Disappointed with WP8.1

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prasath1234

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I updated my Lumia 820 with WP8.1. I also have a BlackBerry Z10 and can say (by comparing the two) that only the BB10 OS has real multitasking. WP, Android and iOS all have a simulated multitasking - it is not real multitasking. Apps stop getting CPU power when they go to background. This is different with BB10 OS where apps continue to get CPU power when in background.

I am disappointed with 8.1 - I thought they would add a lot of things to improve productivity. Compared to BB10 OS the WP8.1 OS looks like some toy OS. Maybe its what users want (e.g. iOS not not much better), but if you want to get things done it does not provide the greatest usability imho.

The new features added to WP8.1 just help MS play catchup with Android and iOS, but they do not get 8.1 above those. And definitely not above BB10 OS.

Just my 2cts comparing different OSes.

Inspite of great multitasking BB 10os has failed to reach consumers.these days everybody want toys not productive tools.that's why nobody cares for BB 10 os.hope some miracles happen nd BB 10 os gets into consumers hand.hmm miracles do happen sometimes.:thumbup::eek::p:D

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zsolo1111

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I Just tested the multitasking with viber, and it works really well. The app doesn't restart if you launch it again from the start screen. I guess it's up to developers...
 

MaXi32

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Hi Folks!
Installed WP 8.1 on my Lumia 925 and it's running like a charm :) Although there exist some minor grievances, i hope they will be addressed in the upcoming updates. One thing that troubles me still is the poor implementation of multitasking and Microsoft has done little to rectify it. I know,they have increased the memory limit for each app and they can't totally ditch this restriction as it would affect performance on low end hardware. But, my serious worries are:
1) Is WP so dumb that it can't know what apps are already running in background? Simply put, sometimes when I try to open an already running app from the App list or Start screen, instead of simply resuming the app, it reopens the app causing to lose all the previous data. This pisses me off much when i am navigating with Here Maps and simultaneously checking Train and Bus timings with another app.
2) How can one app have many pages in Multitasking menu? e.g. Settings
3) No more Background tasks under Settings!

After seeing the Multitasking capabilities of Android(Moto G) and iOS, i am kinda worried :unhappy:
What do you guys think about it?

1) If not mistaken Here Maps doesn't have the capability to run in the background. This problem is more specific to the app itself not the OS. If the app has a function to 'run in lock screen' or 'run in background', then it can resume faster without losing 'previous data' that you have mentioned. Try Here Drive+.

2) Why did you complain about this. This has advantage what we people in the 21st century call it as....... Multitasking..

3) It has moved to the Battery Saver app.
 

CageJ

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2) DOS era is forever gone... Man wake up, multitasking is here since Windows 2.0.. and real multicore multitasking since NT..
 

illidanx

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Hi Folks!
Installed WP 8.1 on my Lumia 925 and it's running like a charm :) Although there exist some minor grievances, i hope they will be addressed in the upcoming updates. One thing that troubles me still is the poor implementation of multitasking and Microsoft has done little to rectify it. I know,they have increased the memory limit for each app and they can't totally ditch this restriction as it would affect performance on low end hardware. But, my serious worries are:
1) Is WP so dumb that it can't know what apps are already running in background? Simply put, sometimes when I try to open an already running app from the App list or Start screen, instead of simply resuming the app, it reopens the app causing to lose all the previous data. This pisses me off much when i am navigating with Here Maps and simultaneously checking Train and Bus timings with another app.
2) How can one app have many pages in Multitasking menu? e.g. Settings
3) No more Background tasks under Settings!

After seeing the Multitasking capabilities of Android(Moto G) and iOS, i am kinda worried :unhappy:
What do you guys think about it?

Developer here so I will elaborate on point 1. MS is dumb so they set the default action when launching an app from the start screen to be restarting the app. Developers can change the behavior to make it behave like choosing the app from the multitask window but most of them don't bother or don't even know that they can.

Point 2 is totally dumb and there is no way to fix it since they are system apps.
 

SwimSwim

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I updated my Lumia 820 with WP8.1. I also have a BlackBerry Z10 and can say (by comparing the two) that only the BB10 OS has real multitasking. WP, Android and iOS all have a simulated multitasking - it is not real multitasking. Apps stop getting CPU power when they go to background. This is different with BB10 OS where apps continue to get CPU power when in background.

I am disappointed with 8.1 - I thought they would add a lot of things to improve productivity. Compared to BB10 OS the WP8.1 OS looks like some toy OS. Maybe its what users want (e.g. iOS not not much better), but if you want to get things done it does not provide the greatest usability imho.

