[ikhfa]

Skype, Live Messenger, Weather App ... fail.
Try working with Word Mobile (Office), even just using it to read documents. How about PDF readers? Emailing true attachments? Only if they are pictures because we are not allowed to access the phone storage (the phone which we paid for).
Notification Centre for everything important is ... yep, not there. And I have my fair share of OS hangs and unnecessary voice activated searches.
They shove promises down our throats. We, consumers, buy these promises. Call us stupid (because we expect things to work) but that does not mean we should be cheated off our good money. We shouldn't have to read a basket full of reviews to buy a product. We shouldn't be blamed for buying a failed product. And yet here we are, disappointed.

[martinmc78]

Skype, Live Messenger, Weather App ... fail.
Try working with Word Mobile (Office), even just using it to read documents. How about PDF readers? Emailing true attachments? Only if they are pictures because we are not allowed to access the phone storage (the phone which we paid for).
Notification Centre for everything important is ... yep, not there. And I have my fair share of OS hangs and unnecessary voice activated searches.
They shove promises down our throats. We, consumers, buy these promises. Call us stupid (because we expect things to work) but that does not mean we should be cheated off our good money. We shouldn't have to read a basket full of reviews to buy a product. We shouldn't be blamed for buying a failed product. And yet here we are, disappointed.

OK Where shall we start.

Skype - Personally have no issues works great

Office - use word, excel and even powerpoint on a regular basis with no problems.

PDF reader - Not got any issues with the one I use.

Emailing attachements - would be usefull - alternative is to create a shared folder on skydrive. I have multiple folders sharing my documents and pictures with family, friends and have set up two work folders, one for internal and one for prospective clients.

Notification centre - Pin everything important to your start screen and set the screen timeout to never.

OS hangs? dont have issues on my 8x since portico.

So weve been promised a few apps that we havent got. I was promised a new bike for christmas when i was 8, never got it. Still love my parents though.

My phone was free at upgrade so I havent actually laid out any money and you can hardly call WP8 a failed product. Its missing a few things i will give you that, but what OS has everything?

[jgraves4480]

Watch out for google. It is apparent that was a lot of my app issues. Along with why my contacts were getting deleted from my live account. Bad GPS coordinates in my wife's trip monitor she uses and linked me for her location. Now that I have unlinked w8 from my desktop and live account it all works again. Yay!

[pavvento]

I remember a while back reading that Google was giving wireless carriers money from ad sales generated from Android phones as a way to push Android. I always though HP could have used their server/computing muscle to get apps for webOS and they never did. I guess MS isn't willing to cut deals with developers that would encourage them to build WP apps. I understand why small developers need to focus on iOS or Android due to market share, but there is no reason that Square, Facebook/Instagram, MLB, NHL, etc can't develop an app for WP8. It seems to me that this is a power battle.

[based_graham]

Windows Phone on-the-go apps are good enough if you're missing apps but really love your Windows Phone why don't you look at buying a Nexus 7 with 3G or an iPad Mini?

[Residing]

Skype, Live Messenger, Weather App ... fail.
Try working with Word Mobile (Office), even just using it to read documents. How about PDF readers? Emailing true attachments? Only if they are pictures because we are not allowed to access the phone storage (the phone which we paid for).
Notification Centre for everything important is ... yep, not there. And I have my fair share of OS hangs and unnecessary voice activated searches.
They shove promises down our throats. We, consumers, buy these promises. Call us stupid (because we expect things to work) but that does not mean we should be cheated off our good money. We shouldn't have to read a basket full of reviews to buy a product. We shouldn't be blamed for buying a failed product. And yet here we are, disappointed.

My goodness! By reading your post, it would seem as though your world has come to an end and that you purchased your device under duress! "Shoving promises down our throats", "Cheated off our good money", "call us stupid"....

You bought the 'promises' - whatever they were - which is never wise. Rule of thumb is to buy a product for all, and only what, it does the day of your purchase. If you are not under contract, perhaps you can sell the device and choose another platform.

