The lack of support from pretty much everyone and the future of Windows Phone

arrowrand

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I seem to remember when I first got the OG Droid, a lot of big name places and businesses were doing the same thing to Android that they're currently doing to WinPhone. We see how that played out. I'll hold my judgments that WinPhone is dead until I can no longer pick one up.
You are 100% correct. I was first in line to get my OG Droid on release day. The Market was bare when it came to quality apps that day, but that changed quickly.

There were some key differences there:

1. Android had already begun to climb the market share mountain.
2. Verizon threw a massive marketing campaign behind the Droid and put it on the map.

WP isn't on the market share climb, in fact Comscore says they lost ground last month. If that changes and MS can double up in short order, you might see movement.

No market share gains, no apps.
 

ttsoldier

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I think Apple and Google are paying these companies to ditch WP8/W8.

Why? Because they're afraid. That's why!

Seriously though....
 

tekhna

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Again, I don't care about apps. You know how I use my Lumia 920 97% of the time? As a smart PHONE.

I use it for calling, texting, calendar/tasks, email (work), internet, and social networking. All of which WP8 does very well.

It amazes me how many peoples have become "dependent" on these little off shoot apps.

Need dropbox? Why not use SkyDrive? Also, they made an app for Windows 8, so maybe WP8 will come soon.

I don't know how people think apps are so important that they'll suffer the nightmare that is Android just to have them. Craziness IMO.

I also find it foolish of those developers to drop support right when WP is starting to take off really well. And with Microsoft's ecosystem really coming together for the first time ever, they now have even more platforms to leverage on. Did you see Windows 8 sales? Bam!!! 60 million users in 2 months!!

IMO, ****'em!!!

If you're planning on keeping the 920 for the 2 year contract, then I'm sure you'll see all those apps come in that period.


You are a very loud exception to how many people use their phones. A certain number of people will never download an app in their life, and another segment of people find it increasingly difficult to support a platform that doesn't support gmail, dropbox, Instagram, etc.
The "just use SkyDrive" thing isn't option. Your solution to "We don't have X app" cannot be use "use Y different app."
 

EliteMikes

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Are you somehow qualified to make that statement? Don't say no, because we already know that.

Apps will come to Windows Phone. I've been with Android long enough that I remember Android Market having nothing but 3rd party shovelware. Small developers need numbers to make the investment of their limited resources worthwhile. 3% market share isn't enough.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

The SDK allows a lot of things. Things that are NOT possible are replacements for built in applications (dialer, messegner, files).

The issue is that devs simply don't want to spend resources to develop for an ecosystem that has very little users on it compared to iOS and android. It takes a LOT of time to build a solid app that does something useful.
 

onlineharvest

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I think it's a little of chicken vs egg

Right now, the market share is too low to justify app development from a cost scenario, much like it was in the beginning of Android.
However, as this increases, and it should, it will get more attention from developers.

It's dollars and cents, IMO, for the most part.
 

tekhna

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Why? What's the advantage of Dropbox over SkyDrive?

It's not about specific advantages. The point is that 100 million people use Dropbox, and a pretty decent chunk of them have no interest in changing services. I use my GS3 much more than my 820 because I've been told:
If I use Gmail, switch to Outlook.
If I use Spotify, switch to Zune Music.
If I use Dropbox, switch to SkyDrive.
If I use Instagram, well, sorry, you're SOL.

Trying to win over customers by expecting them to switch their entire digital lives over to competing providers because your OS can't and doesn't provide the services they are used to, and have used for years, is a dead end. Period. End of story.
No one cares about your 10-step plan to switch over to Outlook because you think Google is evil. People care about using the same email address they've used for a decade.
 

arrowrand

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Why? What's the advantage of Dropbox over SkyDrive?
on a WP device there wouldn't be much of an advantage. On Android and iOS Dropbox offers photo sync and automatic file sync, with expansion of your free storage as your photos use up space.

Dropbox offers 2-step authentication and larger file size uploads. I've also had issues with certain downloads being much slower on SkyDrive than Dropbox. Smaller falls aren't an issue, but a large PDF crawls down on Android.

Mostly, it would be about preference. Someone already using (or even paying Dropbox) might not want to change "just because".
 

brmiller1976

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So is SkyDrive.

I don't let vendor lock-in determine which device I use. If a vendor won't support my device, I find one who does. Storage, email, etc. are COMMODITIES, and are thus easy to change.

The iOS brigade is curiously silent on this. There is no difference between switching from Dropbox to Skydrive and switching from Verizon to AT&T to get the iPhone back in the exclusive days... Yet they would suggest that the former is an impossible mess while the latter is easy.
 

jmerrey

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I'm happy with the selection of apps we have. There's nothing that I'm really missing. So, for myself, I'm happy.

For the platform however, I am very concerned.
 

jmerrey

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It's not about specific advantages. The point is that 100 million people use Dropbox, and a pretty decent chunk of them have no interest in changing services. I use my GS3 much more than my 820 because I've been told:
If I use Gmail, switch to Outlook.
If I use Spotify, switch to Zune Music.
If I use Dropbox, switch to SkyDrive.
If I use Instagram, well, sorry, you're SOL.

