Apps ? Why does it have to be this way?

[GPendolino]

Pretty sure there are many threads with this same theme. Maybe if we have thousands of threads like this Microsoft will somehow change things.

I've had my Lumia 1020 now for about a year. I left Apple and have no plans on going back.

Recently my job gave me a little present in the form of an LG V400 so now I have some exposure to Android.

I'm not going to pretend that this tablet is a flawless device with a perfect OS, but it has opened my eyes a bit with regards to apps.

Keep in mind, when I went to my 1020 from an iPhone 4s in February 2014, I knew I was going to be missing out on some apps because I turned to the Windows Central community to educate me. I was well informed.

I guess over the last 12 months I just got used to it and accepted it.

Now that I have my LG, I'm just really trying to understand WHY it's this way.

Not just the lack of apps, but the versions.

I'll give three examples but there are plenty more:

Jetpack Joyride ? No ?jetski?, no ?tardis (well they call it the Barry Box), no S.A.M. Most of those have been available on that game for over a year. It's not like it's a third-party ripoff of the game.

Words With Friends ? First off, this game wouldn't even function on my 1020 until we had the 8.1 update. By then I had already been a few months without it so maybe I just didn't notice how watered down it was. Now that I'm playing it on my LG, I'm floored by all the options and features it has.

The Bible (Youversion app) ? I have the app read to me because I'm just that lazy. On a typical day there might be four versus. The first three out of one book of the bible and the last one from another. On the Windows 8.1 platform, it will ready the first three from the first book and then move on to the next one in that book. On the Android version, it reads exactly what the assigned readings are for the day and actually ?checks off? each of them (unlike the Windows version where you have to go in and click the little check boxes manually).

So it's not just the amount of apps that are entirely unavailable on Windows, it's also how rudimentary the apps we do have are in comparison to how those same apps by the same developers are on other iOS and Android.

I can honestly say after experiencing these three operating systems on smart devices that Windows is the best. Apple and Android aren't even close. But when it's time to get a new phone I see myself going to Android.

Why is it this way? Microsoft has more money to throw at app developers than Google or Apple!

Ok that's my rant.....

 

[jsooney]

Have you tried praying for more apps?

 

[GPendolino]

Yes and it worked. My company gave me an Android tablet so now I have more app.s

 

[jsooney]

Cool, problem solved

 

[GPendolino]

Yes! (and by yes I mean no)

Reread the post.

 

[anon(5969054)]

I don't think MS has more money than Apple.

 

[GPendolino]

Ok I'll admit I didn't exactly research before making that statement. Fact is that Apple, Google, Microsoft... all of them are titans. Microsoft isn't some startup company out of nowhere. Obviously they didn't jump into the smartphone market early enough or whatever but for the life of me I can't figure out why the "app ecosystem" for Microsoft is so woefully inept when compared to Apple and Android.

 

[Dexter505]

This video sums up the reason. You need users to gain app support and you need apps to gain market share. Apple and android entered the market when apps were not important.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/htc-one-with-windows-phone-another-great-phone-you-wont-buy-1408459355

 

[tgp]

I can't figure out why the "app ecosystem" for Microsoft is so woefully inept when compared to Apple and Android.

It's a combination of factors:

1. Competition with the incumbents. Microsoft started over completely with its mobile OS with WP7 in 2010. Although it had a head start on Apple & Google, it pretty much scratched it in 2010, and had to rebuild from the ground up. By that time the iPhone and Android were popular, and were well on the way to maturity as OSs, along with their ecosystems.
2. OS restrictions. In WP7 and WP8 there are limitations in the OS that prevented developers from getting access to certain parts of the OS for good app functionality. This is still evident in something like the WiFi toggle in Quick Settings (and this isn't even an app; it's built in). Tapping WiFi will turn it on if it's off, but if it's on, tapping it will open the WiFi in Settings, where you can then turn it off like normal. This is changing, however, with WP8.1 and W10M, but a lot of WPs are still running WP8.
3. Low market share. Developing for iOS & Android gives a developer >95% of the market. There's not as much incentive to create another app for another 3%.
4. Most WPs in use, probably 75% or more, are low end. Their users are not as likely to spend money on apps, or to use them as much. They're probably not as affluent. This also explains why iPhone users spend more overall on apps than Android users, in spite of Android having several times the user base.

This list is not exhaustive, and it's also a combination of these factors. Some may have been more valid in the past than they are now, but it does show a bit of what Microsoft is up against.

 

[GPendolino]

Thanks for the link.

I guess she hit it on the head when she said, "So why don't more people have Windows Phones? Because more people don't have Windows Phones."

What a shame too. It is such a great GUI and easy to use all around. Truly a superior platform.

