Why all hate microsoft windows phone?

[N_LaRUE]

As for the OP.

It's very easy to get frustrated with MS and with WM/WP. As became clear earlier this year MS's focus is not mobile. That of course doesn't help enthusiasts of the platform and just makes doom and gloom more prevalent to those who want to dislike MS and WM.

What a person has to decide for themselves is if WM works for them. Ignoring UWP and Continuum, as I think they're still not proven 'game changers' and because they're not relevant to most consumers, as indicated by a5cent.

Only you should care if the platform works for you or not. It's your choice. There's no one forcing you to stick with it and you can change if that is what you want to do. That's what having choice is about.

We can't change what the media prints and arguing about it does nothing. Just be happy with what you've decided to use.

Whether you agree with the way MS is handling things is another issue entirely but they have their plan and are sticking to it. I personally believe they should have went the enterprise route at the beginning and they may have got more traction and be in a better position but that's not where we are now.

As for the app issue. The main one, which has been pointed out is that people like the name brand apps, for good reason as third party apps can stop working at any time. No platform can survive with 3rd party apps alone.

Not sure what MS can do but let's see what happens. If anything, it will be interesting.

You can't stop the haters, it's a typical thing of the internet unfortunately, brings out the worst in some people.

It's up to MS to change it's image, you shouldn't have to defend them. They're a big corporation. You're a paying customer. It's always best to look at it that way.

 

[ahmedamash]

No one is forcing us to to stay on platform but i had spend my money on them and i can complain . I am not a Microsoft hater, i am telling what i am seeing as a user in microsoft community i can share my point to make it better I don't want switch again and again just because of small problem i just want Microsoft to resolve them and make it better .

 

[N_LaRUE]

No one is forcing us to to stay on platform but i had spend my money on them and i can complain . I am not a Microsoft hater, i am telling what i am seeing as a user in microsoft community i can share my point to make it better I don't want switch again and again just because of small problem i just want Microsoft to resolve them and make it better .

I wasn't saying you were a hater. I understand you spent money, so does everyone else.

If it's an apps issue, MS has very little control. It is up to them to lure developers but obviously nothing they are doing is really working.

They can't control the media or the internet either.

Which is why I said, MS needs to do something themselves about their image. You as an individual shouldn't have to as you're the customer.

If you have issues with the OS, it will likely get resolved at some point.

 

[ahmedamash]

I wasn't saying you were a hater. I understand you spent money, so does everyone else.

If it's an apps issue, MS has very little control. It is up to them to lure developers but obviously nothing they are doing is really working.

They can't control the media or the internet either.

Which is why I said, MS needs to do something themselves about their image. You as an individual shouldn't have to as you're the customer.

If you have issues with the OS, it will likely get resolved at some point.

Totally agree with you .

 

[Martin Oscar Caballero Sartor]

For end users there is exactly zero benefit to "the merging of desktop and mobile". Because developers can create a single app which runs on multiple form factors with less effort (compared to competing systems), that is of benefit to them, but consumers couldn't care less about that sort of thing.

Until desktop apps take off, and some of them start trickling down to W10M, the "merging of desktop and mobile" is pretty much irrelevant to consumers.

I think you are right about what users care about, but ultimately you're getting it wrong. Let me explain.

Sure, users couldn't care less about convergence of mobile and desktop or whether an app is universal or not. But UWP means that developers can create an app for a popular system (Windows desktop) and make it available on mobile is just one step away. In other words, the popularity of the desktop version of Windows is what will bring apps to the mobile platform. And that's what users really care about: app availability. So ideally the UWP model will close the app gap if developers care about Windows 10 desktop to develop their apps for it, and make it universal as an extra.

 

[N_LaRUE]

I think you are right about what users care about, but ultimately you're getting it wrong. Let me explain.

Sure, users couldn't care less about convergence of mobile and desktop or whether an app is universal or not. But UWP means that developers can create an app for a popular system (Windows desktop) and make it available on mobile is just one step away. In other words, the popularity of the desktop version of Windows is what will bring apps to the mobile platform. And that's what users really care about: app availability. So ideally the UWP model will close the app gap if developers care about Windows 10 desktop to develop their apps for it, and make it universal as an extra.

Show me usage data on Windows Desktop apps and you may have a real point of view. I've used Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. I don't bother with Windows Desktop apps. I'm sure there's many people like me. Let's not forget those who refuse to upgrade from Windows 7. Why should I use a Windows Desktop app?

I know that's my personal perspective but you're trying to use an idea, UWP, as a means of gaining traction. So far that hasn't happened. Most people will more likely fire up the web browser than use an app on a PC. Unless that app has something that the browser doesn't, which I haven't run into yet personally.

 

[Martin Oscar Caballero Sartor]

I know. I don't use desktop apps either. But if apps and desktop clients are being developed it means other people find them useful. Personally, I couldn't care less. Been using the web page for every online service I need or want (Facebook, for example) and using an app on desktop makes no sense to me. But then again, they surely exist for a reason.