Trying to win over customers by expecting them to switch their entire digital lives over to competing providers because your OS can't and doesn't provide the services they are used to, and have used for years, is a dead end. Period. End of story.
No one cares about your 10-step plan to switch over to Outlook because you think Google is evil. People care about using the same email address they've used for a decade.

This is a great way to put it.

For example, if I wanted to switch to ios, my biggest compromise would be losing my zune pass. If I was an ios user and wanted to switch to wp8, the compromises are numerous and, for some, too much to ask. BTW this is real world; I got myself an ipad mini for christmas and haven't missed a beat.

It seems to me that the solution is for MS to start throwing money at these devs. Maybe they have already. Then make it more money...
 

socialcarpet

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I don't know.... this is how I felt using Macintosh from '85 until the return of Steve Jobs.

And look at Apple now...

Right there with you.

As a Mac user all the way through the darkest times, I'm used to being the underdog. This is nothing. I have no problem with this. I'd like to see things improve, but I really don't care about having every trendy app the minute it comes out. My phone does everything I want it to already. I'm not really sure what forum the OP is on, but I don't see announcements on here "almost every day" that third parties are going to drop support or not offer it. Not even close. Not sure where he's getting that from. I will tell you what I see almost every day though, is negative posts like this and people complaining about Windows Phone. Honestly, if you don't like it, leave. Don't rain on my parade. Go buy an iPhone or Android and be happy with your Instagram or whatever. Seriously. Please stop sh**ing all over this forum.
 

socialcarpet

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I'm starting the believe it's just the architecture of the operating system, it's just way too limited to build apps to the quality users expect from other platforms.

I'm fine with my Lumia920 but I doubt I will stick with windows phone beyond this product

Nonsense. Windows Phone is probably the easiest platform to develop for, if anything. You also get more bang for your buck because it is easy to develop a Windows 8 or Windows RT app and then port it to Windows Phone 8.

Compare that to developing for Android where you have 4 or 5 different versions of the OS out at the same time with 4 or 5 different OEM variations on each and 4-5 different screen resolutions (at least) to contend with.

My God, look at what it took to get Netflix on Android. Go look at the market. There are literally like 20 different versions of Netflix for different devices and there are STILL Android devices that can't run it!

This has nothing to do with the difficulty to develop for the platform. It has to do with the small market share, devs think they won't make enough money, and I believe it also has a little to do with lingering anti-Microsoft sentiment I think. Some of these Google sackriders and Apple fanboys are relishing watching Microsoft struggle as the underdog for a change. Lets be honest. If Windows Phone was called Panda Phone or something and it was some Linux variant, they'd be showing it more love.
 

bawboh86

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The OS version just released a couple of months ago, and everyone is already freaking out thinking that it's going to fail? I do remember seeing these types of threads for Android when it was out on the OG Droid, even. I think it's a bit early to start reciting the last rites for the OS. Let's see how it does over the next few months to a year. There are a lot of major advancements that MS made behind the scenes to make app development easier and we just need to give some devs time to see these benefits and for the platform to grow a bit. I still have faith in the platform and look forward to seeing how it fares in the near future.
 

tekhna

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So is SkyDrive.

I don't let vendor lock-in determine which device I use. If a vendor won't support my device, I find one who does. Storage, email, etc. are COMMODITIES, and are thus easy to change.

The iOS brigade is curiously silent on this. There is no difference between switching from Dropbox to Skydrive and switching from Verizon to AT&T to get the iPhone back in the exclusive days... Yet they would suggest that the former is an impossible mess while the latter is easy.

You're an aficionado. You're used to treating services as commodities. Most people aren't. They just want to be able to do what their friends are doing, or what they're used to. Often that's the flavor of the month (Words with Friends, which came to WP after it had fizzled out) or Instagram, or whatever, and often it's well established services that aren't going anywhere.
My dad is really tech savvy, and I cannot for the life of me get him to change his email address. His email address he's had through his dial-up provided since 1994, or whatever. He hasn't had an account with that provider since probably 2000, but the thought of setting up email forwarding to something else is just too much for him. If he, a relatively tech savvy guy, is unwilling to mess with his email, do you think you're going to get the unwashed masses to just give up their gmail accounts? Not likely.
 

gravage

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Why? What's the advantage of Dropbox over SkyDrive?

Some people have a lot of time/content invested in Dropbox. Some people also have more space available with Dropbox vs Skydrive.

At the end of the day, though, a good modern smartphone shouldn't force you to find workarounds to everything (Gmail, Dropbox, etc). That's kind of the point. Even the board express app doesn't allow picture uploads.

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 2
 

FinancialP

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I never understood the people who thinks Windows 8 success will translate to Windows Phone 8 success.

I really don't understand the people who talk about the original Androids and their app selection BACK THEN.
 

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