Soon to be iPhone user questions

[tasboti]

Hello guys.

I've recently decided to ditch Microsoft Mobile and I plan on buying an iPhone 6s Plus early January next year. I've been using a Lumia 920 with Win Mobile 10, been a WM supporter for years but the situation doesn't seem to get any better with it's app support so I've decided to switch sides. There are a few things I'd like to know since I've never had an iPhone before.

1. Is there an MS Office (Excel, Word, OneNote) app for iOS? I use them quite extensively on my current phone.
2. Is there a file manager app? Win Mobile didn't have it for a while, and Android has the wonderful ES File Manager.
3. Will I be able to play .mkv movies on my phone that I transfer from my PC?
4. Can I sync my people.live.com contacts? That's where Win Mobile saves them. (I can't post links yet)

These are the ones that seem the most important to me, thanks in advance to anyone who takes their time to answer these questions.

 

[SnapThrow]

1. Yep, arguably better than the WM versions
2. Sort of, but likely not how you are thinking, There is file management via iTunes and there is an iCloud Drive app, but generally Apple has purposely avoided giving us file management access to keep the platform simple and accessible for a mass audience
3. Yes via an app. I use Plex and it is fantastic
4. I have a live.com account and it syncs contacts, not sure if that is what you are talking about though...

 

[tasboti]

Thanks for the answers SnapThrow.

At question 4. what I meant was that when I save a new contact (phone number) on my Lumia 920 it syncs them to my Outlook contacts (Live/Microsoft account).

 

[JKirkland86]

I think you will like the iPhone. Tried to like Windows phone and the live tiles but apps are normally far behind on updates. That if there even is an app. And don't get me started on the whole Windows phone no YouTube app.

 

[tasboti]

There is no doubt that I will like it. It will be a huge upgrade even on hardware level, so just the responsiveness will make me love my new phone.

I actually really like the Windows Mobile interface, WM10 made it even better. I'm ok with any interface, I adapt really fast. I've been the first to upgrade and like the Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 interface among my friends, some of who still use Win 7 because they don't like to change what they've been used to.

The only thing that I'm going to miss from the WM ecosystem is a 3rd party Instagram app, 6tag, which I consider far superior to the original one.

 

[NoleScream]

Thanks for the answers SnapThrow.

At question 4. what I meant was that when I save a new contact (phone number) on my Lumia 920 it syncs them to my Outlook contacts (Live/Microsoft account).

Yes, you should be able to sync your contacts with Live / Microsoft. You'll set that up under "Mail, Contacts, Calendars" in the Settings App. Pop in your Live account and make sure contacts are turned on to sync and you should be good to go.

 

[Ed Boland]

Hello guys.

I've recently decided to ditch Microsoft Mobile and I plan on buying an iPhone 6s Plus early January next year. I've been using a Lumia 920 with Win Mobile 10, been a WM supporter for years but the situation doesn't seem to get any better with it's app support so I've decided to switch sides. There are a few things I'd like to know since I've never had an iPhone before.

1. Is there an MS Office (Excel, Word, OneNote) app for iOS? I use them quite extensively on my current phone.
2. Is there a file manager app? Win Mobile didn't have it for a while, and Android has the wonderful ES File Manager.
3. Will I be able to play .mkv movies on my phone that I transfer from my PC?
4. Can I sync my people.live.com contacts? That's where Win Mobile saves them. (I can't post links yet)

These are the ones that seem the most important to me, thanks in advance to anyone who takes their time to answer these questions.

1. Yep, arguably better than the WM versions
2. Sort of, but likely not how you are thinking, There is file management via iTunes and there is an iCloud Drive app, but generally Apple has purposely avoided giving us file management access to keep the platform simple and accessible for a mass audience
3. Yes via an app. I use Plex and it is fantastic
4. I have a live.com account and it syncs contacts, not sure if that is what you are talking about though...

I agree with SnapThrow's answers, and I'll elaborate on them.

1. Definitely yes! Microsoft's apps and services are well known to be better on iOS. All of the Office apps are here; Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Sway, OneNote (syncs content/notes extremely well with my Windows PC!)

Also, the Outlook app on iOS is amazing! So is Skype, OneDrive, Remote Desktop, and heck, we even have Cortana now on iOS!

