App gap? ... What app gap?

[streifenleopard]

What are all the apps you need / wish to see in WP? Let us just check how wide 'your' app gap is..

- Decent Podcat App similar to BeyondPod on Android.
- Music Player with Last.fm support, capable of recognising playlists, reading replay gain tags, reading lyrics tags, syncing with NAS,
- Automatic Photo upload over WiFi to my NAS with DS Photo Station.
- Easily upload and download files in WiFi networks.
- DS Cloud Sation support.
- A newsreader that supports InoReader.

...for a start.

 

[Maaz Mansori]

So, I know I already responded to this but after reading some more responses, I wanted to comment further. The number of apps is not relevant. You might have 20 alarm clock apps on WP and 100 on iOS. There is a lot of redundancy of apps that offer the same features. What matters is the apps that are important to people. Some security systems support WP, others don't. Some banks have a WP app, many don't. Same with retail stores, rewards type apps, airlines, apps that integrate with hardware over Bluetooth, point of sale apps, and whatever else. Then of course there are the latest games and the Google apps. It's difficult to get people to switch without an incentive. People might switch from Android to iOS because they want a more stable OS but they know that all of their apps are going to be there including Google apps.
The fact is that the app situation on WP has improved significantly over the past couple of years but in order for it to be no longer relavent, it needs to be close to where iOS and Android are. Each OS is always going to have smaller apps that no one cares about and the more users an OS has, the more of these smaller apps there are going to be, but until every airline, major retail store, bank, hardware that only works with iOS and Android, and of course Google support WP, there is always going to be a gap and it makes it much more difficult for WP to go mainstream. WP has been more successful in countries outside the US because many of these apps are not relevant in those countries, also iPhones are not successfully marketed in those countries and aren't as affordable outside the US, and people who use Android phones don't necessarily rely on Google services as much as people in the US; in fact many of those phones don't even have access to Google Play and without Google Play on an Android phone, the app situation suddenly becomes much better for WP.

 

[CrossIsHere]

What are all the apps you need / wish to see in WP? Let us just check how wide 'your' app gap is..

I can't make a full list because it'll take much time.
I'll give you a few examples.
? I live in Pakistan and there are almost 'no local apps'.
? There isn't a single VPN app and when you search Google play or IOS,you'll find a lot of VPN apps.
? Steam
? FIFA apps
? Real Madrid Apps
? And many more Football/Soccer apps
And whenever I say App Gap. I also include games.And you know there're countless games that aren't available at WP.
Whenever an app is released. It says available on [Google Play] [App Store]. And we WP users have to wait and wait
I always meet these two banners

 

[rdubmu]

What are all the apps you need / wish to see in WP? Let us just check how wide 'your' app gap is..

I hate this argument, if you read any of the post above, the app gap even if it is one app, is an app gap. This will keep people from buying windows phone. This is a major issue.

I have already stated how big it is for me. It isn't about how many apps, there are a lot of apps available on Windows Phone but rather specific apps. I was with Windows PHone when there was only 1k available at launch for Windows Phone 7. The app gap now is more major as I do a lot of my business via my phone. Back when Windows Phone 7 first game out, everything was still done by a computer. I can still do most things from a computer minus a few things that are now APP only for work. It is nice to have the convenience to do things from my phone now. I have also completely stopped using a paper planner, my to do list is now 100% completely on my phone. There are many apps on Windows phone to cover all those, but many of them lack features, are not up to the standard that iOS developers have. Many of the apps that are available are lacking features, most of them minor features.

Facebook App: it is surely lacking, touch.Facebook.com is better than the actual app. The Windows 8.1 Fb APP is lacking as well.
MyFitnessPal: on both platforms, the Windows PHone version lacks the ability to change the graphs and some other features.

Wells Fargo: it is an HTML5 site disguised as an App, on IOS it is actually an app. Also on iOS it remembers your username.

I am also missing apps from Banner Bank, Citibank, USBANK, an app from SMG, and IP Cam Viewer, none of the ones in the Windows PHone store are compatible with the security systems at work. That sucks.

There are also many games not available but with games I can find something worth while on Windows Phone, lastly the overall quality of IOS Apps are much superior to windows phone and Android, but at least android doesn't have the app gap. All the apps I need to use are on both IOS and Android.

Yes, I have asked the developers to make Windows Phone version of their apps but most of them say they don't want to put an effort into something they think will not sell. That is the honest truth.



