC - I wanted VLC. Or a subsitute of Chrome/Firefox - I wanted the real thing.
My bank didn't have an app - I could just use the mobile version, but then again, that's true for almost everything! Right???
Tethering wasn't available, or at least how I would tether. So those long trips w/me using my Verizon unlimited plan instead of those crappy hotel wifis....gone!
Shoot, even the price of the windows store seemed pitiful! Apps that were 99 cents on android were 2.99 on windows!
These are things you gotta take into account!!!!
I had the note 3 when it first came out for T-Mobile. I actually had every major galaxy phone S1, s2, s3, sIV,(I will be skipping S V, 1 because it didn't impress me, and 2 I'm so bored with Samsung phones), Note 2 and Note3, along with some HTC android phones and some Sony android phones. I recently switched to the unicorn model of the Lumia 1520. I say unicorn model because it's a very hard and rare phone to find. It actually supports the AWS band for T-Mobile along with the At&t bands and rest of the world bands.
I actually got bored with Android and wanted something different. Pretty much it comes down to the how much do you really care about apps/games. I don't game a lot on a phone that's why I have consoles, 3ds, vita, and a pc. I do a lot of productivity on my phone though. A lot of banking and emails. Not really into the social media stuff. As people always say, windows phone does not have a lot of apps. Some of my banks do not have apps on windows phone. But when you look at what an app does it is just a pretty UI that connects to your bank. In windows I can just pin the website to the home page and poof instant app for that bank or that website, etc. On the Lumia 1520, the screen is large enough where it's not hassle.
I can say that battery life between the two, are very good. Both will last all day with heavy usage. I normally am streaming music, checking emails, playing a game or two, viewing websites, and watch a little Netflix and I don't have to charge untill I go to bed. Normally the phone is off the charger about 6:00 am each day and I got bed around 11pm or 12am. Performance wise, I have to say the windows phone runs a little smoother.
When it comes to customization, Android wins hands down. I actually do miss the customization that Android allows. On windows phone you have the tiles you can put and you can resize them between small, medium, and large. Medium and large will show additional information, where as small tile just shows the app without any info.
Tethering works fine on both, although on the Lumia 1520 I did have to do a few extra steps to get it to work. Apparently the US carriers has some type of block on the built in tethering app. One last thing, if you heavily in with google services, pretty much none of those services are available on windows phone. So no google play, no google voice, no push service for gmail, no chrome, etc.
The things I don't like about windows phone:
1.) Unable to download large files - I tried to download a 2 GB map file for the nokia here and it said I had to switch to wifi. Android has no such restrictions.
2.) Lack of Customization
3.) Lack of Google services (Not sure if it's Google or MS)
The things I like:
1.) Very clean and simple interface,
2.) The Lumia 1520 has a great design
3.) Runs smooth and works
4.) Office intergration
5.) Native Email and Calendar apps are the best (much better than android or ios)
Things I like about android:
1.) Customization
2.) Tethering worked out the box
3.) No restrictions on file types to download or file size
4.) Multitasking with 2 apps on the screen at once.
Things I don't like about android:
1.) You have to root to really use the phone as you want
2.) A lot of bloatware
3.) You have to watch out for rogue apps (haven't heard of any in windows phone)
4.) You may or may not get the next version of the OS regardless of how new your phone may be.
This is just my thoughts. So far though I'm like the 1520. I have high hopes for the next update to windows phone and look forward to it improving. Windows phone is still young so still is playing catch-up, but I think it has a bright future.
Erm... there are plenty of third-party apps for Google Voice on WP8, and push for Gmail works fine for me and has been for years (since WP7). With that said, yeah, the integration with Google services other than Gmail and Calendar isn't great, and mostly relies on third-party apps.
