Live tiles flat out don't work

[Sinabu]

Right now the one that's giving me trouble is the Facebook Tile. It will show a notification when it comes in but after I check it the number number stays on the tile. I have to restart the phone then check the app again to make it go away.

Others seems to be updated as I check them/receive messages other than the time it takes for normal updates.

 

[theefman]

My tiles - wpcentral, cnn, AAWP, me tile, custom twitter group, custom facebook group, Weave, USA today, BBC news mobile, TV show, parcel tracker, all updating fine since purchase on launch day. Only app that doesnt seem to be updating is Facebook, and that is a universal problem with the app and also my FB feed is pretty quiet so could be that as well.

 

[Tahiti Bob]

It was already the case in WP7, I don't know if it hasn't be fixed in the OS or if it's down to poor coding from the app developers.

 

[mpelti]

my facebook tile is working, as is the me tile. Unfortunately, this is also annoying, because if i view a notification in the me tile, it doesn't clear the same alert from facebook. I need to have both because neither the me tile or the people tile seems to deal with event updates well.

The espn one still has done nothing. Of my 4 favorite teams, 3 aren"t in season right now, and the other is an nfl team that plays sunday. I tried setting a college football team playing right now as my tile favorite, but still nothing.

 

[-Scienide-]

First of all, lets stop mentioning the Facebook tile. The facebook app is broken when it comes to notifications. There are plenty of threads on this forum about the state of the facebook app. Its diabolical. I've read things and it still shows them as unread for days. Its just plain broke. Nothing I can say or do will fix that. Its up to Facebook to deliver an app or we have to rely on Microsoft to improve their attempt at an app.

Ok, so down to the business of Live tiles not being "Live". I'm afraid anybody who thinks that a Live tile is going to be pushing data 24/7 is misguided or naive That would drain your battery in a few hours or less. I'll agree that calling it a "Live" tile probably is misleading but I don't think calling it a "Half live 30 Minute update Tile" would have gone down to well at Microsoft. So, we have to deal with it. I mean an Xbox isn't in the shape of an X but I can forgive Microsoft for that. I mean, if you buy a phone and then think you've been misled, by all means return the phone and start legal action against Microsoft. In the meantime, the rest of us will get on with enjoying our phones. Whatever brand of OS they may be running.

Now, some sensible discussion:

Some of you seem to be having a genuine problem with your tiles not updating often enough. This is not normal. I've had my phone for a three weeks now and I've not had a single issue with the tiles (or anything else for that matter). This could be very difficult to pin down because, as one poster said before me, it could depend on what apps you have installed, what type of data you are trying to push and even if the Battery Saver has some kind of impact.

So, lets get some clear and accurate info. What tiles specifically are not updating? When did you notice? Do they update on WiFi? When the battery is low or fully charged?

Give us some clear and concise info and some of the guys/ladies on this forum might be able to help you. We want to help. Thats the whole point of a community like this.

Also, can we please calm down with the troll finger pointing. If people come here to troll, no worries. If they scream about how **** windows phones are then let them scream. You will never stop trolling, you will never stop somebody having an opinion and you will never be the sole defender of all things Windows.

Lets all get a grip, treat each other with a bit of respect and dont take the bait if you see a post that annoys you. Just rise above it and move on. A post that keeps getting replies will always ride high on the forum.

Having said that, I don't care if a thread is started by a troll or not. If it raises a discussion that can provide some help for a person who might have a genuine problem then it is worth the time and effort to read and reply.

Rant over :winktongue:

 

[1jaxstate1]

Why are you to tell people what to and not to discuss.

 

[-Scienide-]

Why are you to tell people what to and not to discuss.

I didn't. I said lets stop mentioning the facebook tile. I said that because its already been reported lots of times on this forum that its broken. So it doesn't help the original poster solve his problem as its not related to the live tiles not updating.

Other than that I don't think I told anybody what to discuss.

I'm sorry that you've taken offence.

 

[mpelti]

First of all, lets stop mentioning the Facebook tile. The facebook app is broken when it comes to notifications. There are plenty of threads on this forum about the state of the facebook app. Its diabolical. I've read things and it still shows them as unread for days. Its just plain broke. Nothing I can say or do will fix that. Its up to Facebook to deliver an app or we have to rely on Microsoft to improve their attempt at an app.