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

Windows Phone on-the-go apps are good enough if you're missing apps but really love your Windows Phone why don't you look at buying a Nexus 7 with 3G or an iPad Mini?

Because I don't want to be paying for a second contract, and let's be honest, using a phone SIM in a tablet... I also need to be able to use the phone itself? That and I have zero interest in another tablet, as I have my WiFi-Only HTC Flyer. Oh by the way, no tethering allowed on my contract, so whacking out the Internet Sharing is out of the question.

[ttsoldier]

[Panda858]

OK Where shall we start.
Office - use word, excel and even powerpoint on a regular basis with no problems.

It is nigh impossible to edit a large spreadsheet on your handset, I don't really do it so it doesn't bother me but you can't pretend it's easy or intuitive

PDF reader - Not got any issues with the one I use.

NAY SIR, NAYYYYYYY the native PDF reader is laughably basic, you can't send pdfs from the phone (which really defeats a lot of the purpose of pdfs).

Emailing attachements - would be usefull - alternative is to create a shared folder on skydrive. I have multiple folders sharing my documents and pictures with family, friends and have set up two work folders, one for internal and one for prospective clients.

Yeah i always want to tell my clients to go to a random link if they want to see a mockup or get a file from me because email communication is so passe [/sarcasm]. Sending an email attachment is such a basic part of communication it's laughable that it isnt available.

So weve been promised a few apps that we havent got. I was promised a new bike for christmas when i was 8, never got it. Still love my parents though.

How much did you pay your parents to get your bike? Because your free upgrade and 2 year contract is anything but free and AT&T better get me some socks and underwear if we are going for Christmas nostalgia

[martinmc78]

It is nigh impossible to edit a large spreadsheet on your handset, I don't really do it so it doesn't bother me but you can't pretend it's easy or intuitive

NAY SIR, NAYYYYYYY the native PDF reader is laughably basic, you can't send pdfs from the phone (which really defeats a lot of the purpose of pdfs).

Yeah i always want to tell my clients to go to a random link if they want to see a mockup or get a file from me because email communication is so passe [/sarcasm]. Sending an email attachment is such a basic part of communication it's laughable that it isnt available.

How much did you pay your parents to get your bike? Because your free upgrade and 2 year contract is anything but free and AT&T better get me some socks and underwear if we are going for Christmas nostalgia

Ok Panda. Yep big spreadsheets are a no, no.

Yep pdf reader, basic. Does it read pdf's? Yes.

Sharing skydrive folders works incredibly well in my line of work, a lot of the drawing files I use exceed a lot of email inbox limits. So it works the same as using dropbox or yousendit for example. But yeah the ability to attach anything to an email would be great,

The bike thing was more about broken promises on apps than price. And I would paying for a contract no matter if I had the apps I wanted on an iPhone. Only the phone wouldn't have been free.

[Malcolm Clement]

I'll start here:

Skype - Nowhere near as integrated or useful or bug free as it was proclaimed to be. I understand it is still in preview but 3 months after the OS is released they should be able to push one single app out of preview and provide the full functionality they provided. Look at how the Google Maps team responded to the Apple Maps fiasco. They worked their arses off to get a great Google Maps app back on iPhone for iOS6. Skype needs to be fully integrated if it is replacing Live Messenger. It needs to have all the bugs fixed. It needs to run in the background without noticeable battery drain (like promised). They need to work out how they manage contacts (Skype currently stores contact lists locally, not in the cloud which is a HUGE oversight on their part). They have a LOT of work to do.

Office - Pretty tough to work with. Very basic and crippled access to features that could easily be implemented. Very hard to use, but, great integration with Skydrive. That's about it. They need to continue to add more advanced (albeit basic) features and functions.

PDF Reader - Landscape view only shows up on half the screen - huge oversight. Not being able to click on links within the PDF document (table of contents, etc) ... and not being able to email PDF files... ridiculous...

