Five Reasons Windows Phone 8 is better than Android or iPhone

Not everyone was happy when Microsoft released Windows Phone 8. I was one of the unhappy ones when I heard that the update won't be arriving on my brand new Nokia Lumia 800 which would be stuck on an interim update which mimics Windows Phone 8 visually but lacks any of the features which makes the platform great.

When Microsoft presented Windows Phone 8 it was clear that it was everything that Windows Phone 7 was supposed to be. It features support for multi-core processors, better displays, OTA (over-the-air) updates and many more modern features. Also the fact that it shares the Windows 8 kernel makes it easier for developers to port their apps to the platform, this promising to quickly build the Windows Phone ecosystem to compete with the likes of its competitors.

So why Windows Phone 8? What makes the platform better than any of the others in the market? If you are finding it hard to choose a new smartphone platform, we have put together five reasons why Windows Phone 8 is better than Android or iPhone and we hope it will help you choose a Windows Phone.

1) People Hub

The People Hub is basically the Windows Phone contacts app. It stores all the information from your contacts with some added benefits. Windows Phone allows you to connect your Windows Live, Facebook, Twitter, Google and Linkedin accounts among others to your People Hub. This will connect to all those social networks and draw all your contact information automatically.

When you open a contact you can swipe to the right and view all your interactions with that contact and interact with your contact directly from the People Hub without having to open individual apps.

The What’s New Tab in the main People hub view allows you to view all the latest information from all your contacts. This also provides you with a great place to interact with all your social networks without opening individual apps.

Groups and Rooms are great additions to the People Hub which allow better collaboration and interaction with your friends. Groups allows you view social updates or text a group of people at once. Meanwhile Rooms takes this feature one step further allowing you to chat, share calendar, share photos or share notes. This is great to stay in touch with your family.

The Me Tile is an extension of the People Hub which will allow you to post updates to all your social networks and view updates from your friends again without having to move between apps.

[vs iPhone] The iPhone has a Contacts app which allows you to add the contacts Facebook and Twitter IDs, but it doesn’t allow you to view that contacts interactions from within one app. You still have to open Facebook and Twitter individually to view social updates. Posting updates to your social networks still require you to switch between apps or post individually from the slide down shade.

[vs Android] Google released the People app with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich which does a much better job of keeping your contacts organized. The People app features Groups and Favorites, but they aren't as comprehensive as Rooms. You can click a contact to Interact with them and the but be aware anybody who has restricted discovery by email will not pop in and there is no option to link manually as of now.



2) Live Tiles

The Start Screen on Windows Phone 8 are the ultimate combination of apps, widgets and a notification panel. The Start Screen is made up of several live tiles which can be arranged in any order you please. These tiles can be changed to various colors but only together and not individually. Windows Phone allows you to pin just about anything on your Start Screen, which means Live tiles could include contacts, maps, notes or email accounts.

With Windows Phone 8 Microsoft introduced three sizes for Live tiles. The biggest size is most suitable for email accounts or picture tiles, while the smallest tiles can be used as simple app icons.

When you receive a new notification it appears on the top of your Windows Phone screen. It later disappears and will be displayed on a live tile if you have one set for that particular application.

[vs iPhone] The way the iPhone organizes its apps hasn't changed much since it first launched. Your apps are arranged into icon grids and each icon has a small badge which indicates a notification. For example two missed calls will show a small red number 2 on your Phone app icon. Apps can be organized into folders and the folder will then show a total number of notifications for all the apps within it. Apple also recently included a notification slider which shows individual notifications. Now the issue with iPhones notifications is that they have two separate methods which work independently from each other. So users will tend to use one over the other, which defeats the reason for the updated notification center.

[vs Android] Android is the most customizable of the three platforms. It allows various types of shortcuts to be placed on your homescreen, including apps, contacts, web pages and widgets. Apps can be sorted into folders like on the iPhone and widgets can be resized to match the home screen  While the Android notification center works well, the widgets are notorious for hogging the battery and are generally left switched off by users. Users will have to pull down the notification shade each time they want to view notifications unlike Windows Phone which has the notifications always in your site…



3) Offline Maps

This is another one of those features which really needs to be available for Windows Phone 7.5 devices. If you use a Nokia Lumia Windows Phone you will have Nokia Maps by default, while other manufacturers rely on Bing Maps as the default maps application. Because of the technology sharing agreement between Nokia and Microsoft, Windows Phone 8 has benefitted from Nokia’s mapping services. Users can select and download Maps based on Individual States or Cities and store the map data onto their devices.

You can then use these maps without incurring data charges, which is very useful for someone who is on a budget package with their carrier.

[vs iPhone] The iPhone offers the worst experience here, because they don’t offer any form of offline maps with their Maps app. This means that every time you travel and use maps, you will be eating into your data package. Third party solutions are available for the iPhone, but they don’t have the comprehensive form of saving offline maps which only Windows Phones offer.

[vs Android] Android offers offline Maps but requires you to pinch and zoom the area you want to save. This doesn't quite make sense for a user who is downloading maps to a location he/she hasn’t visited before. We personally prefer the way Windows Phone presents offline maps but some others may disagree.



4) Microsoft Office

Office Mobile is yet another clear advantage on the Windows Phone platform and one of Microsoft’s biggest selling points. With Windows Phone 8 office is integrated with Microsoft’s SkyDrive cloud service and it works well. You can easily edit your documents on your desktop and save them to the cloud and open and edit or view them on your Windows Phone or Windows RT tablet. Best of all Office is free on your Windows Phone and Windows RT tablets and can even be used for free on a web browser on your desktop.

[vs iPhone] iPhone users have a similar experience with iWork which is available for Mac OS, iPhone and the iPad. But you will have to pay for each individual app on your iPhone and your Mac OS computer.

Android is getting ready to respond to Microsoft Office with their Google Drive office suite which will soon benefit from the company’s acquisition of QuickOffice. But Android’s office suite isn't as comprehensive as Microsoft’s offering nor does it have a strong desktop suite.



5) Xbox Live Integration

One of the biggest reason for the modern smartphone’s success is its access to several games. Microsoft had the advantage of building on the success of the Xbox platform. Windows Phones are integrated with your Xbox Live accounts and brings your GamerTag, scores and friends with your. You can enjoy your mobile games with your buddies and share your sources through the Xbox Live hub.

The other thing we like about the Xbox Hub is that all your games are neatly stored away inside this Hub avoiding clutter.

[vs iPhone] iPhone users have had the Game Center which was recently ported to Mac OS. It works just as well, but we have to side with Xbox because Apple doesn't have a gaming console.

[vs Android] Android users don’t have a Unified gaming center. While there are some alternatives, nothing comes close to a full fledged gaming center. Unfortunately Android users have nothing to compete with in this category.



These are just a few advantages of the Windows Phone 8 platform and we will hopefully post five more in the coming weeks. But if you are looking to purchase a new smartphone, this list will give you five clear reasons why you should consider a Windows Phone 8 device.