I've given 3 years to Windows Phone and here's my take

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Steven Garrigus

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I became a (fairly) early adopter of Windows phone way back when the HTC Surround was released on AT&T. My wife and I picked up a pair and loved the way the phone and operating system worked. Unfortunately, there was a complete lack of apps and once in a while when a developer threw up a proverbial bone such as Angry Birds-it failed to receive updates and generally cost three times as much as it's iOS and Droid counterparts.

I don't get into the "phone wars" nor do I support one operating system over another because it is the underdog, the industry leader, etc. I use what I enjoy and what works best for me. So When my contract was up at AT&T for upgrade purposes, I jumped on a shiny new Lumia 920 in Red. More apps, bigger screen, great camera...you get the idea. But this is where my troubles began. My phone would randomly drop signal and more often than not, I couldn't even receive 3G. Within two days, I took this phone back and exchanged it for another red Lumia 920. Though I had a steady signal now, I still had issues with it running slow on the network. Running Speed Test side-by-side with my wife's Galaxy SIII and my Lumia I was so proud of was averaging about half the speed as her crappy Android (I have a pretty strong dislike for Android if you can't tell).

I began an exhausting search online to find out how to get my phone to have a faster connection. It was how I found out about the test mode you dial ##3282. Where I live, 3G HSPA+ was (at that time earlier this year) the fastest connection. I had to travel to the St. Louis metro area to receive LTE. So I set my phone to use the 3G mode, thus preventing it from dropping into the slower-than-snot 2G and also to conserve battery life by preventing the phone from constantly trying to connect to a different speed/frequency. So far, so good right? Well, that was until Microsoft released the GDR1 update. With over 20 gigs of apps, files, music, videos, etc on my phone, the update went off without a hitch...except it disabled the ##3282 and locked my phone into the 3G HSPA+, no matter where I went and even when LTE was activated a few months later in my area.

It was this issue coupled with the following that has led me to leave the Windows Phone operating system for the first time in three years (though I still own my Lumia 920 and will continue to update it). My phone and apparently many other users suffer from these issues which Microsoft has failed to address as well as lacking in certain "no-duh" areas.

Randomly, my phone becomes hot and the battery drains. Full shut-downs sometimes fix this. But randomly even with all apps closed and running airplane mode while I'm in work, some days I may come out to 98% battery or 20% battery.

Apps are quite frequently sub-par versions of their iOS and Android counterparts. Framerate issues, lower resolution, lack of updates, etc.

No matter what I do, certain Live Tiles REFUSE to update. I've gone through every support page and forum I can find. Nothing more annoying than your weather, calendar, etc not updating on y'know-LIVE TILES.

No way to close apps except to either repeatedly click the back button or shut the phone down. GDR3 will add this option, but how long do we have to wait?

No way to make the signal and battery icons remain on the screen. It should be optional.

No independent volume adjustment. For me, a huge pain in the @SS when I have to turn the volume up and down in a game/app only to realize when I miss a call that my ringer was turned down.

Internet Explorer frequently has issues loading certain web pages, video playback errors (this file is not supported) after it has already been playing for several minutes and no forward button.

And my biggest beef, Other Storage. Four gigs of my 32, inaccessible for whatever reason. Four gigs isn't a drop in the hat that's 1/8th of my total storage!

I hope that in the future, Microsoft can iron these issues out and bring the operating system up to par with the competition. I know things take time, it took iOS and Android X-amount of time to have all these features, blah-blah-blah. But the fact is Microsoft is trying to compete in the Here & Now and their slow response to the competition isn't helping. People and would-be-customers aren't looking toward the future, they are looking at what is available today. And one of Lumia's best features-the wireless charging which to me is a strong selling point, seems to be less & less of a priority since all the phones (I believe) post-920 needs a shell for wireless charging. I just don't get it.
 

Mantraxalos

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A lot of this has been fixed with the GDR3 preview available today.

No way to close apps except to either repeatedly click the back button or shut the phone down. GDR3 will add this option, but how long do we have to wait?
Internet Explorer frequently has issues loading certain web pages, video playback errors (this file is not supported) after it has already been playing for several minutes and no forward button.
And my biggest beef, Other Storage. Four gigs of my 32, inaccessible for whatever reason.
 

luk3ja

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in GDR3 'other' is now gone! It now shows a proper breakdown of what is using up space and lets you delete temporary files. As for the 3G/LTE issue, that is due to you messing with settings you weren't supposed to but you can flash your phone using Nokias Retail Phone Updater which will rid of the changes you once made and put everything the way it should be :)
 

revfast

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Im in the same boat as you, but I was able to fix the annoying battery problems by running dev amber rom, now I'm running gdr3 hopefully it didn't screw anything up !! I was getting close to 17 hrs of use prior to gdr 3.
 

chezm

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I dont know, some of your issues sound network and band related more than OS. Dont get me wrong, I know my 920 acts up too...the more recently random battery draining after Amber is cumbersome and annoying. However, I can't chalk it all up to specifically being MS's direct and only at fault.. I'm sure Nokia has to take some of the blame as well.
 

