Windows Phone - State of MS apps

[rvoje]

Hi everyone!

I'm writing this observation because I'm pissed off by Microsoft and by many blind fanboys (and fangirls) here on WPCentral.

First of all I use Windows Phone because I didn't have the money to buy an iPhone - so I'm almost two year old Windows Phone (8) user.

I'm also a graphic, web and mobile app designer so I liked very much how refreshing Windows Phone looked. After few months all bad sides of WP have come out. After all I'm a user, not a fan.

No.1 WP's enemy is Microsoft itself. Remember last year when they introduced video messages to Skype, then pushed update to all platforms and said they will update WP app in a couple of months? They are doing it all the time with all their apps and services.

The most recent case is Music app for WP. I just can't stand reading people comments defending Microsoft for making non-working app. Remember how many (working!!!) music apps have been published after new Music app fiasco. I can tell you myself that you don't need more than two weeks to make a music app from scratch – including programming and design (1 programmer and 1 designer required). That's because Visual Studio and Blend are both phenomenal tools to work with. Remember MS is developing this app for 4 and a half months actively, soon after WP 8.1 Dev Preview is released. If company this size doesn't have a motive to make a new apps for their own OS, that's a disaster. Really. I thik Microsoft should be given an award for being the first company in last decade to develop a non-functional music app!

For what we know Windows Phone 8.1 is public since April this year and is officially finished at the end of June. So I'm giving you a glimpse look at what MS did with their apps through this period. This is the list of their apps I use, and look which ones not are rewritten for Windows Phone 8.1 as a native WP8.1 apps:

• Battery Saver
• Calendar
• Calculator
• Camera
• Data Sense
• E-mail
• Facebook
• Files
• FM Radio
• Fresh Paint
• Games
• Health & Fitness
• Maps
• Music
• Office
• Office Lens
• Office Remote
• OneDrive
• OneNote
• PDF Reader
• Podcasts
• Reading List
• Remote Desktop
• Skype
• Sport
• Storage Sense
• Video
• Yammer

Red color represents the app which is still not a native Windows Phone 8.1 app. So when you look at what Microsoft did with their apps how can you be happy. They have update an Office app for other platforms two moths ago, and all their apps have much much better user experience on other platforms. WP can't have the latest version of apps from a company that made OS… Wooh!

When you see the latest situation in which Microsoft didn't test WP 8.1 Update 1 with HTC phones, that's not the way company this size should act. So now they blame HTC, HTC blames them etc. That's their hardware specs and requirements for a Windows Phone device that should have all updates within 36 months. Look at what what Xolo did with the hardware key on their WP device… MS obviously can't do the business the way it is meant in mobile market.

So why is there always blind WP users who ignore all this MS failures. In my eyes Microsoft doesn't deserve a second chance, I am exhausted with all this waiting…

Please, tweet, write to MS, because, that's the only way WP can become better OS for us.

And yes:
Hooray to this new phenomenal Music app update! *
* sarcasm

Edit: typos

 

[Ashish Gupta888]

I absolutely agree with your thoughts. Its such a shame that MS don't value their own platform and prioritize others. IMO, they do it to earn royalties from other OS and those have huge user db as well. From business perspective, its fine but this strategy is driving WP in a direction where users are giving up with their patience and trust. MS is losing their faithful users and they need drastic change in their business strategies.

Sent from my Lumia 525 using Tapatalk

 

[herbertsnow]

You don't have to use any of those apps if you don't want to.

 

[k72]

I suppose you can call me a ****** or fangirl, but I happen to be quite happy with my Windows Phone. I switched from Android a month ago because I didn't like it, therefore I chose not to use it. I agree it's strange that Microsoft adds various features to Android instead of WP, but I have everything I need and still find it better than when I was using Android.

You're welcome to call me a "blind WP user" as you stated above, but I for one chose this OS and like using it based on the benefits I now have, not because I'm blindly following or defending a particular company. If you feel they don't deserve a second chance, feel free to switch to another OS. That's what I did.

 

[tgp]

I think you could have been a bit more diplomatic at the start of the post. You do have a point though. I'm amazed sometimes when I compare Microsoft's apps on my WP to the same apps on my Android. If you use Microsoft's services you're better off using iPhone or Android than WP! Just this evening I got an update to OneNote on Android. Here's a screenshot of the changelog:



And this is 9 days after OneNote for Android was updated to include handwriting recognition.

 

[Squachy]

MS just doesn't give a crap about its own phone OS. Its sad to see. I don't even think any of the teams work together...and they don't appear to be uniting anytime soon. Maybe with Threshold onwards we may see some progress but I doubt it.

The only people who care about WP is the WP team.

 

[James8561]

I don't get it. all those apps you listed in red work perfectly fine. what's wrong with them?
what do you mean by the fact that they're not "native" app? what is native app? any perceivable difference between native and non-native app? why is the email app on the red list? it's super fast and responsive and generally just work.

sometimes I feel like people nitpick just to have something to complain.

