I’m lucky. My financial situation allows me to buy several phones and tablets every year to keep up with the goings-on of all the major – and some of the minor – platforms currently competing for prime real estate in your precious pockets. It also means that I am lucky from a psychological point of view – by being able to buy several devices every year, I never fall into the all-too-common trap of choice-supportive bias. I don’t have to rationalise my device purchases after the fact, so I won’t have to employ all sorts of mental gymnastics to solve any states of cognitive dissonance caused by hardware and software flaws – the number one cause of irrational fanboyism.
And so, I try to rotate my phone of choice around as much as possible. I enjoy jumping from Android to my N9, then onwards to Sailfish, back to Android, and then have some fun with Symbian on my E7 – and beyond. I’ve got a long list of platforms I want to add to the collection – one white BlackBerry Passport please – but in general, I’m pretty well-rounded.
Usually, after using a platform for a while, I run into some issues that eventually push me to make another jump. The more obscure and/or outdated the platform, the more serious or pervasive these issues tend to be. Symbian, for instance, can be fun for a few days, but the lack of a good browser and the regular performance issues quickly become tiring. Harmattan on the N9 is probably the most intuitive platform to use – in theory, because in practice, the underpowered N9 makes everything laggy, stuttering, and slow. Sailfish is also a joy to use, but there are like three proper 3rd party applications and that’s that (but Sailfish’ state is a story for another time).
For the two big platforms, the issues tend to be more subtle or philosophical – and thus, far more subjective. I bought an iPhone 5S on release day late last year, but after a few weeks, the tiny screen, the inability for applications to communicate, the horrid iOS7 user interface, and a few other things (most notably: you cannot make your iPhone your iPhone) started to work on my nerves so much I decided to give it away to my father (a €700-800 device is too expensive to collect dust in a drawer – it needs to be used, hence I gave it away). These are personal preferences, however; I know many, many people see these as strong points instead.
On the flip side, iOS and the 5S also had many things to offer I haven’t yet found in any other platforms. The feel of the 5S’ hardware is unparalleled, the operating system is smoother and more responsive than its competition, and it’s far easier to find genuinely good, high-quality applications.
Android also has its share of subtle, philosophical issues. User interface performance and responsiveness still isn’t up to par – especially not when compared to iOS and Windows Phone. Unless you buy Nexus, you’ll most likely have to jump through hoops to have an up-to-date operating system. Your Android phone most likely came with a bunch of crap you couldn’t uninstall. Lastly, the quality of mainstream applications lags behind iOS. These issues, too, tend to be personal preferences; most people won’t be bothered by an occasional hiccup in scrolling, and the fact that you even can switch ROMs is a strong point to many. I’ve also heard many, many people who actually like the additional “crap” HTC and Samsung put on their devices.
Of course, Android also has a lot to offer that competing platforms do not. I already mentioned the whole ROM thing, but even with stock ROMs it’s so easy to make your Android phone your Android phone. I lost count of how many times my friends accidentally mixed up their iPhones, because aside from wallpaper, there’s really no way to take ownership of your iPhone. The choice in hardware is also a major plus for Android, as is its wide price range.
Then there’s Windows Phone. It always kind of dangled somewhere between the obscure and minority platforms on the one side, and the two major platforms on the other. It was clearly more complete, modern, and well-rounded than, say, Sailfish or Harmattan, but at the same time, it lacked certain features and had some pervasively annoying issues that kept it from being on par with iOS and Android.
This past week or so, I dusted off my HTC 8X, and decided to dive into Windows Phone once more. It’s running the Windows Phone 8.1 preview – which is more or less the final version by now – and as time progressed, I started noticing something: I wasn’t noticing the platform’s traditional shortcomings anymore. It’s still a bit too early to tell, but my gut is telling me that with the 8.1 update, Windows Phone may actually be mature enough to firmly join the ranks of Android and iOS.