GoodDayToDie said:
Erm... there are plenty of third-party apps for Google Voice on WP8, and push for Gmail works fine for me and has been for years (since WP7). With that said, yeah, the integration with Google services other than Gmail and Calendar isn't great, and mostly relies on third-party apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's actually fetch if you use the default email client on non Microsoft accounts. It only allows push on Microsoft accounts (.msn,.live,.hotmail,.outlook). For those accounts you have the option to receive mail as they arrive. But when you set up Gmail you have to select intervals and the shortest interval is every 15 minutes. At least when I set it up it did not give me the option of as mail arrives on the Gmail accounts.
Ah... I still have ActiveSync on my Gmail account, and therefore get push email plus calendar and contact sync. I've heard that new accounts may not get ActiveSync anymore, but it still works for me. Try setting up an Exchange/Outlook account with the following details and see if it works? May only work for accounts created before 2013 or something (mine's from way back when Gmail was invite-only beta...)
Username = <your Gmail address, including the @gmail.com or similar>
Password = <your Google password>
Server = m.google.com
Require SSL = Yes
Note 3 for sure... and I'm a Windows Phone user, really good OS. Note 3 is the best Android device ever, at least for me.
hotrock11 said:
I, too, wanted to leave android and get a windows phone.
Until I realized what I used primarily, and how windows phones didn't have it (officially, or yet)
I didn't want a clone of VLC - I wanted VLC. Or a subsitute of Chrome/Firefox - I wanted the real thing.
My bank didn't have an app - I could just use the mobile version, but then again, that's true for almost everything! Right???
Tethering wasn't available, or at least how I would tether. So those long trips w/me using my Verizon unlimited plan instead of those crappy hotel wifis....gone!
Shoot, even the price of the windows store seemed pitiful! Apps that were 99 cents on android were 2.99 on windows!
These are things you gotta take into account!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah you're 100% right, but after all, and I'm talking about myself - android guy- I threw away all "reason" and I did buy the Lumia cz its simply better than the note. Better in hand, better in screen, better in sound, camera, looks, touch sensitivity (or at least how I feel), build quality.....etc... its a Nokia !!!! Lol
I went from OG Droid -> Droid X -> Galaxy Nexus = 6 years of Android to a brand spanking new Nokia Lumia Icon (the slightly smaller version of the 1520 on Verizon).
I can say, in the end, I just got tired of tinkering with my Android phones. Root-wipe-backup-install rom-install kernel-backup, rinse and repeat - over and over again, every time a updated ROM was submitted to the site. I just got tired of it all. Windows phone has limitations, but you have to take it for what it is, after all, these are smart PHONES we are talking about here. They all do the same things, some differently, some the same. The Galaxy nexus was awesome when I first got it, but after about a year, it lagged like crazy, no matter what rom/kernel combo I had on it. The battery life was abysmal. The Note 3 is better on all accords, but from seeing my friends GS4 lag it up after a year, it seems that even new hardware cant keep up on Android. But I think this is also dependent on the user, if you have a lot of apps, and you tinker its bound to run like $hit after a year +.
If your debating between the Note and a Lumia phone, my recommendation is to go with the Lumia (unless you have a specific need for the stylus). I tried the Note 3 out for 2 weeks, and returned it. It was faster, and almost lag free, but touchwiz is just aweful, and trying to put 2 apps on screen lagged the thing to death. Its a good feature, that is really not ready for prime time. Maybe in a year or 2 Android and the chips will be ready for this feature, but its just not there yet, for me.
My reasons for choosing the Lumia are very simple. I looked at my Android device, and decided that there were really no apps that I couldn't live without. I looked through the windows phone store to see if I could do what I needed to, and haven't really missed a beat. The phone is highly customizable with apps like Custom Tile Maker, and Lockmix, and I find the live tiles refreshing and new. The things I miss, are reported coming to Windows phone 8.1 - VPN, Notification Center, and Cortana (Google Now replacement), and background images on the start screen. The Camera is better than my point and shoot camera, it gives me RAW .dng files, that I can open in Photoshop / Lightroom and edit. Add to it all, the fact that I use a Windows 8 PC, and the syncing between the devices is really pretty awesome. I forward all my GMAIL to my Outlook.com account, and I can say, outlook.com is soooooooo much better than gmail. The App gap is more media perceived than reality. The only apps I couldn't find a suitable replacement for were kids apps, and an HSBC banking app (which is supposedly coming soon).