The new features added to WP8.1 just help MS play catchup with Android and iOS, but they do not get 8.1 above those. And definitely not above BB10 OS.

Just my 2cts comparing different OSes.

I don't know what custom version of Android you're running, then, because Android is known for giving apps and such lots of freedom: including to continue running fully in the background.
 

ilektrolo

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For all saying to continue the app through multitasking... Lets say you play a game and want to have a quick break. You open I.e open some tabs and don't close them to read them more carefully later. So you press back button to enter in multitasking menu and voila! Your app has been vanished because all your tabs are now in multitasking menu! Plus when you reopen the tabs some of them will reload again!!!!
 

Ebuka Allison

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For all saying to continue the app through multitasking... Lets say you play a game and want to have a quick break. You open I.e open some tabs and don't close them to read them more carefully later. So you press back button to enter in multitasking menu and voila! Your app has been vanished because all your tabs are now in multitasking menu! Plus when you reopen the tabs some of them will reload again!!!!
Removing tab from the multitasking carousel doesn't remove it from ie
 

Promethius99

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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh, can someone please tell me how to delete contacts from my lumia 925, because the info on the net is incorrect, i want to delete several names from my contact list and it WILL NOT let me do it, I am going BARMY.
And What has happened to all my apps??? i have got to reinstall them or something,this is driving me nuts
 

Im_Q

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WP8.1 apps now default to resume on start tile tap. But this only applies to Silverlight 8.1 and new Xaml apps. I'm currently porting my Silverlight 8.0 app over to the new xaml framework and no matter where I start it from, it resumed from where I left off. Existing Silverlight 8.0 apps will behave like they do today unchanged. So most will restart and a few will resume if the devs have enabled. But going forward, all new 8.1 apps will resume by default. We have a developer preview. The optimized apps will not be there yet.

Sent from my Lumia 920 using Tapatalk
 

manicottiK

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Hi Folks!
2) How can one app have many pages in Multitasking menu? e.g. Settings
3) No more Background tasks under Settings!

After seeing the Multitasking capabilities of Android(Moto G) and iOS, i am kinda worried :unhappy:
What do you guys think about it?
Think of "Settings" like "Games." It is essentially a folder showing other apps. Each thing that you think of as a "page" in Settings is actually a separate app. [I don't know if it's coded like that, but it's a decent metaphor.]

Background task management is now in Battery Sense.

The multitasking behavior is not really very different than it's been since Mango and it closely mimics what iOS does (i.e., apps get attention while on-screen and freeze while off-screen, with a few exceptions for things like streaming media, GPS, voip, etc.). This isn't something that Microsoft is working to, it is what they wanted. They made the design choice to preserve battery live rather than computer-like multi-tasking.
 

trmnrs

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Is WP so dumb that it can't know what apps are already running in background? Simply put, sometimes when I try to open an already running app from the App list or Start screen, instead of simply resuming the app, it reopens the app causing to lose all the previous data. This pisses me off much when i am navigating with Here Maps and simultaneously checking Train and Bus timings with another app.

Fast app resume isn't handled by the OS, it's handled by the developer enabling the feature in the app. I personally think it's kind of stupid that Microsoft wouldn't make this mandatory, though.
 

PxuLL

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Hi Folks!
Installed WP 8.1 on my Lumia 925 and it's running like a charm :) Although there exist some minor grievances, i hope they will be addressed in the upcoming updates. One thing that troubles me still is the poor implementation of multitasking and Microsoft has done little to rectify it. I know,they have increased the memory limit for each app and they can't totally ditch this restriction as it would affect performance on low end hardware. But, my serious worries are:
1) Is WP so dumb that it can't know what apps are already running in background? Simply put, sometimes when I try to open an already running app from the App list or Start screen, instead of simply resuming the app, it reopens the app causing to lose all the previous data. This pisses me off much when i am navigating with Here Maps and simultaneously checking Train and Bus timings with another app.
2) How can one app have many pages in Multitasking menu? e.g. Settings
3) No more Background tasks under Settings!

After seeing the Multitasking capabilities of Android(Moto G) and iOS, i am kinda worried :unhappy:
What do you guys think about it?

I agree with you on the first point its ridiculous whats the need of opening a whole app again when it can quickly check its already open and resume it.
 

SwimSwim

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I agree with you on the first point its ridiculous whats the need of opening a whole app again when it can quickly check its already open and resume it.