One of my biggest issues with Windows Phone from day one was the slow loading of applications. Whether it be the infuriating “Resuming…”-screen or just slow loading in general, it was a consistent and pervasive hiccup every single time you opened or switched to an application. With the 8.1 update, however, I’m finally seeing most applications open instantly, and even when you do see the “Resuming…”-screen, it’s only for a second, instead of anywhere between five and ten seconds. It’s still not up to par with the competition, but it’s gotten to a point where it doesn’t really bother me any more. It will most likely be even less of an issue on a modern Lumia (my HTC Windows Phone 8X by HTC is, after all, a few generations old).
I can’t stress just how much this contributes to that gut feeling I mentioned earlier. Slow loading applications on a modern smartphone are dealbreakers; as Palm already discovered way back in the ’90s, pocket computing competes with paper, and needs to be instant. Up until very recently, Windows Phone was anything but.
A second major improvement is the arrival of the notification centre. Microsoft originally intended for live tiles to take care of notifications, but this system never really worked very well. Tiles would often refuse to update, so either they would not show notifications you actually received, or they would show notifications you already dealt with days ago. If you missed the little banner notification as it arrived, you would then be left to your own devices to figure out what the notification was for, a search mission made worse by the non-updating tiles. If the notification belonged to an application without a tile on your homescreen – it would be lost forever.
The notification centre – which is a one-to-one copy of the one found on Android – fixes all of these issues in one fell swoop. Notifications are now properly collected in a single location, which is great for all the reasons Android users (and now iOS users as well) are already familiar with.
Thirdly, third party applications have improved by leaps and bounds in the past year or so. Many have received visual overhauls and performance improvements, making them much more pleasurable to use, with less stutter and waiting. Many also stopped trying to force the Windows Phone panorama layout in places where it doesn’t make sense, which makes them a little less exotic, sure – but also a lot more usable. The rate of improvement has also increased sharply; previously, I would be happy to receive application updates once per month, but lately, I’ve been getting updates on a daily basis.
The last point I want to touch upon is something Microsoft has been working on for longer than just Windows Phone 8.1 alone: personalisation. With the additional tile sizes and the ability to set a Start screen background, it’s much easier to make your Windows Phone phone (ugh) your phone. It’s still much closer to iOS levels of non-customisability than to Android’s free-for-all, but it’s a big improvement over the few preset colours schemes and only two huge tile sizes of yore. My 8X is much more personal now – you won’t mistake it for being anything but my phone.
There are still problems, of course. Windows Phone still seems to have issues with networking performance, where, say, reloading feeds or updating a reddit page in a reddit application takes far, far longer than it should. I’ve been having issues with this on several Windows Phone devices (on countless networks, both 3G and WiFi), but I do have to admit they’ve all been older devices like my 8X. Modern Lumia devices may fix this issue. I’m sure another issue is related to this: Windows Phone won’t connect to a new wireless network until you unlock it (say, when you go from your own house to a friend’s house).
Then there’s the issue of notifications always coming in a little later, or on rare occasions, not at all. This can be quite annoying during business hours, as you get this uneasy urge to manually update your email to make sure you haven’t missed any important ones. Related: whereas iOS and Android have no issues receiving mail over 2G connections (my town doesn’t have 3G…), Windows Phone (like the minority platforms) often refuses to receive email while on 2G.
No platform is perfect, though, but overall I have to say that with Windows Phone 8.1, it seems that Microsoft finally has all its ducks in a row when it comes to smartphones. I’m no longer frustrated while using the platform, I no longer long for an Android device – I’m actually perfectly satisfied using my 8X with 8.1. At this point, I really think we have three major platforms – not two.
Whether or not this will translate into real-world sales figures, I don’t know. I sure do hope so, because two really isn’t much better than one.
Looks very interesting, and it’s made me want a BB device for the first time ever.
I have the same feeling about Windows Phone 8.1. With 8 I had lots of complaints and missing features. Black made it somewhat better, Cyan/8.1 puts it on par with the other big 2. Thank you Android for teaching the world how to do notifications.