Sent from my Surface Pro 3 using Tapatalk

 

[Maaz Mansori]

Yes, I have asked the developers to make Windows Phone version of their apps but most of them say they don't want to put an effort into something they think will not sell. That is the honest truth.

I agree with everything you said except the last paragraph (quoted above).
Windows Phone Store revenue said to rival that of the the Google Play store | WMPoweruser

 

[evilrob]

I agree with everything you said except the last paragraph (quoted above).
Windows Phone Store revenue said to rival that of the the Google Play store | WMPoweruser

To save people clicking through:

According to StatisticBrain data as of July 2014, Android is the clear leader in terms of downloads as you might expect, but while Android generated $1.2 billion from its 29 billion downloads, Windows Phone was able to rake in $0.95 billion in revenue from its relatively meagre 4.1 billion downloads.

Although I realise iOS is where the big bucks are, higher stakes means a higher cost of entry; I don't think it's really a place for indie developers to get noticed unless you're incredibly lucky these days. At least on Windows Phone, while you might have a smaller potential audience, it would seem that audience is actually paying for apps and you also have less competition.

Think it might be time to start developing Windows Phone apps, fill some of these gaps everyone keeps moaning about... hmm...

Although, according to AppBrain there are 220,000 apps in the Windows Phone app store, but Microsoft just updated their 'by the numbers' page where they reckon it's 300,000:

 

[trivor]

So, I know I already responded to this but after reading some more responses, I wanted to comment further. The number of apps is not relevant. You might have 20 alarm clock apps on WP and 100 on iOS. There is a lot of redundancy of apps that offer the same features. What matters is the apps that are important to people. Some security systems support WP, others don't. Some banks have a WP app, many don't. Same with retail stores, rewards type apps, airlines, apps that integrate with hardware over Bluetooth, point of sale apps, and whatever else. Then of course there are the latest games and the Google apps. It's difficult to get people to switch without an incentive. People might switch from Android to iOS because they want a more stable OS but they know that all of their apps are going to be there including Google apps.
The fact is that the app situation on WP has improved significantly over the past couple of years but in order for it to be no longer relavent, it needs to be close to where iOS and Android are. Each OS is always going to have smaller apps that no one cares about and the more users an OS has, the more of these smaller apps there are going to be, but until every airline, major retail store, bank, hardware that only works with iOS and Android, and of course Google support WP, there is always going to be a gap and it makes it much more difficult for WP to go mainstream. WP has been more successful in countries outside the US because many of these apps are not relevant in those countries, also iPhones are not successfully marketed in those countries and aren't as affordable outside the US, and people who use Android phones don't necessarily rely on Google services as much as people in the US; in fact many of those phones don't even have access to Google Play and without Google Play on an Android phone, the app situation suddenly becomes much better for WP.

This is an excellent post. The reality is as long as Windows Phone (couldn't care how popular it is overseas because this relates to US support) languishes in the 3-4 % market share range there will continue to be a significant (for most people) gap in one or more important apps missing from
Windows Phone that will cause a large majority of people to cross Windows Phone off their list as competitor for their next phone purchase. Even though Android has it over iOS in the number of users it still doesn't always get apps until after the iOS version is released because iOS has a better ROI on their apps than Android.

 

[trivor]

To save people clicking through:

http://f.cl.ly/items/1B1s0x0a011Y1j391c2J/Screen Shot 2014-08-07 at 23.37.22.png

According to StatisticBrain data as of July 2014, Android is the clear leader in terms of downloads as you might expect, but while Android generated $1.2 billion from its 29 billion downloads, Windows Phone was able to rake in $0.95 billion in revenue from its relatively meagre 4.1 billion downloads.

Although I realise iOS is where the big bucks are, higher stakes means a higher cost of entry; I don't think it's really a place for indie developers to get noticed unless you're incredibly lucky these days. At least on Windows Phone, while you might have a smaller potential audience, it would seem that audience is actually paying for apps and you also have less competition.



Think it might be time to start developing Windows Phone apps, fill some of these gaps everyone keeps moaning about... hmm...

Although, according to AppBrain there are 220,000 apps in the Windows Phone app store, but Microsoft just updated their 'by the numbers' page where they reckon it's 300,000:

http://cl.ly/image/1j0M0C1g0B0c/Screen Shot 2014-08-07 at 23.43.42.png

For the most part, it isn't the paid apps that most people are worried about - it is their local credit union, bank, Broker, grocery store, hotel chain, airline, etc. that won't support Windows Phone because the 3-4% market share doesn't warrant a full time IT person to support it. We can argue until the cows come home about this but it won't change until Windows Phone gets a larger Market share in the US.

