Moving from iPhone to Windows Phone

G-Money

Just wondering if anyone here has moved from using an iPhone to Windows Phone? I've got an iPhone 3GS that is getting slower by the day it seems and I'm planning an upgrade in a few months time. I had thought about buying the iPhone 5 but I might consider Windows Phone 8.

Anyone here moved from the iPhone to Windows Phone 7? If so, how did you find the experience? I've got some music and audiobook purchases from iTunes that I'm wondering if they will still work on the Windows phone? Have you any had trouble using your iTunes music library on your Windows phone?

Also, is Windows phone available with a capacity greater than 32GB?

Thanks!

PaulieC

you'd be as well to hold off until W8 phones start hitting the shelves in November. They will be significantly more advanced than the current WP7 phones currently on the market.
You should be able to import your iTunes music into Zune and sync to your phone from there. There will obviously be some initial time investment required to get your new phone up to the same state as your old one, but once you're there you'll be fine.
I find that iOS and WP7 OS are quite similar in the sense that they are both quite contained and do not let you do too much tinkering in the way that Android does. To me, they also make a lot more sense than Android and seem a lot more organized and easy to use, but maybe that's just because I haven't used Android enough.
The Nokia 920, just announced last week, is a lot more feature-laden than the new iPhone5 - bigger screen, higher res, NFC, wireless charging etc. I particularly like the NFC/Wireless charging and the possibilities there e.g. JBL launched a speaker dock at the same time that you just tap with your phone to connect and it will wirelessly charge your phone at the same time. That's pretty sweet

AltAccount

Do you use/buy a lot of apps? Have you checked your list of "can't live without" apps against those available for WP?

GUIGuy

Yup I moved from iPhone to WP7 (iPhone stolen) I'll likely get the Lumia 920.
In general usage its a far 'starker' experience... no eye candy whatsoever. And while that took a while to get used to I prefer it now. My wife has an iPhone and while the hardware is nicer than the Samsung omnia 7 I generally feel more connected and 'live' with windows phone. It's a more integrated person centric design rather than iOS which has lots of discrete applications. Its a fast os and has good integration with SkyDrive. I've had android phones too... and like iOS there's very little customisation.... just use it & stop tinkering!

I had an iTunes library and Zune imported it with no difficulty... 99.9% of my music is ripped from CDs I bought... only a few ablums purchased via iTunes itself. Was able to transfer those as well. But your mileage may vary. I'm not sure if you'll get blocked by iTunes DRM.

Greater than 32GB... dunno TBH. That's the largest I've seen but WP8 will have swapable expandable memory whereas WP7 supported expanable memory but it was not intended to be swapped/ejected at will.

Apps? The selection is not too bad... I don't care that the AppStore has 700,000 & WP7 only 150,000. Only a few hundred on either platform are worth considering and the 100's of others are fart apps.

IrishPhoenix

I have a Windows Phone and am actually thinking about going for an iphone. The apps for windows have been really bugging me. The marketplace doesn't have the same top apps that android and apple have. I've had the phone over a year, and when I bought it I hoped it it would get more apps but it really hasn't.

On the plus side, Windows has a sleek, easy to use interface.

KingOfFairview

I honestly cannot see why people need a range of more than the 100,000 apps that Windows Phone has. there's only 5 or 6 you'd ever use really anyhow.

I love my WP, and if you are going for one wait til the WP8s are out in late October.

wheresmybeaver

Another WP user here, I've had a HTC HD7 since WP7 launch almost 2 years ago. It's a grand phone even by todays standards, but my wife got a lumia 800 last Christmas and it's one of the best phones I've ever handled. I occasionally use an iPhone provided by work and it irritates me no end because I'm used to the live tiles on my HD7.

The app count is a non-issue. WP apps aren't like apps at all, more like extensions of the OS. All the big apps most people need are on there, or similar alternatives exist. The quality of most of these apps is great. I'm also looking forward to how Windows Phone 8 will integrate with Windows 8.

I'm 100% confident I'll be staying with Windows Phone when I upgrade this christmas, the only question is will it be a Nokia, Samsung or HTC. My money's on the Nokia due to the wireless charging. It's kind of remarkable that Apple had no interest in NFC for the iPhone 5, so that's another plus point for these new WP8 handsets in my opinion.

AltAccount

I'm a WP7 user too, and I'm not saying apps are everything - the major ones are all available.

I've just come across a lot of situations where an app I would have liked wasn't available for WP7, and I'd think it prudent to make sure all the apps you use regularly on iPhone are available.