2. There's the file management through iTunes like he mentions above, yes, and not only the iCloud Drive app, but there's several different file management solutions (apps) which use all or any of the different "cloud storage" services as well. e.g. OneDrive, DropBox, Box, etc etc. But direct access to the file system on the iPhone itself is forbidden... unless you want to jailbreak it (which I highly suggest you do NOT DO!) This is one of the things that keeps the iPhone and iOS THE most stable and secure platform available.

3. Yes and I couldn't agree more about PLEX! I use it on all of my devices for all my movies and music... I swear by it! Of course PLEX is a server/client streaming solution, and formats like MKV are transcoded during the streaming process, but it works flawlessly. For a local player, try VLC (transfer MKV files to your phone with iTunes)... and one cool thing about VLC; it supports PLEX media servers!

4. Not even a problem. You'll be able to pull in all of your Microsoft account (Live) contacts, as well as any others you may have elsewhere.


Lastly, I hear ya! I've spent the last few years on Windows Phones myself. I've had three generations of them, a 920, 1020, and most recently a 1520. I decided to pass on the 950 phones and come back to the iPhone and iOS... (I was a 4 generation iPhone user before my WP journey) I decided to go with an iPhone 6S Plus 128GB Space Grey and couldn't be happier!

You'll miss a few things at first like Glance screen, Double Tap to wake, and the customizable Start Screen/Live Tiles... but that's about it. The trade off is well well worth it. You'll have access to any and ALL apps! Not to mention the iPhone 6S completely destroys every other phone on the market right now in terms of speed and performance. It's wicked fast!

You will not be disappointed.

 

[SnapThrow]

2. There's the file management through iTunes like he mentions above, yes, and not only the iCloud Drive app, but there's several different file management solutions (apps) which use all or any of the different "cloud storage" services as well. e.g. OneDrive, DropBox, Box, etc etc. But direct access to the file system on the iPhone itself is forbidden... unless you want to jailbreak it (which I highly suggest you do NOT DO!) This is one of the things that keeps the iPhone and iOS THE most stable and secure platform available.

I forgot about the various cloud services apps/accounts -- and I use several of them to move files in and off my iPhone, good suggestion...

 

[tasboti]

Thanks for the answers. Appreciated.

I'll buy a 6s Plus 64GB Silver or Gold as soon as they import some to my country. They are out of stock everywhere credible, even at the official reseller.
I really hope I can put my hands on one at the beggining of January.

 

[tasboti]

Happy new year people.
I've got my hands on a 6s plus silver 64gb 5 days ago.

What can I say, I'm loving it. I'm not even missing the things that I thought I would. Apple got me strong with this one. I haven't got the time to try everything out yet, but I doubt that my opinion would change.

Btw, battery life is amazing.

 

[mfldmike]

Hello guys.

I've recently decided to ditch Microsoft Mobile and I plan on buying an iPhone 6s Plus early January next year. I've been using a Lumia 920 with Win Mobile 10, been a WM supporter for years but the situation doesn't seem to get any better with it's app support so I've decided to switch sides. There are a few things I'd like to know since I've never had an iPhone before.

1. Is there an MS Office (Excel, Word, OneNote) app for iOS? I use them quite extensively on my current phone.
2. Is there a file manager app? Win Mobile didn't have it for a while, and Android has the wonderful ES File Manager.
3. Will I be able to play .mkv movies on my phone that I transfer from my PC?
4. Can I sync my people.live.com contacts? That's where Win Mobile saves them. (I can't post links yet)

These are the ones that seem the most important to me, thanks in advance to anyone who takes their time to answer these questions.

1.) There is arguably better Apps than the MS Office Suite for Android while still being compatible with .docx, .xls, & .ppt files from Microsoft. I really like using Pages, Numbers, and Keynote in addition to the Microsoft Office Suite. It's also worth noting that a lot of these apps allow Cloud Sync so you always have your documents available to you.

2.) Two of the best ones I've found (for iOS anyways) is:
a.) FileBrowser - Easily the BEST I've found.
b.) Documents 5 - VERY easy to use
c.) Apple's own "iCloud Drive" - I love how everything gets synced to iCloud and I can access them on all my devices

3.) I have honestly NEVER watched a movie on my iPhone...no help with this one.

4.) I'm sure if you set up your Windows Live email, you have the option to import your contacts.