Windows phone refugee

[overboard08]

Good morning all,

Windows Phone refugee here who tried iOS going on a year and a half now and honestly, it's boring. I'm not really feeling it anymore - I don't get all the hype.

So I'm asking the question - what do I need to know if I'm going to switch from ios to Android? I'm pretty heavily entrenched in the Microsoft/Windows/Office ecosystem and I've heard great things about Microsoft/Android interoperability (I.e. Microsoft Launcher, etc). Would I be better off with Android? It's been almost a decade since I've last had an android phone and am cautious with Google and the security in Android. Thanks all!

 

[chanchan05]

Good morning all,

Windows Phone refugee here who tried iOS going on a year and a half now and honestly, it's boring. I'm not really feeling it anymore - I don't get all the hype.

So I'm asking the question - what do I need to know if I'm going to switch from ios to Android? I'm pretty heavily entrenched in the Microsoft/Windows/Office ecosystem and I've heard great things about Microsoft/Android interoperability (I.e. Microsoft Launcher, etc). Would I be better off with Android? It's been almost a decade since I've last had an android phone and am cautious with Google and the security in Android. Thanks all!

I am actually pretty entrenched in MS. I have my Outlook.com contacts and calendar syncing to my S9.
Not sure if this works on other phones, but on the Samsung Calendar, Microsoft To-Do tasks show up on the calendar as well.

 

[dov1978]

Former long time Windows user here too. Well long term iOS and Android too as I always switched between the three. Microsoft Launcher is awesome and I can't praise it enough. Best launcher I've used by far on Android. SquareHome3 is good too if/when you want some LiveTile nostalgia.

 

[overboard08]

Awesome, very good to hear! How's your Google footprint been being on an android device? I have a Google account mostly from my old Gmail account that I still have and I assume would basically just be for Google play store services. I'm assuming as long as I'm smart about which apps I get I won't have to worry about security on my device?

 

[chanchan05]

Especially on a Samsung device, you can exist with your only Google footprint being the Play Store. Not even if you keep to the Samsung Galaxy Apps Store, but the selection there is inferior to the Play Store. You'll need an account for that Store though.
Yes, being smart on the apps help a lot. If you're already paying for an AV solution on your Windows device, some of them come with a premium license for their Android counterparts which gives you aggressive ad monitoring, anti-theft options, and VPNs for the phone. Bitdefender is an example. The malware scanning really isn't very necessary, but it's more useful for the aggressive ad monitoring (good for tracking down which apps have the ads that pop up on the screen and lockscreen).

 

[Trevin K]

The beauty of Android is that it can coexist with a lot of your existing accounts, you're not locked into the Google ecosystem(as evidenced by plenty of Google apps not even being installed by default quite often). Apple is a different story, but even Apple Music has made it's way onto the Play store, which is pretty impressive. As you mentioned, the Microsoft launcher integrates nicely with their ecosystem, and it actually runs super well, atleast in my experience. I'd be tempted to stick with it if I wasn't so put off by Microsoft in general at this point.

So, to answer your question, yes, it should be relatively simple to migrate over. Not to mention that Windows is already acknowledging that Android is the "obvious" choice for Windows users: https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/3/17933644/microsoft-android-apps-windows-10-app-mirroring-report

 

[Tsepz_GP]

Good morning all,

Windows Phone refugee here who tried iOS going on a year and a half now and honestly, it's boring. I'm not really feeling it anymore - I don't get all the hype.

So I'm asking the question - what do I need to know if I'm going to switch from ios to Android? I'm pretty heavily entrenched in the Microsoft/Windows/Office ecosystem and I've heard great things about Microsoft/Android interoperability (I.e. Microsoft Launcher, etc). Would I be better off with Android? It's been almost a decade since I've last had an android phone and am cautious with Google and the security in Android. Thanks all!

You will be happy with Android, especially a Samsung Android as Samsung have a close partnership with Microsoft and most top end Samsung's come with a suit of Microsoft software built in.

Have a look at the Galaxy Note9 and Galaxy S9+ or wait a little for the Galaxy S10+.

Have a look at the Note9 in Microsoft store.

If you do want something else in Android have a look at:

- Huawei Mate 20 Pro
- Huawei P20 Pro
- OnePlus 6T
- Google Pixel 3 XL

 

[Almeuit]

I agree with chan that the MS stuff should work fine on Android. Their apps are usually updated often as they try and stay on top of things.

 

[LeiChat]

A lot of love for Samsung in this thread.
Any reason for a Windows Phone refugee not to go for a OnePlus 6t please ?

 

[chanchan05]

A lost of love for Samsung in this thread.
Any reason for a Windows Phone refugee not to go for a OnePlus 6t please ?

I prefer syncing to Exchange and prefer the Samsung email app to the Outlook app, as well as having exchange sync to the Calendar app to see the MS To-Do tasks, since not even the Outlook app does that as yet. OnePlus can't directly sync to Exchange email, contacts and calendar. It has to use the Outlook app, which as I said, doesn't let me see the To-Do's on the calendar. Other than that, I don't think there's a major reason to not go OnePlus. It's more on you NEED to use the Outlook app if you go that direction.