Would you Pay to Use W10Mobile?

[Chazzy J]

Hi All,

New guy here. Not new to Windows, but new to the forum. My whole life is with the Windows 10 Eco System -- I love it. Windows 10 has literally changed my life. I'm a proficient iOS user and had a small stint with Android. Neither platform has really ever wow'd me. Windows 10 Desktop got me interested in W10 Mobile and I've never looked back. Bought a 950XL and the rest is history.

I'm not an app user, never have been. I don't do social media, and the people who want to reach me know my phone number. I don't need various social media channels. I'm a relatively private individual to begin with.

So here's my question. Let's say for a hypothetical moment, what if Windows was able to garner the interest of the developers of mainstream apps and were willing to offer them a fair chunk of change to produce UWP versions of mainstream apps like Snapchat and all that other crap people seem to want...would you be willing to pay...say $2.99/mo for let say...24 months to create a kind of slush fund to entice these developers to create these apps for UWP. Span that out over a couple million devices, and maybe we see some progress on a system that I think we can all say we love...

Love to hear your thoughts...

 

[xandros9]

Paying for apps doesn't really work that well and the enthusiast market isnt that big. Even the community of people rooting their Android phones and stuff is small enough so that apps like Snapchat, Android Pay and Pokemon Go are okay with blocking them out or otherwise trying to make things difficult.

You'll be hard pressed to find people who would pay extra, especially since Windows phones right now are kind of in "you could do a lot worse as far as budget phones go" for the general public.

 

[Rosebank]

Hi All,

New guy here. Not new to Windows, but new to the forum. My whole life is with the Windows 10 Eco System -- I love it. Windows 10 has literally changed my life. I'm a proficient iOS user and had a small stint with Android. Neither platform has really ever wow'd me. Windows 10 Desktop got me interested in W10 Mobile and I've never looked back. Bought a 950XL and the rest is history.

I'm not an app user, never have been. I don't do social media, and the people who want to reach me know my phone number. I don't need various social media channels. I'm a relatively private individual to begin with.

So here's my question. Let's say for a hypothetical moment, what if Windows was able to garner the interest of the developers of mainstream apps and were willing to offer them a fair chunk of change to produce UWP versions of mainstream apps like Snapchat and all that other crap people seem to want...would you be willing to pay...say $2.99/mo for let say...24 months to create a kind of slush fund to entice these developers to create these apps for UWP. Span that out over a couple million devices, and maybe we see some progress on a system that I think we can all say we love...

Love to hear your thoughts...

Interesting idea but why are you bothered? If you don't use apps why the interest in getting them developed>?

 

[Chazzy J]

Well I wouldn't say I'm bothered at all. I say this idea from the perspective that it would be helping the community as a whole.

A lot of people have great things to say about W10M (now that it's a little more stable), but the sentence always ends with "the app gap is real and seriously lacking." So my idea is that people can enact change. Microsoft has been very clear in recent weeks that W10M isn't going anywhere. So I figure if we're all part of a community that believes in this product, why not help it while they're still undergoing development. We know UWP is the future of this eco system, but they're only in the early stages. I'd be willing to throw $3/mo at Microsoft to help get UWP off the ground while growing the Windows Store and solidifying W10M.

 

[garisa]

You already have that in a way. People pay for apps that they like. So it's even better, if a developer does a good job, he is going to be rewarded by consumers. I think that's the best you could get. No one would pay just to "make Windows Mobile better in general". You make a good and useful app and I will reward you for that!

Sent from mTalk on Windows 10 phone

 

[theefman]

Microsoft makes billions of dollars every quarter, they are better placed to create such a fund, not the end users.

 

[Rosebank]

I hear you, and I do agree with you, the app gap is always the end of the sentence, what I have learned today is that there is a possibility that windows 10 mobile MIGHT be developing a x86 emulator, you can see the topic at the top of the home page banner, this might allow x86 legacy programs to run on your device, this is rumour atm and might be nothing but the report is exciting reading, it is a possibility for the RS3 update next year so another year to wait :-(.
I too would pay for developers to widen app choices.
There are lots of options floating about just now and only time will tell, but it does seem W10M is here for the long run.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Microsoft itself paid developers to build apps. All that resulted was developers stopping support of those apps or pulling the apps from the Store once the payments from Microsoft stopped.

