Some questions for Windows phone users

The_Librarian said:
Not good.

So scratch this phone then.
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?

Why would that be an issue?

I must be missing out on something but the only time I plug in my phone is if I want to copy a movie across (twice in the last year). The rest is wireless all the way.

Now i'm concerned i'm missing out on something...
 
Plugging in to charge phone from a PC is all good and well, but it opens an attack vector.

In my experience, if you can't control it, you risk spreading the infection to other devices.

Happened before, will happen again.
 
The_Librarian said:
Plugging in to charge phone from a PC is all good and well, but it opens an attack vector.

In my experience, if you can't control it, you risk spreading the infection to other devices.

Happened before, will happen again.
Click to expand...

Surely there is an option to turn off mass storage on the phone?
That way it wouldnt be a problem.
 
The_Librarian said:
Plugging in to charge phone from a PC is all good and well, but it opens an attack vector.

In my experience, if you can't control it, you risk spreading the infection to other devices.

Happened before, will happen again.
Click to expand...

The phone doesn't install as a removable drive, it installs as a device, no Autorun there :)
 
The_Librarian said:
Not good.
Click to expand...

Don't get caught in the Android/iPhone way of looking at things.

The Windows OS is very much a user-centric OS. Instead of searching for icons and apps loaded somewhere on multiple screens, you can configure your start screen exactly how you want it, with the important info displayed right there.

The OS is different and requires a slightly different way of looking at things. After a week or so (and WP8.1), you'll wonder why anybody still uses the other phones.

No need for anti-virus software or other funny stuff invading your phone just because you hooked up to the laptop. WP may not have all the official apps, but there are plenty of good substitutes, often better than the official apps.
 
I would strongly urge that anyone wanting to switch to a windows phone waits to see how the WP8.1 works out. I found WP8 very frustrating

- no vpn, a showstopper for me
- bad imap handling, every imap folder has to be separately sync'd
- no central notifications, so when you get a message/alert you have to check every app if you miss the screen popup
- live tiles that don't update
- confusing central contact list combined with absolutely all social media
- can only keep 4 apps active in the background
- many apps not fully featured i.e. Facebook a lot of the functionality used to popup the web browser, may have improved since
- one volume control for everything, if you turn down music volume your ringtone volume goes down
- all apps vertically arranged on two screens - either on the tiled main page or in a list of everything so your thumb gets serious exercise scrolling up and down through long lists all day

Supposedly, the update fixes most of these, but it is MS so I'll wait and see if it delivers before dusting off my Lumia that's been sitting in a drawer for a year.

Having said that the Lumia hardware itself is IMHO very good. Couldn't fault the camera and the screen is very good.
 
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I'm going to address garp's concerns inline in the quote in RED

garp said:
I would strongly urge that anyone wanting to switch to a windows phone waits to see how the WP8.1 works out. I found WP8 very frustrating

- no vpn, a showstopper for me - Confirmed in WP8.1
- bad imap handling, every imap folder has to be separately sync'd - Can you clarify this? Not sure I understand completely what you mean by separately sync'd?
- no central notifications, so when you get a message/alert you have to check every app if you miss the screen popup - Confirmed in WP8.1, also that what the live tiles are there for, they show when the app has a waiting notifications
- live tiles that don't update - Either the app doesn't have a live tile or you blocked it from running in the background
- confusing central contact list combined with absolutely all social media - Can be filtered
- can only keep 4 apps active in the background - Actually that would be 8 and even then it shouldn't be an issue as most apps open instantaneously
- many apps not fully featured i.e. Facebook a lot of the functionality used to popup the web browser, may have improved since - The app ecosystem has improved tremendously over the last year, the Facebook app has received a major overhaul
- one volume control for everything, if you turn down music volume your ringtone volume goes down - Separate controls in WP8.1
- all apps vertically arranged on two screens - either on the tiled main page or in a list of everything so your thumb gets serious exercise scrolling up and down through long lists all day - The tiles you only pin what you need/want, the full app list you can jump to any letter by tapping on a letter and then on the letter where you want to go.

Supposedly, the update fixes most of these, but it is MS so I'll wait and see if it delivers before dusting off my Lumia that's been sitting in a drawer for a year.

Having said that the Lumia hardware itself is IMHO very good. Couldn't fault the camera and the screen is very good.
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Also WP8.1 will be available for ALL WP8 devices in the next week to anyone that registers a free App Studio account, no waiting for operators to release it or lower end devices being abandoned by manufacturers and not receiving the latest updates any more.

