I think everyone has those days, when it sort of hits you, that the app gap is real and it stinks. Compound that with being a Verizon customer, still waiting for Cyan, and news that Sprint is not currently selling any Windows Phones. The news on Windows Central for the past month has been pretty much, well, not very newsworthy. It's not the websites fault, there just hasn't been much to talk about.
I realized this morning, that as Starbucks was introducing yet, another new feature for iPhone customers (order an pre-pay) we still don't have an official app, let alone, signs of getting the same capability as iPhone customers. Yes, I have my Band, so I can awkwardly hold my wrist to scan the car code, but that seems lame compared to the whole pre-pay option. Even though we had NFC and the capability to do mobile payments years before iOS, it never materialized. Verizon customers have zero options for this currently. The truth is, I don't go to Starbucks very often, I prefer Dunkin Donuts, but I want to be able to use the new pre-payment as it rolls out and I won't be able to use it while I am a Windows Phone user. The reality is that the app gap is real and it is incredibly disheartening to long-time customers. It's not just the missing apps, it's the idea that when something new comes out, we can rarely expecting it anytime within the next year. Our third party app developers are great - like Rudy Huyn, but hamstringed by the companies that control APIs.
So, as 2014 comes to a close, I can't help but wonder, are we all just delusional to buy into what Joe Bellfiore is selling? If we really believe that Microsoft is powerless to influence companies to build apps for us or to put pressure on carriers to deliver firmware updates in a timely fashion, why should we trust that they will ever accomplish those things our that WP will ever be a competing ecosystem? Sure, the phones are awesome, and the 8.1 is great. But, even though I am on the DP program, I am still waiting for Bluetooth and camera upgrades that make my Icon a better device. My 928 performed better in low light and had a usable flash. The Icon is plagued by poor light images and the flash stinks. Cyan is supposed to improve low light shots, but I don't know for sure since we have yet to see it. The phone is now almost a year old and I am still waiting for the first real camera performance update. Even if I wanted to upgrade in early 2015, what would a Verizon customer pick? The HTC phone or....oh, wait, that is the only phone available to us right now and not even a rumor of a new phone. I can't switch carriers, either. I go to more remote areas where if you don't have VZ, you don't have service.
Waiting until Windows 10 is not good enough, any more. If Microsoft is serious about making a go of the mobile market, it's time for it take large gambles. Give free phones away - and lots of them, give a new WP away with every Xbox One, and give them to Verizon customers. Partner with Verizon to promote WP, similar to what VZ did when they launched the original Droid. Develop apps for companies for free - and lots of them. Microsoft needs to stop acting like they are a true competitor. If they were, we would get new apps and app movements closer to the same time as the iPhone and Android. Lastly, can Microsoft ever hire people to make adds that appeal to every day users? Not many people need great video when they are on a ski slope or are all that plussed about a trick cyclist in London. Show us more about Cortana, and show it all of the time. I love the Cortana vs. Siri ads, do more! Show them more!
Am about as loyal of a Microsoft customer as they come: I have owned their mobile devices dating back to the Palm Treo (most of you were probably in diapers), owned every generation of the Zune, own a Band, have owned an Xbox 360, even though I am not a gamer, a Surface RT, SP 2, and SP 3. If I don't see Microsoft as viable, who does?
Sincerely,
Disillusioned
I realized this morning, that as Starbucks was introducing yet, another new feature for iPhone customers (order an pre-pay) we still don't have an official app, let alone, signs of getting the same capability as iPhone customers. Yes, I have my Band, so I can awkwardly hold my wrist to scan the car code, but that seems lame compared to the whole pre-pay option. Even though we had NFC and the capability to do mobile payments years before iOS, it never materialized. Verizon customers have zero options for this currently. The truth is, I don't go to Starbucks very often, I prefer Dunkin Donuts, but I want to be able to use the new pre-payment as it rolls out and I won't be able to use it while I am a Windows Phone user. The reality is that the app gap is real and it is incredibly disheartening to long-time customers. It's not just the missing apps, it's the idea that when something new comes out, we can rarely expecting it anytime within the next year. Our third party app developers are great - like Rudy Huyn, but hamstringed by the companies that control APIs.
So, as 2014 comes to a close, I can't help but wonder, are we all just delusional to buy into what Joe Bellfiore is selling? If we really believe that Microsoft is powerless to influence companies to build apps for us or to put pressure on carriers to deliver firmware updates in a timely fashion, why should we trust that they will ever accomplish those things our that WP will ever be a competing ecosystem? Sure, the phones are awesome, and the 8.1 is great. But, even though I am on the DP program, I am still waiting for Bluetooth and camera upgrades that make my Icon a better device. My 928 performed better in low light and had a usable flash. The Icon is plagued by poor light images and the flash stinks. Cyan is supposed to improve low light shots, but I don't know for sure since we have yet to see it. The phone is now almost a year old and I am still waiting for the first real camera performance update. Even if I wanted to upgrade in early 2015, what would a Verizon customer pick? The HTC phone or....oh, wait, that is the only phone available to us right now and not even a rumor of a new phone. I can't switch carriers, either. I go to more remote areas where if you don't have VZ, you don't have service.
Waiting until Windows 10 is not good enough, any more. If Microsoft is serious about making a go of the mobile market, it's time for it take large gambles. Give free phones away - and lots of them, give a new WP away with every Xbox One, and give them to Verizon customers. Partner with Verizon to promote WP, similar to what VZ did when they launched the original Droid. Develop apps for companies for free - and lots of them. Microsoft needs to stop acting like they are a true competitor. If they were, we would get new apps and app movements closer to the same time as the iPhone and Android. Lastly, can Microsoft ever hire people to make adds that appeal to every day users? Not many people need great video when they are on a ski slope or are all that plussed about a trick cyclist in London. Show us more about Cortana, and show it all of the time. I love the Cortana vs. Siri ads, do more! Show them more!
Am about as loyal of a Microsoft customer as they come: I have owned their mobile devices dating back to the Palm Treo (most of you were probably in diapers), owned every generation of the Zune, own a Band, have owned an Xbox 360, even though I am not a gamer, a Surface RT, SP 2, and SP 3. If I don't see Microsoft as viable, who does?
Sincerely,
Disillusioned
I guess this is the reality you have to live with for now.. The "app gap" might completely disappear someday, but that's more of a long term project. I decided to stick with WP, because I don't mind the bumps in the road. Sure, I get pissed off if another platform gets an app first or if developers actively ignore WP, but at the end of the day, my Lumia works for me and I love it for doing just that. Microsoft and Nokia have my thanks for that as well. However in your case, maybe you should consider switching to IOS 
But ya I'll be developing for Windows 10 for sure when it's out 
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