The most recent example of this was when I was looking for the BBC iPlayer - only on iOS, not offered for Android or WP7.
Not a dealbreaker, just a frustration.

CyberGhost

You'll be making a big mistake, WP is HORRIBLE!

Monotonous, bland UI with overdone, long animations, everything is square, oversized text.

Just Awful. Who designed that garbage!?

Also there are no apps, unlike what some people tell you, NO, there are NO APPS.

Is there an adverts.ie app for WP? No.
Daft.ie? No.
Donedeal? No.
Carzone? No.
Dropbox? No.
PinDrop? No.
No groceries app that syncs with Dropbox. In fact VERY few apps that sync with Dropbox.
Soulver? No.
No video(DivX/XviD/MKV) players to stream video files over the network(OPlayer for iOS).

And the list just goes on and on...

Also, consider this, the same apps cost more for WP than for iOS and Android.

As for the OS itself, LOTS of functionality that is present in iOS and Android is absent from WP, maybe they'll add them to WP8 but yet agian, it's just going to be a catch up not a leap.

You cannot even seek in the music player, the lever will not move, you have to tap on the FF button and wait...

No good GPS applications, yes there is Nokia Maps but it is not as good as CoPilot, NAVIGON, TomTom or Sygic.

You want to tell me that this,



Looks better than this?



Look just how much more organized, cleaner and clearer iOS app looks. There is more information fit in there, more buttons(functionality) are immediately available. Information is MUCH easier to read, you can quickly glance and acquire the information, because the UI was designed by some intelligent people the colours, menus, everything helps you to quickly focus on the data.

In WP everything just blends into each other. It's not a great UI, it's not a functional UI.



If you still like WP and absolutely, positively do not need third party apps, I guess go for it, but otherwise do not.

fits

AltAccount wrote: »

I'm a WP7 user too, and I'm not saying apps are everything - the major ones are all available.

I've just come across a lot of situations where an app I would have liked wasn't available for WP7, and I'd think it prudent to make sure all the apps you use regularly on iPhone are available.

The most recent example of this was when I was looking for the BBC iPlayer - only on iOS, not offered for Android or WP7.
Not a dealbreaker, just a frustration.

This is true and I would imagine if you're used to having all these apps on the iphone that its frusstrating. I hope the situation will change as WP7 grows in popularity and it will. That lumia 920 is getting huge exposure the last few weeks and the crossover between phone and pc will appeal to many with WP8.

That said I have many lovely apps downloaded and I barely use them. The browser is so good that you rarely need to anyway.

I'm very happy with my WP7 and could not tolerate having to use itunes and actually dont like the iOS interface at all. I think it looks busy and dated. Each to their own though.

wheresmybeaver

Regarding cybertrolls comment, yes if you want to have to install an app for every single website that you visit then WP will disappoint. Most people use the mobile website, which usually provides better functionality.

The interface is essentially Marmite; you either like it or you don't. Its clean and minimal, which suits me and I think is more appropriate for small screens.

Most WP apps don't sync with dropbox because MS provides very easy SkyDrive syncing that works flawlessly. But there are SkyDrive apps if you want them.

WP isn't really for power users that are willing to put in the time to trick out their phone to do practically anything they can think of. Like iOS, there are limitations and you work with what you've got. But if you want an intuitive and *practical* phone then Windows Phone is a good choice. If you can find someone IRL who already has one you can try it out for a few hours yourself and make your mind up.

mcgovern

I went from a 3GS to a Omnia 7 a year or so ago. I much prefer the WP OS, but the lack of apps is a killer.
Guy in work went from a 3GS to Lumia 800 a month or two ago, and he now hates WP with a passion.

So, as others have said, you'll either like it or love, so maybe play around with it for awhile on a friends phone if you can, before deciding.

sean72

I'm really looking to move from iOS. I still like apple though and have many of their products.

I am doing my research hence coming across this thread and I have to comment that the app's are a big issue. Even those that are there seem to have very poor support and are rated poorly by users. Very simple things like accessing youtube, news readers, running apps all seem hard to come by and were things I took for granted on my iphone.

I'm almost sure I will be moving to another OS and the Nokia LUmia 920 had me sold however even though I don't want to have over 500,000 apps the ones I do use I want them to work and be well supported.

Am I wrong???

AntiVirus

sean72 wrote: »

I'm really looking to move from iOS. I still like apple though and have many of their products.

I am doing my research hence coming across this thread and I have to comment that the app's are a big issue. Even those that are there seem to have very poor support and are rated poorly by users. Very simple things like accessing youtube, news readers, running apps all seem hard to come by and were things I took for granted on my iphone.