To replace your Google services:
Here Maps/Drive is better than Google Maps Navigation. Only think I miss is street view.
MetroTube for Youtube (you can download audio or video for anything
Outlook > GMAIL (forward gmail to outlook.com, or just use built in mail app with fetch)
Onedrive > Google Drive
Office > Google Docs
No stupid requirement to use Google +. Windows Phone ME tile, allows you to connect to multiple social media apps, and integrates them into the experience. Its pretty great once you get into it.
Music: Cloudmuzik Beta - works for Google Music you have previously uploaded, but I find that XBOX music subscription blows everything out of the water. I like it better than Spotify. Nokia Mix Radio is better than Pandora too, and its free on Nokia devices.
Hangouts - I use IM+, works fine. I have a feeling Skype will be integrating google chat at some point, but until then, IM+ is suitable chat replacement.
Bing and Google.....difference is really subjective. if im not getting the results I want on Bing, just go to google.com, and do the same search
for File management, and multiple cloud storage integration, use Pocket File Manager app - I paid for it, its pretty awesome. Theres no Dropbox app, you can access your files via Pocket File Manager, or use Cloudsix for Dropbox app.
I don't know, I guess my opinion of Android just soured over time. The only thing that I "miss" is being able to steal wifi tethering through a rooted device. Take my opinion like a grain of salt, because that's what it is, my opinion, and just like everyone else, im entitled to my opinion.
Thanks
I had the note 2 since it came out,and before that the Captivate and all the others up to #3...Motorola,and a few Iphones..
Last Sunday..I traded it in on the 1520 along with my wife's original Captivate for her a 1020
I had both rooted and custom roms loaded..
As much as I used to enjoy flashing roms,radios,themes...it just became tiresome to me as well..
I did my comparison of all the new Sammy phones..and went with these because they did exactly what we wanted,and because for me there was no comparison of build quality or screen displays...no for my wife a better camera.
Also,as far as connectativity these connect better than any here at work and home..
Do I miss my Androids...no..not in the least and have run win 7/8 themes off and on for a couple of years anyway...and there isn't any apps I can't find I use in the wins app store
FWIW..I'm extremely pleased with my choices..
Mac
Sent from my Nokia 1520
I've had a Note1, Note2 and S4. An iphone 3g and 4. A lumia 920 and 1520. I like my 1520 much better than my note 2. The note3 isn't a significant upgrade as far as I'm concerned. Aside from missing a lot of games and not being able to tether for free, I love wp8 and the 1530. Wp8 is smoother than even ios. Btw, I also have an ipad3 and galaxy tab pro 8.4.
Looking at the Nokia 640 on metro PCs , what are you guys opinions on this phone?I had a Nokia 521 quiet awhile back but switched to android because of the lack of SD card use back then.
I can't speak to MetroPCS as a carrier, but the 640 is a great phone for its price. The biggest problem with it is the same problem every WP device will have - there aren't as many apps available for the platform as there are for Android and iOS (although there are a bunch nonetheless, and more every day) - but the phone itself is quite good unless you need high-end specs for some reason. The OS runs very smoothly on it. Also, it's upgradable to Windows 10 Mobile (yes, Microsoft changed the branding on their phone OS *again*...), so you've got a reasonably future-proof design and it'll even be able to run at least some Android apps in the future.
In my opinion windows phones are always better and safe than android phones. You can also read about technology public relations.
Play Apps?
GoodDayToDie said:
I can't speak to MetroPCS as a carrier, but the 640 is a great phone for its price. The biggest problem with it is the same problem every WP device will have - there aren't as many apps available for the platform as there are for Android and iOS (although there are a bunch nonetheless, and more every day) - but the phone itself is quite good unless you need high-end specs for some reason. The OS runs very smoothly on it. Also, it's upgradable to Windows 10 Mobile (yes, Microsoft changed the branding on their phone OS *again*...), so you've got a reasonably future-proof design and it'll even be able to run at least some Android apps in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where are these claims about Android apps to WP coming from? Isn't it still a rumour?
