Banks giving up support for Windows Phone. The plane has hit the mountain

[swanlee]

Umm until WP8 hits a larger Marketshare like 10+% then yes MS certainly needs to pay off Devs/Companies to make sure their is a good application base for current and potential users.

So what you are suggesting is for MS to just sit their and let major apps go away and then somehow get people to buy their phones? Sounds like an Awesome plan.

If companies are pulling their apps out of WP8 due to lack of marketshare how the heck is losing apps going to attract more users to increase the market share?

look WP8 ALREADY has a huge stigma that it lacks APPS losing Banking apps that cannot be duplicated by 3rd parties is just going to increase that stigma and drive people away.

I really like the OS but honestly for normal people what compelling reason does anyone have at this point to get a WP8?

IOS and Android have a ton more APPS, on the hardware side they have surpassed what WP8 offers as far as flagship phones ,Carriers have a ton of models to choose from.

What is MS currently doing to make WP a compelling alternative to IOS or Android?

Losing major APPS is certainly not going to help WP's marketshare that is for sure.

 

[cyborgnish]

Soon these banks are gonna regret their decision

 

[swanlee]

Actually, they've been doing this. And I'm sure they still are. But that's nothing that could ever work. His other points make me think so. Most of the time I'm reading that it's missing apps like Flappy Birds, Snapchat and other hipster things that are the very reason why WP is struggling. Now all of a sudden it's banking apps. I would think that both type of apps target an entirely different audience.

The whole point is WP8 needs as many apps as possible to attract all kinds of different audiences that is going to be the only way to grow marketshare or even keep their current marktshare.

WP8 does not have the Makretshare power of IOS or Android to demand app support from Developers.

At the very LEAST MS needs to work with these companies to KEEP the Apps that are already in place.

Not only does having APPS yanked from the store hurt gaining future markethsare it will hurt keeping up it's current user base. My two banks are BOA and Chase and it really pisses me off I won't have the ability to deposit checks on my phone now.

Let's see Flagship phones are starting to age on the hardware side, Apps are being removed left and right from the WP8 store, new apps are slow to come. What exactly is MS purposing to end users to come to the platform?

What is the incentive to buy into the WP8 ecosystem? I'm still in cause I really like the OS and in general I prefer MS products I'm certainly a minority that is for sure.

 

[RumoredNow]

Ally Bank is looking mighty good. They are an online only presence. Hungry too. How could they justify pulling support of the WP underdog when they are a banking underdog?

This may be where my disgruntlement at BoA takes me.

 

[red grenadine]

As long as they don't pull the windows 8.1 app we're fine. That can easily be converted to a universal app this fall. Yes, Windows 10 will be the panacea. Tens of millions of Windows 7 computers will be upgraded to 10 overnight which will instantly expose Windows Store apps to tens of millions of customers.



There's no ignoring the hundreds of millions of Windows PCs out there. Be patient people.

This mess is MS own doing. Steve Sinofsky destroyed Windows with 8 and starting from scratch on Phone.

They are pulling the Windows 8.1 app too

 

[swanlee]

They are pulling the Windows 8.1 app too

Yea that is the kicker. I don't really care about future updates but actually yanking apps I've been using for years on my phone or tablet is really damn annoying. As the platform holder if MS doesn't see this as a trend and does not intervene in some way then they are being neglectful to their user base and not treating their customers well.

 

[anon(5383410)]

I still fail to see how it's more expensive to support an app because of lower marketshare. Lower market share = less users = less support calls. Development costs are a non-issue. It's not drastically more expensive to have the same group that developed your Android app to develop a Windows app. I can't imagine they wouldn't offer some kind of package deal.

I wouldn't be surprised if it has something to do with the security holes Google exposed. That makes more sense to me. Security updates and patches, keeping your software protected against potential new kinds of attacks would drive up development costs, especially if it's bug prone. Couple that with the recent spate of attacks over the last few years and you've got yourself some paranoid banks.

I remember reading that MS was holding some sort of event to discuss security in Windows 10 which was supposed to serve as a sales pitch to enterprise customers. I'm not sure if that's already happened but if it has then they need to hold another larger one.

