Help Considering switching to a Windows Mobile Phone (b/c I need Microsoft Outlook!!)

My wife had one and the UI was really slick but I hated the look and choice of apps is dire

Have you tried some other calendar apps? There are a lot to choose from, some of which also include tasks..

There is a Microsoft Outlook app in the Play Store, but I've only looked at the screenshots and it doesn't look obviously better than any other calendar app, and I don't see tasks mentioned in the description.

BTW if you find it astounding that there isn't a better Outlook app for Android, let's say that I can see reasons why Microsoft would want to keep a better version for their own OS/platform.

Aye. It's only Google who aren't tight with their apps

Here ya go mate https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.office.outlook
(3.5 stars lol)

What I meant was "have you tried apps other than Jorte?". A lot of people like that one, but it doesn't suit me at all, and as I said there are many others out there.

Are you using purely Outlook or Outlook to access a Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync server?

If the latter then that's unlikely to be solved by a calendar app due to the very weird Microsoft API from that. There is at least one app that has taken that on though. Check out "Tasks & Notes for MS Exchange"

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.myklos.inote

Btw if that's what you need then you also want to check out Team Calendar Sync - for Exchange ActiveSync calendar access only - use with your favorite calendar app.

HOWEVER -

If you're talking about straight Outlook tasks then you probably want to look at Todoist -

https://en.todoist.com/outlook

Check out "Todoist: To-Do List, Task List"

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.todoist

^^font of knowledge!
(i feel I'm kissing EarlyMon's ass too much lately... Must be making up for my initial disdain for him)

I have the old (no longer available, soon to be unsupported) Outlook.com app, which as far as I'm concerned is just something that can sync the calendar data with the device - I use other calendar apps for viewing appointments, editing etc (Business Calendar 2 being my most used). Likewise I just use a different email app, such as Maildroid or Aquamail, for the mail part (I don't use Exchange at all).

(In fact with the account set up on my device I should test to see whether the Outlook app is even needed any more. When I have a moment...)

As I've said, Microsoft's choice of what apps they provide for Android will be driven by their perceived interests. If you end up buying a Windows phone then the strategy will have worked, at least in one case.

Darkiedroid said:

No I need everything: ie calender, to do list, ......... cant beliece they cant just have a an app that addresses this simple yet common need.

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Believe it - you need either a combination of apps or a bridging app as I've linked for you.

Microsoft refuses to open the entire API and absolutely refuses to grant licenses for services in at least the email case unless they consider the developer large enough. That's exactly why you see Exchange mail on Android only rarely accomplished with ActiveSync and IMAP being used in its place.

If you'd rather switch to a Windows phone than try the alternatives I've mentioned, then Microsoft has succeeded with you, that's exactly what they want.

Believe it because it's true.

The only ones capable, thanks to legalities, of providing full and unfettered access to Microsoft is Microsoft.

Look at the comments for the Outlook email app you don't need - it's written by Microsoft and it doesn't work.

Ask yourself if that's because Microsoft does not know how to write an email app, or if they're gaslighting everyone to make a point about Android. What answer does your common sense give you?

Darkiedroid said:

Hi everyone,

I have an LG Optimus Android device. I really need organizational software, so I am currently using Jorte.

I would like to use Microsoft Outlook, as Jorte is pale in comparison to it.

However, it is astounding that there is still no Outlook app for Android!!!

I am talking about the Outlook software, the one with the task lists and such NOT the email program!

Therefore, I am strongly considering getting a Windows Phone, so I can use outlook.

However, I have heard about the inferiority of Windows mobile OS... so I have created this post to ask members on this board how bad it is? will I still be able to use most apps?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

You do realize you are asking this on an android phone forum So the answers are almost always going to be negative/against Microsoft

I use Windows Phone presently(Lumia 1520) and I think the OS is the best. No we don't have 1,000,000 apps like ios and Android but we do have 500,000 apps.

Keep in mind with WIndows 10 which is coming in a few months, Windows 10 for phones will be able to run IOS and Android apps.

A lot of my friends have had androids and they are on team windows
(S6 Edge to the Lumia 1520, HTC One M8 to M8 Windows...I wished he got a better phone but he likes HTC and he wanted the windows phone)

If you want/need a good Microsoft experience, then Windows Phone would be a good move. I left Android in 2012, flirted with it in 2013 and tried it briefly a month or two ago and I am glad to be done with it

If you're using Active Sync, see if Nine meets your needs. It is a licensed Active Sync client and does about everything Outlook can. It's for Active Sync *only " however.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ninefolders.hd3

You might also check out Maildroid or my favorite email client, AquaMail, which has a lot of integration with Microsoft's features and is a terrific all-around app. They are not licensed for full Active Sync support like Nine, but Nine does not support IMAP.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.kman.AquaMail

micahdiablo said:

You do realize you are asking this on an android phone forum So the answers are almost always going to be negative/against Microsoft

Click to expand...

Or simply truthful because some of us happen to need Microsoft methods but don't need to drink their Kool Aid or pimp for them out of ignorance where the cause of the problems are.

@Crashdamage - AquaMail does Outlook tasks?? He's not looking for email.

