Windows Phone convert

[Wbutchart]

https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.microsoft.launcher
Downloaded this but haven't tried it yet. Still on Nova. Will try it this weekend when I have time to play with it.

Its a really good launcher, using it now, was great as arrow but has made a big leap forward with the name change.

 

[dov1978]

Its a really good launcher, using it now, was great as arrow but has made a big leap forward with the name change.

I'll second that. I've tried a lot of launchers but mostly stuck to Nova until now. I never got around to trying Arrow but after seeing it become a fully fledged Microsoft app yesterday I installed it and have to say I love it. The Utility page to the left is excellent and reminds me a lot of the widget page on iPhone

 

[Mark Kaplan]

Since the bloatware can't be uninstalled, can someone give me the process for disabling pre-installed apps on Android?

 

[anon(7901790)]

Since the bloatware can't be uninstalled, can someone give me the process for disabling pre-installed apps on Android?

I have the Verizon version and it allowed me to disable SOME of the bloatware. Package Disabler Pro with the BK 2 Plugin got the rest. It doesn't actually uninstall them though, just disables them.

 

[Wbutchart]

I'll second that. I've tried a lot of launchers but mostly stuck to Nova until now. I never got around to trying Arrow but after seeing it become a fully fledged Microsoft app yesterday I installed it and have to say I love it. The Utility page to the left is excellent and reminds me a lot of the widget page on iPhone

Ive been using arrow for a while and it was good however its a significant leap forward now. The look is brilliant and gestures are new too. Love being able to swipe up and open Cortana that easily.

A wee bit laggy ive found the now but it is a beta so that should be expected. But for the utility page and look, I can cope with a wee bit lag for now.

 

[dov1978]

Ive been using arrow for a while and it was good however its a significant leap forward now. The look is brilliant and gestures are new too. Love being able to swipe up and open Cortana that easily.

A wee bit laggy ive found the now but it is a beta so that should be expected. But for the utility page and look, I can cope with a wee bit lag for now.

"wee" - Are you from Scotland too by any chance?

 

[Wbutchart]

"wee" - Are you from Scotland too by any chance?

Aye, guilty as charged

 

[dov1978]

Aye, guilty as charged

Former WP users AND Scottish. We must be a rare breed

 

[mary beth hale]

Former WP users AND Scottish. We must be a rare breed

Cool... It's a small world (smile)

 

[Wbutchart]

Former WP users AND Scottish. We must be a rare breed

Aye very rare, I looked for a help group when leaving WP... There was none

Still miss WP but getting used to Android. Just can't fathom why WP users are choosing to go to ios, it's so out of the WP culture and strengths.

 

[dov1978]

Aye very rare, I looked for a help group when leaving WP... There was none

Still miss WP but getting used to Android. Just can't fathom why WP users are choosing to go to ios, it's so out of the WP culture and strengths.

Yeah I miss it too. So much potential flushed down the drain. I can only imagine WP users are going to iOS for the simplicity? I usually jump phones every 3-4 months and go between Windows, iOS and Android just for the sake of change tbh. I sold my last Lumia, the 950xl just a few months ago and obviously there's not much to jump back to there now so I'll probably stick to Android for now. The new crop of iPhone's haven't excited me much at all either.

 

[Mark Kaplan]

Aye very rare, I looked for a help group when leaving WP... There was none

Still miss WP but getting used to Android. Just can't fathom why WP users are choosing to go to ios, it's so out of the WP culture and strengths.

