You can place this one under the category of Not Surprised At All.
Last week when we asked our readers the question - If Windows Phone was no longer available what platform would you move to? - we had a good idea on what the top answer would be.
Windows Phone fans are passionate about their platform and 46% of those who participated in the poll (1,080 as of this writing) told us that their Windows Phone would have to be pried from their hands if the platform ceased to exist.
Now that was an answer we expected and so our focus shifts to the next two highest responses in the polls to see what platforms users might move to if Windows Phone was no longer available.
It was nearly an even split between Android (27%) and iOS (23%) for what platforms Windows Phone users would consider. Following in a distant third was Blackberry (2%) and Other OS's (1%) in fourth.
So why would users pick Android or iOS and what differentiated the platforms for that decision?
According to some of the comments on that survey there are several reasons why one would be picked over the other:
- Android because of Google Now, customization options and widgets.
- iOs because it is all about the apps.
- Android to try using Microsoft apps but might be iOS because my wife is already on it.
- Android but I would use every Microsoft service I could.
- Not sure - iOS is bland and uninteresting although app ecosystem is one of the best and Android seems to be the least secure of the options.
- Android because it can be rooted and use Cyanogen as long as Microsoft services are available otherwise iOS because I do not want Google using my data.
Among the comments in support of Windows Phone the deep linking and Live Tiles were brought up as key features for the platform. One reader stated the issue is not the OS or the hardware but it is the app ecosystem that holds back the platform.
Microsoft is of course banking on their Universal Windows Platform (UWP) to bring the apps to their Windows 10 ecosystem, including the mobile element of that group of devices.
We have already seen a good deal of big names deliver UWP apps for Windows 10 over the last 7 months since the operating systems release but it appears the apps we really need to see are the more niche ones. I am talking about your bank, insurance company and other similar apps that make doing daily tasks easy on our mobile devices. That was the best part of my 6 month Android experience last year on the LG G4.
We also need to see feature parity in apps that are available on all of the mobile platforms because that can be more frustrating than not even having the app itself.
That kind of momentum might just be enough to bring the big popular apps like Snapchat to the platform.
But, wait...there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.
