Any iPhone owners out there?
Today marks the 30 day anniversary of me getting my first iPhone. As many of you know, I have been a die hard Windows Mobile fanboy for a long LONG time. All the way back before the Dell Axim X5 pocket pc that really lit a fire under me about mobility. I had a lot of fun with Windows Mobile and I exited the platform on a real high with a Telstra HTC HD2. I loved the device, I loved HTC Sense, loved flashing ROM’s, loved XDA, and loved blogging about it. But that ship has sailed off. We waved goodbye to the last Windows Mobile device worth owning, and ushered in the new kid on the block. Windows Phone. Mobility Digest was right there bringing you all of the latest news, rumors, device launches to make sure our readers were on top the long awaited fix to Windows Mobile. Gone would be the days of constant soft resets, apps furiously fighting our best efforts to get them to work, and an outdated operating system.
All Hail Windows Phone! Rejoice and be glad!
It’s a pretty cool phone alright. But I didn’t buy one. Ramon “The General” Trotman worked hard to steer me into the Windows Phone. Ramon has written some brilliant articles by the way to support his opinions that I cannot recommend to you enough. First, if you are a Windows Mobile guy thinking of buying an iPhone then you really need to read this first:
My iLife: my experiences with Apple
This is everything you need to know if you are coming from a Windows Mobile background on deciding to buy into the iLife. I have never met anyone so adamantly apposed to Apple or Android before in my life than Ramon, but this is the fairest write on the iPhone I have read so far. The bottom line is that the iPhone does a lot of things very well, but it also has some things to consider before buying if you have been used to running Windows Mobile and HTC Sense. It is basically, and to quote our own David K: “A glorified App Launcher”. Yeah, I suppose you could say that. But the Apps work, they are polished, and there are a ton of them! The games ROCK too by the way. I have Angry Birds both for the iPhone and Android, and even though I had to pay for the iPhone, I would rather pay than have the Ads to look at like on the free version for Android. I downloaded Infinity Blade yesterday and have not been able to put it down.
I have totally gotten off base here haven’t I? I don’t do editorials well. So where we? Oh yes, I was recapping my many discussions with Ramon about what phone to buy. The iPhone or the Windows Phone. So Ramon goes on to write a few more articles about Windows Phone. They are compelling, but, I still could not get myself to buy one. At the end of the day, I found myself standing in an AT&T Corporate Store with both devices in my hand. The Samsung Galaxy S…er…Focus, and the Apple iPhone. I walked out with a 32gb iPhone 4. I had to return the first one because of some very troubling call quality issues that were not able to be resolved. But my second iPhone 4 has worked perfectly and I have beat on it for two solid weeks while traveling on business. Call quality is excellent, but it does drop calls more often than my old HD2 did. But nowhere near the extent that others have suggested.
So I am keeping my iPhone 4. I like it. It works, and it’s fun. There are some user interface things that I don’t like but for the most part, I like it. If you haven’t noticed, I have been writing a lot more with an iPhone slant. Apps and accessories. Mobility Digest has some iPhone owners on staff besides me. Chris Leiter and James Schneider. Chris has a done a lot of reviews already and James has been helping as much as he can. Which now leads me to the point. Are there any iPhone owners out there reading Mobility Digest? If there are we need you to comment more often and make your voices heard! We could also use some more writers with an iPhone slant. If you got some extra time, please join us and share your knowledge and news about the iPhone with our readers. Contact me if you have any interest, we need you!
Related Posts
About The Author
admin
Fascinated with technology, saltwater aquariums and black holes. Handy with power tools or sarcasm and is an avid Clash of Clans addict.
I’m still here reading the site. I came from a HTC Fuze which I liked for about a year but grew tired of trying to flash to the latest and greatest. I have had the iPhone 4 since launch with no complaints, sure I miss being able to customize the heck out of it but in return I get a device that consistently works and that doesn’t require hours to restore after an update. I was holding out for the windows phone 7 and had it been earlier I may have tried it out.
Well I guess that makes me worse, I had both of them in my hand and went iPhone… I am telling you right now, Stevie makes one of these with a 4.0-4.3 screen and I think it will make some big waves.
I’m okay with the screen size but I guess ignorance is bliss. I have only had brief hands on with 4″ devices.
I have only had AT&T branded HTC devices until I I got the HD2. It was so hard to go back to a sub 4 inch screen. To me it makes a huge difference. With how the iPhone does the internet with Safari and the tons of apps, viewing it all on a 4 inch screen or a little bigger would be awesome. There is so much wasted real estate on the fron of the iphone I would love to see utilized. Infinity Blade would be shiznit with a 4 inch screen!
I have to agree I would love to have a bigger screen with Retina Display. I really don’t miss flashing 20 times a day, and no I’m not kidding. I use to do that all time. I’ve freed up so much time I’ve now got my LLC set up and in full effect.
now thats why i am soooo happy with my Windows Phone. forget flashing i like to know my phone will respond when its needed most.
