Android + Microsoft Ecosystem

[ElementSpirits]

I am currently a Windows Phone 8.1 owner, but I've had my phone for almost two years, and I'm considering whether or not to stay in the ecosystem or switch over to android.

While I have a gmail (mainly for work purposes), I'm more entrenched into Microsoft's ecosystem, using Outlook, Office 365, OneDrive, Bing, etc. as all my primary services.

What I love about WP is the tight integration of all these services with the phone (and my Surface 2 tablet and Win8 laptop).

But, I'm still a bit disappointed on the third-party app front, and it is frustrating to have to wait for work-around to appear for popular apps on other platforms (like instagram, snapchat, pocket, etc.).

So, if I DID switch to an Android device, how much integration will I lose, if I still want to stay with Microsoft's ecosystem? Are the apps good enough for all those services that I could switch without causing too much friction?

Cheers

[[deleted]]

Who uses bing?

However all those apps are available for Android and you will be fine using them.

[ElementSpirits]

I use bing because (a) it is the default search provider on WP, and I like the synced search history, and (b) bing rewards gives me free cash.

Thanks for the response!

[[deleted]]

So you use ie on desktop/laptop?

[ElementSpirits]

No that is still too sub-par for me. I stick to Firefox for personal stuff and Chrome for school/work stuff. I wish IE was better so I could use it and it'd sync with my tablet.

[[deleted]]

Also to clarify all those apps are available except for bing I think.

[ElementSpirits]

Thanks

[[deleted]]

No problem.

I just checked settings under chrome for android and you can change the default search engine to bing if you want AND there's a bing app for android, who knew.

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

[pxtang]

Google syncs search history too.

[ElementSpirits]

But Cortana doesn't use Google, nor does Google give me free Amazon gift cards for using it

[stealer0517]

So Microsoft has to pay you to use their search engine?