It's one of the most used services on a phone like this. It makes the entire platform look bad, even if it is a facebook problem and not microsoft

Ok, so down to the business of Live tiles not being "Live". I'm afraid anybody who thinks that a Live tile is going to be pushing data 24/7 is misguided or naive That would drain your battery in a few hours or less. I'll agree that calling it a "Live" tile probably is misleading but I don't think calling it a "Half live 30 Minute update Tile" would have gone down to well at Microsoft. So, we have to deal with it. I mean an Xbox isn't in the shape of an X but I can forgive Microsoft for that. I mean, if you buy a phone and then think you've been misled, by all means return the phone and start legal action against Microsoft. In the meantime, the rest of us will get on with enjoying our phones. Whatever brand of OS they may be running.

My android phone never suffered that much in battery because i had an ESPN, Google Scoreboard, or Yahoo scorecenter widget up. Again, the whole concept is up to date info at a glance, not half hour ago info, unless you open the app. For something like a scoreboard, I'm looking at it because I want to know that score right now, not 2 innings ago. First party tiles have no issue with up to the minute push updates, so MS either needs to fix what is preventing 3rd party apps from doing so, or crack the whip and get fixes out, because it makes the platform look bad. My espn tile did eventually update a score, after about half an hour. I'm now trying the nokia version of espn also.

 

[brmiller1976]

Why are you to tell people what to and not to discuss.

And who are you to ask who someone else is who tells people what to and not to discuss?

And who am I to ask you who you are to ask who someone else is who tells people what to and not to discuss?

 

[-Scienide-]

It's one of the most used services on a phone like this. It makes the entire platform look bad, even if it is a facebook problem and not microsoft

I totally agree with you. I'm not defending it at all. Just saying that as the Facebook tile is total crap that we cant really use it to see if the live tiles not updating is a problem or not as it doesnt work anyway.

My android phone never suffered that much in battery because i had an ESPN, Google Scoreboard, or Yahoo scorecenter widget up. Again, the whole concept is up to date info at a glance, not half hour ago info, unless you open the app. For something like a scoreboard, I'm looking at it because I want to know that score right now, not 2 innings ago. First party tiles have no issue with up to the minute push updates, so MS either needs to fix what is preventing 3rd party apps from doing so, or crack the whip and get fixes out, because it makes the platform look bad. My espn tile did eventually update a score, after about half an hour. I'm now trying the nokia version of espn also.

When it comes to ESPN or any live updating scores then yeah, you're right. Its not good enough to have a delayed feed and I was wrong to call people naive for expecting that. I genuinely didn't consider sports apps when I was writing that reply. I was thinking more along the lines of weather updates and the peoples status updates, etc. I was wrong.

I still can't see how the **** Microsoft can have tiles that push live data to your phone everytime you unlock it and that not drain the battery like crazy. How does the ESPN app work then? You actually get full, live updates during games? Is that how its supposed to be?

 

[DropPass]

No issues with Live Tiles on either of our two L920s in the two weeks we have had them!

 

[brmiller1976]

There are two servers for Live Tiles.

The first is an actual Live Tile server, which requires the app developer to push actual live data to the server, which uses the Microsoft LT protocol to push updates to your phone in real time.

The second is a half-hour non-push server.

Many developers opt for the latter, because it's cheaper for their infrastructure to put out updates every half hour rather than real time through Microsoft's servers. Most apps that have Live Tiles and a "free/pay" version differentiate their pay version from their free version by having the pay version use the "real time" server (and put the cash towards infrastructure).

And, of course, there are poorly-coded apps (or lazy developers) who won't allow their apps to update in real time.

Finally, if your phone is in "battery save" mode, it will stop all push services including e-mail and Live Tiles. I knew one of my neighbors was *****ing about his Titan 2 "not having live tiles and getting e-mail." Turns out that he always ran it in "battery save" mode.

 

[-Scienide-]

There are two servers for Live Tiles.

The first is an actual Live Tile server, which requires the app developer to push actual live data to the server, which uses the Microsoft LT protocol to push updates to your phone in real time.

The second is a half-hour non-push server.

Many developers opt for the latter, because it's cheaper for their infrastructure to put out updates every half hour rather than real time through Microsoft's servers. Most apps that have Live Tiles and a "free/pay" version differentiate their pay version from their free version by having the pay version use the "real time" server (and put the cash towards infrastructure).

And, of course, there are poorly-coded apps (or lazy developers) who won't allow their apps to update in real time.

Finally, if your phone is in "battery save" mode, it will stop all push services including e-mail and Live Tiles. I knew one of my neighbors was *****ing about his Titan 2 "not having live tiles and getting e-mail." Turns out that he always ran it in "battery save" mode.