 

[Zachary Boddy]

Microsoft is far from a mature OS, and I can't really see anyone arguing that. They've caught up massively since their debut years ago, but there are threads after threads on this forum about the shortcomings of Windows Phones. We can argue about this all night, but there's no denying that there is an abundance of non-existent apps. Especially at the local level, which is becoming more important to users every day.
Microsoft has a long road ahead of them if they want to catch up with the big players, that much is obvious. There's a chance that somewhere along this road Windows Phones fail, which is a deeply saddening thought but true nevertheless. The app gap can't be Microsoft's first priority, honestly, because you have to have the support of app developers. And where does that support come from? Sales. You sell the phones and you get the support of OEM's and app developers and local business alike. Microsoft is currently doing decent at marketing and developing an abundance of low-end to mid-range phones, but many buyers are looking for major top notch phones to compete directly with the best of Android and Apple. Not only will this impress people looking for first class phones but it will gain the support of OEM's such as HTC or even Samsung when a Microsoft phone capable of going head to head with the best emerges.
A defined selection of low-end, mid-range, and high-end phones, market the phones, make people aware of the newest from Microsoft. Tell people the features of Microsoft that set it apart. Tell them about the specs of your newest high-end phone, how it compares to iPhones and Android phones. Seek the support of normally Android producers, have them develop their own phones to attract the attention of fans of that particular company.
Of course apps will roll in during all of this, but once Microsoft has a strong foundation and design, local business and companies, and also major app developers, will see the intelligence in developing Windows optimized apps.
This is just my opinion of course. If you think I'm wrong about any of this, please inform me I'm interested to hear your feedback.

 

[Maaz Mansori]

For the most part, it isn't the paid apps that most people are worried about - it is their local credit union, bank, Broker, grocery store, hotel chain, airline, etc. that won't support Windows Phone because the 3-4% market share doesn't warrant a full time IT person to support it. We can argue until the cows come home about this but it won't change until Windows Phone gets a larger Market share in the US.

This is true, and we have discussed this many times, but my post was in response to one specific point in where someone said that developing for WP is not worth the effort because it will not sell well. This statement can be proven false by taking things in a different perspective. Furthermore, for example, many games are paid apps and people on iOS and Windows Phone are more likely to pay for them than people on Android.
I think most of us are in agreement about the missing banking, airline, retail store, etc. apps is hindering the adoption rate of WP. As a strong supporter of WP and Microsoft in general, I am able to overlook the fact that an app might not available for my phone that I may have otherwise wanted to try out. The OS and UI are more important to me than those apps and the vast majority of the apps that are most important to me are available for WP so it is adequate to be the daily driver for my own purposes. However, most people, especially in the US do not think that way. They are not familiar enough with technology and with what third party or alternate apps might work for them in order to be able to make a fair decision. They know everyone supports iOS and the vast majority also supports Android, but Windows Phone support is more limited. They also want the phone their friend or family member recommended and want to be able to play the same games or use FaceTime or Google Hangouts with the same people who recommended the phone. They also want the phone that allows them to do online banking with their bank or to be able to collect rewards from their local coffee shop. Until this happens, WP will only see modest growth at best.

 

[0vZ]

As for me, I want just a good youtube client. All those youtube clients in Marketplace are [censored bad word here].
They have lot's of limitations and bugs.
1) there is a limit of videos in subscriptions
2) mostly all of them don't remember playback position if I get out of the app and return back

 

[itzkavin]

I can't make a full list because it'll take much time.

Well, this is exactly what I was looking for. Let me tell you why I don't feel the app gap. (though after seeing all these I have to accept there is an app gap).

SNS:
Facebook: I use the Facebook Beta. For features that it miss, like adding feelings or photo commenting, i use the mobile website. Since I don't do those that often, the app seems to be more than enough.
Twitter: Official app. I manage the account of a brand and the app is fine. During peak hours I switch to Tweetdeck on lappy since I had to manage a lot of feeds at the same time.
Instagram: 6tag is my choice. I don't use Insta much.

Messaging:
Whatsapp: No real limitations.
Messenger: Calling. But again, this has very limited use in India. And for my friends abroad, i prefer Viber.
Hike: No limitations.

Cricket:
This is one app that i definitely want. And cricbuzz and espncricinfo do really fine job. And there is CricHQ. No complaints in this part either.

