Windows Phone UX, oh how I miss thee!

[Thuleman]

Two months into using my S5 I had to boot up my old Lumia 900 to check whether I got all the data off of it and wow, what a pleasant experience that was.

Homogeneous presentation on the start screen, tight tile grouping with no wasted space a la S5, responsive UI, just a pleasure to use.

I don't think I'd say this, but I miss the Windows Phone UX. Android on the S5 annoys the heck out of me with all the redundant shit apps on there, five different versions for the same thing, tiny icons with gigantic margins, shit calendar apps compared to the Windows Phone default calendar, shit weather app that takes over either 4x2 or 4x1 but no way to make it into a 2x2, etc. etc. etc., slapped together mediocrity.

If only Windows Phone had the apps I need, alas it doesn't and it doesn't look like there's a lot of movement from companies to provide WP apps. That just makes me a sad panda.

 

[Grebuloner]

I am with you 100%. My own 900, which had its share of all the common hardware issues throughout its life, died out of warranty, before cheap upgrade and 3 months from new WP handset releases. The only decent (and reliable) smartphone I could get for cheap was a GS4. It's a great phone and there are some things I like about Android, but I miss that one customizable main screen and the quick scroll list of all apps to the side.

I never really had any missing needed apps like you do (though Samsung's built-in IR remote is amazing), so we'll see what they can do with it in the next year and a half when I have the chance to switch back.

 

[PCunicorn]

Now, it probably won't have all the apps you need, but just in case, you should see if WP8 has all the apps you need. There are a ton more popular apps on WP8 over 7.

 

[T4rd]

Don't see why you would have rather dealt with all the S5 bloat and crappy TW UI over the One M8 with a small display overlap. Things like this make me glad I chose the M8 over the S5.

 

[harmattan]

Concur totally. I'd go back to a Windows Phone in a second if:

a) they had better, quicker-to-market hardware with more competition

b) wider availability of applications also available on Android. I "can't" get a Windows phone unless a couple primary applications work

 

[Thuleman]

Don't see why you would have rather dealt with all the S5 bloat and crappy TW UI over the One M8 with a small display overlap. Things like this make me glad I chose the M8 over the S5.

I did initially pick the M8, but this: HTC One M8 screen not seamless with chassis put an end to my choice rather quickly.

b) wider availability of applications also available on Android. I "can't" get a Windows phone unless a couple primary applications work

Yeah same here, I can do without many of the Android apps I installed since I barely use them, but there are a few I just can't do without (IPsec VPN (Cisco AnyConnect), Wyse PocketCloud, EAP-TLS wifi (though I hear that this may have been fixed by now)).

Microsoft does a better job with the UX and while I don't know whether rooted custom ROM Androids would deliver a better UX my S5 with all the crap on it blows for UX. I am stuck with it till next May. Hopefully WP8 will have at least IPsec and EAP-TLS by then, I may be able to put up with some PocketCloud alternative.

 

[T4rd]

I did initially pick the M8, but this: HTC One M8 screen not seamless with chassis put an end to my choice rather quickly.

Yeah, that's what I was alluding to in my post with the "display overlap". I remembered that and think it was a pretty minor thing and no way worth taking an S5 over it because of that. Might not be so bad now though since a root exploit was finally found for the S5, but I knew that would happen eventually and still figured the One M8 would be the better phone overall despite the worse display (I love and miss AMOLED) and non-removable battery. I'm pretty sure I made the right decision so far.

 

[Digital Viper-X-]

I've been looking for an RM-938 ( Lumia 1520 with AWS support) for months now, they are so pricey :< but damn it's a nice phablet