EarlyMon said:

Or simply truthful because some of us happen to need Microsoft methods but don't need to drink their Kool Aid or pimp for them out of ignorance where the cause of the problems are.

Click to expand...

Or bias...lol.

I am sure if you'd ask the opposite (Going from Windows to Android) on a WIndows phone site, you'd get the same type of biasness.

Much like someone who wants to use/needs to use Google services(the poor things, but you cant fault them for using google products lol jk), an android is the best advice you can give them....if someone wants a cohesive experience with Microsoft products/services, then of course going with an actual product made FOR them is good advice instead of trying to give them some 3rd party suggestion that may or may not work or if it does, it could possibly become unsupported or have issues down the road.

I am not sure if the kool-aid remark was directed at me or the ignorance remarks, but I know I am black but I don't like kool-aid(tis a joke) and I am not ignorant...since I left android party(again kidding lol)

EarlyMon said:

@Crashdamage - AquaMail does Outlook tasks?? He's not looking for email.

Click to expand...

Hmmm...I was thinking it does,but I don't use M$ stuff so I better check to be sure.

I thought he was looking for email + the kitchen sink, all in one place and M$ compliant.

Edit: AquaMail does contacts, calendar Sync, Exchange via EWS or IMAP, Office 365, Exchange Online - but I haven't been able to confirm that it handles Tasks.

micahdiablo said:

Or bias...lol.

I am sure if you'd ask the opposite (Going from Windows to Android) on a WIndows phone site, you'd get the same type of biasness.

Much like someone who wants to use/needs to use Google services(the poor things, but you cant fault them for using google products lol jk), an android is the best advice you can give them....if someone wants a cohesive experience with Microsoft products/services, then of course going with an actual product made FOR them is good advice instead of trying to give them some 3rd party suggestion that may or may not work or if it does, it could possibly become unsupported or have issues down the road.

I am not sure if the kool-aid remark was directed at me or the ignorance remarks, but I know I am black but I don't like kool-aid(tis a joke) and I am not ignorant...since I left android party(again kidding lol)

Click to expand...

Look, it's not bias, it's really simple -

You hit a point rapidly where Microsoft and Apple products exist in the format that they do strictly to lock you into their platform only.

The reference to Kool Aid is a common meme and existed as a phrase before the Internet. It's a reference to the Jonestown Massacre where Jim Jones got his followers to drink poisoned Kool Aid, having convinced them that they'd go to heaven. Blacks and whites were killed in that tragedy. I see no point to you bringing up your skin color. Last I checked, it didn't matter in personal computing or in being misinformed about the past.

If you believe that any closed-end solution is a good idea, whether from Microsoft, Apple, Google, or Samsung is a good idea, then you're drinking the Kool Aid.

If the Windows phone floats your boat, knock yourself out, enjoy it.

But if you think it's better because it integrates better with Windows on a pc, then you're just a Kool Aid victim - and that's a fact no matter how often you repeat the word bias.

Microsoft used to be one of the rulers in smartphones. They're down to about a 2% market share, they make more money off of Android than they do with the Windows phone - and they hate it.

Rather than making more Android money by expanding their apps into Android and making them work properly - something that they've said repeatedly that they're going to do - they've done the exact opposite.

I'm glad you're on "Team Windows" as you put it - I hope that's fun for you.

I'm not on a team. I use what works and I vote with my wallet.

I have no desire to change to an inferior operating system with limited device support just for one function and if a buddy asks if he has alternatives, I'll help him find some.

If you want to argue with that, you're on your way to thin ice.

What makes you think that you're going to want to use Windows on your desktop in 5 years?

^^^^ Well said...

micahdiablo said:

I use Windows Phone presently(Lumia 1520) Keep in mind with WIndows 10 which is coming in a few months, Windows 10 for phones will be able to run IOS and Android apps.

Click to expand...

Is that actually true or is it that it's being made easier for developers to port apps to Windows phone? (or am I getting confused with something else[good chance of that])

funkylogik said:

Is that actually true or is it that it's being made easier for developers to port apps to Windows phone? (or am I getting confused with something else[good chance of that])

Click to expand...

Our candy crush app on Windows Phone was actually an IOS app that was recompiled to work on Windows Phone. We actually didn't know this until Build in April when they revealed it. We all thought it was just a native windows phone app.

More details here
http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/29/8511439/microsoft-windows-10-android-ios-apps-bridges

I am not going to get too technical...as that is above my pay grade lol.

EarlyMon said:

Look, it's not bias, it's really simple -

You hit a point rapidly where Microsoft and Apple products exist in the format that they do strictly to lock you into their platform only.

The reference to Kool Aid is a common meme and existed as a phrase before the Internet. It's a reference to the Jonestown Massacre where Jim Jones got his followers to drink poisoned Kool Aid, having convinced them that they'd go to heaven. Blacks and whites were killed in that tragedy. I see no point to you bringing up your skin color. Last I checked, it didn't matter in personal computing or in being misinformed about the past.

If you believe that any closed-end solution is a good idea, whether from Microsoft, Apple, Google, or Samsung is a good idea, then you're drinking the Kool Aid.

