Live Tiles

[jimski]

No doubt that this is an app issue, caused by devs not understanding live tiles or taking shortcuts. It's rumored that at MIX tomorrow MS will be talking about an easier way to implement live tiles. But that's not the problem or the issue.

Live tiles are an important part of the user experience and even if Microsoft pulled all of the apps with live tiles tomorrow, forcing every dev to resubmit a proper live tile implementation, you still have thousands (probably 10's of thousands) of users with broken live tiles today that need fixing. Is Microsoft going to suggest everyone hard reset. All they need is an option under settings to "reset live tiles" but you and I boh know that will take till Mango or later to get added. They need a solution today so users can enjoy their tiles and get on to more important stuff.

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[Duvi]

since i'm unlocked, how do i reset using the registry editor?

 

[foosball]

No doubt that this is an app issue, caused by devs not understanding live tiles or taking shortcuts. It's rumored that at MIX tomorrow MS will be talking about an easier way to implement live tiles. But that's not the problem or the issue.

Live tiles are an important part of the user experience and even if Microsoft pulled all of the apps with live tiles tomorrow, forcing every dev to resubmit a proper live tile implementation, you still have thousands (probably 10's of thousands) of users with broken live tiles today that need fixing. Is Microsoft going to suggest everyone hard reset. All they need is an option under settings to "reset live tiles" but you and I boh know that will take till Mango or later to get added. They need a solution today so users can enjoy their tiles and get on to more important stuff.

Sent from my HTC Surround using Board Express

I haven't hit my live tile limit yet but this issue is one which really impacts how many tiles I'm willing to even try on my homescreen. At some point it will eventually affect all users since its only a matter of time before enough apps are pinned as live tiles and as has been proven, result in loss of live tile performance even after removal due to the registry clutter. Thanks to Jimski for raising this issue.

If MS doesn't get the fact that this issue is imperative enough to require an immediate and permanent fix then they need to have it explained to them that "live tile constipation" has the potential to cripple this OS.

 

[Rich Edmonds]

I haven't hit my live tile limit yet but this issue is one which really impacts how many tiles I'm willing to even try on my homescreen. At some point it will eventually affect all users since its only a matter of time before enough apps are pinned as live tiles and as has been proven, result in loss of live tile performance even after removal due to the registry clutter. Thanks to Jimski for raising this issue.

If MS doesn't get the fact that this issue is imperative enough to require an immediate and permanent fix then they need to have it explained to them that "live tile constipation" has the potential to cripple this OS.

Well said sir, I used the Phonealytics live tile but it ceased to work half the time, but I don't really have the need for them, I only really have stock tiles on my home screen anyway, <10.

 

[ctt1wbw]

since i'm unlocked, how do i reset using the registry editor?

Hey Duvi, check out this link in my blog.

http://bit.ly/fY2Kxj

I did the same thing. There's links to xda and some other places.

 

[VernonEL]

Jimski, thanks for facilitating awareness. I too feel that this is an important issue that needs to be addressed swiftly. I could not repeat in detail the specific problems as you have, but I'm glad that someone has an in-depth understanding of this issue.

Mostly I'm just adding another post to keep this thread fresh and increase the site hits.

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[DiegoMoBa]

It happened to me too along with the push notifications...

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[dmoss]

i got an arrive on the first of april.. a few days ago i ran into the live tile issue.. i have factory resetted twice since then.. nothing.. glad i'm still within my 30 days.. i may get a replacement.. depending on if it negates my return policy and/or takes away my 2 year upgrade.. may be back to ol palm pre for a while.. sad because i like wp7.. microsoft should have been all over this, and should have a fix by now..

 

[Duvi]

Hey Duvi, check out this link in my blog.

https://sk1wbw.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/registry-hacking-on-windows-phone-7/

I did the same thing. There's links to xda and some other places.