 

[matt john2]

.
What a shame too. It is such a great GUI and easy to use all around. Truly a superior platform.

MS haven't ticked the boxes on overall performance of the WP OS and the hardware(Lumia phones), that's why people see WP as "meh just another copycat nothing special so why bother?" I use 3 mobile OS I can say that WP/W10 is quite in the middle but it isn't mature enough yet to say its in the middle.

 

[the whole taco]

good comments
but I can't get my head around why MS own apps are so deficient.
take Calendar as an example.
they should have a flagship apps narrative

 

[Dexter505]

Pretty much all the apps are made for Android and IOS. I was listening to the news this morning and they announced new apps for the 2 platforms. It is like Windows doesn't even exist.

 

[Noahma]

Pretty much all the apps are made for Android and IOS. I was listening to the news this morning and they announced new apps for the 2 platforms. It is like Windows doesn't even exist.

Why should Microsoft spend man hours and time developing the apps when Windows 10 for phones is only months away? Most of the apps Microsoft is "releasing" are companies that already had a presence on IOS and Android already, Microsoft bought them, now the apps are being "re-released" with Microsoft's name. We saw a peek at the new mail app, we saw a peak at the new calendar app, and they look great.

As to the OP, its a simple as we are the 3rd ecosystem. At this time we hold a low percentage of the market place, so some developers do not see it as worth their time to produce an app, and some developers give us apps that are just enough to have a presence , but not a full on main development path. We need to grow market share a bit more before more developers start to take note that there ARE more users they can capture. I figure we will get some of the developers that produced an app for both IOS and Android but have been unable to gain traction due to a crowded market. Hopefully with Windows 10 for phones we can see more incentive for developers to produce apps using the universal model so they can be on every windows machine (that upgrade, which should be a crap ton since windows 7 and 8 users get the upgrade for free)

 

[Dexter505]

Not really sure what you are talking about or maybe you quoted the wrong person. What MS apps are you talking about?

 

[Noahma]

Not really sure what you are talking about or maybe you quoted the wrong person. What MS apps are you talking about?

It looked as if you were responding to the whole taco complaining about Microsoft apps. If not Then I was in error.

 

[SnailUK]

Why is it this way? Microsoft has more money to throw at app developers than Google or Apple!
..

At least look at the history of WP.

Microsoft have thrown money at developers, for instance Rovio for Angry Birds. We get the app, its beautiful, then Microsoft stop throwing money, and the developers stop updating the apps.

Even worse, developers don't tend to introduce as many ad-supported versions of their apps/games for WP, and most people wont pay for apps, so its yet another catch 22.

WP10 is going to have to make some style sacrifices to enable universal apps, but hopefully, the combined platform of WP, Xbox, Tablets & PCs should solve the "market share" issue that plagues WP.

 

[Dexter505]

I have been hearing the same thing since windows phone 7, 8,8.1 and now 10. Next it will be windows 11.

 

[the whole taco]

Why should Microsoft spend man hours and time developing the apps when Windows 10 for phones is only months away? Most of the apps Microsoft is "releasing" are companies that already had a presence on IOS and Android already, Microsoft bought them, now the apps are being "re-released" with Microsoft's name. We saw a peek at the new mail app, we saw a peak at the new calendar app, and they look great.

thanks Noahma
got any useful links on the new W10 Calendar app?
I did a search but only came up with a few words on 'Revolve' and a short article on 'Sunrise'

in my defence of my stance on deficient MS apps I will say this:

• I have an old Palm PDA that has better calendar functionality than MS Calendar app - and it must be 15 years old!
• how does MS want to drive users to WP? Sure some will get sucked in by new hardware (say a great camera) or fast UI. But if the WP doesn't provide day to day functionality (and I agree that differs as to the user's profile - business, gamer, social media fanatic, whatever) then they are lost and they take a long time to get back. Personally I think (initial) user allegiance is driven by apps, but that is just me.

 

[Noahma]

thanks Noahma

got any useful links on the new W10 Calendar app?

I did a search but only came up with a few words on 'Revolve' and a short article on 'Sunrise'



in my defence of my stance on deficient MS apps I will say this:

• I have an old Palm PDA that has better calendar functionality than MS Calendar app - and it must be 15 years old!
  
• how does MS want to drive users to WP? Sure some will get sucked in by new hardware (say a great camera) or fast UI. But if the WP doesn't provide day to day functionality (and I agree that differs as to the user's profile - business, gamer, social media fanatic, whatever) then they are lost and they take a long time to get back. Personally I think (initial) user allegiance is driven by apps, but that is just me.
  

Go watch the windows 10 live event, they showed a little bit of it there as well as the new email client