I’m extremely happy with my iPhone 4 still. I’m excited to see what SJ has up his sleeve for iPhone 5 though. I’ll write some more stuff for iPhone this weekend 🙂
What I want to know is, how has the freezing/soft-reset issue been resolved. I’m about to get an iPhone JUST to escape all this foolishness.
Freezing? Soft reset? I’m lost… do you mean, issue with WinMo, or iPhone? I’ve had the iPhone 4 since the day it was released, and the only time I’ve had to reset it is after I installed some software on Cydia (Jailbreak app store) like MyWi, My3G, etc.. The iPhone is incredibly solid.
I have got the iPhone 4 and have quickly become a “fan-boy” after years of win mobile use. The best thing to me is that it just works, and honestly I haven’t had a dropped call yet. I got mine about 1 month after they hit ATT retail stores. I used to come here to read win mobile related stuff and laughed at iPhone users at how locked down they were. I was on XDA everyday and flashing at least twice a week to whatever the new Energy Rom was, just hoping that it would be perfection. Now I come here and eat a little crow each time that I read only the iPhone related articles, all the while being completely happy with my phone for the first time in years.
I think that those of us who are constantly reviewing and writing about phones end up going to the iPhone because, as Steve P pointed out, “it just works”. At the end of the day, you really want a device that does the job quickly and painlessly.
Customization and hacking are fun, but when you have a dozen or so phones to play with, you want your main device to make calls, text, email and most importantly, last a full day without needing a charge.
I’m all for the 4-inch display, but 4.3 is not my forte. Having used the EVO extensively, I would not be willing to trade a larger screen for that type of battery life, it’s simply not worth it. A full day of use is a minimum requirement, carrying a phone charger, extended battery or backup battery is not.
And your path to the dark side is now complete young Jedi,,,,,,, henceforth you shall be called “Doug, The Dark Smith”
I stopped reading after he said Angry Birds. Gameplay for simpletons.
@Chris Leiter: Of course I mean WinMo. That’s my whole point. When have you ever heard of an iPhone having to be rebooted just to continue using some app. I shouldn’t even have to answer this, because anyone who has ever used a winmo phone or a pc knows EXACTLY what i’m talking about. Yanking the battery or taking off the cover just to find the buried soft-reset button should NOT have to happen (and of course we know in Appleland you CANNOT yank the battery). Thus, to make it perfectly clear, unless someone can say this stupid-geek-trick has been solved in winmo7 (or whatever it’s really going to be called) I am this-dang-close to switching to the dark side.
ive used iphone and i had to reset it (and no its not a jailbroken iphone) 3 times in 2 weeks. not to mention my ipod touch froze and wouldnt let me hard reset so i had to wait a day for the stupid non-removeable battery to die, so “yanking out the battery” and “taking off the cover just to find the buried soft reset button” are things you should be wishing to be able to do… in comparison ive reset my HTC surround one time since the launch day (which was over a month ago for you guys with the apple blinders on.), and i was glad as hell i could “yank out the battery” because i was up and running again within 2 minutes… im so sick of hearing “it just works” ive not met a person yet who has had there iphone “just work” 24-7… find a different reason to praise your damn jesus phone already, brag about facetime or something, but stop spouting this non-sense all over the place. and have fun finding an apple corporate store when your iphone stops “just working”
@sm0k3ydaband1t: DAMN! Don’t hold back, tell us how you really feel! LMAO, seriously, have you used the iPhone 4? I know there were issues with the 3G. I have not had the first freeze up with mine, nor has the other iGuys on the team. And let’s get something straight here, I hate Apple, I just like the phone they make. I will most likely cease liking it early next year when WinPho brings something worth a shit to AT&T and SP1 gets released. I just think this is the perfect time to play with the iPhone now that most of the bugs have been worked out and they have put some better parts under the hood. Waiting for the bugs to get worked out of the Windows Phone might take a while, but hopefully not as long as it took Apple…
“the games ROCK too by the way”… really, do they rock? they must have good soundtracks because theres no way your gaming experience is superior in any way to WP7
Putting aside Angry Birds (LMAO) I am not saying, nor did I imply that it is better than anything. I just said that the games ROCK, which they do. Infinity Blade is incredible. I like flick fishing, Cut the rope, Crash Cart, and MTN2. I also play Live Poker by Zynga that I play through Facebook as well. I would easily say that those games alone qualify the platform as thier games ROCK. Does Windows Phone? Don’t know, don’t have one, but the power XBOX live is pretty damn cool.
yes i have used iphone4, i actually have one i can play with on a daily basis… i havent touched it since windows phone came out… the only thing it was decent at was gaming and now it doesnt even have that advantage… and im really just sick of hearing how “rock solid” the iphone is when i see people on a daily basis that have problems with there jesus phone, and then they have to go an call apple and send the phone away and then wait, and then check the mail and get there phone back. at least if i do have a problem with my phone i can bring it into any AT&T corporate store and get a replacement in store, and if not instore they will next day it too me…
Why is it so hard to admit that the phone works as designed? I know a TON of people using it as well as a lot of VERY recognized XDA guys as well. When they all say the damn thing works, I take it that it does. I also travel on business quite frequently and the people I talk to (annoy about mobility) all agree, it works for thier needs very well. I will be the first to say that it is a glorified app launcher as David K says. But the Apps are pretty solid and all work. I think the iPhone has taken on a new market of people that could careless about the sheep that wear blue shirts in the all glass front stores that Apple sells from. I don’t want a MAc, I don’t care anything about Steve Jobs, and I have never been one of the cool kids wanting an iPhone. (I’m 40 actually) So I think it is time we all look at the devices on thier merits and not the culture tied to them. At the end of the day, the shit has got to work. I’m phucked when it doesnt. And if my iPhone quits working, I will haul ass back down to Best Buy and exchange it Free!