Banking:
I use HDFC and they are having a full featured app since a long time. And recently i switched to Kotak and brought them to WP along with me. :evil:

Navigation:
Here Drive (not plus yet) works like a charm.

Music:
MixRadio hands down. There is one problem with MixRadio though. It don't differentiate between languages. In a country with 20 major languages this is a must. But over the course due to my listening pattern (or that is what i guess), now it shows only songs from my language.

Games:
Okay. I'm not a big gamer. For casual gaming, I have Jetpack Joyride, 2048, Piano Tiles, Hypernaut, Poko.
And two big titles (> 50MB) Guardians of the skies and OverVolt.

News:
There is a lot here for me. NDTV, IBNLive (they haven't updated the app in a while, but still that's fine), TOI, and a couple of local language apps.

Browser:
IE is awesome. But as backup I use UC.

That covers the entire thing. Photos is one area I'm not fond of but I still have Fotor.

 

[Arka1412]

Well, this is exactly what I was looking for. Let me tell you why I don't feel the app gap. (though after seeing all these I have to accept there is an app gap).

SNS:
Facebook: I use the Facebook Beta. For features that it miss, like adding feelings or photo commenting, i use the mobile website. Since I don't do those that often, the app seems to be more than enough.
Twitter: Official app. I manage the account of a brand and the app is fine. During peak hours I switch to Tweetdeck on lappy since I had to manage a lot of feeds at the same time.
Instagram: 6tag is my choice. I don't use Insta much.

Messaging:
Whatsapp: No real limitations.
Messenger: Calling. But again, this has very limited use in India. And for my friends abroad, i prefer Viber.
Hike: No limitations.

I have to disagree to a large extent
Facebook- Suppose you are reading a status from the app and there are full of photo comments so you will open the browser every time to see the photo comment?
Moreover there are no tag review, no option to directly set a Profile or cover picture..When we have an app why should we use a browser?
Why cant we have all-round Fb experience under one place?
Messenger- Features are ok but they should give us an option to use chat heads as it can be turned on or off..Though I don't have problem with this but the messenger takes so long to load up whereas the android version is so smooth and fast..
Hike- On android u can send pdf and other files but not in WP..They have also introduced hidden chats(u can give password to any personal chat) which is again not available on WP

 

[itzkavin]

I have to disagree to a large extent
Facebook- Suppose you are reading a status from the app and there are full of photo comments so you will open the browser every time to see the photo comment?
Moreover there are no tag review, no option to directly set a Profile or cover picture..When we have an app why should we use a browser?
Why cant we have all-round Fb experience under one place?
Messenger- Features are ok but they should give us an option to use chat heads as it can be turned on or off..Though I don't have problem with this but the messenger takes so long to load up whereas the android version is so smooth and fast..
Hike- On android u can send pdf and other files but not in WP..They have also introduced hidden chats(u can give password to any personal chat) which is again not available on WP

Agreed to most on Facebook! But they haven't mattered to me (atleast not yet)

Regarding messenger, I guess it is a limitation within the OS itself. You cannot take over the OS to display something.

Same goes to Hike again. It is a security limitation in WP. And hidden chat, as far as I have learnt, it is coming to WP soon.. Hike is one app that treats WP in par with other platforms.

 

[CrossIsHere]

Cricket:
This is one app that i definitely want. And cricbuzz and espncricinfo do really fine job. And there is CricHQ. No complaints in this part either.

Cricket? You call it a part? lol no offense but I heard the word 'cricket' after a long time.

 

[itzkavin]

Cricket? You call it a part? lol no offense but I heard the word 'cricket' after a long time.

It is.. At least here in India.. Hope the same across the border too

 

[CrossIsHere]

It is.. At least here in India.. Hope the same across the border too

Yep, same here. Actually, most of my friends are cricket fans but they don't say a word about cricket while talking to me because they know I'm footballer

 

[CrossIsHere]

@itzkavin I feel sorry for cricket fans because there isn't a good cricket game at WP store.

 

[itzkavin]

@itzkavin I feel sorry for cricket fans because there isn't a good cricket game at WP store.

I play 'Battle of Chepauk'.. OOther than that i don't like cricket games on mobile

 

[itzkavin]

As for me, I want just a good youtube client. All those youtube clients in Marketplace are [censored bad word here].
They have lot's of limitations and bugs.
1) there is a limit of videos in subscriptions
2) mostly all of them don't remember playback position if I get out of the app and return back

This has more to blame with YouTube and eventually, Google itself..

https://twitter.com/RykenApps/status/497839621414612992