I'm almost sure I will be moving to another OS and the Nokia LUmia 920 had me sold however even though I don't want to have over 500,000 apps the ones I do use I want them to work and be well supported.

Am I wrong???

Most good apps are rated very highly on the Windows phone as most poor apps are rated poorly on the Windows phone, you'll find this is the case for all OS's, iPhone included. The iPhone will have a lot more apps but you do have to look at how fast Windows Phone got to 100,000 apps to see that there is plenty of interest in development. I do see Windows Phones app count increasing at an even quicker rate with the release of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.

Accessing youtube is very easy on the Windows Phone, there's plenty of good apps to do this my favourite being Metro Tube. Rated 4.5 out of 5

Loads of running apps are available too, Endomondo and Runtastic would be the heighest rated both scoring 4.5/5

As for news readers I use Weave, its fast and easy to use. If you're looking for something with more eye candy you may prefer something like Fuse. Both of these apps score 4/5.

What you should do is check out to see if your "must have apps" are available on Windows Phone platform and if not is there an alternative that you like. The best place to do this is here: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store

Also when you do find the app or an alternative, check it out on youtube to see if you like the interface and wait for the reviews to come out for Windows Phone 8 next month.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jsLcPFlM9M

sean72

Thanks for that its offered me some reassurance. I guess the apps I looked at Facebook, whatsapp and youtube seem to be poorly rated. Whatsapp in particular I am worried about as it will be my only means of inter-phone messaging between me and my family. Nearly every one I know has an iphone. Has anyone experience of whatsapp on windows mobile.............

The nokia 920 looks amazing!!!!!

fits

For facebook I either use the People app or go through the browser in preference to the facebook app. I probably use the browser most and it is absolutely fine actually.

I started downloading whatsapp last weekend, must finish doing that now actually as I want to try it out.

Youtube works perfectly fine on the browser as well.

Does anyone use spotify on their phone? I have access to it now and am wondering what its like with a premium account on the phone.

AntiVirus

sean72 wrote: »

Thanks for that its offered me some reassurance. I guess the apps I looked at Facebook, whatsapp and youtube seem to be poorly rated. Whatsapp in particular I am worried about as it will be my only means of inter-phone messaging between me and my family

I don't use Whatsapp so I can't comment on it, maybe some else can??

When the first version of Facebook came out it was missing some features but its been updated a few times now and works/looks really great now. Also its integrated into the phone very well and the facebook chat integration works really well. Wait for the reviews of Windows Phone 8 to come out as not only will Skype be fully integrated into the phone but some other new ones will be to, maybe even Whatsapp...

wheresmybeaver

Whatsapp works fine, it has a live tile and you get popup notifications (like your regular messages) when something comes in. Mostly use it for international messaging. Never used the android or iPhone app so I can't compare, but generally it looks the part and works fine!

Queerdub

sean72 wrote: »

Thanks for that its offered me some reassurance. I guess the apps I looked at Facebook, whatsapp and youtube seem to be poorly rated. Whatsapp in particular I am worried about as it will be my only means of inter-phone messaging between me and my family. Nearly every one I know has an iphone. Has anyone experience of whatsapp on windows mobile.............

The nokia 920 looks amazing!!!!!

Hi there, Whatsapp on Windows Phone is not that great at the moment (it has all the features, just is a tad slow), I expect that it will be a lot better on WP8, and even more so on the Lumia 920 given that Nokia are ensuring an exclusive version for the Lumias.

TerrorFirmer

I like my Omnia 7 in some ways - the interface is good and clean, but going against what others have said, I've found that a huge amount of great apps available for iOS or Android just don't exist on WP, it's quite irritating.

Also, what is with the appalling quality of the facebook app - that's not limited to WP, it's the same on iOS, it's just so clunky and slow - hate it. I actually find using Facebook on my old N95 faster and easier.

BostonB

TBH I find the Facebook client on most Android phones brutally slow, I use the website instead and its much faster.

sean72

Queerdub wrote: »

I expect that it will be a lot better on WP8, and even more so on the Lumia 920 given that Nokia are ensuring an exclusive version for the Lumias.

Hadn't heard about the exclusive whatsapp on the Lumia that does sound promising. Its OK on iOS.

Facebook on iOS is very snappy since the last update it had a major update just 3-4 weeks ago.

Still thinking??????????

stevenmu

Nokia have a similar thing for Viber. The current Viber app isn't great, but I'm hoping the Lumia one will be a lot better.