Losing faith in Windows Phone (in America)

[arod]

I've had a Lumia 928 for almost two years now, it should be eligible for an upgrade in a month or two. I plan on sticking with WP - I'm really happy with it but apps have never been a big thing to me. It has enough for me at any rate - basically just sports scores, emulators and my battle.net authenticator is all I'm looking for.

Same but I have a 925. It has what I really need and what it does better than the competition I wouldn't want to live w/o (UI, camera, glance screen, skype integration, etc). Hopefully Win10 will bring competent apps because at least then it will be one app across all platforms but if not I am happy with the core os and the things it does better than android/ios.

 

[sequoia464]

The 6tag app is light years better than the native Instagram app.

Thanks, I will have my wife check it out.

I don't use Instagram myself but have usually had reasonable luck finding third party apps for my limited needs, particularly You Tube alternatives.

Hoping the bank apps come back with the unified Windows 10.

 

[Deeko]

I have owned the following Windows Phone: HTC One M8, Lumia 635, Lumia 920, HTC 8x, Lumia 900, Lumia 800, Samsung Focus, HTC HD7, Dell Venue Pro....and I dunno, I think I might be missing something. I also have about 8 apps on the Windows Phone market. So I'm about invested in the platform as they come.

That said, a lot of the frustrations voiced here are true. How many times can we be told "don't worry, just wait for the next version, THAT will be the one"? The last time that that was a valid thing to say was while we were waiting for WP7. Not to mention each release is two steps forward, two steps backwards. They add some nice new stuff, but then remove or cripple some existing stuff that was good. The developers aren't waiting for the next SDK. They're waiting for the users.

The problem? You aren't going to get the users by releasing cheap low end phone after cheap low end phone. You have to release solid, high end hardware to capture the mind share, and then fill out the bottom end with solid low to mid end devices. To their credit, the platform runs fantastic on low end hardware. The Lumia 635 - which I bought for $30 full price - runs incredibly smooth. But it still doesn't excuse the lack of high end hardware. If you're on any of the major carriers in America, Nokia - which is owned by Microsoft - doesn't have a real flagship device available! That's shocking. On AT&T, you've got the 1020 and 925, but those are just slight improvements over the Lumia 920 hardware, which came out 2 and a half years ago. It's really hard to fathom. The 930/Icon was decent, but it's no longer sold at Verizon and they never brought the 930 stateside.

It's frustrating, to say the least. That said, I usually have two phones on me, so even if my next upgrade is to replace my Z1 Compact with something else from Android, my HTC One WP will remain in the other pocket. I'm not going anywhere.

I realize the combination of buying Nokia and a new CEO puts a company in flux. A lot of good things have been happening on Microsoft's front lately, maybe this Windows 10 release really will be the one. We'll see.

Oh - and lets be serious. Adding support for Android apps would be a huge, massive, horrible mistake. Just look at how terrible they work on BlackBerry 10. It wouldn't be better on Windows. The experience would be poor for several reasons, and I hope they aren't so shortsighted as to go that route.

 

[gmaster456]

I have owned the following Windows Phone: HTC One M8, Lumia 635, Lumia 920, HTC 8x, Lumia 900, Lumia 800, Samsung Focus, HTC HD7, Dell Venue Pro....and I dunno, I think I might be missing something. I also have about 8 apps on the Windows Phone market. So I'm about invested in the platform as they come.

That said, a lot of the frustrations voiced here are true. How many times can we be told "don't worry, just wait for the next version, THAT will be the one"? The last time that that was a valid thing to say was while we were waiting for WP7. Not to mention each release is two steps forward, two steps backwards. They add some nice new stuff, but then remove or cripple some existing stuff that was good. The developers aren't waiting for the next SDK. They're waiting for the users.

The problem? You aren't going to get the users by releasing cheap low end phone after cheap low end phone. You have to release solid, high end hardware to capture the mind share, and then fill out the bottom end with solid low to mid end devices. To their credit, the platform runs fantastic on low end hardware. The Lumia 635 - which I bought for $30 full price - runs incredibly smooth. But it still doesn't excuse the lack of high end hardware. If you're on any of the major carriers in America, Nokia - which is owned by Microsoft - doesn't have a real flagship device available! That's shocking. On AT&T, you've got the 1020 and 925, but those are just slight improvements over the Lumia 920 hardware, which came out 2 and a half years ago. It's really hard to fathom. The 930/Icon was decent, but it's no longer sold at Verizon and they never brought the 930 stateside.

It's frustrating, to say the least. That said, I usually have two phones on me, so even if my next upgrade is to replace my Z1 Compact with something else from Android, my HTC One WP will remain in the other pocket. I'm not going anywhere.

I realize the combination of buying Nokia and a new CEO puts a company in flux. A lot of good things have been happening on Microsoft's front lately, maybe this Windows 10 release really will be the one. We'll see.

Oh - and lets be serious. Adding support for Android apps would be a huge, massive, horrible mistake. Just look at how terrible they work on BlackBerry 10. It wouldn't be better on Windows. The experience would be poor for several reasons, and I hope they aren't so shortsighted as to go that route.

This post basically sums up the thread and everything that is wrong with WP^

MS has always been slow with things dating back well before smartphones were even a thing. And then they were late to the smartphone game. Windows Mobile was solid, especially for business users, but they got complacent much like blackberry and finally in 2010 said "well shit, maybe we should do something". What they came out with was decent but half baked and was missing features iOS and Android users had come to expect at the time and the app situation was MUCH worse as there was quite literally, absolutely nothing. The app situation is better but still poor and the former still holds true.

Then there's the whole flagship issue. It's too late now, as WP 10 is due sometime in Q3 from what I've seen. But they needed one LONG before now. When the best phone you have out was released over a year ago, there's a problem. The fact that WP doesn't need high end hardware isn't the point. They NEED a flagship. Something that showcases the platform. Something they can advertise. Android has the M9, S6, Nexus 6, etc. etc. Apple has the iPhone 6. WP has a phone that was released over a year ago with 2013 specs, and isn't even sold anymore in the US and JUST got WP 8.1.

There's lots of fundamental issues that need to be addressed. Microsoft has always been slow to adapt and that needs to change if they want the platform is to be successful. Apple and Samsung use the top down approach. High end hardware to intrigue people and show off, low end hardware to saturate the market and fill in the gaps. Microsoft has been going bottom up. Flood the market with low end phones, and ignore the high end market for the most part. Which is working?

 

[midwestfisherman]

I'm pretty happy with my 635. It does everything that I want it to do except an app for my bank. I just use my iPad for that. I would like to see a greater Google presence on WP but thats probably just a pipe dream at this point.