Emailing Attachments - You made a good recommendation with creating a shared folder on Skydrive. However, the issue remains that you cannot reply to an email thread with a document attachment. This is a MAJOR failure for any work related use. This needs to be implemented IMMEDIATELY.

Notification Center - Your suggestion is crap. The OS could definitely use a notification center of some sort.

OS Hangs - I haven't experienced this either.

Apps - Agree that 3 months with no mention of the promised major apps coming anytime soon is ridiculous. MS needs to acknowledge they are taking a long time and give us a bone... coming in the next month, quarter, half year, century... any sort of communication would be good.

All this said, I really enjoy my Lumia 920 but there are glaring issues that baffle me. I don't understand how a company with ~$40 billion in cash reserves can't figure out a way to put the necessary resources toward addressing all of these issues. Privately held companies are creating rockets to carry payloads to space stations and one of the largest tech companies in the world can't figure out how to make basic features a reality on a phone OS that has so much potential.

So much of this is so elementary. Hard to believe these oversights.

[Malcolm Clement]

They have $40 BILLION in cash reserves... I surely think they could do a little more...

[iamtim]

They have $40 BILLION in cash reserves... I surely think they could do a little more...

Right on, finally someone with the experience running a company Microsoft's size with that much cash-on-hand ready to chip in and tell Ballmer and crew how to run their company. So what did you do in your $40-billion-in-cash-reserves company when it faced a similar situation?

Ok, sarcasm aside, it's very easy to sit at our desks and post on a forum about how easy this should all be for Microsoft, but we really know NOTHING about how Microsoft runs their business, what they're actually doing, what they're not actually doing, and all the corporate ins-and-outs up Redmond-way. :D

[nokiageek]

You can attach files to the windows phone built in email, but not from within the program.

I wanted to send a CV to an employer, so I went into the office app, found my CV that I downloaded onto my phone, double click the file, and select share, I selected my Yahoo email, and this brought up the phone email program with my CV attached.

Sent this to myself to test, and worked perfectly :)

Sent from my N70 using Tapatalk HD

[ohgood]

Right on, finally someone with the experience running a company Microsoft's size with that much cash-on-hand ready to chip in and tell Ballmer and crew how to run their company. So what did you do in your $40-billion-in-cash-reserves company when it faced a similar situation?

Ok, sarcasm aside, it's very easy to sit at our desks and post on a forum about how easy this should all be for Microsoft, but we really know NOTHING about how Microsoft runs their business, what they're actually doing, what they're not actually doing, and all the corporate ins-and-outs up Redmond-way. :D

We don't need to read the business strategy to request features and fixes to modernize the phone os. Much like ms doesn't need to survey apple about how they choose which applications and apis to allow.

Simply listen to customers and do what is asked.

[Panda858]

Ok, sarcasm aside, it's very easy to sit at our desks and post on a forum about how easy this should all be for Microsoft, but we really know NOTHING about how Microsoft runs their business, what they're actually doing, what they're not actually doing, and all the corporate ins-and-outs up Redmond-way. :D

Well we do know that we have more hope and faith for windows phone than they do since they seem to be making no more commitments to apps, updated features or even xbl games (if anything they have clearly shown regression) while we post everyday about our handsets and our dreams for them.

Good tip geek, cumbersome but usefull

[jdhooghe]

All haters here on these forum are not trolls but there are many who spk out of frustration...

Windows phone platform is going nowhere 3 months after the launch...

I have been a hardcore supporter of the platform...owned Lumia 800 initially and now 920...was even successful in converting few of my friends to the platform...
But after 1 yr when WP has got no real impetus and momentum my friends switched over to iOS or Android...because in todays time 1 yr is a pretty long time and if a platform goes without any serious growth for this period it has failed miserably...

I will wait till this fall if WP fails to move then even I would like to switch...

Being optimistic is one thing but to continue support when MS is doing nothing is being foolish...

I agree. That is why I am currently looking at blackberry quite seriously. They have the same start as WP8 and yet it seems that they are going places.