I agree. I just can't bring myself to go down that hole.
Right now, what I miss the most are these little things: Live Tiles, Unread Message Counts in icon (I am trying the app Notifier right now. I do not like the widgets), Cortana is not worth the trouble so I'm trying Bixby. Outlook for Android is lacking for me. No ability to pin mailboxes and no separate Calendar app. No 3rd party apps that can read Exchange that I've found. Again, really dislike the widgets. The S8 Plus is the same height as my Elite X3 but about a 1/4" less width. Getting used to the new keyboard layout has a learning curve. It will take so me getting used to but overall I like it.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I agree. I just can't bring myself to go down that hole.
Right now, what I miss the most are these little things: Live Tiles, Unread Message Counts in icon (I am trying the app Notifier right now. I do not like the widgets), Cortana is not worth the trouble so I'm trying Bixby. Outlook for Android is lacking for me. No ability to pin mailboxes and no separate Calendar app. No 3rd party apps that can read Exchange that I've found. Again, really dislike the widgets. The S8 Plus is the same height as my Elite X3 but about a 1/4" less width. Getting used to the new keyboard layout has a learning curve. It will take so me getting used to but overall I like it.

What keyboard are you using? I like Gboard on my Android devices. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.latin

 

[Mark Kaplan]

Thank you! I just installed it. Looks good. Going to try it out.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Thank you! I just installed it. Looks good. Going to try it out.

I like it since it has swipe typing and learns one's typing patterns like the WordFlow keyboard.

 

[mary beth hale]

What keyboard are you using? I like Gboard on my Android devices. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.latin

Think I'll give Gboard a shot this weekend. Been on SwiftKey for what seems like forever. Maybe time to switch it up a bit.

 

[mary beth hale]

I agree. I just can't bring myself to go down that hole.
Right now, what I miss the most are these little things: Live Tiles, Unread Message Counts in icon (I am trying the app Notifier right now. I do not like the widgets), Cortana is not worth the trouble so I'm trying Bixby. Outlook for Android is lacking for me. No ability to pin mailboxes and no separate Calendar app. No 3rd party apps that can read Exchange that I've found. Again, really dislike the widgets. The S8 Plus is the same height as my Elite X3 but about a 1/4" less width. Getting used to the new keyboard layout has a learning curve. It will take so me getting used to but overall I like it.

Regarding widgets, feel the same... Ugly. Only have a small alarm clock widget on my home screen.
Have been using Nova launcher but switched tonight to the Microsoft (formerly Arrow) beta launcher. The feed screen when you swipe right gives so much info that you really don't need widgets. You can customize the feed page with calendar contacts, weather, news etc. Also reinstalled Cortana after a 5 month hiatus and she's improved a lot. Didn't find Bixby useful at all but if you end up liking it, great. I liked Google assistant much better. If Cortana doesn't work our, that's what I'll go back to. As of tonight though I'm enjoying the fluid sync with my phone/laptop with Cortana. We'll see. She's on probation for the time being. Google calendar is nice and you can import your outlook calendar over to it.

 

[Mark Kaplan]

I like it since it has swipe typing and learns one's typing patterns like the WordFlow keyboard.

I also like that the keys are bigger and the layout is more similar to what I'm used to

 

[Mark Kaplan]

Regarding widgets, feel the same... Ugly. Only have a small alarm clock widget on my home screen.
Have been using Nova launcher but switched tonight to the Microsoft (formerly Arrow) beta launcher. The feed screen when you swipe right gives so much info that you really don't need widgets. You can customize the feed page with calendar contacts, weather, news etc. Also reinstalled Cortana after a 5 month hiatus and she's improved a lot. Didn't find Bixby useful at all but if you end up liking it, great. I liked Google assistant much better. If Cortana doesn't work our, that's what I'll go back to. As of tonight though I'm enjoying the fluid sync with my phone/laptop with Cortana. We'll see. She's on probation for the time being. Google calendar is nice and you can import your outlook calendar over to it.

I do like the new launcher. Very familiar look and feel for me. I used Cortana mostly for text to speech and basic commands while driving. She doesn't have the integration into Android that she does with Windows. A lot of the functionality is missing. I'm actually kind of impressed with Bixby. She's very responsive. Still has a few bugs but I'm used to that coming from WP.

 

[Mark Kaplan]

Any advice on how to get texts read over Bluetooth? I am spoiled by Cortana on WP for this as it was seamlessly integrated.