Originally Posted by
k4ever
Dude, I am twice removed from my Pre and I miss it everyday. Thank God my TouchPad is still going strong so I have some webOS goodness. I'm using an Android phone right now. Let's face it, iOS, Windows Phone, and Android are no where near as easy or intuitive to use as webOS. WebOS 1.4 is still light years ahead of them all in terms of usability. What you will lose right off the bat:
Intelligent notifications. Only Android comes close but there is some inconsistencies with viewing and dismissing notifications on Android. IOS notifications are so poor that I consider them a cruel joke. Best just to turn them off.
Can you elaborate for me what is inconsistent please? Not saying you're wrong, but I've only seen stock notifications.
iOS notifications are not as great as they should. When they appear, they often cover up the top bar and back button. You can't clear individual notifications either, you have to try to hit a dinky (x) twice to clear stuff. When you do, you clear everything from that one app in the list. (JB can fix that) Not the best, but they notify you.
Multitasking. No one does it better than webOS. Card view is ingenious, consistent across apps, and easy to learn to use. Again Android is the only thing that comes close, but that is not saying much. Each app behaves differently when switching away and then back to it. Multitasking in iOS is about the same as the notifications, a joke. Double tapping the home key to switch apps? Might as well not use it.
webOS pretty much nailed it, in pretty much everything else, multitasking is an added-on afterthought. (and sometimes it is) I haven't tried BB10, so I can't say about that, but Android isn't as fluid to use and the "cards" are not live. iOS 4 -> 6 had a pretty crappy row of icons requiring you to double-tap the home button to switch. meh. iOS 7 is pretty much a rip off of webOS and looks better for sure, but still uses the double-tap and I can't say about multitasking, probably just screenshots too. I do know on my resource constrained iPod touch, iOS would close apps automatically instead of popping up something like Too Many Cards, which is how it was designed.
Muting sound. The button on top of the Pre that mutes the sound is quick and very useful. Get ready to learn all of the steps it takes on each different Android phone to do a task that is simple on a Pre. My Motorola Photon was the only thing that comes close to pulling this off in as little steps as possible (turn on screen, swipe sound icon on lock screen to mute).
I'm sad to see a ringer switch isn't as common as it should. Great on the Treo, great on the Pre. The iPhone has one I believe, and it really varies outside of that.
Gestures. Nothing comes close, not even Android. Get ready for some hacks on both Android and iOS that will only give you a third of the functionality of webOS' gestures. This will also be inconsistent across apps and require some additional tweaking just to get it to activated.
Not many use gestures, Android, iOS, and Windows Phone still use the tried-and-true virtual and physical buttons. I think BB10 does the most with gestures. Again as he said, third-party mods are out there.
Physical keyboard. Everyone has pretty much move towards software keyboards. Candy bar phones sell more that sliders. You will find some pretty interesting software keyboards in Android. For the unique things that each one offers you will find something that each lacks. IOS (default) has the second best software keyboard I've used. Believe it or not, the TouchPad's software keyboard (with LunaCE tweaks) is by far the best I've used.
Physical KBs are becoming more and more rare, the best QWERTY offering is probably the BB Q10, but I haven't used it. The keyboard is supposed to be good though.
One handed operation. Not happening on iOS. The OS is just not set up for it. Same with Android. On top of that the huge screens that most Android phones have hinder one handed use.
Nothing really parallels the one-handed usability of the Treos and its competitors in the day, but with growing screens and hands that just stay the same size, you'll be hard pressed to find a phone that's easy to use one-handed (To quote my friend, "One does not simply use the Note II one-handed") iOS isn't as friendly to one-handed use as webOS (with the back button usually in the upper-left) but it works somewhat OK because Apple has kept the screen size at a decent (depends on personal preference) 3.5" - 4" but it's going to be even worse on the Android end with the massive screens and no compact high-end offering in sight. (a la Veer or Pre size, or even 3.5" iPhone) Windows Phone has the Lumia 620 with a 3.7" display, but these things really depend on you.
In app settings. Android has this and it is pretty much on par with webOS. Just a tiny step behind. IOS is finally getting this in version 7 but the menu looks clunky and out of place.
To be fair, you are getting a lot in return for losing webOS' kick **** UI and ease of use. On both Android and iOS you are getting a ton of apps (if that's your thing). On iOS you get Apple's extensive multimedia and hardware ecosystem. You get cutting edge state of the art hardware with Android (you get the same with Apple two years later and they will swear they invented it or somehow made it better). You get bigger, beautiful screens and have to sit through someone spouting off about pixel density even though after a certain point no human being can tell the difference.
yep
Good luck in your hunt to find a replacement. Be prepared to settle for less and miss your Pre everyday. Don't let anyone try to convince you that you won't miss it because they would be lying to you. BTW, I used Windows Phone for about 5 minutes (4 1/2 minutes too long). Did not like it at all, but the minimal time using it does not qualify me to have an opinion on it.
I've used Windows Phone a bit more (setting up and playing with my sister's Lumia 521) and I can say that it's a legitimate contender and not something that should be counted out right from the get go. It's fast and smooth, (pretty good-looking IMO) the app situation really depends on you, but coming from webOS it shouldn't be a downgrade. Look/get a feel for phones before you leap.
---Sent from my HP TouchPad using Communities (a great webOS app!)
. There is no emoticon sad enough to express the way i am feeling. 
