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7 Reasons Why Windows Phone is Better than Android

Even if Windows Phone joined the mobile scene a bit later, today it’s definitely a strong participant in the platform wars between Android and OS.

 

Launched 7 years ago, Microsoft’s Windows Phone recently introduced a brand new iteration called Windows 10 Mobile that still suffers from a relatively low market share, but actually offers features Android users can only dream about.

 

Here are 7 reasons why Windows Phone operating system is so much better than Android right now.

1. Stunning app design

 

Windows App Store might not offer as many apps as Google Play Store, but if you look at the quality of apps that are available on the marketplace, the difference is huge.

 

Microsoft’s app marketplace has much stricter criteria for apps and games that want to be part of the system. Moreover, Windows Phone isn’t an open source platform. As a result, users have all their needs covered by amazing apps that are consistently well-designed and minimalistic. Android apps look messy in comparison.

2. Live Tiles feature

 

Live Tiles is what sets Windows 10 Mobile apart from its competition.

 

The feature allows users to customize their Start Screen with plenty of options. Users can rearrange or even resize tiles as they please. Additionally, tiles show updated notifications from the apps with which they’re associated. Users can even decide how much information they want to see in these notifications. For example, a brief notification will show the number of missed calls, and more detailed one will also display contact names or numbers of these missed calls.

 

Android’s widgets and badge icons can’t be compared to the sophisticated live tiles of Windows 10 Mobile.

3. Smart Cortana integration

 

Cortana is Windows 10 Mobile’s personal digital assistant.

 

Named after Master Chief’s artificially intelligent companion in the Halo video game franchise, Cortana allows users to control their phones with voice commands.

 

Users can benefit from Cortana in many different ways – the assistant can place a call, show them nearby restaurants, add reminders to their calendars, or give them directions. Moreover, Cortana is seamlessly integrated with Windows 10 Mobile and its commands work offline.

 

In comparison with Cortana, Google Now available on Android devices feels less human in interaction. Also, Google Now requires constant access to the internet.

4. Cross-device consistency

 

The beautiful thing about Windows Phone is that it works excellently across a wide range of devices. It doesn’t matter if the user has a simple, entry-level Lumia 520 or the sophisticated, high-end Lumia 1020 – the operating system will work without any lags or freeze errors.

5. Seamless integration with social media and email

 

Windows Phone has a built-in social media feature that makes the integration really smooth. The People Hub receives updates from all major social networks like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

 

Instead of opening each of these apps separately, users can get all their notifications and friends’ status updates in a single place.

 

It’s worth mentioning here the amazing Facebook integration with Windows Phone in tagging pictures. Users can easily tag pictures using the contacts stored in their phone. Moreover, they can seamlessly switch between regular text messaging with contacts to Facebook chat.

6. Amazing on-screen keyboard

 

Everyone uses the on-screen touch keyboard for inputting text regardless of their device and operating system.

 

The thing about the virtual keyboard in Windows 10 Mobile is that it’s better than most other keyboards. The “Word Flow” keyboard of Windows Phone 8.1 held the Guinness World Record for fastest typing for a while.

 

In Windows 10 Mobile, the virtual keyboard has all the features of its predecessors, as well as a range of new functionalities: one-handed mode for phablets, voice dictation, and a smart precision pointer that helps users to place the cursor exactly where they want.

 

Microsoft recently acquired SwiftKey, the company behind the highly rated software keyboard, so we can only expect greater things from Microsoft’s keyboard in the future.

7. Lockscreen customization

 

Windows Phone allows users to check all notifications from the lockscreen, but also offers full customization.

 

Users can of course change background pictures, but they can also integrate live apps on their lockscreens. For example, an integration with Bing will display Bing Picture of the Day. Facebook integration shows photos from their albums.

 

Users can choose their own pictures to create a selection to be displayed on their lockscreen. Finally they can also configure the lockscreen to display artist information when they’re playing music.

 

These 7 reasons are enough to take Windows Phone way ahead its main competitors – and inspire users to try out the amazing system on their next mobile device.

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