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Ask Slashdot: Are There Any Alternatives To Android Or iOS?
An anonymous Slashdot reader is asking whether or not there are any alternatives to Android or iOS smartphones: Like most of us, I've owned a few smartphones over time, ranging from a Nokia E71 to a Samsung Android phone and now, an Apple iPhone. It is close to phone upgrade time, and I've been reviewing the features that I use on my phone. When I think honestly about it, the only features I really need are:
1. Phone calls (loads of conference calls, for which I use a wired headset with a microphone)
2. SMS Messaging (unlimited on my plan)
3. Navigation (very important, and is probably the most-used app on my phone)
4. Occasional internet browsing
All of this could be done by the Nokia E71, when Nokia Maps was a thing. If I want to move away from Apple, Google and the like, do I have any options now? Are there any trustable (and by trustable, I mean avoiding unknown Chinese manufacturers) phones in the market today that could do all four and (ideally) have better battery life than one day?
1. Phone calls (loads of conference calls, for which I use a wired headset with a microphone)
2. SMS Messaging (unlimited on my plan)
3. Navigation (very important, and is probably the most-used app on my phone)
4. Occasional internet browsing
All of this could be done by the Nokia E71, when Nokia Maps was a thing. If I want to move away from Apple, Google and the like, do I have any options now? Are there any trustable (and by trustable, I mean avoiding unknown Chinese manufacturers) phones in the market today that could do all four and (ideally) have better battery life than one day?
So much better that Microsoft has dropped the platform altogether. Bravo.
It had potential, don't get me wrong; and if Microsoft hadn't screwed every single pooch they encountered on their journey with Windows Phone, I'm sure it would be a real winner, but...
Its dead, Jim.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
From what you're telling us, you have very modest requirements, albeit not quite modest enough to use a plain old candy bar phone.
Now as a non-tech geek, which is what this profile is screaming, why would you not want to go mainstream? iOS and Android is mainstream. They are readily available. There are tons of resources on how to use them. They have apps available should the need arise. Going out of mainstream is for early adopters, for tech geeks, for people with non-mainstream needs. There's a reason why Android and iOS dominate. THEY WORK FOR MOST PEOPLE.
As an iPhone user, what is this app/spyware hell of which you speak?
1. Phone calls (loads of conference calls, for which I use a wired headset with a microphone)
2. SMS Messaging (unlimited on my plan)
Something like a better Nokia 3310 that can support calls, tethering.
3. Navigation (very important, and is probably the most-used app on my phone)
A portable GPS unit with free new map support.
4. Occasional internet browsing
A quality laptop using any OS you like.
No android or apple OS needed.
Buy real devices that support what is needed as part of their design.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
If all you use is the features that come with the phone and maybe a handful of free apps, more power to you, have at it. If you really want to keep using a device that's a year or more out of support (there are only 2 years left, remember), especially running a Microsoft OS with no security patches, go right ahead. Sure, it'll "work", it'll power on and at least the default functionality will probably be there; if you ever need to restore after they kill support, your apps will be lost, of course. I wouldn't really consider simply turning on and booting to be "working", when the device is intended to do so much more than that and those functions will necessarily break when Microsoft quits supporting them.
If you use any apps, you clearly haven't considered that you might need some time to find suitable replacements, or you really don't actually use them enough to care about potential substantial workflow changes. Having migrated from Blackberry to iOS to Android, I've been around the block a couple times; if you have some app that does some function a certain way, it takes time to sift through all the available apps on your new platform that perform that function, in order to find one that has the options you need and works the way you need it to.
Again, though, if all you care about is the most basic of functionality, sure, stick with Windows Phone. That's all you'll have when MS pulls the plug and, really, you don't even need a smartphone for those functions; most feature phones will perform those tasks, including GPS now, with multiple days of battery life.
For someone who actually uses a smartphone as a smartphone, adopting a dead platform is simply beyond idiotic and suggesting it as an option is either ignorant, malicious, or both.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
I don't think rooting is a good idea nowadays. It prevents updates and you can achieve most things rooting allowed in the past without it.