EDIT: I agree that I have no idea how to run a company. Think of it this way though. Nokia, a friggin' small company with not a whole lot a revenue still finds a way to release apps. Apps that work really, really well. Yet Microsoft can't? Microsoft, the makers of office, makers of productivity software cannot even make a pdf reader that does something other than crash and look at pdfs? Really?! Microsoft, the owners of Skype can't even release a decent version of Skype to its own platform? One that can actually shut off and not run continuously? Not to mention the whole slew of other issues it has?

I really feel sorry for Nokia. They make incredible phones yet they are partnered with a company who doesn't give two ****s about its phone OS. Anyone who has known me since November(back when we were all counting down the days of release) knows how much I supported WP8. I shut down little ****s at the beginning who whined and complained about there not being any apps. I went along with the rest saying, "apps will come." I understand that WP8 is new and I never expected it to have most apps but for the actual OS maker to be so completely lazy with their platform...it's just mind boggling. I've been wondering why I have been looking at Blackberry lately and this thread helped me to understand where that need to look at another OS came from. Now I know.

[martinmc78]

Notification Center - Your suggestion is crap. The OS could definitely use a notification center of some sort.

Its not a suggestion - its what I use and it works for me - doesnt make it crap. I've got everything i need on my screen and visible without scrolling. Phone, sms, linked inbox, skype, facebook, mehdoh, 4th & mayor, app store, me tile, couple of other tiles for the important people in my life and they all update - including skype. My phone sits on my desk all day at work propped up against my monitors so its right in front of me - never miss a thing.

[paulm187]

The big apps are not coming because WP is not gaining much traction. The latest comscore stats show a decline in the US now down to 2.9%. Developers don't want to waste their time and resources in developing and supporting an app for a platform with such little market share, its simply makes no business sense. Microsoft can only do so much by providing financial incentives to develop for the platform. But the fact of the matter is after 2+ years WP still hasn't gained traction, carriers not really pushing the platform, developers not interested, OEM's apart from Nokia are apathetic and even inside MS its as if there are some who want to see this fail. Overall, I'm saddened that this is just not going anywhere - its a chicken and egg situation.

[jdhooghe]

The big apps are not coming because WP is not gaining much traction. The latest comscore stats show a decline in the US now down to 2.9%. Developers don't want to waste their time and resources in developing and supporting an app for a platform with such little market share, its simply makes no business sense. Microsoft can only do so much by providing financial incentives to develop for the platform. But the fact of the matter is after 2+ years WP still hasn't gained traction, carriers not really pushing the platform, developers not interested, OEM's apart from Nokia are apathetic and even inside MS there are some who want to see this fail. Overall, I'm saddened that this is just not going anywhere - its a chicken and egg situation.

Some on the inside want to see it fail?

[paulm187]

Some on the inside want to see it fail?

No I didn't mean it like that, I meant with the lack of push from even within MS its as if they want to see it fail. WP success is very important to MS but the infighting is not always in Wps interest.

[bb1137]

i can see peoples points about how far behind wp8 is, but i got mine because i wanted something different form android i still have my htc sensation. but i now much prefer my 8x.

would i give up on my wp8 just because it hasnt got the same apps as apple and android no! the wp8 hasnt been going that long compared to apple and android so you have got to give it a chance for developers to get on the case.
did read that facebook is working on bring out an app for wp8.

[ikhfa]

Notification centre - Pin everything important to your start screen and set the screen timeout to never.

OS hangs? dont have issues on my 8x since portico.

So weve been promised a few apps that we havent got. I was promised a new bike for christmas when i was 8, never got it. Still love my parents though.

My phone was free at upgrade so I havent actually laid out any money and you can hardly call WP8 a failed product. Its missing a few things i will give you that, but what OS has everything?

I have yet to receive the Portico update.

The analogy about the parents and the bike seems odd. I bought the phone and I am sure no one bought their parents. So the comparison looks awkward at best.

