It is a start in the high-end device market but that's all. Andromeda does not appear aimed at either mainstream computing or mainstream telephony markets. It may open the way for a mainstream Windows phone down the line but I doubt Microsoft is headed that way.
Andromedia....is it enough?
- Thread starter Mark Kaplan
- Start date
So I'm a die hard windows mobile fan. I started with windows on phones circa 2003, and currently have a Lumia 950. But this week I finally ordered a Galaxy S9+. There are just so many apps I need these days for home automation or work or shopping or anything that are just not available on windows phone or now discontinued on windows phone.
So if Microsoft releases Andromeda, and it actually is a phone, but it runs Windows 10 or Windows "Core", it is still running windows. You cannot just install any old android or iOS app on it, and that is the BIGGEST problem for everyone.
Until devices like this get 25% market share, companies just won't build apps for them. And for the average person, they won't buy the device because you can't get the apps. This is a HORRIBLE catch 22 problem, and I blame the companies they build apps for it, not Microsoft. The attitude of "we won't build it until there is market share" is just wrong. Companies are supposed to create software so they CAN build market share. iOS and Android have gotten companies into a really BAD and lazy mindset. You build software so you can get customers, not because there are already customers.
So I like the idea of Andromeda, but until today's software companies come around to the way software companies were in the 80s and 90s, I'm forced to get an android phone - I just cant bring myself to buy an iOS device though.
So if Microsoft releases Andromeda, and it actually is a phone, but it runs Windows 10 or Windows "Core", it is still running windows. You cannot just install any old android or iOS app on it, and that is the BIGGEST problem for everyone.
Until devices like this get 25% market share, companies just won't build apps for them. And for the average person, they won't buy the device because you can't get the apps. This is a HORRIBLE catch 22 problem, and I blame the companies they build apps for it, not Microsoft. The attitude of "we won't build it until there is market share" is just wrong. Companies are supposed to create software so they CAN build market share. iOS and Android have gotten companies into a really BAD and lazy mindset. You build software so you can get customers, not because there are already customers.
So I like the idea of Andromeda, but until today's software companies come around to the way software companies were in the 80s and 90s, I'm forced to get an android phone - I just cant bring myself to buy an iOS device though.
I'm inclined to agree with you. I work as an IT professional. Were I to decide to start coding mobile apps, I would ask myself, "Do I want to create an app that likely has three or four dozen competitors already established, and mine will be lost in the crowd, or do I want to code apps for an underserved market, where mine will be one of the only choices to people in the ecosystem, at least for some time? Do I want to be a small fish in a big pond, or a small fish in a small pond with a chance to establish customer loyalty and grow to be a big fish?"
I would buy an Andromeda device. I will likely very soon have to go to Android, as my Lumia 950XL that I got the day it was released is starting to misbehave. I would, regretfully, have to carry an Android device for the apps (like banking and parking meters, for example), as well as the Andromeda device, until apps or PWAs become generally available for Andromeda. If Microsoft sticks with it, I'm confident it could eventually be the one device I would need to carry around, but it won't happen right away. Microsoft really needs to show they will stick with and support their products.
Oh but the third party alternatives are so much better! If only the masses knew this with regards to apps perhaps Mobile WM10 may not have died so rapidly..
GeorgeOnArm
New member
It's mind boggling that MS, in the midst of new 'Core' plans to cover all platforms would exclude mobile...Especially considering how fantastic WM10 is. Still using a beautiful Lumia 735. Also considering how many millions of people are sick to death of two choices that have become predictable and dull the time is right to keep pushing the mobile envelope. With the increase of hybrid apps, Xamarin etc there just has to be a pathway to success - as a WM10 user, I'm generally happy with the app store - it's the newer apps missing that's a pisser - case in point 'Venmo' - great app that I keep an iOS device to use on occasion. Some devs have managed to get play store on WM10 - it's not necessarily the app gap but more the fact that MS has no real significant social platform - ie the user's - something on Windows needs to tap that - ie connect your google and then perhaps emulate play apps. As for a new form factor - that would be incredible !
Shane Usher
New member
Too little, too late.
The folding screen will not be unique for long.
Microsoft have blown any trust in a communications OS. They know it. Hence their development for Android and iOS.
The folding screen will not be unique for long.
Microsoft have blown any trust in a communications OS. They know it. Hence their development for Android and iOS.
Smartphones are dead. Bring on the Foldables Era
Folding is an inevitable and logical solution to one of the few last remaining problems that smartphones currently have as a high usage personal daily computing platform ie the impracticality of their incredibly small (< 6") screen size.
There has been very little meaningful innovation in iPhone and Galaxy for many years. Spec and design refinements are fine but it is not innovation. Therefore IMO the "smartphone category" as we know it is almost certainly a walking dead category from here onwards...
We all need the next mobile innovation that will replace the decade old smartphone category and foldable pocketable computing (with telephony) shows great potential as the 'next big thing'.
