Smaller tiles would be great! Unless there's some live info to display, the tile only needs to be big enough to show what app it's for.
I don't expect my opinion on this to be popular here, but to me the Modern UI as a whole wastes a lot of space. I first thought about it on WP. People complain about the "boring" rows of icons on iOS & Android, but they are a much better utilization of space, which is especially valuable on a +/- 4" screen. For example, when I go to the app drawer on my WP I can see about 8 apps without scrolling. On my Android I can see 25 apps.
spaulagain, I know you're a Windows fan all the way, but as a designer what's your honest opinion? What are the advantages to making everything bigger that outweigh the disadvantage of higher real estate use?
What many people think of as wasted space is actually very valuable. In design, white space is a very great tool to manage content and separate sections of it.
Also, there is an element of user interaction that is often ignored or overlooked, Decision/Choice Paralysis. People usually assume more choices are always better, when in fact too many choices may result in no action at all. Users become overwhelmed with the options in front of them and can't make a decision. So in many cases, less is more. By giving fewer options, you make the decision easier.
When you are on the go, the ability to glance and go is important. If you have 25 icons on a screen, that's a lot to sift through (visually) to find what you need. I've used a couple of my friends Android phones and can't stand it. Between their distracting backgrounds and a zillion app icons. Its difficult to find something.
I can understand how some people don't like the big text in the People hub, but think about how you interact. Would it really improve the experience if you have 3 more contacts on the main screen? most of the time you just search or use the letter jump link.