I can't seem to find any official substanciated news about this...
As I understand it MS currently have two problems regarding the app-gap;
1) if they open WP to Play-apps, then they risk losing interest from dev's to continue making apps specifically to WP, making WP more or less another version of Android.
2) making dev's keen on making apps for a third platform, which isn't futureproof yet (even tho it's been around for long enough). This "solution" will make WP it's own and keep MS in the mobilemarket as an real and actual alternative to the established platforms.
What is sure and what are rumours?
M
Metalbuddhist said:
Where are these claims about Android apps to WP coming from? Isn't it still a rumour?
I can't seem to find any official substanciated news about this...
As I understand it MS currently have two problems regarding the app-gap;
1) if they open WP to Play-apps, then they risk losing interest from dev's to continue making apps specifically to WP, making WP more or less another version of Android.
2) making dev's keen on making apps for a third platform, which isn't futureproof yet (even tho it's been around for long enough). This "solution" will make WP it's own and keep MS in the mobilemarket as an real and actual alternative to the established platforms.
What is sure and what are rumours?
M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They will not enable android apps to run directly on the phone like in an emulator, they developed a tool so android developers can recompile their existing app code so it can be used in windows, see the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qgajY4An1I
I'm really looking forward to making the switch from Android. I've always been a Windows PC enthusiast, and Windows 10 is shaping up nicely.
So, a phone to match will be nice. As for apps for phones, I hardly use any nowadays.
The biggest disadvantage of WP is the low market share of under 10% .
This means that most of the useful apps or games will not be available to WP.
But if as you say you dont use apps and you like the windows style you should go for it!
My experience switching over
I picked up a 640 on T-Mobile the other day as a new "daily driver" - my S4 went swimming once upon a time and reception was never quite the same after that, and I've been thinking about app development and the possible advantages of being a bigger fish in a smaller pond - particularly if MS manages to be successful going forward with Windows Phone. I'm sure I won't have anything available by the time Windows 10 Mobile comes out, so I'm not sure how that's going to work out in the end - perhaps Android development would be a better choice after all? But my experience with the phone overall hasn't been bad so far, particularly not for $100.
The one thing that I hate about the phone is that I can't put it on WiFi at home - something about the WiFi config puts it into a boot loop when it tries to kick in the voice over WiFi piece. Seems like it's similar to the "no iOS zone" problem that turned up for Apple back in April, except that since (relatively) nobody is using Windows Phone nobody really cares. The "fix" recommended is "reset your router to factory defaults" which might be an issue since I'm running OpenWRT..... I'm thinking about putting the Windows 10 preview on so this may go away - even if it's only due to lack of support for T-Mobile's WiFi calling. At least I have LTE coverage in most of my house and an "unlimited" data plan.
The main thing I'm really missing is browser choice - I REALLY miss having Firefox and Dolphin, because I do a lot of long-form reading in my browser and the readability view in FF is much more usable. LastPass in Dolphin is also nice to have, though it never worked for me in Firefox. I'm also missing the addon ecosystems of both browsers. Surfy is at least a nice addition, but browsers on WP seem to be at least 2-3 years behind what's on Android. Both IE and Surfy "feel" kind of like the built-in browser in Gingerbread (2.3) or maybe in the early days of Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) before Google started pushing Chrome as the default browser. Having relatively weak browser(s) is a problem because with the lack of apps at least I can use mobile websites..... when they don't simply crash out the IE tab/window/whatever since it's not a tabbed or windowed interface.
I'm also hoping that Pocket Casts will work correctly for me after their next update (currently it hangs if I turn on sync to pull in my podcasts, then dies on app startup), but I'll survive for a while. I'm also feeling the lack of good ebook readers, I've been spoiled by Cool Reader and Moon+ Reader Pro on the Android side.