I find it easier to have one or two devices on each OS( except Apple) that way I get the best each has to offer.
I just checked my Kaiser Tilt, it has been on without reset for 4340 hours (approx. 6 months), I only use it for hands free calling in my truck and tethering my tablets but it still is running.
well im glad bestbuy has you covered, but im glad i can pull my battery and not have to trapse to best buy when shit goes south. and im telling you right now from working in an AT&T authorized retailer they do not “just work” im glad the guys on XDA are happy, maybe they just got lucky but of all the iphone users that walk into my store AT LEAST 50% of them have had some sort of problem whether its a stuck message indicator, crapped out mic/speaker, voicemail not working, or the ever so popular blank messages. not to mention the ones whos phones just simply wont turn back on… the lovely cracked screen (and now cracked backplate also) plus, you would be shocked at how many blackberry users buy an iphone and then come back because it doesnt pull signal in at their house… so again, your iphone doesnt “just work” i dont really care what youve been TOLD because ive SEEN it first hand… and i really dont mean to offend you in any way, i just think that people forget to mention these things when they talk about there phone and it leads everyone to beleive “it just works” but ask damn near anyone who sells the iphone (except the apple retards and the others who get extra spiffs for selling more iphones) whether or not it has problems, and you will get a laundry list of them…
@David: WinPho is a new platform so there are bound to be a couple quirks. After using my Surround extensively (screen on 6-7+ hours) every day for nearly six weeks, two things have popped up that have required a power off/on cycle. The first is an alarm bug that has been documented here in a couple articles, and may only relate to HTC devices, and an issue where Marketplace gets confused and refuses to launch, which does not freeze the device but disables Marketplace until you cycle power. I expect both of these issue, along with a bunch of enhancements to be rolled out in early January. So if that’s enough to steer you to iPhone, then so be it. I am not going to try and explain what you will be giving up though. Your all grown up so I have to assume you will figure that out for yourself.
@Doug, The Dark Smith: You have only just tasted the Koolaid. We are already plotting to pull you back from the dark side. Maybe an intervention or exorcisism. Will have to get back to you.
I find that unlikely Jimski, if the big blue chick from Avatar on the Samsung couldn’t pull him back from the the dark side, I don’t think WP7 will be enough. The Dark Smith is more machine than man now, broken and warped by the Dark Force.
HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!
You know what is great about being me? The amount of entertainment people have at my expense! LOL
I like the Dark Doug though, but I would have thought it more fitting for Simmons! LMAO
I had hoped for more comments from actual iPhone owners, instead we got more Windows Phone guys chiming in. With valid points and opinions of course, but I was really hoping to draw our iPhone audience out. 😛
And by the way, I have an Android Device and ordered a Blackberry as well… I still have several WinMo devices too….
Oh no, I drank the kool-aid too. I hate to admit it, but I love my new iPhone. argh!!!
1. I will never own any apple product (though I work with Macs all the time)
2. IMO, WinPho is very easy and ‘just works’ as well as any iphone. My wife got hers and has easily figured everything out (it passes the ‘easy enough for my wife’ test).
3. If you think the strength of a phone is the apps, WinPho has a long way to go compared to the others. But we’ve had our phones several weeks now and I have only installed like 2 free apps. Since we never really had the option for a marketplace/appstore before, we don’t really feel the need to just sit and peruse the virtual aisles and possibly add to our phone bill.. The phones are pretty complete right out of the box, feel fast and light, and do everything we need. Windows Phone just works!
@3DPiper: Don’t want to steal Doug’s iPhone thunder but I totally agree with 1 & 2, but you might be missing a bit of the WP7 experience with #3. Some apps and games are just fun to have around and others really do improve the user experience. Keep an eye on our forums as I plan to put together a few posts in the next couple days with recommended free and paid apps. Could save you some time searching and the free stuff won’t cost anything more than a few clicks. I have 100+ apps & games on my device (you don’t need that many) and it has had zero effect on performance. Memory is there so might as well use some of it.
BTW, I hope Zune Marketplace never has more than 6,000-10,000 apps total, although I will probably be overruled on that one. No need for 100,000+ apps when you are only going to download maybe 150 tops. Ever wonder what the other 99,850 are for. Microsoft should come up with a method to weed out the crap over time and change the way app stores are managed and perceived. More is not better, its just more.
Hate the Iphone, hate everything from apple