 

[N_LaRUE]

I know. I don't use desktop apps either. But if apps and desktop clients are being developed it means other people find them useful. Personally, I couldn't care less. Been using the web page for every online service I need or want (Facebook, for example) and using an app on desktop makes no sense to me. But then again, they surely exist for a reason.

I understand the arguments for UWP but what I find weird is that some people argue that they don't need apps on WM10 either. We should be moving away from apps and the app centric thinking into web apps.

Which confuses me all the more. So what's the point of UWP????

Since we'll probably never know, MS doesn't like to give numbers out, we can only assume there are people who use apps on desktop and there may be a good percentage but it is enough to entice developers? I don't know. That's the problem, we're all left in the dark about these things.

Being honest, if there was a UWP app for Instagram I'd be on it in a flash.

 

[fatclue_98]

I do think that sometimes the articles on this site unwillingly contribute fuel to the burning hate of Windows Phone and Microsoft...

Not the articles, the comments. Nurseries have less crying.

 

[a5cent]

I think you are right about what users care about, but ultimately you're getting it wrong. Let me explain... <snipped>

Nope. I got it exactly right. ☺ Read my post again. You're just using more words to make the exact same point I had already made.

 

[a5cent]

Which confuses me all the more. So what's the point of UWP????

I don't know what MS thinks, but IMHO the UWP makes very little sense from a consumer's perspective, for all the reasons you mentioned. That's why it's confusing many people here. Everyone is wondering how this applies to their situation and how UWP will benefit them as consumers. IMHO it won't... at least not in the short term. I agree with you that the theorized app trickle down affect isn't materializing in practice. That can change, but so far it's not happened to a notable degree.
However, the UWP starts making a lot more sense when viewed from the perspective of corporations with their own software engineering departments and custom built LOB applications. IMHO that's where the UWP's potential actually lies.

 

[tgp]

But if apps and desktop clients are being developed it means other people find them useful.

But are they being developed? Sure, there are some coming, but not nearly at the rate they should be, if you go by the 350 million Windows 10 installs. I think almost everyone, at least the fans and maybe Microsoft, expected an explosion of UWP apps by now, a year after Windows 10's official release.

Personally, I couldn't care less. Been using the web page for every online service I need or want (Facebook, for example) and using an app on desktop makes no sense to me.

Yep, you and (almost) everyone else. This precisely illustrates why your sentence before this is questionable at best.

 

[ahmedamash]

But are they being developed? Sure, there are some coming, but not nearly at the rate they should be, if you go by the 350 million Windows 10 installs. I think almost everyone, at least the fans and maybe Microsoft, expected an explosion of UWP apps by now, a year after Windows 10's official release.



Yep, you and (almost) everyone else. This precisely illustrates why your sentence before this is questionable at best.

Yes the idea of uwp is flop,Microsoft is expecting an explosion of uwp in there store but because of less market share and poor reputation in smartphone market developer are not taking it seriously as Microsoft expected.

 

[RumoredNow]

Show me usage data on Windows Desktop apps and you may have a real point of view. I've used Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. I don't bother with Windows Desktop apps. I'm sure there's many people like me. Let's not forget those who refuse to upgrade from Windows 7. Why should I use a Windows Desktop app?

I can't speak to usage data, only my perspective.

Since moving to Windows 10 on a touchscreen laptop, my App usage on desktop is on the rise. It may be partially fueled by tablet usage habits, but that isn't the whole story. Convenience and ease definitely play a part as well. Don't get me wrong, Mobile has definitely spurred App-centric behaviors, but I also think it has grown beyond Mobile. I believe Windows 10 is leveraging it well.

Apps I use very often on Desktop:

• Weather (Searching for a more robust app, most UWP weather Apps let me down in the Live Tile department. I want moar, not less)
• NOAA High-Def Radar (You'll have to pry this one out of my cold, dead hands.)
• News (Fast feed.)
• ISeeVM (Brilliant, get your VVM on desktop.)
• Cortana (Yes, she's indispensable to me now. I never could be bothered with Google Now, it never engaged me and if it was on my desktop it would probably gather dust... Some might argue Cortana on desktop is not an app, I would argue it is.)
• Store (Duh, it's where the apps live.)
• Slack (Prefer it to browser by far.)
• Snip (Powerful capture and annotate tool.)
• Polarr Pro and Fotor (Photography editors.)
• Calculator (The conversions are great too. Handier than a browser tab by far as you lay the app right on top of the work you are doing.)
• Maps (I do a lot of location research at times and it is great to have the app and sync across devices.)
• Health Vault (Easier to review on desktop than mobile.)
• Games (As a casual gamer I'd rather have Apps I can use across different devices than install PC games.)