The only things besides browsers that I'm really missing:
Things tied in with Google's ecosystem - I use Google Voice for my voicemail, I've been using Location History for a long time to help me track when I arrive at and leave customer locations, and there's a group of us that uses Google Hangouts for group chat. I can get Voice notifications in email with the transcriptions then listen to the messages via URL. The Location History bit I may be able to replace with Phone Tracker, but I'm not sure what to do about Hangouts yet.
Replacement keyboards! I've been a big Swiftkey user for years and would love to have it back even without the voice recognition link (which launches Google's service). I hate having to do 4-6 extra keystrokes to enter passwords because of the switches to get to numbers/punctuation and extended punctuation (via the numbers page). There are places where Hacker's Keyboard (a much more full keyboard nice for terminal emulations) was also nice to have.
A GOOD text editor (e.g. DroidEdit which has syntax highlighting, etc.) or really even an adequate text editor. Maybe a mediocre one? Please? I've seen mention of Code Editor but was unimpressed by the "Free" version (first thing it does is throw you to the store page for the paid version, free version can't even see the "advanced" editor that's the only reason to actually consider it). The only other option that at least looks good in screenshots ("HTML+JS+CSS IDE") hasn't been updated since 2013 and has a total of 3 reviews - and the two with text are both 1-star.
CallTrack (which adds all of my phone calls to my Google Calendar, tagged appropriately and with start and end times) and SMS Backup (which uploads my sent/received SMS to GMail, tagged appropriately). CallTrack is great for going back and "Who did I talk to that day?" and SMS Backup is great for tracking down things received in old messages. I WILL be working on finding replacements for these.
And a few less-important things that I can either do without or still need to find replacements for:
My auto mileage/service tracking app - if there's something comparable to aCar then I haven't seen it yet.
OpenVPN, though the VPN service I use allows IPSEC as well so I'll need to set that up.
Lyft, though I've not actually needed to use it. I know Uber's on there, I just like what I know of Lyft better (and there's one area where my wife may need it that's on the edge of the areas for both but Lyft covers it and Uber doesn't).
KeePass - I believe I saw one implementation in the Store, but I'd want to check into the background of it given the number of scam apps I've come across.
@fencepost: Good list of stuff, there. I don't really have a good solution to much of it - I mean, Microsoft has alternatives to a lot of Google's stuff, but they are mutually incompatible so everybody you hang out with would need to switch too - but those are some good problems to list. The problem with WiFi calling is probably a T-Mobile bug, sadly; I don't have it myself but WiFi Calling on WP8.x isn't really as good as it could be. My biggest personal complaint with WiFi is that the OS is too damn desperate to stay on (unusably weak) WiFi signals even when it has cellular data; if I'm actively using my phone when I leave the apartment (for example, checking a bus schedule) it's faster to manually disable WiFi than to rely on the phone to notice that the WiFi signal is much too weak to use and fail over to cellular. Ideally I'd be able to tell the phone to use cellular by *default* and only use WiFi for stuff that it can't get ont he WAN (LAN servers, etc.), but the OS wasn't really designed to provide an optimal experience for people with unlimited data plans.
The custom keyboard thing may be fixable soon - at least, I really hope so - but for now it is indeed a problem. WP8.1 has the best *built-in* keyboard of the three leading mobile OSes, IMO, but it's not better than all the Android options.
As for a text editor, I generally avoid writing anything longer than notes or minor document edits (or emails, but usually only plain text) on the phone, so I haven't really looked. You might be able to use SSH or Remote Desktop, though; there's a number of decent apps for each (including a MS-authored one for RDP) and with unlimited data they should work. You may even find them more useful than a local editor. It might be worth setting up a Remote App server (so you'd *just* get an editor, rather than a whole desktop) for this.
