So what's up with the limited theme colors

[dawindbag]

For example, if I made my accent color dark gray and use the dark theme, none of the text written in the PhoneAccentBrush color will be readable when placed over the background color.

I'm not sure why this should be an issue. If you have this arrangement configured the issue will be present across the entire phone, not just within the App. This means that the user wants it that way and has no issue with it.

As an app developer you should either develop using the system accent color AND the system background color (which the user can control and will ensure is readable for them) or neither and apply your own colors for both to prescribe the look and feel.

 

[ttsoldier]

Is there an app to randomly change colour theme every X mins/hours?.. They same way you can do with the lock screen

 

[DavidinCT]

Advanced Config for Windows Phone 7 did this.... Needed to be rooted tho

 

[the real smackbo]

Wiztiles is cool but it doesn't allow custom shortcuts .. The tile tasks are very limited to basic configurations and settings .. It has the potential to great because you can go on bing and download icons and really customize .. But with the app being so limited it doesn't leave much room

 

[socialcarpet]

One of the reasons is OS font colour compatibility. On certain colours you can't read. Certain looks ugly. So probably safer approach to give tried and tested colour range that works throughout the OS and on third party apps. WP is more colourful than any other OS if you think about it.

This.

Basically an unlimited color wheel type thing would make it possible for you to choose accent/tile colors that could render text impossible or very difficult to read. Remember, the color you choose isn't just used on the tiles, it's used throughout the OS.

Unlike Android, Windows Phone actually tries to control the quality of the end user experience and protects you from your own bad taste. That is why we don't have hideous moving water animated backgrounds or Comic Sans system font options like Android.

 

[TonyDedrick]

This.

Basically an unlimited color wheel type thing would make it possible for you to choose accent/tile colors that could render text impossible or very difficult to read. Remember, the color you choose isn't just used on the tiles, it's used throughout the OS.

Unlike Android, Windows Phone actually tries to control the quality of the end user experience and protects you from your own bad taste. That is why we don't have hideous moving water animated backgrounds or Comic Sans system font options like Android.

The idea that anyone needs to protect me, a grown ass man, from my bad taste is absurd. Its my taste and whose to say its bad or not? If that's the case, that's just as insulting as any perceived crap Apple and Google show against consumers

 

[1101x10]

Some users would be dumb enough to set both the background and text colours to be the same and make the phone unusable. I guess it avoids more support issues.

 

[TonyDedrick]

Some users would be dumb enough to set both the background and text colours to be the same and make the phone unusable. I guess it avoids more support issues.

No. You just realize that makes no sense and pick a different color scheme. And its real easy to avoid. Have a preview tile that will show you what the color scheme would look like.

 

[Chregu]

My only concern about the limited colors is the oversaturation of the dark colors. For example, the dark blue of Skydrive would be great, but cobalt pops just too much. indigo on the other hand seems washed out. But maybe that's just the 8X's screen.

So, predefined colors would be great, if they would fit my taste more ;-)

..I'm still switching between olive, steel and cyan all the time.

What I would love though, is when Microsoft would force developers to provide a Metro-Tile for every app as a choice, using the chosen color. And to make the music/game tile the accent color.

 

[scubus]

The idea that anyone needs to protect me, a grown ass man, from my bad taste is absurd. Its my taste and whose to say its bad or not? If that's the case, that's just as insulting as any perceived crap Apple and Google show against consumers

Well, I am pretty sure that they don't really care about you. It is a move to protect their product image. You may not care about your poor taste, but when you show your phone to others they see it as Microsoft's bad taste.

It is open to debate whether or not that is right or wrong but it isn't really about the end user all the time.

 

[TonyDedrick]

Well, I am pretty sure that they don't really care about you. It is a move to protect their product image. You may not care about your poor taste, but when you show your phone to others they see it as Microsoft's bad taste.

It is open to debate whether or not that is right or wrong but it isn't really about the end user all the time.

I am not sure how giving the user the choice to choose their own theme color constitutes as creating a bad image. That just sounds like stretching for a reason to explain why the option isn't there. At the end of the day, its not even that big of a deal for me personally. Its also not about catering to every users every whim. I just don't see no reason for such an option not to be there. And I also highly doubt tile colors has any affect on what people will think of Microsoft any more than a background image affects what people think of Androids or IPhones

 

[scubus]

I am not sure how giving the user the choice to choose their own theme color constitutes as creating a bad image. That just sounds like stretching for a reason to explain why the option isn't there. At the end of the day, its not even that big of a deal for me personally. Its also not about catering to every users every whim. I just don't see no reason for such an option not to be there

I just explained, in part, why Apple does it (or did it, it has been some time since I worked as an Apple developer) - because they didn't want their products to be viewed in a bad light due to one end user's poor taste (in their view anyway.) I was just offering a possible explanation. I can't say that is why Microsoft does it even if that was not how my post was worded; I've never done any work for Microsoft.

Perhaps offering color options simply wasn't a top priority when developing a new OS and it will be included in the future.

 

[socialcarpet]

The idea that anyone needs to protect me, a grown ass man, from my bad taste is absurd. Its my taste and whose to say its bad or not? If that's the case, that's just as insulting as any perceived crap Apple and Google show against consumers

Infinite tile color choices are quite possibly the least important thing Microsoft needs to be focusing on right now.

 

[irvin792]

Infinite tile color choices are quite possibly the least important thing Microsoft needs to be focusing on right now.

it wouldn't take much focus to add it would it

 

[TonyDedrick]

Infinite tile color choices are quite possibly the least important thing Microsoft needs to be focusing on right now.

I agree. But this thread is about the subject and i just added my two cents

 

[Jaafarj]

A simple solution would be to allow a person to change the font color aswell. Launcher7 on android allowed me to change the font colors, just like the tile. Gave me a series of nice options to play with.

Also a lot of people have different tastes, I find yellow horrible, some find it pleasing. I only use 3-4 colors and feel super restricted with the colors available. I'd atleast like the option to change em .. along with the tried and tested colors

 

[txkimmers]

I change my theme color frequently to complement my lockscreen image (which changes 2x daily with Photostream), and I would like more color options, but I want more black/white/grayscale options and the more muted colors. I like all the bright primary colors but find them somewhat hard on the eyes in some cases, and tend towards the muted ones at the end of the list. Just wish there were more of them. I also like the high contrast setting but don't like having to black out my lockscreen just to get that nice crisp black/white look.

 

[no149]

Very limited , seriously. It gets boring and dull after a while, I feel restricted with regard to color options both in accent and theme.