I never had the “live tiles not updating reliably”. And notifications (for email/facebook/whatsapp/Lync) come in on my phone before my laptop at work. I use Wifi for that though, no 2G/3G/4G at all.
I also never had a problem with my Wifi (after coming home from work) not connecting while I had my phone locked. I lock it as soon as I am not using it and it always connects to everything automatically (Wifi at work, bluetooth in the car, Wifi at home). I do notice that “http-updates” take a while but only in the FaceBook app. Pure throughput is never a problem though
I had this issue on the HTC Arrive running 7.5, but the upgrade to 7.8 fixed it. I’ve not had that issue on the WP8 phones I’ve used.
I’ve never really understood the complaints about WP being slow. Maybe the issues are just a few particular models — and interestingly not even the cheaper ones!
I have had two sub-$200 Windows Phones and three sub-$200 Android phones and the performance difference is huge. In my experience Windows Phone is *way* faster and more responsive than Android. Sure – I have seen a few applications sit on “resuming…” (not sure why resuming is slower than starting from scratch) for a few seconds but by and large the experience is still more than satisfactory in terms of speed and responsiveness.
I think people have different definitions of slow. For example, some people will grab a phone, fire up a web browser, load up something like The Verge (a site that doesn’t even run smoothly on my desktop), scroll up and down as rapidly as they can, and if there’s even a HINT of a stutter, they’re like, ‘Ewwwwwwwwwww…. this thing is a LAG fest!!!’ Me, I’m not nearly that picky. I doubt you are either
I tried a few (very) low end Android phones at shop today. They were all quite smooth and responsive. Then again I wasn’t silly enough to try to perform half a dozen tasks simultaneously.
If you can’t wait 0.5 seconds for something to occur you need to learn some relaxation techniques rather than buying a new phone.
Thom, I remember you talking about 2G issues on your Windows Phone previously. I still think it’s a carrier provisioning issue that’s specific to the platform, as none of the three Windows Phones I’ve used ever suffered from this issue, and at work I am lucky to get as much as a 2G signal from any carrier. I’ve used an HTC Arrive, Nokia Lumia 521, and now an HTC 8XT. The HTCs are on Sprint’s network via an MVNO, and the Lumia was on a T-Mobile MVNO.
I have three desks at work, one for each job function I serve, and one of them is right in the middle of the warehouse, just out of range of our wifi access points. Before I got around to rearranging the access points for better coverage, I was limited to a spotty 2G signal on my phone (I had to turn off wifi if I was spending any amount of time at that desk, or the phone’s battery would suffer from trying to stay connected to it). Yet, I was still getting emails, Skype messages, texts, and every other kind of data as it came in.
The reason I say it may be a provisioning issue (and I know you aren’t on CDMA but bear with me) is that when I moved to the HTC 8XT this year, I had to have my carrier reprovision it several times before data and MMS would work. I never had to do this with Android phones on this carrier, and they acknowledged that Windows Phone radio settings are a different animal compared to any other kind of phone.
It might be worth your time to call your carrier and discuss, if you haven’t already.
Edited 2014-07-25 13:29 UTC
So I guess this is OSBragging
Boring day under the troll bridge? At least you’re consistent:
Hold on. While I might not agree with the tenor if that comment, I do think it brings up a valid point.
Thom’s post wasn’t written in the same voice as a normal OSNews post, nor is it really a news story. It is a description of Thom’s device philosophy — and that apparently he wants a BB Passport.
Which is fine as a topic, but I personally think this post of Thom’s falls short in its execution.
It may or may not be a valid point…but tacks is showing a pattern of abusive, negative commenting. I just wanted to point that out.
I think tack was just pointing out that you spend waaaay too much time on OSNews commenting.
Is there a 12 step program? Or do you recommend going cold turkey?