 

[EspHack]

I would pay for w10m roms to flash onto android devices + support and updates, just like we pay for w10 licenses to run on x86 computers

back when I didn't yet have a smartphone, I thought that was how it worked, you bought a phone, then a copy of wm6.0 and fresh install it, oh boy was I disappointed...

 

[anthonyng]

I help by paying to remove ads of the apps I do use, or remove trial period if I like the app and donate if there's an option for the apps I like to see more work.

 

[earthman007]

Microsoft paying for such development would seem the only sensible and fair option, rather than its beleaguered customers. It would, if its strategy saw fit to do this, or seek some other alternative option, to a similar outcome. It's just not that interested in having customers using mobile phones upon its operating system at present.

 

[garisa]

I would pay for w10m roms to flash onto android devices + support and updates, just like we pay for w10 licenses to run on x86 computers

back when I didn't yet have a smartphone, I thought that was how it worked, you bought a phone, then a copy of wm6.0 and fresh install it, oh boy was I disappointed...

I agree with you, but when it comes to w10m for smart phones which didn't come with w10m but with Android. Still, I don't know if that is even possible considering that they should make w10m to work with any hardware, which isn't the case right now. Oh, and assuming that this software installation isn't too much expensive, but even if it was about 20USD, people would probably mostly just stick to what they have and not explore options like that. So I think that Microsoft wouldn't be making too much money from that. I don't know, it just doesn't seem like something possible to do right now.

Regarding the other part with buying wm6.0 license... Well, that is still too much complicated for users to buy a phone and a OS separately. In a way, it is better for consumers when it is like this. I am buying a phone with its hardware and the software, and if something doesn't work - I don't have to care about what's wrong, I would simply give it back and require a replacement.

Microsoft paying for such development would seem the only sensible and fair option, rather than its beleaguered customers. It would, if its strategy saw fit to do this, or seek some other alternative option, to a similar outcome. It's just not that interested in having customers using mobile phones upon its operating system at present.

Yes, but what would be even better is Microsoft making those apps on their own. That sounds silly to me - a software giant to pay other developers to make several simple apps. Nobody could tell me that they who made the entire OS wouldn't be able to make perfect replacement apps for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and whatnot... Sure, there could be issues with those guys such as Google, but if some make problems - just ignore them, and other may be happy to get a free app for another platform. On the other hand, we should wait and see how UWP is going to effect all that.

 

[earthman007]

I agree with you, but when it comes to w10m for smart phones which didn't come with w10m but with Android. Still, I don't know if that is even possible considering that they should make w10m to work with any hardware, which isn't the case right now. Oh, and assuming that this software installation isn't too much expensive, but even if it was about 20USD, people would probably mostly just stick to what they have and not explore options like that. So I think that Microsoft wouldn't be making too much money from that. I don't know, it just doesn't seem like something possible to do right now.

Regarding the other part with buying wm6.0 license... Well, that is still too much complicated for users to buy a phone and a OS separately. In a way, it is better for consumers when it is like this. I am buying a phone with its hardware and the software, and if something doesn't work - I don't have to care about what's wrong, I would simply give it back and require a replacement.

Yes, but what would be even better is Microsoft making those apps on their own. That sounds silly to me - a software giant to pay other developers to make several simple apps. Nobody could tell me that they who made the entire OS wouldn't be able to make perfect replacement apps for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and whatnot... Sure, there could be issues with those guys such as Google, but if some make problems - just ignore them, and other may be happy to get a free app for another platform. On the other hand, we should wait and see how UWP is going to effect all that.

My point was that MS paying, versus its small customer base, would seem fairer - as it was the latter that the op had posited for our views 'would you be willing to pay...say $2.99/mo for let say...24 months to create a kind of slush fund to entice these developers to create these apps for UWP. Span that out over a couple million devices, and maybe we see some progress on a system that I think we can all say we love...'

I don't have a problem with paying some reasonable amount to keep windows mobile afloat and improve the service offering, though it would seem also sensible to not swim against the tide that is Microsoft's strategy: we likely don't know the full extent of the details of their strategy, just that they've scaled down target countries and have discontinued Lumia devices. It would seem unjust for users who have pulled the OS through Insider program development/testing, to then pay for development if MS isn't really behind it to a greater extent. I'd love for there to be a great choice of phones on an ongoing basis, as well as the service to be much stronger - but I also have my own biases, meaning that what I want and expect is perhaps less likely than reality.