How Windows Mobile 10 almost killed me

137

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or at least, got in the way of saving my own life.

Last week I woke up in the middle of the night to atrocious chest pains which I unfortunately experienced already a couple years before.
I knew it instantly: I was having a heart attack.

I live alone and I am, in a sense, completely isolated as I happen to be an expatriate in Shanghai, with very poor spoken Chinese skills.
I reached for my phone to dial the number of a hospital which serves foreigners and employs 100% English-speaking staff.

Right, my phone. A Lumia Icon running Windows Mobile 10.
I launched the Phone app, a rather uncommon event I have to say, given how almost every bit of communication for me goes through Wechat/Whatsapp or plain emails.

I started dialing the number, and as I typed it and suggestions started to populate the screen, the app crashed.
It also left the Phone app's tile veiled in a worrisome pale color that anticipated further disaster.
My heart sunk (as it wasn't sinking already) as the phone rebooted after a couple seconds.

And as my teeth were grinding and my chest felt like exploding, I stared for an eternity of compounded eternities at the screen as it went through:
The Nokia logo
Verizon's infuriating splash screen
Windows' logo
Finally bringing me back to the home screen where I knew, I just knew the Phone app would crash again if I repeated my previous actions.

You know what they say, "What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different outcome".
So, despite death literally hanging over me, I had to think quickly to how to work my way around yet another Windows Mobile 10 bug.
I was dying, and I had to care about Windows Mobile 10's quirks.
So I went to Outlook, wrote an email with the hospital's number to myself, received it, and clicked to get it dialed automatically. Aww.

Later, in my hospital room, I did it.
I did it, I tried to manually dial the number again, just to see if the crash would have happened again, perhaps sending me to the morgue rather than the E.R.
And I smirked as the app, and the whole phone, my expensive top of the line Lumia Icon, crashed again upon performing the most primitive task of them all.

I have to say it.
Windows Mobile 10.. you left me heartbroken.
 

someone2639

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As a quick PSA, the Insider preview page specifically says that you might not be able to make calls, not even emergency calls. I'd suggest just staying on 8.1 until the Icon gets its official W10 release.
 

bichaels

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Hope you're on the way to a speedy recovery! I lived in Shanghai for 5 years and loved every minute but definitely not the best place for a medical emergency.
Good quick thinking in the circumstances, I would have probably tried skype which would have also then crashed...
 

EspHack

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Hope you're on the way to a speedy recovery! I lived in Shanghai for 5 years and loved every minute but definitely not the best place for a medical emergency.
Good quick thinking in the circumstances, I would have probably tried skype which would have also then crashed...

nah skype would've left you to die watching a loading screen
 

gpobernardo

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or at least, got in the way of saving my own life.

Last week I woke up in the middle of the night to atrocious chest pains which I unfortunately experienced already a couple years before.
I knew it instantly: I was having a heart attack.

I live alone and I am, in a sense, completely isolated as I happen to be an expatriate in Shanghai, with very poor spoken Chinese skills.
I reached for my phone to dial the number of a hospital which serves foreigners and employs 100% English-speaking staff.

Right, my phone. A Lumia Icon running Windows Mobile 10.
I launched the Phone app, a rather uncommon event I have to say, given how almost every bit of communication for me goes through Wechat/Whatsapp or plain emails.

I started dialing the number, and as I typed it and suggestions started to populate the screen, the app crashed.
It also left the Phone app's tile veiled in a worrisome pale color that anticipated further disaster.
My heart sunk (as it wasn't sinking already) as the phone rebooted after a couple seconds.

And as my teeth were grinding and my chest felt like exploding, I stared for an eternity of compounded eternities at the screen as it went through:
The Nokia logo
Verizon's infuriating splash screen
Windows' logo
Finally bringing me back to the home screen where I knew, I just knew the Phone app would crash again if I repeated my previous actions.

You know what they say, "What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different outcome".
So, despite death literally hanging over me, I had to think quickly to how to work my way around yet another Windows Mobile 10 bug.
I was dying, and I had to care about Windows Mobile 10's quirks.
So I went to Outlook, wrote an email with the hospital's number to myself, received it, and clicked to get it dialed automatically. Aww.

Later, in my hospital room, I did it.
I did it, I tried to manually dial the number again, just to see if the crash would have happened again, perhaps sending me to the morgue rather than the E.R.
And I smirked as the app, and the whole phone, my expensive top of the line Lumia Icon, crashed again upon performing the most primitive task of them all.

I have to say it.
Windows Mobile 10.. you left me heartbroken.

Well, this is a serious event. Good thing you reached the hospital. Better write an email to Microsoft and report what just had happened (or almost happened) - just attach a proof of your medication and hospital bill (of course, cover the unneeded information like your name, address, and personal contact info). This should prompt them to somehow update their Insider policies for future members who may be placed under the same scenario.
 

midnightfrolic

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Glad you're still with us. As far as I know, at this point in time, Windows 10 Mobile is only installed officially on the 950/XL. all other phones need to use the Insider builds. Is that what you were using? The Insider build?