Well, without context, if the first one was true I would say it was a serious issue and worth pointing out. Perhaps a milder tone would have been better, but without knowing what it was about I can’t say.
But if you really consider him a troll, isn’t it better to just not engage and let his/her words speak for themselves?
Well, obviously he is enough of one that his account got suspended and a reply he made to me was deleted before I could even read it. It’s very rare to get suspended here. I have no sympathy for him.
That is fine, but again what is the point of engaging? If someone is truly a troll then engaging only encourages them, then you are only encouraging them.
I appreciate your point of view, and I don’t always engage trolls. If I feel I can steer the conversation back towards sanity, or in this case, if I can point out blatant abuse, I will. Sometimes it works, sometimes it backfires. In this case (even though it wasn’t my intent, nor did it even cross my mind) the troll got suspended. Other times, I might make a fool of myself by causing an off-topic argument with someone who wants just that. But hey, that’s my mistake to make or not, right?
I got my first Windows Phone just before the Black Update and that update and 8.1 fixed and added allmost everything I can imagine. So what is actually still missing or broken after getting 8.1?
* Sane ordering in “All Settings”. I have no idea why everything in “All Settings” is not searchable or sorted by alphabet or recent use. They should make it just like the app list
* More Cortana! Make it available in Here Drive, then all built in apps, then all languages
* Fingerprintscanner/TouchID (requires hardware, or a major update to “doubletap to unlock”)
* Work/Private mode (including selective wipe)
* A better way of managing/sorting the pictures on the phone and OneDrive. I want some way to say “I moved/deleted these 200 pictures on my phone, now do the same online”
* Videopodcast stutter after a while of playback. Other videos are fine and audiopodcasts are also fine
* I am assuming that people still miss a “Folders” feature and some important apps
I’d love to hear that story.
Thom,
The biggest complaint I have with Windows Phone is the decision that the wifi is not “on” when in stand by. That means if I turn the phone on, unlock, and open an app quickly, I have to sit and wait for the sliding dots on the screen to show that it had (a) turned on radios, (b) connected to network, (c) finally connected to the service I was trying to connect to, and (d) get the data needed to update the display.
I, too, jump around environments quite a bit. I’ve come to the point where I end up using an HTC One (M7) for a phone (though I’m thinking about the LG G3 now) and an iPad Mini for a tablet. I have several phones and tablets, but these are the two I find I really like using the most.
I have had a couple of windows phones, and I really liked several things in Windows Phone 7 and 8. For one, in the car with bluetooth connected to the car’s stereo, Windows Phone has had the best hands-free AND eyes-free integration. Get a text message and it opens audio to the car and you can have it read the message, you can reply to the message, etc. All via voice. And it works better than the comparable features I’ve used o other devices. The HTC One’s car mode gets -close-, but the feature only works on media integration, not phone headset, so if you’re listening to the radio it doesn’t work, and the voice recognition isn’t as accurate in a noisy car (in my experience).
If only it weren’t for that lagged network connection. That’s the death knell on Windows Phone for me, and why I can’t stick with it for more than a couple of days when i switch back.
So, does WP 8.1 fix -that- problem? I’d be willing to take another hard look if they did.
Edited 2014-07-25 17:45 UTC
You probably have to check the box that says ‘keep wifi connected’ under wifi settings.
I haven’t had those issues you mentioned on my WP.
I absolutely love this feature. It works fairly well in WP7.8, but it works flawlessly in WP8.
As for your wifi issue, as long as you have it set to keep wifi on when the screen is locked it should stay connected; mine does. The relevant setting is in Settings > Wi-Fi > advanced:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4074189/WP/wp_ss_20140726_0001.p…
I never had this problem, but I also never saw that box. I just checked on my 1020 with 8.1 (no Cyan yet) and it isn’t there. I guess it is hardware dependent?
It may very well be, though I do recall seeing it on my Lumia 521. It may even be a regional thing; the 8.1 release was very fragmented by region, with North America getting it last, and my device in particular won’t see it for a while yet. I’m on 8.0 GDR3 at the moment, and that is only because I am in the Developer Preview program; without it I’d be about four updates behind.
