Why Isn't Windows Phone Doing Better?

[buxz777]

I love my 1020 but I do get annoyed at the quality of the apps we are getting and its making me wander why , are Microsoft dev tools really that bad that whatsapp cant make a half decent app , that instragram has to miss out on so many features , that facebook is bare bones compared to others .....

I don't know at first it was like its a new o/s give it time , time has been ticking and apps are hitting the store but the quality of them , the slow updates to them , the missing features from them just aren't getting fixed

when you switch from another operating system you will notice these missing features etc lets not forget people may have already bought into an eco system via apps , games , movies and now they are thinking if changing to a new o/s but the apps they use and bought are missing features etc

what reason have people got to move if the apps they use aren't even of the same quality as the operating system they are leaving??

 

[tapehead]

A big problems it that Microsoft doesn't really listen to us and act strategically. Nokia was better at this.

They finally give us a notification center... four iterations later. Didn't happen in 7.5, 7.8, or 8. Now it happens? Why did it take that long?

Given how much Microsoft has been struggling in the light of Apple's major comeback ten years ago, it's amazing that they still think they know better than their user base.

 

[Karthik Naik]

Facebook is a multi-billion company. I don't think laziness is the right word. If they don't support Windows Phone it's a pure business decision.

its not a business decision, its the fact that newer messaging and social networking apps are better
FB and whatsapp are lame on every platform its not just windows phone

 

[Karthik Naik]

Let me rephrase this.

If they don't support Windows Phone in the same way as they do other platforms, providing a high quality Facebook app or an acceptable Whatsapp app (I don't have Facebook anymore, is the WP Facebook app still programmed by Microsoft or is Facebook doing it now?) then this is a pure business decision.

they give lame FB and whatsapp clients on every platform not just windows phone
atleast the FB app is more usable on wp than on other platforms
sorry for my harsh language but its pure laziness on their part

 

[Chregu]

they give lame FB and whatsapp clients on every platform not just windows phone
atleast the FB app is more usable on wp than on other platforms
sorry for my harsh language but its pure laziness on their part

I think your language isn't harsh

Facebook released an entire Android Smartphone ;-) And Facebook is still published by Microsoft on WP, not by Facebook, I checked.

Whatsapp has more features and is better on other platforms. I don't think we have to argue about that. If the quality still doesn't meet your standards, okay, then you can say they just don't care. It's still about money and not about laziness, no serious company will hire lazy programmers

 

[Maaz Mansori]

Because they are too expensive. The only phones that sell are the cheap models. The flagship phones need to be free under contract from day one or $200 max off contract to get people to buy them in significant numbers and that will never happen with greedy Microsoft, so here we sit.

Microsoft offers Windows Phone for free to OEMs so how is this greedy Microsoft? In the past the licensing fee was thought to be somewhere between $5 and $15 per handset. As for the hardware, Microsoft only recently bought Nokia's hardware from them. They haven't even produced a phone with their own resources yet. That said, Windows Phones are available at a variety of price points and the less expensive ones exceed the less expensive Android phones in terms of performance. Apple iPhones are priced high and always were, even the initial versions despite their limited capabilities.

 

[Maaz Mansori]

i think MS brand has something to do with it.

'Oh...nice but it's by Microsoft' or 'I bet it crashes a lot' or 'Does anyone uses it' >>> some of the genuine reactions from my friends/colleagues when i show my phone.

Also, I think in the US, owning an iPhone is a status symbol.

And honestly, with iPhone, Apple nailed it for non-tech folks...Like it or not, for an average Joe, an iPhone 'just works' and they are too 'scared' to try another platform.

Agree for the most part, but I know several people who have switched back and forth between iPhones and Androids. Most people switch to iPhone due to stability and of course the status symbol while most switch to Android because they want more flexibility and/or a lower price. Android is the one that crashes a lot, not Windows Phone. Microsoft is offering an OS with the stability of iPhone and the flexibility of Android (with some limitations for good reason). How do they get this message out there to try their platform?

 

[EC Translating Services]

My 2 cents (based on my experience and on that of some around me who took the plunge and went back on safer shores after very short time....days in some cases, reselling the devices)
- After 4 years the OS still lacks very basic functionalities, especially in some markets.
- Google competing apps are actually no competitors. Essentially there isn't one single MSFT that's on par with Google (I am not sure about Apple)
- Many advanced users spoiled by high end Android devices and using their phones for serious work find the OS limited and the Market a "chinese copy" of the original stuff. Everything is a copy of the good stuff and the few original apps (Office, Skype, Bing) are subpar compared to the rest. Nokia apps are a positive exception. However they can't be defined as rich in functionalities and good looking.
- The OS is basically in permanent beta. They sent 7 out as it was a beta. Soon after 7.8 came out and it was still a beta. Then 8 came out, i bought my phone with it and Black update and it was still a beta (i wonder how those who used 7 and 7.8 could have coped with all those shortcomings but it's not up to me judging their needs). Now 8.1 came in BetaBeta. Soon they will release the final (Beta as well but they won't say). The final most probably will still miss the basic things they haven't added in 4 years (some keyboard inputs, Office being able to open password protected files, a good encryption etc.). In 2015 we'll get WP 9. At that stage there are hopes that Microsoft may finally manage to come up with something able to compete with the others. If what they make is good and functional..people will buy it...if they fail again...then you'll just have a bunch of "low-end" users and the fanboys in eternal denial praising the system which will keep fading. Some users leaving may be biased. But some are adults who spent money for reasons to move from a platform to the other. They are not happy. They leave again. People like me don't care brands or OS'. They care how functional for their needs something is. WP looks gorgeous but lacks too much. You don't solve issues adding Cortana (And missing keyboard inputs) and a primitive notification centre. For now, i am on DP and i can accept all this. I see some improvements. But when the final version of 8.1 comes out (almost surely without the basic functions i need), i'll just put the device back in storage as it was before, when i had 8 on it. It was in its box without SIM.

