Tell Microsoft you want WP updates to bypass carriers!

[inteller]

"Carriers should not be allowed to arbitrarily block updates"

So peeps think that this is just an arbitrary decision ? That's not believable even if you don't like the process.

Re : T Mobile board meeting in hell " are we going to update 810 owners to GDR3 ? spin the wheel and lets see "

you must work for a carrier

 

[HappyFuture]

I live in Japan. Still no Windows Phone 8 here. I bought an HTX 8X from Expansys. Just got it fully operational. Last night when I bought it, it did 4 updates! Now I am on GDR2. No. Problems. I think MS needs to allow their phones to be updated via wifi or via there PC app. It would make things on parity with Apple.

 

[Fuzzy John]

Wasn't WP 8.1 going to start that process where it was just the manufacturers that needed to look over the update and there was no carrier interference?

That was what Joe Belfiore said last year during the joint Microsoft / Nokia webcast when they introduced WP8 and the Lumia 920. Apparently Microsoft rescinded that.

 

[unstoppablekem]

It got 9 votes from my 3 accounts.

 

[Jazmac]

As much as we might want this, AT&T will do whatever it wants up to and including holding up new devices and support. Does anyone know if there is an agreement between MS and AT&T that updates MUST pass through them?

 

[marcomura]

Unfortunately Microsoft is slave of network carriers... it doesn't have the supremacy to dictate conditions like apple.
We chose a weak company.

 

[unstoppablekem]

That's one of two reasons I like iPhones more. They don't have to deal with carrier bs. Second, they have WAY more retail stores and their customer support is better (calling).

 

[Agent-P]

Nokia have already shown the solution. Rip as much as possible out of the OS, and make it into "apps", which can then be updated quickly and easily, without any sort of carrier control. That way the carriers only have a basic husk of a phone to test, so its an easy quick job for them.

If an agreement can't be reached with the carriers, then this is absolutely the best approach. Google has started doing this with android and the fragmentation thing isn't nearly as much of a problem as it use to be because even if your carrier doesn't ever release the latest version of android for your phone, you can still get major components from the Play store. OEMs on WP have been able to do this from the beginning, but Microsoft needs to do the same with core components of the OS that way even if the carriers are delaying updates, users can still get the new version of the messages app (that is just an example).

This is not the issue. The issue is that for phones sold through the carriers, the carriers are the ones providing customer support when, not if, something goes wrong. Apple has taken the commitment to provide this support through Apple Stores etc., so they do have the power to bypass the carriers. If MS took on this responsibility, I'm sure there would be no roadblocks from the carriers.

I feel like this is a big part of it. Because Apple takes full responsibility for their devices so if an update messes something up, the carriers don't get blamed. Microsoft could take this approach, but they'd need way more physical stores than they have now to pull that off.

A related thought to this, how did Apple strike this deal with carriers way back in 2007? At the time there were no guarantees the iPhone would be successful and it was new so Apple didn't have that influence in the smartphone market that they do now. The only possible explanation I can think of is that since smartphones weren't very prevalent then, the carriers never thought about how updates might work.

 

[foxbat121]

Back in 2007, Verizon turned down Apple's deal and AT&T took a gamble and ultimately won big. The other carriers in US are just too small for Apple to even bother.

 

[marcomura]

The moderator Laura Knotek closed my thread suggesting that I should continue my discussion here.
My discussion was about the WP updates which shouldn't be delayed by carriers, and should not be released in batch.

So... discussing here that updates should not be released in batch would be in-topic, right?

 

[Divair]

Get back to me when Microsoft is the only manufacturer and when they control a larger marketshare. Right now, Microsoft has to deal with 4 OEM's and it has no influence over carriers as a result of a small marketshare.

 

[PB_H]

voted

 

[a5cent]

I would hate to see something that aggravates so many people become less important than what phone which celebrity is using.

Looking through uservoice makes one think 12 y.o. boys and girls are the primary users. :-/

Anyway, I added three votes, but I doubt we'll see much improvement on this issue, for the reasons mentioned, and also for a few that weren't.

I do wish MS would finally get around to cleaning up uservoice by merging duplicates and splitting up and clarifying some of the suggestions that are actually referring to multiple/different features. That would instantly triple the votes for an improved update process.

 

[unstoppablekem]

I'm still waiting for GDR2 on my 920. I bet it is complete, at&T just needs to allow it, which takes like no time, but they want us to suffer and convince us to buy the new 1020. It's bull****. We've been waiting for what, the whole summer? Ralph is probably just laying on his couch with his iPhone 5S and eating cheetos.

 

[BitPusher2600]

I'm sure Sprint will be in a real hurry for updates too :/

 

[jswantek]

Looking through uservoice makes one think 12 y.o. boys and girls are the primary users. :-/

Anyway, I added three votes, but I doubt we'll see much improvement on this issue, for the reasons mentioned, and also for a few that weren't.

I do wish MS would finally get around to cleaning up uservoice by merging duplicates and splitting up and clarifying some of the suggestions that are actually referring to multiple/different features. That would instantly triple the votes for an improved update process.

I agree, the User Voice is pretty cluttered with duplicate comments. People don't seem to want to take the time to search, I guess. It would be nice if they cleaned up/combined some of those suggestions.

I would like to hope that we'll see improvements, but I doubt we will anytime soon. I think the important thing is that we let Microsoft know directly that we're not happy with the current delivery method. Posting ranting comments about an AT&T/Apple/Android conspiracy against Microsoft and Nokia on a user forum isn't going to get noticed, much less get serious consideration, by the people who make the decisions, but using the feedback tools that Microsoft provided themselves, well that should at least get looked at.

Doesn't mean it will get implemented, look how many votes there are for custom SMS tones, but at least we can say we tried. (yes, I know, there's rumors and screenshots and all that other stuff, so it may well be coming, but the point is that it hasn't, yet)

As far as the AT&T vs. GDR2+Amber debacle, it seems to me that more people are getting upset about the lack of information from AT&T than they are about not receiving actual updates. AT&T is not making a single official comment about what's going on with these updates or when they will be released. That, I think, is the biggest disservice they can do. Providing information to the customers would be beneficial to them as a company.

 

[a5cent]

Jswantek, you also might want to extend your description, so that it mentions tools like system-updater, and how they should be unnecessary. They have been a confusing part of the update process for many Lumia owners.

 

[jswantek]

Jswantek, you also might want to extend your description, so that it mentions tools like system-updater, and how they should be unnecessary. They have been a confusing part of the update process for many Lumia owners.

I didn't write the description, I had nothing to do with it, I just linked to it. If you go back to my original post, you'll see that I chose that one because it already had the highest amount of votes for the topic, nothing more. I had nothing to do with the original request, I'm just promoting it.

 

[jswantek]

3,000+ votes, let's keep it going!

 

[jswantek]

This is getting noticed, which is good, but something called "cortana" STILL has TEN TIMES as many votes?! Seriously, I don't know what that is, and I'm fine not knowing what that is, but I'm sure whatever it is won't work on any handsets unless they get an update.

So, which makes more sense to have first?

C'mon folks, throw some votes out there!