If you are, you should have read the Insider disclaimer that Insider builds are test builds and not stable. They can crash for no apparent reason because they are test builds. They also recommend not using Insider test builds on your main phone.

Cannot rule out the fact it could be firmware related. But i'd wager it was buggy Insider build.
 

slimchap

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WOW!!! This is scary, now I wish I don't have Windows 10 Mobile installed on all my phones.. Well, thank goodness you made it to the hospital.
 

Alain_A

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I have the insider on my Lumia 830 for a very long time. The phone app has never crash on me, ever.
Yeah, like gpobernardo said a letter to Microsoft would be good
 

fgaudet

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Omg, I can imagine the feeling of panic... Kudos on keeping your calm and quickly finding a solution. If I may suggest: pin the hospital contact on your start screen...
 

Krystianpants

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Sorry for what happened to you but you should consider going back to 8.1. I never experienced any crashes before. Perhaps you have a contact in your address book that causes it too happen. Now that you're better you could check to see if any odd characters or anything strike at you.

This actually brings up an interesting point with the windows lock screen. Most lock screens I have seen have a make emergency call button that dials straight to emergency. Iphone definitely has it. But I can't even remember if that exists on windows 8.1. Does anyone recall?

Maybe create a feature request with a customizable emergency number in settings that will appear on "make emergency call" under the lock screen. Default would be 911 but allow editing. Editing would also have a terms of acceptance with a disclaimer stating that emergency calls outside of the default number can't be guaranteed.

If the Verge is reading this we can expect a "Windows 10 phone almost kills a man" article.
 

Demian Mioc

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Sorry for what happened to you but you should consider going back to 8.1. I never experienced any crashes before. Perhaps you have a contact in your address book that causes it too happen. Now that you're better you could check to see if any odd characters or anything strike at you.

This actually brings up an interesting point with the windows lock screen. Most lock screens I have seen have a make emergency call button that dials straight to emergency. Iphone definitely has it. But I can't even remember if that exists on windows 8.1. Does anyone recall?

Maybe create a feature request with a customizable emergency number in settings that will appear on "make emergency call" under the lock screen. Default would be 911 but allow editing. Editing would also have a terms of acceptance with a disclaimer stating that emergency calls outside of the default number can't be guaranteed.

If the Verge is reading this we can expect a "Windows 10 phone almost kills a man" article.
wp_ss_20160210_0002[1].pngYou can dial emergency from lock screen.
 

TLRtheory

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As a quick PSA, the Insider preview page specifically says that you might not be able to make calls, not even emergency calls. I'd suggest just staying on 8.1 until the Icon gets its official W10 release.
Right. With the way this was titled, I expected to hear of a Lumia 950/950XL/550... or something running official W10M instead of a beta version.
 

v535

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@137: My advice is to stay away from phones and settle down for a couple otherwise you'll experience a serious heart-break again. I hope you're body is fine even w/ all the medications. Take care.
Atleast, MS should tell the "insider" to install preview builds only on secondary phones or else don't try it at all. Sometimes perfectly running phones can encounter some quirks, which by the way is not in our hands.
 

jdballard

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Atleast, MS should tell the "insider" to install preview builds only on secondary phones or else don't try it at all.

I can't find it online, but I know I've read somewhere a warning that you may not have the ability to make calls. Might be in the Insider warning on the phone (not currently running insider builds) but even if it's not there, there are plenty of warnings that it is pre-release and things may not work correctly. One would assume that a phone will work correctly even in pre-release, but the phone component of a "smartphone" it wouldn't shock me if it is one of the least used functions when compared to all the apps and other functions. I'd never really thought about being in that situation when running pre-release software, but it is something to think about.

All that aside, I'm glad 137 is OK. And using outlook to send an email to himself to direct dial shows great thinking under pressure.
 

Jonnie LasVegas

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Glad you're still with us. As far as I know, at this point in time, Windows 10 Mobile is only installed officially on the 950/XL. all other phones need to use the Insider builds. Is that what you were using? The Insider build?

If you are, you should have read the Insider disclaimer that Insider builds are test builds and not stable. They can crash for no apparent reason because they are test builds. They also recommend not using Insider test builds on your main phone.

Cannot rule out the fact it could be firmware related. But i'd wager it was buggy Insider build.

This still happens with my 950 not running insider builds, but official build. So to be 100% honest it could've been life threatening even without the insider builds!
 

pericle

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Oh man, a person almost dies because of his phone crashing during an emergency and the first reaction for everyone here is to point out the fine print for the Insider Build. You guys would have made excellent lawyers for Microsoft.
 

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