 

[Karthik Naik]

I think your language isn't harsh

Facebook released an entire Android Smartphone ;-) And Facebook is still published by Microsoft on WP, not by Facebook, I checked.

Whatsapp has more features and is better on other platforms. I don't think we have to argue about that. If the quality still doesn't meet your standards, okay, then you can say they just don't care. It's still about money and not about laziness, no serious company will hire lazy programmers

makes sense but id expect whatsapp to atleast have a working app in atleast one platform instead of various bugs everywhere
wonder if bbm ever makes it though, that should shake them up a bit

 

[Karthik Naik]

Everyone keeps saying that they entered the smartphone market late...Actually, they re-entered it. HTC, Motorola, Samsung...Remember the Q, Blackjack and the Dash running Windows Mobile? Microsoft was there they had a fairly decent presence, but, they didn't react to the changing environment fast enough. Combine that with Marketing and the lack of push from reps in the stores and you find yourself in the current predicament.

windows phone 7, 8, 8.1 all have different kernels etc(8.1 has a modded 8 kernel or something) so its constant evolution and hence its late to the party technically

 

[radmanvr]

Everyone is heavily invested in their ecosystem to make the switch.

 

[tgp]

Everyone is heavily invested in their ecosystem to make the switch.

This is very true. And it actually works against Microsoft. They provide excellent services on the other platforms, in some cases even better than their own. But I imagine at least part of the reason that Microsoft's own services are in some cases better on the competing OS's is because of WP's restrictions. I'm not a developer, but I've read that some things are impossible to implement on WP, or at least impossible to make work properly. Maybe this is what Whatsapp is facing?

 

[bijak_riyandi]

Believe it or not, I know someone who got rid of their 1020 because they couldn't play candy crush...

this is by far the most stupidest reason to leave the Nokia Lumia Ten-effin'-Twenty I've ever heard

so several hours ago I was strolling around in an electronic shop here in Indonesia,
one of the store told me that they don't have 520 in their stock but they have plenty of Nokia X...
another store even told me that Nokia Lumia 720 is worse than Nokia X because it has no BBM...
seriously, what the hell?

Nokia should really advertise their Lumia lines aggressively
a lot of people here have this "Android is better because it's Android and the second best is BB" mindset and this isn't healthy!

on a side note, perhaps Nokia/MSFT should ship and/or release more Lumia here...
because from my observation only 620, 625, 925, 1320, and 1520 that's quite widely available in Indonesia
heck, even the 520 is out of stock!

 

[A895]

Microsoft offers Windows Phone for free to OEMs so how is this greedy Microsoft? In the past the licensing fee was thought to be somewhere between $5 and $15 per handset. As for the hardware, Microsoft only recently bought Nokia's hardware from them. They haven't even produced a phone with their own resources yet. That said, Windows Phones are available at a variety of price points and the less expensive ones exceed the less expensive Android phones in terms of performance. Apple iPhones are priced high and always were, even the initial versions despite their limited capabilities.

Moto G and E ring the bell? Windows Phone and Android are playing in the same price range and performance level now.

Sent from my XT907 using Mobile Nations mobile app

 

[bijak_riyandi]

Microsoft is offering an OS with the stability of iPhone and the flexibility of Android (with some limitations for good reason). How do they get this message out there to try their platform?

that's it, my friend...
that's the right question...

 

[EwingMCSE]

One word: Advertising

I'll add two words: Sales People

Go into any phone selling store in America and they will try to get you into the latest Samsung or iPhone without even mentioning Windows Phone. It's such a small percentage of the total phone market that most sales guys can't even do basic operations on a Windows Phone so they don't try to sell it.

My last phone upgrade went pretty well, but only because I steamrolled the sales guy. "I'm getting an Icon. Yes, I'm sure. No, I don't want a Samsung."

 

[iampwd]

For ppl around me it's the start screen. No one gets impressed by that. I show the camera and hardware of my Lumia 1520 and ppl like it, when I hit the Windows key ppl say meh(!) the moment they see the tiles, especially ppl using Windows 8. It's sad that it's so hard for ppl to get the new Windows...

 

[Maaz Mansori]

Moto G and E ring the bell? Windows Phone and Android are playing in the same price range and performance level now.

Sent from my XT907 using Mobile Nations mobile app

How many people do you know with a Moto G or E? Almost every Android user I know has a Samsung Galaxy of some sort.

 

[A895]

How many people do you know with a Moto G or E? Almost every Android user I know has a Samsung Galaxy of some sort.

You are moving goal posts. You were taking about performance and price, and I brought up a comparable Android handset, now you want to talk about awareness of said product.

Well I can be blunt and say who knows someone with a Lumia 521/520/525/630?

I saw maybe 2 people out of literally hundreds of iPhones (with some Samsung Galaxy devices) at my college with a Lumia 521. I have seen more Chromebooks at my college than people with a WP device. That's funny.

Sent from my XT907 using Mobile Nations mobile app

 

[Sanjay Chandra]

Even sales guys (who sell phones everyday) don't know properly how to operate WP

How can you expect average consumers to buy it ?


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