Beginning the Switch

This is part two of my Switching from Android to Windows series. You can check out the first one here: Switching from Android to Windows Phone!

I decided to look over some options by googling what others are doing to switch, but there weren’t many results.

I did find an article on the T-Mobile site that at least assured me I can keep my contacts and calendars but they mistakenly said that Google Drive is supported on the Windows Phone (it’s not). I’m starting to find that most apps are limited or poor quality in the Windows app store, which makes sense considering how few people use the platform.

Microsoft made an android app called Switch to Windows Phone which is supposed to give you some help with switching, but most reviews claim that transferring the files never actually succeeds. Then there’s AppComparison – something that Microsoft created to tell me alternative Windows phone apps for my android variants. I gave it a shot, but it utterly failed.

I guess I’ll try later…

Determined to at least find some compatible apps, I started listing my most used apps in no particular order:

• Skype
• Steam
• Hangouts
• Google Authenticator
• Gmail
• Kik
• Telegram
• Torque
• Chrome
• Telegram
• Youtube
• Flickr
• Spotify
• YNAB
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Saxbys
• Waze
• Keep
• Glympse
• Dark Sky
• Duolingo

Okay, so all of the messengers that I use seem to work on Windows Phone (though Hangouts requires a paid client). Google Authenticator has an alternative, as does Torque. Spotify, Facebook, Twitter, Duolingo, they all work with Windows Phone. I was surprised to see that even Waze and Glympse work on Windows Phone, though at the expense of reported bugs.

Dark Sky has as alternative, Blue Skies, which seems to work as a universal app (works on Windows Holographic!). YNAB has a fan-made replacement, and of course Google Apps (including chrome) have no replacements (however, I’m reading that Windows’ note taking app syncs with SimpleNote, which is an app that I used to use before Keep).

Sadly, the Flickr app is terrible and the app that I use to pay for my Saxby’s every morning doesn’t have a Windows Phone port. This is kind of really upsetting, as I visit Saxby’s every day and pay with my phone. I get rewards and it keeps a tab… I really enjoy going to Saxby’s, and may have to just start using my credit card. Of course, there’s always Starbucks, but I’d have to look into their reward system (and I don’t like their Chai Tea Lattes as much!).

For Flickr, I’ll have to see what it supports. At the very least, I need it to keep its auto upload for pictures. Something I’m already starting to see with most apps, the Windows Phone versions are, well, not as well maintained :(…

Still, I’m waiting for my code to arrive for my Lumia 640 to be unlocked, otherwise I might not even be able to use it on the t-mobile network.

For Part 3 of this series, click here: Lumia 640: A little snag.