Smartphones have our absolute attention. In that way they are exactly like cats. We tend to be equally as obsessed about our phones as we can be about our cats.
Delusional is the word I’m looking for. It’s ok we say, my cat bites to show she loves you. My phone explodes because it can’t contain the joy of keeping all my attention. I’m writing this article on my phone, so clearly I’m qualified to say this.
I miss flip phones when I felt smarter than the device. I bought my first smart phone for my birthday in 2013, Nokia Lumia Icon. This was far more phone than I needed. I used a work iPhone for a while too, because using two phones is cool right? Eventually I used the work number on my personal phone to save money.
When my phone battery started showing age, I decided to use my work upgrade for a Galaxy S7. I hear people raving about Samsung when they aren’t blowing up in kids faces so I figured why the heck not. IPhone is too bland and I dislike Android, but no windows phones were offered. I reasoned that the Samsung Galaxy S7 should be the most modern experience I can get.
I made the switch from Windows phone to Android, and here is what I miss.
The windows phone keyboard. There are dozens of keyboards available on Android. There is even a default Samsung offering that they push (via notifications) you to use. None of them offers the simplicity and ease of use of the windows phone keyboard. First of all I spend more time fixing swipe errors on android than I spend typing actual messages. Windows predicted text more accurately and especially when it counted.
Now this may seem trivial, but the copy/paste function on Windows phone was always one step ahead. Tap a word once and press copy. Now you have a permanent icon above the keyboard which will paste anywhere you have a typing cursor. On Android and iPhone you have to tap and hold…hold…hold… Wasted time.
Next up, notifications. I may be owned by my phone like the rest of us, but I still try to pretend I’m in control. Android doesn’t care. My number one complaint was the icon badges. You can disable them sure, if you want them off for all apps. I only want them on for messaging and phone, so I’m out of luck.
Windows phone gives you notification control over every single app and it uses live tiles in place of the icon badge system. This is a beautiful interface if you haven’t seen it. Imagine a field of flowers or better yet, a picture of someone you love. Now gently impose mosaic tiles over top and drizzle light sprinklings of text and visual elements.
This is my third Android annoyance. Microsoft made the only phone interface that doesn’t hurt my aging corneas out of the box. Think about it, badge icons are red on Android. What else is red? Stop signs. Blood. Unidentifiable rashes on your skin. The “Back” button on every modern game console controller. Your bank account. “Alert, your account was over drafted and now you owe us hundreds of dollars. Have this nice red badge to inform you.”
Ugh. Now on windows phone, if I don’t want the info, I turn off live tiles for whichever tiles annoy me. I could pick nits all day but let’s run a Terry Tate office linebacker scenario. Windows phone is about to get a concussion…
Apps. Android has them, Windows Phone doesn’t. Final conclusion, Android wins Microsoft has a headache. Wait, hold on a second. Isn’t there more to this? I told you I hate living a cluttered life right? Well I prefer simplicity. Most productivity tips I hear from books and podcasts indicate less is more. Focus 80% of your time on the top 20% of things that return investment. It’s called the pareto principle, Google it.
So now I have a “Galaxy” of apps at my fingertips. Do you want to know how many exclusive Android apps I actually use? Exactly two, Startactics XW and Hoopla. I can live without both. The first is basically a website service in app format. The second is just easier to use than Overdrive, which was on Windows Phone. I still use Overdrive anyway when my Hoopla book limit runs out.
Android has one advantage. Lastpass password manager can auto-fill my account info on any browser page or App. That’s a big time saver. There are countless other bugs and quirks but I won’t bore you. I just want people to know Android isn’t for everyone. Odd man out speaks up. Nobody hears. New Oddessy in the making.
If there had to be a moral, it’s this. We are doing more harm than we know when we use phones with infinite choice. That’s a story for another article. If you want a phone for a focused lifestyle, steer clear of Android.
Recent Comments