[ImAdrian23]

Why do you all scream for it? Can someone tell me the real purpose for this feature? I find it irelevant.

[Pete]

It's mainly for people who can't seem to get themselves out of bed in the morning. They'd like the screen to be locked to vertical so they can still see the screen properly when their head is still on the pillow. Some people don't accept the obvious workaround of simply getting out of bed.

[Sinabu]

Basically this ^

[bamagrad03]

I've never had the need for an orientation lock on a phone, ever. I know for some it'd be nice, but I'm baffled by the number of people who keep saying it is a deal breaker.

[poken1151]

It's mainly for people who can't seem to get themselves out of bed in the morning. They'd like the screen to be locked to vertical so they can still see the screen properly when their head is still on the pillow. Some people don't accept the obvious workaround of simply getting out of bed.

Yup. This is the primary reason I feel. And yep, I am one of em who do like it that way. But it's not only in bed, sometimes it's just an annoyance (on android or iPhone) and I prefer it locked in one direction unless needed (like a game or video). I just migrated from my MT4GS and while rotation is easier on the eye I still prefer a toggle.

[mpelti]

There are situations where you want to lock the phone into a portrait orientation. Laying in bed is one of them, another is if you want to lie the phone on a "flat" surface that has enough slope to change the orientation, such as tray tables on planes and trains.

Everybody uses their phones differently, and it baffles me how many people are opposed to key features like orientation lock and notification center.

[narv]

There are situations where you want to lock the phone into a portrait orientation. Laying in bed is one of them, another is if you want to lie the phone on a "flat" surface that has enough slope to change the orientation, such as tray tables on planes and trains.

Everybody uses their phones differently, and it baffles me how many people are opposed to key features like orientation lock and notification center.

Hardly a deal breaker but I am one of these people and I use orientation lock on my iphone for the reasons above. I am waiting for AT&T to get some dang stock in so I can get a Lumia 920! Staying in bed on the weekends is fun :) The Surface RT has orientation lock so I am surprised they didn't include this.

[eruptflail]

I like to read on my phone before I go to bed, and I can't do that because it flops around like a dying fish. The purposes are for those of us who can't get out of bed, or those of us who like to read lying down, like the philosophers of Ancient Greece did ;)

[mpelti]

Hardly a deal breaker but I am one of these people and I use orientation lock on my iphone for the reasons above. I am waiting for AT&T to get some dang stock in so I can get a Lumia 920! Staying in bed on the weekends is fun :) The Surface RT has orientation lock so I am surprised they didn't include this.

I wouldn't call it a deal breaker either, but i'm pretty happy with my 920. I think it's not so much that the lack of an orientation lock alone is a deal breaker, but that it's the proverbial last straw. For some it's "I can't believe WP8 is missing ______, _______, and _______, and it doesn't even have an orientation lock!".

It's also a lot like the notification center debate, I'd call that a key missing feature, but some people are vehemently against it. I guess they've never had their phone beep/buzz, and not been able to figure out why...

[gapost]

I wondered this too. I use mine in bed and pretty quickly figured out how to hold my phone (multiple different phones) so that I could read the screen. I probably wouldn't use it if it was an option.

[TonyDedrick]

How much of a standard is this on other smartphones? Because if it is, I think a valid argument is made on why WP (on its third iteration) has yet to provide it.

[stmav]

I don't think anyone is opposed to more apps or features. The more the better. It's just that people have different opinions on what is key and what's not. One person's big deal is another person's meh. Hopefully in time everyone gets what they want. And unfortunately, we are all at the mercy of what MS and the developers deem important and their priority.

[anon(5370748)]

I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. This device has a stand-up dock, but it's only in landscape mode. Spotify makes an app for Android which I used every day. Spotify's mobile devs, in their infinite wisdom, still continue to fail to see the need to have their app respect the orientation of the tablet and lock it to portrait mode at all times, meaning the app is always sideways and unusable when the device is docked. Android, being what it is, allowed me to download an app called "rotation lock", which locks the rotation once per session and forces Spotify into a pseudo-landscape mode that works well enough (not optimized for landscape, but I can read it at least). It's an three or four taps in a different app that I had to remember to do every time I launched Spotify or came out of sleep mode to fiddle with it. I would have killed for a system-wide orientation lock.