The smartphone era has already ended. Bring on the pocketable computer era with all brands, designs and all OSes!
Folding is an inevitable and logical solution to one of the few last remaining problems that smartphones currently have as a high usage personal daily computing platform ie the impracticality of their incredibly small (< 6") screen size.
There has been very little meaningful innovation in iPhone and Galaxy for many years. Spec and design refinements are fine but it is not innovation. Therefore IMO the "smartphone category" as we know it is almost certainly a walking dead category from here onwards...
We all need the next mobile innovation that will replace the decade old smartphone category and foldable pocketable computing (with telephony) shows great potential as the 'next big thing'.
The smartphone era has already ended. Bring on the pocketable computer era with all brands, designs and all OSes!
Define "getting back". In lemans terms, yes, it would obviously be enough. To win it, it would only be the first step. But it's still a must have for Microsoft. The real level here is not getting back, but keeping pace. Microsoft had been a clumsy, slow, lost giant in the market, and that is less than satisfactory.
Ryujingt3
New member
I echo a lot of the same thoughts as you here. I am now on Android, but only because MS ditched their own apps on Windows Phone. Everything I also have is MS based too. Andromeda sounds good, but for me, I don't think MS will be ever able to escape the spectre of Windows Phone, no matter how hard they try, and that will be the downfall of whatever mobile hardware they launch, if any.
For me, Android isn't that bad, compared to when I last used it on a Note 4. I can get the same MS apps on my Android device, and they get regular updates too. But I do miss the live tiles and whole PC integration that you don't really get on Android. The only thing that will let MS down with this is the same as with Windows Phone, no apps (that people want to use), no real marketing, and no global release for all models and MS services. MS needs to make sure all three of these points are solved before releasing any new hardware. Otherwise I am afraid it will just be another failure.
jeffmparker
New member
This is potentially a really interesting and exciting development. But what about the app gap? Would an Android emulator for Windows be developed to address this?
a5cent
New member
No.
MS has stated many times that this will NOT be a smartphone, but a PC with phone capabilities. The difference is in the app ecosystem.
Do you think your PC has an app gap? I suspect not. Same thing applies here.
If you're NOT looking for a very portable touch enabled PC, but rather for a smartphone that runs apps, then iOS and/or Android has you covered.
Dusteater
Member
I stopped using a PC because of the app gap. I just have no use for one anymore. All I have now is an iPhone and an Xbox One S. Microsoft has to address the app gap of they want anything to succeed in the future.
a5cent
New member
Nope.
At the moment MS has a grand total of zero mobile OSes and zero mobile device sales, yet they've never been more profitable. The areas where MS does well are expected to grow even faster going forward. It's obvious that MS can be plenty successful without addressing the app gap.
Maybe MS can't be successful with YOU, but that is a different statement entirely.
Short term, MS does still hope that you'll at least use their apps which they released into the iOS and Android ecosystems. For now that's all we'll get in regard to mobile apps.
Long term, MS can possibly participate in a PWA based mobile app ecosystem that is shared between Windows, iOS and Android.
Mid term, assuming Andromeda is launched, we'll have mobile devices which, when unfolded, provide a (hopefully) decent PC-like experience. When folded we'll largely be limited to the few continuum enabled apps MS ships with the device, as those apps will belong to the rare few whose UI's can adapt to smaller screens.
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nate0
New member
Andromedia makes it sound like this is Android related...
Am wondering how compact they are designing this thing to be. Slab devices now unless you get one of the few sub 5 or 5 in screen ones barely fit in your hand let alone your Pocket...
Am wondering how compact they are designing this thing to be. Slab devices now unless you get one of the few sub 5 or 5 in screen ones barely fit in your hand let alone your Pocket...
fatclue_98
Retired Moderator
You're wasting your time. People are so hellbent on Microsoft having a smartphone that they can't see the trees for the forest.
NickChief
New member
From Pocket PC, to Zune, to Phone, to Andromeda, and where are all these now? The question is, who's going to walk around with both a phone and a pocket pc, nada. The question is, what is andromeda going to need, that others cant and or dont? And how small can these things really be? I think a strong AR/VR/MR integration would be a good step. Honestly though that foldable concept dosnt really apeal to me, maybe more so in person but not so in pictures. And that mouse pad slap concept would be coo coo, i like the idea of a button less tablet style, no sensors other than wifi/bt and maybe gps, wireless charging, etc, should ms ditch andromeda, absolutely not, come on ms get ur fn head out of the fn box nd give me something new!!!
a5cent
New member
Maybe. I figure not many follow this stuff as closely as we do, and even here many initially had trouble understanding what MS is doing.
I keep correcting this sort of thing because if someone doesn't understand it then nothing MS does appears to make sense and discussions here become impossible because people have completely different perceptions of reality.
You may be right that the horse is dead, but I'm going to flog it a few more times just in case
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