If the Windows phone floats your boat, knock yourself out, enjoy it.

But if you think it's better because it integrates better with Windows on a pc, then you're just a Kool Aid victim - and that's a fact no matter how often you repeat the word bias.

Microsoft used to be one of the rulers in smartphones. They're down to about a 2% market share, they make more money off of Android than they do with the Windows phone - and they hate it.

Rather than making more Android money by expanding their apps into Android and making them work properly - something that they've said repeatedly that they're going to do - they've done the exact opposite.

I'm glad you're on "Team Windows" as you put it - I hope that's fun for you.

I'm not on a team. I use what works and I vote with my wallet.

I have no desire to change to an inferior operating system with limited device support just for one function and if a buddy asks if he has alternatives, I'll help him find some.

If you want to argue with that, you're on your way to thin ice.

What makes you think that you're going to want to use Windows on your desktop in 5 years?

Click to expand...

And i'd rather not use an inferior OS that is outdated by the time I get phone and is highly dependent on having top of the line specs because it can barely run on lower end hardware. Because you know after 7 years, Android still hasn't figured out how to fully optimize its OS. and I certainly don't want an OS that has a god awful skin to make it 'appealing' or 'unique' instead of OEMs actually bringing innovation in other places.

It was a joke about being black and kool-aid...it wasn't meant to be serious.

I seriously doubt Microsoft hates the fact they make more money off Android than Windows phone.

1. If I am getting paid regardless why would I care? Sure it'd be great if it was my own product but I am getting paid.

2. They hate google...and google hates the fact Microsoft or as the anti-Microsoft fans like to say M$ is making money off their OS/OEMs...so them making money off android is worse for google and their OEMs than it is for Microsoft.

So that argument is a bit flawed there.

I haven't been following Android as much as I used to in the Pre-ICS days, when I actually cared about Android/Google and its products....I used to be a regular here.

But if you notice, Android's openness in the early days of 2008 still exists in theory but Google is starting to crack down a bit more on their OS and close things off that used to be open. There are several articles about this I've read and making it increasingly difficult for OEMs who wish to try to dual boot Android and Windows on their product to do so....or risk being thrown out of the alliance or whatever.

Sure Android is open...but the Google Experience itself isn't.

More importantly, it is not a fanboy for someone to choose a closed source product over opensource. Not everyone cares about flashing the latest rom or having to update their phones to the latest version because as per usual Android is usually 1 or 2 versions behind.

I voted with my wallet and I chose an OS that it doesn't matter if I own a Nokia(now Microsoft) lumia or go to Samsung or HTC or LG Windows Phone, my experience is the same and I don't have to worry about compromising. I don't have to worry about crappy experience.

I chose the closed source because my Lumia Windows Phone comes with bloatware yes....but I can...wait for it...uninstall it.

My mother brought an HTC android phone with a ton of crap on it she doesn't even use. You can disable it...but I cant remove it.

I chose the closed source OS because I don't care about Open vs Closed....because I don't feel 'trapped' in the ecosystem because I chose to go to there.

Why? Because the experience is cohesive. It's Unified and the OS works across all devices the way it should...regardless if I have a low spec'd phone or a top of the line. It just works.

It's why Apple is still has the mindshare that Samsung is desperately trying to get and keeps copying Apple's moves.
It's why google is now trying to copy Microsoft.

Coincidentally, Microsoft is the more open one instead of Google...all of their services on ALL platforms because Microsoft, unlike Google, is not afraid of competition and nowadays is far more open than anything Google is doing presently.

Google abandoned the do no evil mentality ears ago and it is merely an idea Android fans hold on to nowadays and that's fine.

This has nothing to do with closed vs open source. I said close-ended, not closed source. Please learn the difference.

Your beliefs about what Microsoft hates is based on opinion - mine is based on company statements.

As for Microsoft being more open and available on all platforms - that's troll bait and an outrageous lie. I advise caution.

Your rant is pure Kool Aid.

The only arguments you've made have been done by twisting what I said.

As for the OP, let's get back to his questions.

First, how well does Outlook task management work for you?

What Android apps are you able to run on your Windows phone?

What open form solutions work with the Windows phone?

micahdiablo said:

Our candy crush app on Windows Phone was actually an IOS app that was recompiled to work on Windows Phone. We actually didn't know this until Build in April when they revealed it. We all thought it was just a native windows phone app.

More details here
http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/29/8511439/microsoft-windows-10-android-ios-apps-bridges

I am not going to get too technical...as that is above my pay grade lol

Click to expand...

Ahh that's almost exactly what I'd read. Thanks.
So WP won't "be able to run Android apps", that's a bit misleading.
How many devs are gonna bother?

Must admit (can't remember if I'm repeating myself but) my wife had a very low end Lumia for a week and the UI ran beautifully. Very well optimised
Of course she ditched it after a week because "there's no apps and the homescreen looks like total shite" lol.
How customisable is the homescreen btw?i didnt explore the settings.
Are we talking iOs or worse (yeah call me shallow but I like to customise my screen (my complete UI actually down to the apps)