Interestingly enough, it was the Lumia that saved the day. Now that I don't have to use my much-hated iPhone 4S for a phone anymore, it can be relegated to a dedicated Spotify streamer and replace the tablet, which will go back to the closet where it has spent most of its life. Why do we need a rotation lock? To counter issues like that caused by devs that are too overworked/lazy/etc to write a proper landscape orientation into the app. It's also handy if you like keeping the device flat on the table, which sometimes confuses the orientation sensor and makes it go into a mode you don't want it to be in.

[thzman]

It's no problem. You're all just holding it wrong. :-)
No, seriously. I've got orientation lock on my Sony Xperia S and I've never seen the need to use it. If the screen flips when I lay it flat it turns right back when I pick it up again. I often read posts on this forum while lying in bed and I really don't have a problem with my phone's behavior. Can't really see what the fuzz is about. But as stated before - everyone is using their phones differently. I never use my phone lying on the side.

Sent from my phone by airwaves.

[fardream]

Why do you all scream for it? Can someone tell me the real purpose for this feature? I find it irelevant.

this is a small feature - just like Xbox video. Yes, windows phone is designed for people who hold their phone in a specific way, never want to cloud sync their music, never watch Xbox video, never use exchange ActiveSync that requires storage card to be secured, never connect to EAP TLS secures WiFi, never connect to VPN.....

[Paarthurnax]

Sorry to bring back this old thread, but seriously??

I already have a Lumia phone in an online basket right now and just found this out. I simply can't understand that.

[shaan haider]

this feature is not at all important for pathetic show offs... but its a basic and the most important feature for an original hardcore mobile user..

[tmccaghren]

this feature is not at all important for pathetic show offs... but its a basic and the most important feature for an original hardcore mobile user..

No offense, but I am a "hardcore mobile user," and I have never needed orientation lock. I have had a droid phone (Motorola droid x) and an iPhone5, and I traded the 5, with all the LTE goodness, for a HTC Trophy Windows Phone device that I was able to buy for 58 bucks.

Why? Because I like the OS. Never need orientation lock, notification center, or any of these "basic," "key," or "important" features. Notification center on the droid and idevice was nice, but I can see well enough what things are new without NC, so it's never been a deal-breaker for me.

My 2 cents.

[Abdul Rahman Noor]

I always get confused when people say "hardcore".
How are these guys different from us regular folk?

[Kavu2]

Re: "...obvious workaround of simply getting out of bed"

Just adding that I love the fact that 'getting out of bed' is now considered a workaround. Lol, really?....I thought letting the world slide by for one or two mornings a week was why weekends were invented....but that's just me I guess. Orientation lock may not be a 'key' feature, but it qualifies as a 'feature' none-the-less. And 'features' are what separate any phone from the common voice brick. Never been much of a workaround person myself. Carryon
<hits snooze button>

[chezm]

i had no clue what you guys were talking about until i just researched it. i didnt even know this was an option on my past phones, including GS3. Meh, i dont care much for it as a feature...i even doubt most of my friends are aware their phones have it.

[vish2801]

Btw, UC Browser in wp gives you orientation lock...

[tmccaghren]

I always get confused when people say "hardcore".
How are these guys different from us regular folk?

I'm never quite sure myself. For me personally, I rely on my phone for the obvious (call/text), but also for monitoring my work and personal emails (4 addresses), for gaming, video, and reading (the last 3 mostly when I don't have my tablet with me).

I use my android tablet as a laptop replacement, because I can use it for the above and for productivity when in conjunction with a BT keyboard. I ditched iPhone 5 and lte for a HTC trophy running WP 7.8 simply because I like the OS.

...Im a tech for my day job, so technology is a big part of my daily living. Is that hardcore?

[Paarthurnax]

UC Browser in wp gives you orientation lock...

Thank you for bringing that up, that Thing Looks really promising!

If some good ebook application also supports orientation lock then only one of my "Microsoft must fix this before I buy a WP" points remain (gapless Audio playback).

[vish2801]

Thank you for bringing that up, that Thing Looks really promising!

If some good ebook application also supports orientation lock then only one of my "Microsoft must fix this before I buy a WP" points remain (gapless Audio playback).

GDR 2 isn't gonna provide you new features, don't know about GDR3 but have faith in blue update. It actually looks very promising.