Is the Windows Phone on its way out?
Discussion
QuartzDad said:
My mobile has been Windows since the days of 6.5. I really, really like it but I'm pretty close to giving up now. Just logged into 'Your apps' and the list of defunct ones is pretty depressing:
Here Maps
Hilton
Amazon
Hotel Tonight
iPlayer
eBay
First Direct
Whatsapp and Waze are the only ones that I use that are still working.
The straw that broke the camel's back for me was when I found myself using the map app (good) to try to locate the Lloyds branch in Canary Wharf so that I could physically repay money to a mate's account (Barclays app not working again). There's a world of convenience out there and my Lumia, sadly, wasn't delivering.Here Maps
Hilton
Amazon
Hotel Tonight
iPlayer
eBay
First Direct
Whatsapp and Waze are the only ones that I use that are still working.
A shame but it seems at least for now its dead. They utterly f
ked it up as usual.
Even the new Nokia is a fk up imo. Yes it will sell well and be popular as its running android but in reality I think they should have released it or a phone at any rate that could run windows or meego.
Not a software dev but as I understand it the only thing stopping any phone from having any software is the hardware within having to be compatible with the software.
I see no reason they cannot make a phone that could have either or where software is concerned simply by building it using hardware compatible with multiple software platforms.
I have long thought the best idea would be to make a phone where users could choose what software platform they want on the device or even allowing users to dual boot the device.
ked it up as usual.Even the new Nokia is a f
k up imo. Yes it will sell well and be popular as its running android but in reality I think they should have released it or a phone at any rate that could run windows or meego. Not a software dev but as I understand it the only thing stopping any phone from having any software is the hardware within having to be compatible with the software.
I see no reason they cannot make a phone that could have either or where software is concerned simply by building it using hardware compatible with multiple software platforms.
I have long thought the best idea would be to make a phone where users could choose what software platform they want on the device or even allowing users to dual boot the device.
You know, this second hand Lumia 530 I've got reminds me why the Lumia used to be so good. I have got all my life back on the phone in about 10 minutes. It's a sweet little thing that's quick and just...well...works.
Later iterations of the Lumia - pretty much since Microsoft put its name on it - became progressively worse. My wife's is running W10 and it's s
te.Damn you, Microsoft, why do you ruin everything you touch?
The future's not looking especially rosy at the moment which is a great shame 
I'm on my second Lumia (950 which replaced a 920) and if mine were to drop down a drain or something tomorrow I'd either pick up another or get something like an Elite X3 from HP. As for the futuer I'm still clinging on to hope of the Surface phone. W10 Mobile is far from perfect but speaking as someone who loathes using either iOS or Android getting "forced" on to one of those platforms is the last thing I want
I'm on my second Lumia (950 which replaced a 920) and if mine were to drop down a drain or something tomorrow I'd either pick up another or get something like an Elite X3 from HP. As for the futuer I'm still clinging on to hope of the Surface phone. W10 Mobile is far from perfect but speaking as someone who loathes using either iOS or Android getting "forced" on to one of those platforms is the last thing I want
mudster said:
egor110 said:
What apps couldn't you get?
For me other than strava windows had everything i needed , and the downloadable maps , no data sat nav was brilliant.
There are ios and android sat nav apps which download the maps to the device. No need to have a data connection.For me other than strava windows had everything i needed , and the downloadable maps , no data sat nav was brilliant.
Oakey said:
Foliage said:
Yep done, also no longer do a band,
The band is dead already? That has to be the shortest lived MS product ever!There was C: but its rather spurious which is that it had more apps however they were mostly irrelevant and it didnt have the as much proper functionality as the Band 2.
The big shame is there was a microsoft watch before the band which looked a little like the Iwatch and very swich but i think it was when it was still part of Nokia group.