Apparently it's up to the developers. They do have the option to make the app resume when launched from the apps list and/or live tile. The problem is, most don't do this or even realize it exists.

I feel Microsoft should flip the default behavior. Just like with fast app-resume. The majority of apps would benefit from fast app resume both from the multitasking pane and from apps list/live tile. The apps where it'd be preferred to always do a complete restart when relaunched (I.E: a private browsing app, or private photo viewing app), should then have the option to manually make that happen, just like how developers can opt to signal their apps as "protected content" and disable screenshots.
 

JPDVM2014

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I"m fine with the way multitasking works in WP. I had true multitasking with my Palm Pre+. I loved that phone, at least for the 5 hours a day that the battery lasted.
 

SwimSwim

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I"m fine with the way multitasking works in WP. I had true multitasking with my Palm Pre+. I loved that phone, at least for the 5 hours a day that the battery lasted.

Indeed. True multitasking in wonderful in the desktop environment, but it's a resource hog and unnecessary on mobile. The only functionality is really opens up is faster battery draining.
 

tk-093

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Different strokes I guess. I am not sure your calendar example is valid. Let's say I am in my calendar and I create an appointment 3 months from now (dentist or whatever). Now, 10 minutes later if I want to go back into my calendar to check on something, I sure as heck DON'T want it to resume to some date 3 months from now. So I contend it should always launch as a fresh start.

Now, if I want to resume back to that future date, I will just enter the multitasking window and open the calendar app that way. I think that is how MS intends that to work.

Blackberry, as one of your examples, does it terrible. If I drill down into one of my emails and lets say it has a picture attachment and I open it and then drop back to the home screen, the very next time I open my inbox, it takes me right back to that picture and I have to back out of everything to get to my inbox. Everytime I spend a few minutes with a BB Z10 I pull my hair out... which is a shame because I have awesome hair.

More developers should be using fast resume. Not sure it should be mandatory though. Some apps, like my calendar example, might not lend themselves to fast resume.

Hi! I am not talking about app resuming. Just try this basic task in your phone. Open Calendar app-->Slide right to next week(hoping it is in Week view mode)--> Press Start button--> Again open Calendar app from Start screen. Does the app open with next week's Calendar entries? If not first party apps, how can you expect third party developers would be encouraged to implement it.
 

SwimSwim

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Different strokes I guess. I am not sure your calendar example is valid. Let's say I am in my calendar and I create an appointment 3 months from now (dentist or whatever). Now, 10 minutes later if I want to go back into my calendar to check on something, I sure as heck DON'T want it to resume to some date 3 months from now. So I contend it should always launch as a fresh start.

Now, if I want to resume back to that future date, I will just enter the multitasking window and open the calendar app that way. I think that is how MS intends that to work.

This says it perfectly.
 

Rodrigo Mendes

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WP8.1 apps now default to resume on start tile tap. But this only applies to Silverlight 8.1 and new Xaml apps. I'm currently porting my Silverlight 8.0 app over to the new xaml framework and no matter where I start it from, it resumed from where I left off. Existing Silverlight 8.0 apps will behave like they do today unchanged. So most will restart and a few will resume if the devs have enabled. But going forward, all new 8.1 apps will resume by default. We have a developer preview. The optimized apps will not be there yet.

Sent from my Lumia 920 using Tapatalk

Thanks for explanation! Really good!

But actually I love the way system deal with this thing. Open a app it's the same that kill the app and open again. But if you want to resume, well, just hold de back button and voil?! The app is open in the last state.

How anything could be better than that??? Absolutely intuitive.

People are never happy!!! They're more and more lazy than never. Don't expect every system works like that would make only for you, the way you think it's perfect. Just stop to complaining and learn how the system works, get used to it!!! I don't think all things are perfect in Windows Phone. There are things I love, things I think could be different, but I accept the way systems works. And in this case there is no problem at all! Just a different implementation. More intuitive IMHO.
 

taymur

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Btw, I guess what you said is a little bit wrong. First there is no apps that run in the background per say, its just some small code of the app that does, which is responsible for the notifications.

All apps in the multitask windows are stopped and not closed, meaning going back to any of them should get you back exactly where you exactly left it.

I actually think the multitasking is good, what I don't like is the bad implementation of the back button, where each developer does what he wants with it, which makes the experience really weird. From app to app. Hope they fix that.

Last but not least, they should find a solution to the resuming/ loading thing. I don't early care if the app starts from the begging, at least let it load fast.
 
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