As for the notification centre, in another thread, we can see how devs are frustrated with MS implementation of how things run too.

Apps? Someone said a year is too long a time and people would have jumped ship by then. 3 months now, that is 25% of a year.

Users are frustrated. Devs are equally frustrated. Many here are complaining. But we can't all be trolls can we?

[martinmc78]

I have yet to receive the Portico update.

The analogy about the parents and the bike seems odd. I bought the phone and I am sure no one bought their parents. So the comparison looks awkward at best.

As for the notification centre, in another thread, we can see how devs are frustrated with MS implementation of how things run too.

Apps? Someone said a year is too long a time and people would have jumped ship by then. 3 months now, that is 25% of a year.

Users are frustrated. Devs are equally frustrated. Many here are complaining. But we can't all be trolls can we?

OK will explain the analogy seeing as a couple of people didnt get it.
Analogy was more about broken promises than about me buying my phone or as you put it buying parents? It wasn't even in the same paragraph as me talking about getting my phone for free, so cant really understand how people are getting confused here.
Promised bike > didnt get it > still love parents. Promised apps > havent got them > still like microsoft.
Are we all clear on that now?

Notification centre. I use the phone the way MS intended it to be used and for me it works. I know others wont like it or use the phone the same way. If youve come from Android, Apple or BB your going to miss something that youve got used to. Devs will undoubtedly be frustrated by alot of things MS does and the way they have locked parts of the OS down.

Same goes for the Apps. I understand why people are getting frustrated, why devs are getting frustrated, I read alot of the threads and editorials on here and other sites. Ive already stated in a previous post that if you want all those apps bottom line is you will probably have to jump from WP8. I get by with what I have. I use the tools Ive got. There are things that WP8 cant do the bug the crap out of me, but theres things about android and ios that bug the crap out of me too hence me staying with WP8.

And no we cant all be trolls, some of us whine like little girls about every little thing while others get on with what theyve got and offer alternative solutions to the problems put in front of them.

[x I'm tc]

Even their own apps aren't working well.

I think this is the major grievance. If you are using a WP, it is because you prefer the MS ecosystem to those of their competitors, for whatever reason. MS has a lot of clout, and the WinRT environment will go a long way toward making apps appear on WP8, because they will be written for W8. But first, W8 has to earn significant market-share (which it will because it is Windows). However, in the meantime, MS should make sure their own stuff is working well. (Some of) the things on W8 that are fully under MS's control but are horrifically lacking are:

• The email client is an unusable mess (can't edit contents of emails before forwarding or replying; can't attach anything other than items on the camera roll; can't send or forward from a different account than the one received in; can't do simple text-editing like bolding, lists, etc.).
• PDF reader is an absolute joke, even after today's update. Worse, they had a poor-but-passable one in WP7.
• Skype works better, by far, on iOS and Android than it does on WP.
• PhotoSynth is where, exactly?
• Office can't edit Office binary files, only the newer XML formats. Theoretically forgivable except that on WP7, it could, until they took that feature away. And unfortunately, in the real world, a pretty large majority of the Office documents I encounter are still of the old variety. And furthermore, any document with any kind of special formatting (especially imported images) doesn't display properly or at all on WP.
• Remember when we used to have a way to manage music on our phone from our PCs? Gone. Remember when I could scrub through music tracks? Oh wait, that was on WM.
• Xbox Video's "three screens" promise? Two thirds of the way there...and guess which screen isn't working.
• Xbox games. Nothing more need be said about the sorry state of this property on WP.
• IE10 Mobile fails to work on so many Web sights. Some of these problems could be fixed by letting a user simply spoof the user agent, which we can't. Although, many of these same Web sites worked great on WP7 (like the essential nextbus.com).
• WP8 is a crash-prone, unstable mess.

What is sad is that many of these things are areas where WP has actually been going backwards. Indeed, with the exception of background GPS and support for better hardware, I can't really think of anything WP8 does better than WP7, and there are a whole lot of things it does a lot worse.