I expect a lot from smart phones and am continually let down. The platform I require needs to feel generous and facilitate belonging; this will deliver phone Joy. Unfortunately phone Joy is currently unavailable, so I am split I’m split between the 2.

It’s been 1 month and 3 days since I made the switch from my Windows phone to an iPhone and I am NOT feeling the love. Specifically the iPhone interface does not feel generous. Surprisingly, the UI changes made since my last iPhone 3 or 4 years ago are minimal. I expected more.

I made the current switch to an iPhone after much whining about how the Windows phone lacks most of the popular social apps. I would be jealous seeing my loved ones Snap Chatting without me. I felt left out and wanted to belong to their joy; goofy and otherwise.

Even though the Windows phone misses the connection to the communal matrix, the interface is lovely: the tiles, list views, and sweeping transitions. Yeah, there are small things I don’t like including how it cuts off text; but the overall experience feels generous.

Meanwhile the experience of getting to the social apps on the iPhone is crammed, underwhelming, and dare I say archaic. It’s just too utilitarian for today. And what’s been happening is I find that I’m reaching for the iPad mini (which is a much better form factor for the Apple UI, although still archaic) to answer FaceTime, a message, or look at Path… What’s a Grandma to do?

So, I’m back to reevaluating what matters most.

Here is where I’ve landed. While I can’t have all in one phone Joy, I can split my requirements between multiple devices. The iPad mini, provides all the social apps. So have decided I don’t need 2 devices with this mediocre experience and am in the market for a new phone with a generous interface. I’m tempted by the Android or should I go back to the Windows phone? Either way, it looks like one of my kids is going to see a new/hand me down iPhone in their future.

…

Update- I got the Nokia Lumia 1020 with Windows.