You ABSOLUTELY can make an iPhone your iPhone. There are MANY articles out there telling you how to you crack your iPhone and use apps that won’t make it past Apple’s stringent yet protective guidelines.
I understand where you are coming from. I _used_ to love to do this with OSs but eventually I got burned out on hacking/cracking/slacking them. My favorite was OS/2 where I was able to get Windows ’95 running as an app on it and back in the days before high speed internet, through the use of custom serial port board, it was possible to use eight 56k modems to act as one modem and STILL run spreadsheets and other program while you copied things from one computer to another. As for where I had eight phone lines? I worked for a company with lots of desks near each other and had a bunch of modems we hadn’t rolled out.
PS: Both of these I was only able to do because I got valuable help from people on IBM’s message boards. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have to figure quite a few things out on my own too.
Due to me being burned out the choice for me clearly was an iPhone. Android phones, and I use multiple OSs including Linux and Macs and support Windows at work so I’m not technically capable, Android just has too many things that bug the hell out of me to use it for anything other than moments a week.
Edited 2014-07-25 18:27 UTC
You really managed to run Windows 95 within OS/2? It appears there are some fundamental issues which prevent Windows 95 from running with another DPMI host, so I really wonder about it.
“I’m lucky. My financial situation allows me to buy several phones and tablets every year to keep up with the goings-on of all the major – and some of the minor – platforms currently competing for prime real estate in your precious pockets.”
Environment isn’t all that happy with you, you know. Yeah, buy more, waste more resources. You’ll receive a medal for participating in destroying of our NATURAL HABITAT.
Other than that – consumptionism. To be, or to have … ? that is a question. Seemingly, you’ve chosen the latter. Not very wise, to say the least.
Thom: “…started to work on my nerves so much I decided to give it away to my father (a €700-800 device is too expensive to collect dust in a drawer – it needs to be used, hence I gave it away)”
He could have just bought his dad a new phone, but he gave him one instead. I remember reading in the past how he has swapped with/given devices to his other family members. I do the same thing; my best friend and I trade devices with each other so much my wife thinks we could make a drinking game out of it, if we drank. I have a Pebble smartwatch I don’t use anymore, that I got from said friend when he upgraded. He could have just tossed it in the trash but he gave it to me. I could just toss it in the trash, but instead I’ll end up passing it on to someone else so they don’t have to buy a new one.
You’re right, there is entirely too much waste going on in the world, especially when it comes to technology and gadgets. But I think you should read an entire article before firing off both barrels at the first paragraph.
Considering I work from home, in a tiny country where everything is close by and I barely have to use my car at all, I think my contribution to “destroying of our NATURAL HABITAT” is exceptionally minimal when compared to just about everyone else in the western world.
On top of that, I live in The Netherlands. There’s nothing natural about the land my house is built on in the first place, because my ancestors BUILT this land from the sea.
But you still can’t get a fully supported hardware for the review of RISC OS? ;p
I strongly dislike smatphones as a whole. So i hsve opted out.
It takes not only a good OS and set of apps but also a sizable market share to be a major platform. If WP is a major platform, why not Jolla or especially Ubuntu phone. In my opinion the later is much more headed for the future, with the integration of smartphones and desktop experience. http://www.ubuntu.com/phone/operators-and-oems
Well, as awesome as Jolla seems to be, it’s a niche device that’s only available in a few countries right now. It may become a big player one day, but that day is far off.
As for Ubuntu, it technically doesn’t even exist yet as a phone OS. The only way to even use it is to install a demo version on one of about three compatible Nexus devices, one of which isn’t even a phone. Even when you do that, it’s stuck in demo mode with no actual functionality.
If anything, the fourth contender will be Blackberry, assuming they are able to stage a comeback with their new product line. I hope they can, but I don’t see it happening.