 

[herbertsnow]

I think you could have been a bit more diplomatic at the start of the post. You do have a point though. I'm amazed sometimes when I compare Microsoft's apps on my WP to the same apps on my Android. If you use Microsoft's services you're better off using iPhone or Android than WP! Just this evening I got an update to OneNote on Android. Here's a screenshot of the changelog:

View attachment 78976

And this is 9 days after OneNote for Android was updated to include handwriting recognition.

Android has more market share, what do you expect MS to do.

 

[tgp]

Android has more market share, what do you expect MS to do.

I know that market share is the reason, and I agree that Microsoft should make Android & iOS apps top notch. After all, that's where almost all of the mobile users are.

What I do not understand though is why Microsoft puts out half baked apps for their own platform. I could understand that if they were a small indie developer and had to put their resources where the returns are. But Microsoft is one of the biggest developers in the world. Certainly they can handle putting all the energy needed into all platforms, including WP.

The fact that they don't put out good apps for WP leads me to believe that there's a reason other than prioritizing effort. Are the WP OS limitations such that it's impossible to make the apps work as needed? Now, I know that OS limitations cause 3rd party developers to put out WP apps with less features than their iOS & Android apps, but Microsoft is the one entity holding the keys to the OS. Even if WP out-of-the-box prohibits needed functionality, couldn't Microsoft make the necessary changes?

I have all questions and no answers!

 

[ScruffyT]

I know that market share is the reason, and I agree that Microsoft should make Android & iOS apps top notch. After all, that's where almost all of the mobile users are.

What I do not understand though is why Microsoft puts out half baked apps for their own platform. I could understand that if they were a small indie developer and had to put their resources where the returns are. But Microsoft is one of the biggest developers in the world. Certainly they can handle putting all the energy needed into all platforms, including WP.

The fact that they don't put out good apps for WP leads me to believe that there's a reason other than prioritizing effort. Are the WP OS limitations such that it's impossible to make the apps work as needed? Now, I know that OS limitations cause 3rd party developers to put out WP apps with less features than their iOS & Android apps, but Microsoft is the one entity holding the keys to the OS. Even if WP out-of-the-box prohibits needed functionality, couldn't Microsoft make the necessary changes?

I have all questions and no answers!

Well, I always hear/see that microsoft is pretty disorganized, so maybe that's part of it. This transition/restructuring probably hasn't helped much either in areas. Smaller market share, as already mentioned, doesn't help either. However, I do think that we'll see a major update with Threshold, especially if RT and WP actually end up merging.

I am curious about the OS limitations for apps. What are they? I'm genuinely just curious.

 

[DER1996]

However, I do think that we'll see a major update with Threshold, especially if RT and WP actually end up merging.

I am curious about the OS limitations for apps. What are they? I'm genuinely just curious.

I couldn't agree more on the future support of apps , especially that it's now going to be even simpler and more stream lined . As for app limitations , I think most of them are solved since Universal apps have the same capabilities in WP 8.1 that they have in W 8.1 : and judging by the very powerful apps of the last , I doubt any large problems still exist .

PS : I'm not a real dev so I'm not a very good resource to be honest

 

[elmacho]

I know that market share is the reason, and I agree that Microsoft should make Android & iOS apps top notch. After all, that's where almost all of the mobile users are.

What I do not understand though is why Microsoft puts out half baked apps for their own platform. I could understand that if they were a small indie developer and had to put their resources where the returns are. But Microsoft is one of the biggest developers in the world. Certainly they can handle putting all the energy needed into all platforms, including WP.

The fact that they don't put out good apps for WP leads me to believe that there's a reason other than prioritizing effort. Are the WP OS limitations such that it's impossible to make the apps work as needed? Now, I know that OS limitations cause 3rd party developers to put out WP apps with less features than their iOS & Android apps, but Microsoft is the one entity holding the keys to the OS. Even if WP out-of-the-box prohibits needed functionality, couldn't Microsoft make the necessary changes?

I have all questions and no answers!

Agreed. The biggest enemy of WP is Microsoft themselves in my opinion.They simply aren`t doing enough.What surprises me most is that they seem content with where they are at this time.There maybe a lot of reasons behind it like the android device royalties, their target market mainly being the US or the fact that they can keep WP afloat for as long as they want until they finally decide its time for a real push,maybe after the threshold update.
Their efforts in many areas in terms of updates and some of their apps are questionable(could list a huge number of things here) and there is an apparent lack of interest when it comes to WP for a company of their size.It`s really frustrating.

 

[wiggum15]

MS is starting to slowly kill WP.
They dont care anymore about their own OS and Apps, thats just a fact...live with it.

I can imagine that the teams working on MS apps for Android and Apple are (together) much bigger then the team working under supervision of those Beliflore guy for WP !!

Remember those god awful lockscreen app ?
Even as a small indie developer i would melt in shame if i would release such a awful app as a beta !
I mean it is MS...one of the biggest software companies on the planet.