Two years ago my App usage on computer was practically nonexistent. Fast forward to today and it is now my habit to reach for Apps. The intelligent cloud is really making the App model worthwhile on PC.

 

[cracgor]

I think its a problem of seeing no progress for so long. I don't really think websites report on individual changes to Windows Mobile even because they don't care. Same reason that a lot of times when an app exists for iphone, android, and windows, the commercials only show the first two. As a fan you notice every slight. I'm actually more surprised when anyone cares enough to write that an app is disappearing.

 

[garak0410]

Yes, some people are pounding on WP. But for most of us fans, especially those who had to move on (most of us Verizon users), we simply don't have a flagship option or there are SOME crucial apps we don't have.

One major thing for me, across the board with Microsoft...is the problem of abandoned projects and "wait and see" approach to things. I'm a Kinect fan...why the lack of support for it? I loved ROOMS in Windows Phone...they take it out. I loved Bing Food and Drink and entered 100+ recipes...they removed it. They retired Windows Media Center...had to move to PLEX (which is not a bad thing.) They announce HoloLens...where is it? And rumor has it there may not be a consumer version. UWP has over a year to grow...just a handful of apps...and these "bridge" projects just aren't taking hold.

I am a Verizon User but I inherited a 950xl and would give it a try as a daily driver if I could. I have found website equivalents to many missing apps. The one thing I wish I did have was the backup via Google Photos and Amazon Photos, two very useful apps for me since photo backup with second backups is crucial to me. OneDrive is fine but I like some of the perks of Google and Amazon Photos. There isn't an Amazon ALEXA app for Windows Phone and the Website doesn't work with Edge (saying it is not compatible)...I've also moved to Android Wear on my watch...could I go back to the Band? Perhaps...but Android Wear is actually a quiet surprise and I think the best watch OS out there.

Bottom line, I could live without some apps and the perk of Android Wear to return to the less chaotic world of WP and Live Tiles.

 

[owensdj]

I don't know what MS thinks, but IMHO the UWP makes very little sense from a consumer's perspective, for all the reasons you mentioned...

So you don't think consumers can benefit from having the same applications and experience running on all of their devices? You're not going to get that with Apple or Google.

 

[a5cent]

So you don't think consumers can benefit from having the same applications and experience running on all of their devices? You're not going to get that with Apple or Google.

It's not a matter of thinking. I know. You're conflating two things that aren't necessarily related.

There is absolutely no benefit to consumers, whatsoever, from having the same application (in terms of source code) running across multiple form factors. That's a software engineering related technicality. For consumers that has absolutely no value in and of itself.

Providing the same experience across form factors is of value to consumers. However, there is no law in software engineering that states we must have the same OS and the same application (in terms of source code) running across multiple form factors to deliver that same experience. That is achievable regardless. That's merely a matter money and time. Many of MS' own apps, which are available across many different OSes and form factors, exemplify this. The UWP isn't at all unique in making similar experiences across form factors possible. It's unique only in its ability to make such goals more affordable to achieve (and even then only within the Windows ecosystem). Nothing more!

That's exactly why the UWP is a feature for developers. Consumers may some day indirectly benefit from the UWP, but only if MS' Windows based ecosystem generates enough demand for those apps. In that case the UWP will simply make it more affordable for developers to meet that demand. Nothing more!

Unfortunately, that's where this all falls apart. MS' problem has little to do with the cost of app development, and a lot do with the lack of demand. Unfortunately, ever since the release of WP7, MS has only ever focused on the former rather than the later. That's why I've been saying for years now, that MS has always been approaching this from the wrong angle.

 

[mark233]

... reading thru a lot of this I started thinking --- the ONLY app that I use that's installed on my desktop and Windows device is Package Tracker from ITECTURE.consulting. I do a lot of online shopping and this app is fantastic. I can copy tracking numbers via my desktop Outlook shipping info, paste in the Package Tracker app and viola -- I can get notifications of status on my phone while away from my desktop ... it SYNCs wonderfully.

 

[Baemir]

English isn't my native tongue, I hope I can make myself understood.

If you ask me, bandwagoning is likely the main factor behind this phenomenon. I'm no Microsoft ******, quite the opposite actually. I don't like Microsoft very much. However I think W10M ironically feels much less anti-consumer than iOS (which is so closed and so politically correct in every sense that it makes me feel like a complete tool for using it) and Android (which has become a data-farming, stagnant, sad example of planned obsolescence). W10M is visually appealing, quite functional and always kept up to date. But due to questionable moves by Google and Apple (similar to those Microsoft employed in the past), it didn't catch on, and now the contemporary pseudo-journalist hivemind has decided it is the devil itself in the form of a mobile OS. They do that with a lot of things and I believe it's just one more visible symptom of the end of journalistic integrity and professionalism. The masses usually don't question something they have read on multiple websites, and so the hivemind grows.