This question has been bothering me since a quiet a while now...
I have been a Windows Phone user since December 2011 when I first got my hands on a Samsung Omnia W. I just loved the OS. Coming from Symbian before, I liked how fresh the entire OS looked and felt like. The live tiles were a treat to watch and use and I couldn't be more happier. The hubs were AWESOME and out of the box integration with Facebook and Twitter was a cool and handy feature to use.
Over the time, WP7 got better with subsequent updates and through 7.5 and 7.8 but then there was the dead-end. Excited as I was to get my hands on Windows Phone 8.0 and experience all the new features, I was forced to dispose of my phone and buy another one instead.
I then moved on with the Lumia 920. This was another great phone. Through my journey with Windows Phone 8.0 to 8.1, I switched from 920 to a 1520. But to my horror, the OS was losing its most loved features. The hubs were gone! How could they do that? There was a HUGE app gap. Nearly everything popular and trending wasn't available. The other cool features like Cortana were not available in my region (India) and even now when they are, they are no where near what they have in US. Bing simply is useless here.
Even today, when I look at my 1520 with Windows 10 Mobile build 10166 installed on it, there are several things which I don't like. Metro is dead. All the features that attracted me towards Windows Phone initially are now either completely gone or have been severely crippled.
Another irritating aspect of being in the MS Ecosystem is that Android / iOS have far better and functional apps of MS core services like Word, Outlook etc. The app gap still very much exists.
Apps like Basecamp, Slack, Vonage simply don't exist on the platform. Similarly many other apps like Zomato Order, TinyOwl (this one was launched recently) aren't available on the store too. I, through no fault of mine, am unable to use and access these services. Perhaps I'm at fault since I have a Windows Phone.
The apps that are present are severely underpowered and underfeatured.
For example :
1. Facebook :
Still cannot reply to comments
Still cannot post images as comments
Still cannot post Sticker comments
2. WhatsApp:
Still cannot select multiple messages at once
Still cannot have custom notifications for contacts / groups
PS: WhatsApp to its credit, has slowly improved itself and gotten itself at par with the same app on other platforms but the pace was ridiculously slow.
3. Uber:
Still cannot specify destination
Live tracking of cab doesn't really work
4. Banking Apps (AXIS Bank in my case)
I cannot even compare the two apps. Windows Phone version is a poor excuse of an app. For other facilities like generating a NETSECURE OTP, WP doesn't even have an app.
These are the 4 cases I can now think of from the top of my head. I am sure you would have experienced similar things at some point too.
So, coming back to my question, will Windows 10 Mobile ever step up to the level of mainstream success that Android and iOS enjoy?
Would the developers use Astoria and Islandwood to bring over their apps from other popular platforms to Windows?
Would we ever get fully featured apps released on par with other platforms?
Or, would Windows 10 Mobile would just eventually fail?
I have been a Windows Phone user since December 2011 when I first got my hands on a Samsung Omnia W. I just loved the OS. Coming from Symbian before, I liked how fresh the entire OS looked and felt like. The live tiles were a treat to watch and use and I couldn't be more happier. The hubs were AWESOME and out of the box integration with Facebook and Twitter was a cool and handy feature to use.
Over the time, WP7 got better with subsequent updates and through 7.5 and 7.8 but then there was the dead-end. Excited as I was to get my hands on Windows Phone 8.0 and experience all the new features, I was forced to dispose of my phone and buy another one instead.
I then moved on with the Lumia 920. This was another great phone. Through my journey with Windows Phone 8.0 to 8.1, I switched from 920 to a 1520. But to my horror, the OS was losing its most loved features. The hubs were gone! How could they do that? There was a HUGE app gap. Nearly everything popular and trending wasn't available. The other cool features like Cortana were not available in my region (India) and even now when they are, they are no where near what they have in US. Bing simply is useless here.
Even today, when I look at my 1520 with Windows 10 Mobile build 10166 installed on it, there are several things which I don't like. Metro is dead. All the features that attracted me towards Windows Phone initially are now either completely gone or have been severely crippled.
Another irritating aspect of being in the MS Ecosystem is that Android / iOS have far better and functional apps of MS core services like Word, Outlook etc. The app gap still very much exists.
Apps like Basecamp, Slack, Vonage simply don't exist on the platform. Similarly many other apps like Zomato Order, TinyOwl (this one was launched recently) aren't available on the store too. I, through no fault of mine, am unable to use and access these services. Perhaps I'm at fault since I have a Windows Phone.
The apps that are present are severely underpowered and underfeatured.
For example :
1. Facebook :
Still cannot reply to comments
Still cannot post images as comments
Still cannot post Sticker comments
2. WhatsApp:
Still cannot select multiple messages at once
Still cannot have custom notifications for contacts / groups
PS: WhatsApp to its credit, has slowly improved itself and gotten itself at par with the same app on other platforms but the pace was ridiculously slow.
3. Uber:
Still cannot specify destination
Live tracking of cab doesn't really work
4. Banking Apps (AXIS Bank in my case)
I cannot even compare the two apps. Windows Phone version is a poor excuse of an app. For other facilities like generating a NETSECURE OTP, WP doesn't even have an app.
These are the 4 cases I can now think of from the top of my head. I am sure you would have experienced similar things at some point too.
So, coming back to my question, will Windows 10 Mobile ever step up to the level of mainstream success that Android and iOS enjoy?
Would the developers use Astoria and Islandwood to bring over their apps from other popular platforms to Windows?
Would we ever get fully featured apps released on par with other platforms?
Or, would Windows 10 Mobile would just eventually fail?
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