Apps might be deal breaker

Mmazeo

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Almost due for upgrade and man do I want this phone. I'm so into the Windows os. But I'm afraid the app situation might be a deal breaker. I've done some searches online and it's not looking good. Honestly I'm not even an app nerd but the stuff I use I use a lot.

Flipboard
Spotify
CBS fantasy football
Team Stream
ESPN score center
Direct TV
MLB at bat
Radio.com
Shutterfly

And two musts for my kids are Disney Jr and PBS Kids

Pulling the trigger on that LG G2 is going to hurt.
 

Jazmac

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Almost due for upgrade and man do I want this phone. I'm so into the Windows os. But I'm afraid the app situation might be a deal breaker. I've done some searches online and it's not looking good. Honestly I'm not even an app nerd but the stuff I use I use a lot.

Flipboard
Spotify
CBS fantasy football
Team Stream
ESPN score center
Direct TV
MLB at bat
Radio.com
Shutterfly

And two musts for my kids are Disney Jr and PBS Kids

Pulling the trigger on that LG G2 is going to hurt.
Flipboard - Coming. Already in Windows 8 and slated for Windows Phone 8. I suspect we'll see it when Windows 8.1 drops.
Spotify - Lame service in my opinion, but its already available
CBS fantasy football - Fantasy football is available. ESPN Fantasy Football
ESPN score center - Got it.
Team Stream - Would be nice, but no. Bleacher report hasn't seen an update since the Chrysler Cordoba's Corinthian leather seats was all the rage.
Direct TV - Yeah we got a few programming apps that set your box for shows remotely but you won't be watching DTV on your phone.
MLB at bat - Yep, Got it. I like Baseball Pro myself
Radio.com - Plenty of radio apps, TuneIn Iheart, Slacker, SkyFM, Rdio and the phone has radio built in, but Radio.com app? I haven't seen it..

Looks like a split decision from here but if these are 100 percent make or break, you are probably not ready for the rest of what this device has to offer. It is one awesome ride and getting better day by day. We have committed developers and enthusiasts who have a stake in this phone succeeding in the mobile space and it will. Its not the red headed stepchild some bloggers suggest it is. It only has a few mainstream apps to go, and I do mean just a few.
 

invertme

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supposedly Spotify is getting an update too. I much prefer Pandora or my own music (but to each their own)

Also some of those can't you just go to the website? So pin a tile to your start screen and it will feel app like.

That said, I am fairly addicted to Elemental Kingdoms on Android and have been using my Note 3 to play it. Other than that though I have found alternatives to everything without much effort.
 

Mmazeo

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I was just about to ask if you can pin websites to your home screen as a tile? Like CBS Fantasy football I can do on the web. The iOS app is just so easy and nice. But I'm completely done with iPhones.

The radio.com thing is for 2 stations. 670 The Score since I'm a crazy Bears fan and WFAN because I'm a NY guy. Maybe there is something else with those stations (CBS stations) but I haven't found it.

I need to make this work. Android does not really appeal to me.
 

worldspy99

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I was just about to ask if you can pin websites to your home screen as a tile? Like CBS Fantasy football I can do on the web. The iOS app is just so easy and nice. But I'm completely done with iPhones.

The radio.com thing is for 2 stations. 670 The Score since I'm a crazy Bears fan and WFAN because I'm a NY guy. Maybe there is something else with those stations (CBS stations) but I haven't found it.

I need to make this work. Android does not really appeal to me.

Tune In might have the two stations you are thinking about. Why don't you get your feet wet with a Lumia 520 and then decide if the platform works for you or not.
 

Dadstar0410

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All websites can be pinned to Start. Also, Windows Phones have built-in FM radio for you.

There are also a ton of awesome sports apps and e-readers for you on this platform. Weave is amazing, as is Phonly (feedly app), Bing News, Newser, and Flipboard coming very soon.
 

guillams

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Download t?nelin on your android Phone, and try to find those station you like.
personally since I found WP I don't gonna change anymore!
 

savagelizards

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We are less than a month from WP 8.1. When that drops, anything that will run on WindowsRT will also run on your WP 8.1 device. Microsoft has already said that all WP 8 devices will get the 8.1 upgrade.

Since compatibility works the other way too, app makers have a disincentive to launch WP 8 apps at the moment, since if they wait for 8.1 they can also sell the same app in the Windows store to any WindowsRT/Windows 8 device. That all changes on April 2nd, so expect to see a lot of new apps hit the store on that day.

As a disclaimer, I purchased an Icon on contract couple of weeks ago, so I am motivated to have WP grow its market share and attract more apps. Many others in this forum are likewise committed.