Great post! I had no idea about the two options for pushing data. I'll keep that in mind when I'm thinking about paying for an app or not.

 

[brmiller1976]

There was also a forty-app limit for Live Tiles on Windows Phone 7.5. I am not sure if that limit persists with WP8.

 

[mpelti]

I still can't see how the **** Microsoft can have tiles that push live data to your phone everytime you unlock it and that not drain the battery like crazy. How does the ESPN app work then? You actually get full, live updates during games? Is that how its supposed to be?

The point of push is that it updates when it needs to. When it comes to sports, some have very few updates. For example, in Soccer or Hockey, there can be long gaps between scoring plays, and the only thing that might get updated is the time remaining. In Football, Basketball, or Baseball, there can be a scoreboard update every 30 seconds. So for a live tile, they might be able to "cheat" by just having it load the most recent update from the server when the tile comes on screen, but if someone is on the home screen, it would need a push, and ESPN also supposedly supports toast notifications, where it might alert you that the score has changed, which has to be timely. It's not so much that it doesn't increase battery usage, but it's actually less data than an email, so it shouldn't hit the phone any harder than a very active email account.

There are two servers for Live Tiles.

The first is an actual Live Tile server, which requires the app developer to push actual live data to the server, which uses the Microsoft LT protocol to push updates to your phone in real time.

The second is a half-hour non-push server.

Many developers opt for the latter, because it's cheaper for their infrastructure to put out updates every half hour rather than real time through Microsoft's servers. Most apps that have Live Tiles and a "free/pay" version differentiate their pay version from their free version by having the pay version use the "real time" server (and put the cash towards infrastructure).

And, of course, there are poorly-coded apps (or lazy developers) who won't allow their apps to update in real time.

Finally, if your phone is in "battery save" mode, it will stop all push services including e-mail and Live Tiles. I knew one of my neighbors was *****ing about his Titan 2 "not having live tiles and getting e-mail." Turns out that he always ran it in "battery save" mode.

Very informative. I'd like to think that ESPN would spring for the true push server.

 

[-Scienide-]

It's not so much that it doesn't increase battery usage, but it's actually less data than an email, so it shouldn't hit the phone any harder than a very active email account.

Ok, I'm with you now. I was under the impression that it was more intensive on the battery. I see where you're coming from now. It should work then. Judging by brmiller1976's post it seems to be a developer issue then, rather than a Microsoft one, no?

 

[mpelti]

Ok, I'm with you now. I was under the impression that it was more intensive on the battery. I see where you're coming from now. It should work then. Judging by brmiller1976's post it seems to be a developer issue then, rather than a Microsoft one, no?

Yeah. It's kind of the classic microsoft dilemna, for a new generation of phones, catching the flak for problems that are really caused by third parties.. Part of why the original iphone was so much better than contemporary smartphones was that they had much stricter app requirements, and limits, to prevent people from getting a bad impression of the phone. WP8 seems better than Android so far in this regard, but many third party apps need a ton of work, both for stability and functionality. That's where the "ecosystem" argument comes in, where WP8 has a long way to go to be competitive.

 

[-Scienide-]

Yeah. It's kind of the classic microsoft dilemna, for a new generation of phones, catching the flak for problems that are really caused by third parties.. Part of why the original iphone was so much better than contemporary smartphones was that they had much stricter app requirements, and limits, to prevent people from getting a bad impression of the phone. WP8 seems better than Android so far in this regard, but many third party apps need a ton of work, both for stability and functionality. That's where the "ecosystem" argument comes in, where WP8 has a long way to go to be competitive.

Exactly. This is the most important time I think. Any time between now and the next 4 weeks or so is when I would expect to see a surge of new apps from new and old developers. So far I've seen a very steady trickle but not the big push I was hoping for. Its very early days though. I really hope to see some killer apps start to appear soon.

 

[brmiller1976]

Microsoft could fix the problem by mandating push as part of the Live Tile system, but that would tick off developers who don't have enough resources to support push.

(BTW, Rowi is an example of a high profile app where the "free" version doesn't support real-time Live Tiles but the paid version does.)

 

[-Scienide-]

(BTW, Rowi is an example of a high profile app where the "free" version doesn't support real-time Live Tiles but the paid version does.)

Rowi seems to be having a terrible time with the app submission process at the moment. 3 times they have submitted their WP8 version of the app. Twice its been rejected so far. I've been waiting for about 3 weeks now