MS has promised to deliver updates to all devices for at least 36 months after it's been launched before dropping support for that device.
 
Valid points raised.
Each to his own.

1. VPN on the way. Yay. I need it too, but it's not a showstopper for me. NTH.
2. IMAP. Don't use it. EAS.
3. I've never missed central notifications, tbh. Toasts and live tiles do all I need. Yes, people ask for it, but in my view that's a hangover from the antique app-centric world. It takes a conscious decision to change (I still open a CMD prompt to do many file/folder/disk ops, so I can sympathise).
4. Apps like Facebook. Don't need 'em, but they're there.
5. One volume control. Frustrated me at first. Now I prefer it. When I want volume low, I want all volume low, etc.
6. Group apps into user-defined tile-folders with Nokia's App Folder. No problemo.
 
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The killer feature for me on Android is all my gmail, multiple google calendars, Google contacts flawlessly and transparently synced all the time.

What sync options does WP8/8.1 have for these?
 
brucem said:
The killer feature for me on Android is all my gmail, multiple google calendars, Google contacts flawlessly and transparently synced all the time.

What sync options does WP8/8.1 have for these?
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Google killed EAS support for new users for syncing to Gmail accounts back in December, happily MS has included the necessary features required to get this back in 8.1, everything you mentioned will be synced to the phone.

WP has built in functionality to sync Microsoft Account, Outlook.com, Exchange, Office 365, Hotmail, Nokia Mail, Nokia Account, Yahoo Mail, Google account, IBM Notes Traveller, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Sina Weibo and POP/IMAP accounts
 
Ah, I'm using a Lumia 625. I still don't have Lumia Black.

I hear Cyan is on the way.

Does anyone have an explanation for what the hold up on Black for the 625 is?
 
McCrazieGoalz said:
Ah, I'm using a Lumia 625. I still don't have Lumia Black.

I hear Cyan is on the way.

Does anyone have an explanation for what the hold up on Black for the 625 is?
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Which ever network you bought it from hasn't made the update available yet.
 
grim said:
Which ever network you bought it from hasn't made the update available yet.
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Its a country variant.

I bought it just as a phone with no sim card - some lekker unusual deal from Autopage.

But, I see Vodacom is the only network in the world who still haven't released the update to their phones so I'm assuming the Vodacom variant is also the country variant since the country variant hasn't been released too.

Frustrated :mad:

Okay, there's a few other places it hasn't been released, but I can't take the suspense.

What's holding it up?

Somebody?

Anybody?
 
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grim said:
Google killed EAS support for new users for syncing to Gmail accounts back in December, happily MS has included the necessary features required to get this back in 8.1, everything you mentioned will be synced to the phone.

WP has built in functionality to sync Microsoft Account, Outlook.com, Exchange, Office 365, Hotmail, Nokia Mail, Nokia Account, Yahoo Mail, Google account, IBM Notes Traveller, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Sina Weibo and POP/IMAP accounts
Click to expand...

Anyone able to confirm real world functionality of Google calendar and contacts when they get 8.1?
 
Another windows phone question:

Last time I tried a windows phone with Whatsapp I am unable to select call contact from within a Whatsapp chat.

Have the changed this yet as this is one of the only reasons I still have an Android phone.

Its so easy when getting a message on Whatsapp and if you don't have time to type just select "call contact" from within the chat and dial the person. With a windows phone I had to exit Whatsapp, go to contacts, search for contact and then call the contact.
 
DigitalSoldier said:
Another windows phone question:



Last time I tried a windows phone with Whatsapp I am unable to select call contact from within a Whatsapp chat.



Have the changed this yet as this is one of the only reasons I still have an Android phone.



Its so easy when getting a message on Whatsapp and if you don't have time to type just select "call contact" from within the chat and dial the person. With a windows phone I had to exit Whatsapp, go to contacts, search for contact and then call the contact.
Click to expand...




I'm using whatsapp on a lumia 1520 and i can confirm that you can make a call from there.
 
I thought it's a standard feature in WhatsApp. Mebbe an early WP couldn't do that.

Personally, I'd prefer the integration the other way round: Skype, Lync and WhatsApp chats under People/History. That way I stay with Contacts and not with apps.
 
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