I thought the App issue was all sorted because you'd make the App for Windows 10 and it would be cross-compatible? Sounds like they've totally screwed up what was a great product. I was Windows Mobile from the XDA II, but jumped off when Windows Phone 7 didn't support enough apps, was really hoping they would make it work as it's such a neat OS. Oh well.
paulrockliffe said:
I thought the App issue was all sorted because you'd make the App for Windows 10 and it would be cross-compatible? Sounds like they've totally screwed up what was a great product. I was Windows Mobile from the XDA II, but jumped off when Windows Phone 7 didn't support enough apps, was really hoping they would make it work as it's such a neat OS. Oh well.
I wish MS would sell it some someone who gave a st and who had a better idea how to make things work properly - which is pretty much anyone other than them.I've got a two month old Lumia 650 from Carphone with W10. Works well as an Outlook/Office phone, with a good camera. Maps are still working offline, and the clincher is 'Driving mode' which texts people that you're driving when they phone.
If you need 'apps' though, you'd buy something else.
On the upside, battery life is four days with battery saver on, there's very fine control of what apps can access your data/camera/mic/contacts, and it's not sending anything back to Google/China.
There's faint hope that it will be able to use Windows 10 desktop apps at some point, but MicroSoft's current history is that of destroying anything useful in the name of progress.
But, for a business phone, the 650 works well in a sort of BlackBerry-ish fashion. Live tiles are excellent.
I also have a WileyFox Swift II dual-sim as a backup, I'll have to use that when MS finally cripple the 650 with 'updates.' It has similar granular control of app permissions.
If you need 'apps' though, you'd buy something else.
On the upside, battery life is four days with battery saver on, there's very fine control of what apps can access your data/camera/mic/contacts, and it's not sending anything back to Google/China.
There's faint hope that it will be able to use Windows 10 desktop apps at some point, but MicroSoft's current history is that of destroying anything useful in the name of progress.
But, for a business phone, the 650 works well in a sort of BlackBerry-ish fashion. Live tiles are excellent.
I also have a WileyFox Swift II dual-sim as a backup, I'll have to use that when MS finally cripple the 650 with 'updates.' It has similar granular control of app permissions.
paulrockliffe said:
I thought the App issue was all sorted because you'd make the App for Windows 10 and it would be cross-compatible? Sounds like they've totally screwed up what was a great product. I was Windows Mobile from the XDA II, but jumped off when Windows Phone 7 didn't support enough apps, was really hoping they would make it work as it's such a neat OS. Oh well.
Who will write them?All the people who wrote Silverlight Apps and got burned? Or those who migrated to Windows RT Apps and got burned again?
grumbledoak said:
paulrockliffe said:
I thought the App issue was all sorted because you'd make the App for Windows 10 and it would be cross-compatible? Sounds like they've totally screwed up what was a great product. I was Windows Mobile from the XDA II, but jumped off when Windows Phone 7 didn't support enough apps, was really hoping they would make it work as it's such a neat OS. Oh well.
Who will write them?All the people who wrote Silverlight Apps and got burned? Or those who migrated to Windows RT Apps and got burned again?
Firstly the windows 10 universal apps are written on a platform called the universal windows platform (UWP). Apps written using this framework will run across all the recent product families without any code changes. These families include desktop, mobile, IoT, HoloLens and surface hub.
This works and it works well.
You will need to make a scalable UI to resize itself for the different screen sizes / input methods (keyboard, mouse, touch, pen etc), and there are additional frameworks to add functionality not needed across all platforms (such is GPIO for IoT).
Why is no one writing these apps, well they are, just not thousands. I am writing one now, I know several other devs actively writing UWP apps. Most will not have (at this time) a mobile version, not because they can't, but simply Windows 10 mobile has so few users that even the fairly trivial amount of work to support it (UI scaling) is not worth the effort.
Secondly regarding the Silverlight RT comment. Yes they have (and still are) chopping and changing, but fundamentally all these frameworks use XAML (think HTML and CSS together) and C# to write code. Switching between them is not a massive deal, and any competent developer will have no problem.