OpenVPN *should* be possible to port, but it needs a driver (TUN/TAP) and MS would need to approve or provide that even more than they would need to approve a new VPN app (which I think requires a capability not normally available to third-party devs). I'm tempted to say that they really *should* allow it, but I'm also painfully aware that OpenVPN on Windows (and, possibly, other platforms) is sort of crap. I can usually beat it into submission on a machine where I have admin, but on a phone it could simply just sit there being unusable until the phone gets rebooted or something.
WP8 in general seems to have a lower risk of scam apps than Android, but it's definitely a good idea to look into any password keeper utility's trustworthiness.
EDIT: As for browsers, as far as I know there's not actually any rule against third-party browsers. Opera Mini does exist for WP8, which is cool, but so far as I know nobody has ported a Gecko or WebKit/Blink-based browser. Ideally, somebody should fix this, although getting them to work within WP8's application model might mean rebuilding a lot of the browser as well as just porting the rendering engine.
Metalbuddhist said:
Where are these claims about Android apps to WP coming from? Isn't it still a rumour?
I can't seem to find any official substanciated news about this...
As I understand it MS currently have two problems regarding the app-gap;
1) if they open WP to Play-apps, then they risk losing interest from dev's to continue making apps specifically to WP, making WP more or less another version of Android.
2) making dev's keen on making apps for a third platform, which isn't futureproof yet (even tho it's been around for long enough). This "solution" will make WP it's own and keep MS in the mobilemarket as an real and actual alternative to the established platforms.
What is sure and what are rumours?
M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read an article on Flipboard some while ago that MS had ditched it because of Lack of security in Open-source and it wouldnt work directly from the file system.. only if they sideloaded Android apps. Why do we want android apps anyway.. It removes the love of WP. MS need to invest more money in their WP store to entice new devs.
Let ms make a toolkit for the android devs
A toolkit to one click port it to MS ecosystem
Then the threshold to port it would be lower and a real mony maker for the devs
Sent from my C6603 using XDA Free mobile app
NightOrchid said:
I read an article on Flipboard some while ago that MS had ditched it because of Lack of security in Open-source and it wouldnt work directly from the file system.. only if they sideloaded Android apps. Why do we want android apps anyway.. It removes the love of WP. MS need to invest more money in their WP store to entice new devs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want Android apps as such, but Android and IOS devs in the wp game.
I've had a lot of Apple and Andy devices the last eight years and have grown to like the variety of developers and want they put out for us.
WP is a good ecosystem, but the app gap is way bigger than I expected. There are just to many everyday apps I had on my other phones, which I cannot get in WP (yet).
I feel like I've walked into a grossery store and most of the shelfes are empty... I have to buy my oj and milk in another store, simply because MS can't get those dev's on board.
...And that's just a crying shame.
The 640 has a baked in WiFi calling feature rather than a separate app like almost every other Lumia device. I think it may be the only Lumia to have Wi-Fi calling baked into the SIM settings rather than running as a separate app.
Be careful if you are using any Google apps with it - Google is scared of Windows phone and they are doing everything they can to prevent app development. Any app they have taken over will never see another Windows phone release, and they are kind of crazy about it. For example Microsoft made their own YouTube app because Google wouldn't ,Google forced them to take it down. Now the YouTube app on the WP is just a link to YouTube - not because no one wants to make one for WP, but because Google won't let anyone make one.
---------- Post added at 08:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 PM ----------
I should add though - I have the 640 and it's awesome, extremely fast, well built, solid screen, expandable SD card slot, decent cameras for a phone and an ok flash. It's also neat the way the apps tie together with your windows 10 computer
NightOrchid said:
I read an article on Flipboard some while ago that MS had ditched it because of Lack of security in Open-source and it wouldnt work directly from the file system.. only if they sideloaded Android apps. Why do we want android apps anyway.. It removes the love of WP. MS need to invest more money in their WP store to entice new devs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried both Windows as well as Android Phone but everyone will agree that Android is anytime the best coz of features or benefits it has to offer. I used to be a Windows Mobile fan but now I love Android.
I would not switch to Windows again for now atleast