If you are really on the fence about this and can wait a few weeks you should be able to get a better read on new app releases then.
 
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SwimSwim

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We are less than a month from WP 8.1. When that drops, anything that will run on WindowsRT will also run on your WP 8.1 device. Microsoft has already said that all WP 8 devices will get the 8.1 upgrade.

Since compatibility works the other way too, app makers have a disincentive to launch WP 8 apps at the moment, since if they wait for 8.1 they can also sell the same app in the Windows store to any WindowsRT/Windows 8 device. That all changes on April 2nd, so expect to see a lot of new apps hit the store on that day.

As a disclaimer, I purchased an Icon on contract couple of weeks ago, so I am motivated to have WP grow its market share and attract more apps. Many others in this forum are likewise committed.

If you are really on the fence about this and can wait a few weeks you should be able to get a better read on new app releases then.

Umm, I've heard of Windows Phone apps being made available for Windows 8/RT devices, but I've never heard of it being the other way around... Care to share where you got this information?
 

savagelizards

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Umm, I've heard of Windows Phone apps being made available for Windows 8/RT devices, but I've never heard of it being the other way around... Care to share where you got this information?

First, take a look at this leaked screenshot, from @AngelWZR on Twitter:

windows-universal-store-leak-01.jpg

Also, the unification of the app stores has been widely reported since last fall, with newer sources indicating info in the 8.1 SDK points to Build 2014. Here are a few sources:

Michael Archambault - Microsoft to unify Windows Phone and Windows Stores | Windows Phone Central
Kevin Parrish - Unified Windows Store Coming Spring 2014
Mary Jo Foley - Microsoft talks up single app store at company meeting: Sources | ZDNet
Tom Warren - Microsoft building a single app store for the next Windows Phone and Windows releases | The Verge
Alex Wilhelm - Leaked Windows Phone 8.1 SDK Points To Impending Merger Between The Mobile OS And Windows RT | TechCrunch
Derrick Wlodarz - 6 reasons why Windows RT is the real future of Windows

There's more if you want them. Absolutely you could try and write this off as rumor, but too many of these sources are credible for this not to be accurate. Kevin Parrish of Tom's Hardware identified Terry Myserson, head of Microsoft's Operating Systems division, as the original source of the information back in September.

One last piece of info. Windows 8.1 update 1 is being released at the same time as WP 8.1. Merging the app stores will require both WP and Windows OSes to be updated. That's all I've got, and I might be mistaken, but this has certainly been well-traveled ground at this point.
 

SwimSwim

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First, take a look at this leaked screenshot, from @AngelWZR on Twitter:

View attachment 59030

Also, the unification of the app stores has been widely reported since last fall, with newer sources indicating info in the 8.1 SDK points to Build 2014. Here are a few sources:

Michael Archambault - Microsoft to unify Windows Phone and Windows Stores | Windows Phone Central
Kevin Parrish - Unified Windows Store Coming Spring 2014
Mary Jo Foley - Microsoft talks up single app store at company meeting: Sources | ZDNet
Tom Warren - Microsoft building a single app store for the next Windows Phone and Windows releases | The Verge
Alex Wilhelm - Leaked Windows Phone 8.1 SDK Points To Impending Merger Between The Mobile OS And Windows RT | TechCrunch
Derrick Wlodarz - 6 reasons why Windows RT is the real future of Windows

There's more if you want them. Absolutely you could try and write this off as rumor, but too many of these sources are credible for this not to be accurate. Kevin Parrish of Tom's Hardware identified Terry Myserson, head of Microsoft's Operating Systems division, as the original source of the information back in September.

One last piece of info. Windows 8.1 update 1 is being released at the same time as WP 8.1. Merging the app stores will require both WP and Windows OSes to be updated. That's all I've got, and I might be mistaken, but this has certainly been well-traveled ground at this point.

I've heard of all this, but this still looks like Windows Phone apps working on Windows 8, not the other way around. And I personally would find it odd if they did... I mean, it's easy to scale up phone app for display on a large screen. But to try and scale down apps from Windows 8 onto Windows Phone... That sounds messy.

I'm not trying to call you a liar, but this all looks like it's referring to Windows Phone 8.1+ apps running on Windows 8.1 Update 1+, in addition to making it easier for developers to make apps for both app stores due to a larger amount of code and APIs being shared. Basically, how it currently works on iOS: where iPhone apps can run on iPad, but iPad apps can't run on iPhone.

Again, how would they take apps specialized for big tablets displays, for small phone screens? The code isn't the issue, it's the fact that they wouldn't display very well on a small screen.
 

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