Steven Garrigus

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As for the 3G/LTE issue, that is due to you messing with settings you weren't supposed to but you can flash your phone using Nokias Retail Phone Updater which will rid of the changes you once made and put everything the way it should be :)

It wasn't really settings that I shouldn't mess with. The options to select what network to connect to is pre-installed in the settings on every Lumia 920. AT&T deleted it. Basically as it stood, my shiny new LTE phone would connect on the Edge network (2G) unless I forced it through this setting to connect to 3G HSPA+.
 

Steven Garrigus

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I dont know, some of your issues sound network and band related more than OS. Dont get me wrong, I know my 920 acts up too...the more recently random battery draining after Amber is cumbersome and annoying. However, I can't chalk it all up to specifically being MS's direct and only at fault.. I'm sure Nokia has to take some of the blame as well.

It wasn't my intent to place blame on Microsoft, Nokia, etc. Just discussing some of the issues I have had with the "Windows Phone."

As for the different issues I have with the OS, they are things Microsoft could fix relatively quickly. Has MS not realized in 3 years that users want a way to close their apps running in the background?

To go a bit more in depth about my live tile issues, they just don't update right if at all. The stock OS apps update, but anything else? Forget it. My Facebook tile gets a little number in the top right corner to indicate that there is something new. It's no different than what iOS does by putting a little number on their app icons. If I wanted a number on the corner of my icon/tile, why bother with Windows Phone? I thought the purpose of the tiles was to update...live?
 

mase123987

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It wasn't my intent to place blame on Microsoft, Nokia, etc. Just discussing some of the issues I have had with the "Windows Phone."

As for the different issues I have with the OS, they are things Microsoft could fix relatively quickly. Has MS not realized in 3 years that users want a way to close their apps running in the background?

To go a bit more in depth about my live tile issues, they just don't update right if at all. The stock OS apps update, but anything else? Forget it. My Facebook tile gets a little number in the top right corner to indicate that there is something new. It's no different than what iOS does by putting a little number on their app icons. If I wanted a number on the corner of my icon/tile, why bother with Windows Phone? I thought the purpose of the tiles was to update...live?

You can close an app from the multitask screen now. Do live tiles always work perfectly? Nope. But they definitely work better than what you are making it out to be.
 

tgp

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Do live tiles always work perfectly? Nope. But they definitely work better than what you are making it out to be.

Since live tiles are WP's way of providing notification, they must work perfectly. They don't. They're basically icons that may or may not show updated information. That's why WP needs a real notification center.
 

mase123987

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Since live tiles are WP's way of providing notification, they must work perfectly. They don't. They're basically icons that may or may not show updated information. That's why WP needs a real notification center.

Notifications in Android and iOS don't always work perfectly so does that mean they need Live Tiles?

I have no problem with a notification center. But most of the issues I have had with Live Tiles could just be as easily attributed to the app itself. For instance, I have yet to have a weather Live Tile (WP) or Widget (Android) work perfectly.
 

brunoadduarte

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No way to close apps except to either repeatedly click the back button or shut the phone down. GDR3 will add this option, but how long do we have to wait?

Problem is you still have to close the app through repeatedly pressing the back button. Having to leave the app, going to the multitasking menu and then closing it, isn't a much better option. Granted, it's a bit more direct, but nothing would be more direct than closing it with a swipe down from the upper edge of the screen (N9/Win8 style).
 

mase123987

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Problem is you still have to close the app through repeatedly pressing the back button. Having to leave the app, going to the multitasking menu and then closing it, isn't a much better option. Granted, it's a bit more direct, but nothing would be more direct than closing it with a swipe down from the upper edge of the screen (N9/Win8 style).

With the size of a lot of phones, pulling down from the top could mean positioning your hand. This wouldn't be any faster in a lot of cases. Let's face it. not everyone is going to be happy with how it is done. I think adding the "x" is def. a good start though.
 

tgp

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Notifications in Android and iOS don't always work perfectly so does that mean they need Live Tiles?

They don't? In my experience with both they've worked 100% of the time. Read the forums. There are plenty of threads with live tile issues, but I bet you can't find one complaining about iOS or Android notifications not working.

I have no problem with a notification center. But most of the issues I have had with Live Tiles could just be as easily attributed to the app itself. For instance, I have yet to have a weather Live Tile (WP) or Widget (Android) work perfectly.

You are probably correct about widgets, although I've never had any issues with any. However, those do not replace the notification center nor are they intended to. Widgets are much more than live tiles. You can interact with a widget. You can scroll through your emails, photos, or Facebook posts directly in the widget without opening the app. A live tile is simply an icon with information. And, widgets at least have a much higher success rate than live tiles in my experience. I'm not saying that excuses widgets; they should work perfectly. I cannot rely on my live tiles. I have to manually open each app to check for updated information. And, way too often, there's something there without showing on the live tile.
 
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