I am really loving my new Lumia 928. Now that I am past the initial phase of learning Windows Phone and adjusting to a larger phone, I am starting to notice little ways that Windows Phone 8 makes life easier. The biggest standout for me, above and beyond any other, is how it handles music controls.
Every morning and evening I stream Pandora on my way home from work. On the iPhone, it was easy to flip to a different song by just double clicking the home button and pulling up the music controls while the iPhone was locked. I could also double-click the home button while using the iPhone and pull to the left to access music that way as well.
But Windows Phone puts those options to shame.
If I am playing music, the controls automatically stay on the lockscreen. One tap of the power button, and I can pause or fast forward easily. It’s very minor, but taking away the extra step of double clicking is a nice benefit. Even better, it is easy to start Pandora from anywhere on the phone by tapping the volume down key. Unlike iOS, Windows Phone remembers that Pandora was the last music app I used, and whether it is while I am using the phone or from the lock screen, I can easily launch Pandora.
But what really impresses me is what happens when I hit my 6-skips-in-one-hour limit. As soon as I hit the last skipped song, the forward button grayed out for me. Again, this is super minor, but the fact that the integration with the music app went deep enough to know that I couldn’t skip any more tracks makes it that much easier to use it on the go.
What’s your favorite “this makes life so much easier” feature of your smartphone?