Think of it like this. You speak English (WPF) then you move to Glasgow(Silverlight). You're still fundamentally speaking English, but you'll need to learn some local words, and some words you know will not be any use up there. When RT comes along, you've moved to Newcastle, again still more or less English, but new/redundant words. UWP... well you get it by now.
Picked up a continuum dock for my 950 in december. Vodafail were selling them off on ebay for £30. Its a brilliant bit of kit. Giving a full desktop on a monitor via HDMI or Display Port. Great for watching movies via VLC or for the likes of BT sport/iPlayer.
Having access to RDP for remote management with a full screen, mouse and keyboard is damn handy.
Having access to RDP for remote management with a full screen, mouse and keyboard is damn handy.
Windows 10 Phone was the best OS, but when they brought it out their first version Windows 8 Phone really was very bad. Everyone then forgot about it and bought iPhones and Android devices. It is a shame as I really like it, had a 930 which had the best camera by far. I bought one for my dad who loves it as he doesn't use apps but does love the way I can make all the tiles and text really big, nice and simple to use.
However I gave up on Windows phones a year ago, too many issues, too little updates and them MS dropped it. I have a Samsung S7 and the camera is nowhere near as good, but for the most the phone is great.
Don't forget you can write apps for multiple devices using frameworks like Xamarin for Visual Studio. However again why bother going to the dev/support for something with less than 1% usage - just not worth the effort.
However I gave up on Windows phones a year ago, too many issues, too little updates and them MS dropped it. I have a Samsung S7 and the camera is nowhere near as good, but for the most the phone is great.
Don't forget you can write apps for multiple devices using frameworks like Xamarin for Visual Studio. However again why bother going to the dev/support for something with less than 1% usage - just not worth the effort.
Purely on its own, I much prefer W10M over Android or iOS - for me the interface is generally cleaner, clearer and better designed.
I have a Lumia 930, which is my secondary phone - mainly used for tethering, Spotify and the camera - and the camera (especially with an app like ProShot) can give some truly stunning results. Its on the fast ring insiders release, and aside from the occasional hiccup (bluetooth issues on one recent update) it has been reliable.
But the app gap is terrible; whilst they finally have a decent Facebook client (based on the iOS release, which is way better than the Android client), virtually everything else is missing. No way of synching my Polar A300 (although that has now stopped working on my Sony Z5C due to the Nougat update causing a range of bluetooth problems).
Main problem now is the lack of devices. The HP x3 looks interesting, but is stupidly overpriced. Microsoft themselves have virtually pulled their entire range, and a lack of visibility in the high street means that for virtually all consumers the platform is non-existent.
Microsoft are effectively ignoring the platform. Whilst they may have a halo device in development (Surface Phone), it would have to be truly outstanding to get any traction. Microsoft do have occasional moments of brilliance, those moments are rare.
I have a Lumia 930, which is my secondary phone - mainly used for tethering, Spotify and the camera - and the camera (especially with an app like ProShot) can give some truly stunning results. Its on the fast ring insiders release, and aside from the occasional hiccup (bluetooth issues on one recent update) it has been reliable.
But the app gap is terrible; whilst they finally have a decent Facebook client (based on the iOS release, which is way better than the Android client), virtually everything else is missing. No way of synching my Polar A300 (although that has now stopped working on my Sony Z5C due to the Nougat update causing a range of bluetooth problems).
Main problem now is the lack of devices. The HP x3 looks interesting, but is stupidly overpriced. Microsoft themselves have virtually pulled their entire range, and a lack of visibility in the high street means that for virtually all consumers the platform is non-existent.
Microsoft are effectively ignoring the platform. Whilst they may have a halo device in development (Surface Phone), it would have to be truly outstanding to get any traction. Microsoft do have occasional moments of brilliance, those moments are rare.
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