I think they already decided that they will kill wp, but they cant do it that simple.
They already started ignoring WP and putting out half assed apps and bad hardware.
They will wait till the global marketshare is below 1% and then silently discontinue the development of the OS and release their own version of Android !
Microsoft, Yahoo and other tech giants are reportedly looking to acquire Cyanogen Inc.

 

[oviedofreak82]

MS is starting to slowly kill WP.
They dont care anymore about their own OS and Apps, thats just a fact...live with it.

I can imagine that the teams working on MS apps for Android and Apple are (together) much bigger then the team working under supervision of those Beliflore guy for WP !!

If Microsoft is trying to kill it own OS, why are they pushing to get more OEM partners onboard by removing the licensing fee and hardware restrictions? We may not know the rhyme or reason behind every decision they make but to say that they are intentionally killing Windows Phone is completely counter-productive to Satya Nadella's vision for Microsoft: Mobile first, cloud first. Microsoft needs Windows Phone to stay relevant in the tech world. If they kill WP, Android and Apple will win.

 

[wiggum15]

Like i said, read the news:
Microsoft, Yahoo and other tech giants are reportedly looking to acquire Cyanogen Inc.

They will stay in the Mobil business, but not with WP...

 

[prasath1234]

If Microsoft is trying to kill it own OS, why are they pushing to get more OEM partners onboard by removing the licensing fee and hardware restrictions? We may not know the rhyme or reason behind every decision they make but to say that they are intentionally killing Windows Phone is completely counter-productive to Satya Nadella's vision for Microsoft: Mobile first, cloud first. Microsoft needs Windows Phone to stay relevant in the tech world. If they kill WP, Android and Apple will win.

They are giving wp free because oems do not want to pay for os with no apps.I here compared quality apps.they are definitely going to chop wp.but strange fact is that now apps are being released into wp store by indian developers.

 

[oviedofreak82]

They are giving wp free because oems do not want to pay for os with no apps.I here compared quality apps.they are definitely going to chop wp.but strange fact is that now apps are being released into wp store by indian developers.

That is your opinion and you are entitled to that and I respect that. However, without strong evidence and facts from noted sources within Microsoft, (i.e. straight from the horse's mouth) that Microsoft is discontinuing Windows Phone is hearsay and speculation.

 

[colinkiama]

You don't have to use any of those apps if you don't want to.

I Don't think you understand. Most of the apps there are going to be used frequently.

 

[Muessig]

So why is there always blind WP users who ignore all this MS failures. In my eyes Microsoft doesn't deserve a second chance, I am exhausted with all this waiting…

There's a really simple answer to this and it's simply because not everyone is you. I'm not saying that WP is perfect or that it doesn't have any problems. I happen to agree with a lot of what you're writing but you have to keep in mind the way that Microsoft as a company has worked in the past and how they are beginning to change.

In the past if one group at Microsoft wrote and developed an app like Zune for example, and then eventually someone else came along that thought they could do a better job, the code that they used to make the new app wasn't shared at all between the two groups. We've seen this happen a few times now and each time the new 'better' solution goes back to square one regarding features for a time because of this culture of never sharing any code at all. It takes time to rewrite apps.

Microsoft under Nadella is starting to undergo a culture shift where these 'silos' of coding groups are beginning to share code and ideas between each other. We can see this happening more and more with apps becoming cross-platform.

This doesn't excuse the current problems or the fact that there's a lot of development that needs to continue to happen in WP as a whole, but you need to remember that not everyone has the same goals or priorities with their devices that you do. Some people are just fine with their devices as they are - others see their apps and Microsoft as a whole as failing completely.

Also, please try to keep to the facts in this thread. Anyone that wildly speculates isn't helping anyone here.

 

[colinkiama]

There's a really simple answer to this and it's simply because not everyone is you. I'm not saying that WP is perfect or that it doesn't have any problems. I happen to agree with a lot of what you're writing but you have to keep in mind the way that Microsoft as a company has worked in the past and how they are beginning to change.

In the past if one group at Microsoft wrote and developed an app like Zune for example, and then eventually someone else came along that thought they could do a better job, the code that they used to make the new app wasn't shared at all between the two groups. We've seen this happen a few times now and each time the new 'better' solution goes back to square one regarding features for a time because of this culture of never sharing any code at all. It takes time to rewrite apps.

Microsoft under Nadella is starting to undergo a culture shift where these 'silos' of coding groups are beginning to share code and ideas between each other. We can see this happening more and more with apps becoming cross-platform.

This doesn't excuse the current problems or the fact that there's a lot of development that needs to continue to happen in WP as a whole, but you need to remember that not everyone has the same goals or priorities with their devices that you do. Some people are just fine with their devices as they are - others see their apps and Microsoft as a whole as failing completely.

Also, please try to keep to the facts in this thread. Anyone that wildly speculates isn't helping anyone here.

We need wp9 now more than ever. With android L and iOS 8 coming in the next few months, how are we able to compete?