I'll definitely check it out.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

 

[jimski]

Just to update this thread, I decided to go for it last night and I am now running 15 live tiles and they all appear to be working. My Endpoints key is up to 24 entries, so not sure why my phone let me add the last 4 entries to jump from 11. Waiting for something to stop working to see what happens next. So far I know WeatherBug and Messenger are two apps that are contributing to the bottleneck issue (recreating keys) and should be avoided if you don't have registry access to delete. Will be looking out for others. Wonder if I should try for 16.

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[foosball]

Just to update this thread, I decided to go for it last night and I am now running 15 live tiles and they all appear to be working. My Endpoints key is up to 24 entries, so not sure why my phone let me add the last 4 entries to jump from 11. Waiting for something to stop working to see what happens next. So far I know WeatherBug and Messenger are two apps that are contributing to the bottleneck issue (recreating keys) and should be avoided if you don't have registry access to delete. Will be looking out for others. Wonder if I should try for 16.

Sent from my HTC Surround using Board Express

Jimski- Can you explain the Weatherbug bottleneck problem again? For those of us currently running it, what risks are there in continuing to use this app and is this app so out of control that it isn't worth using? If we get rid of it now after running it for weeks will that prevent future problems?

 

[jimski]

Jimski- Can you explain the Weatherbug bottleneck problem again? For those of us currently running it, what risks are there in continuing to use this app and is this app so out of control that it isn't worth using? If we get rid of it now after running it for weeks will that prevent future problems?

What I have experienced with Weatherbug, and a few other apps, is occasionally it disconnects, meaning the tile will stop updating. Sometimes simply opening the app to refresh the current data will wake up the tile while other times you may need to toggle the live tile feature off/on to get the tile working again.

When the tile initially disconnects is removes one of the two registry keys that were created when the app was first installed, the ManagedEndpoints (MEP) key. But it does not remove the Endpoints (EP) key. Then when it reconnects as described above, it creates two keys again, one MEP and one EP. Over time this causes an accumulation of left over EP keys and at some point, MEP keys are no longer allowed to be registered, probably because something in the system thinks you have reached the 15 live tile limit.

So over time Weatherbug "could" cause this registry key to accumulate extra entries, but it depends on how often it disconnects. I have seen it stop working twice for me in about 10 days, both times creating an extra key when it reconnected. How many other love tiles you have oils also be a factor as I have seen other apps exhibit the same behavior. Messenger for example.

So if Weatherbug has never stopped working for you I would just leave it alone, but if you have to wake it back up every week or so you may be running the risk of clogging things up which may affect Weatherbug and other live tiles, requiring a hard reset to get things working again if you don't have registry access. I sent them a detailed email on Saturday and waiting for a reply.

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[foosball]

Thanks for that in-depth explanation, Jimski. For precaution's sake I uninstalled Weatherbug until they fix this, which hopefully is soon since it is a great app otherwise.

I don't have registry access so that's the breaks.

 

[jimski]

This morning Weatherbug is showing sunny and 56 in Central Florida and WeatherChannel is showing sunny & 80, so sometime after sunrise it stopped. I have not actually opened Weatherbug since Saturday night. Just using the tiles. I will give it a few hours to catchup and then try to toggle it back on. Will let you know why happens. BTW, Weather Channel uses pull (no toast notifications) so no affect on this problem. Same goes for WeatherSuck. Both are OK to use.

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[jimski]

Sorry, thought I corrected that. It's WeatherDuck.

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[foosball]

That WeatherSuck app at least is honest. They tell you what to expect right in the title. ;-)

 

[wheelerk]

My weatherbug live tile has been functioning well. One thing I did was pin to start first. then I went into the app and configured it. This worked and its been good every since then. Prior to that, everytime I configured it before I pinned to start menu, it never worked. See if that works for you.

 

[foosball]

Wheelerk- My understanding is that even if Weatherbug is functioning well that under the hood of the WP7 engine its reeking havoc to the registry.

 

[TheWeeBear]

I've never once got my live tile to work on Weatherbug. Weird.

 

[VernonEL]

As a precaution I have uninstalled WeatherBug and have been using WeatherChannel. It seems like a better app anyways.

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