 

[blends]

This is the beginning of the end for Windows Phone in the US market. When I bought my iPhone 6 I really had no idea how bad the app problem is on Windows Phone. I really wanted to stay and I still use my 1520 but losing my banking app (which I use all the time) makes the UX less convenient.

 

[EBUK]

Tens of millions of Windows 7 computers will be upgraded to 10 overnight

Won't the user have to agree to the upgrade? If they didn't like what they saw in Windows 8/8.1, what will Windows 10 offer to convince them to upgrade?

(I resisted WIndows 8 until just a couple of weeks ago. Windows Phone 8.1 demonstrated to me all that is good about Win8; I will be upgrading all our Win7/8.1 devices without hesitation.)

 

[drufranco]

Wells Fargo still has a nice app. And if they didn't, I'd rather switch banks than phones. I don't have to carry a bank around with me and use it all day.

Maybe he is a banker...
~shrug~

 

[RumoredNow]

Won't the user have to agree to the upgrade? If they didn't like what they saw in Windows 8/8.1, what will Windows 10 offer to convince them to upgrade?

...

Continued support.

XP lasted as long as it did not because Joe PC loved it (which he did), but because enterprise was resistant to moving off a sleek OS shell that allowed them to customize work station applications/configurations so easily (which they were). Microsoft solved that with the proliferation of Embedded on server driven thin-client machines and were finally able to drop the axe on XP.

Win 7 will EOL within a more normal time frame. Watch for a big announcement about Win 7 dropping from the support/update cycle just before the one year free upgrade expires.

 

[swanlee]

iPhone, lol. I needed a very good laugh. Much rather go to Android than iOS. lol and he "highly" recommends it.

Yes, I've used iOS before. I had the iPad 1 and 2, the latest iPod Touch and the previous iPod Touch (pretty much the same as the phone but without the cell service.) I had these iOS devices because of the apps that it offered...and yes, the apps are great, but the OS itself is crap to me and couldnt stand it. Oh yeah, they've all been sold, thank god.

I'll stick to my WP as long as I can. Just love the Live tiles too much to give it up and besides losing the Chase app, I have all the apps I need. Do I want some of the official ones that are missing, of course I do, but all I do is contact the company and voice my request for a WP app and hopefully come around.

Cant still stop laughing about "highly" recommending the iPhone. Whew.

I love the WP8 OS to but this trend of having working APPS REMOVED is disturbing. I do not like the idea of my app experience getting worse over time or apps I regularly use disappear from my phone.

That is not something I can deal with. At worst I'll have to switch to Android and install a WP8 skin on it to get the UI I like back.

I HAD all the APPS I needed two weeks ago, now I do not have all the apps I need. I do not like this trend.

 

[Jas00555]

This is hilarious. You know what I see here? The titanic. Fanboys keep insisting "this or that won't be the end" but the iceberg has already been hit. Don't ask me what the iceberg was as that's an entirely different argument itself. The ship is only too obvious in its sinking and I don't know if the fanboys are in denial or if they legitimately think that WP is still headed somewhere. Either way I'm highly recommending the iPhone to those looking to switch.

"I am right and if you disagree with me, you're obviously a blind fan boy. ONLY I CAN SEE THE TRUTH" - Luisraul

 

[Blkacesvf41]

I love the WP8 OS to but this trend of having working APPS REMOVED is disturbing. I do not like the idea of my app experience getting worse over time or apps I regularly use disappear from my phone.

That is not something I can deal with. At worst I'll have to switch to Android and install a WP8 skin on it to get the UI I like back.

I HAD all the APPS I needed two weeks ago, now I do not have all the apps I need. I do not like this trend.

Same here. You're right, this trend is both disturbing and concerning. Being in denial won't make it stop either. Now, I'm not saying let's all just panic, run to the store and get new phones this second either. Like I said, I'll hang tough and see what happens in the next few months.

 

[swanlee]

Same here. You're right, this trend is both disturbing and concerning. Being in denial won't make it stop either. Now, I'm not saying let's all just panic, run to the store and get new phones this second either. Like I said, I'll hang tough and see what happens in the next few months.

Yep if MS does nothing this problem will just get worse. I hope a new flagship phone spurns more interest in the fall and in the meantime MS opens the wallet and pays people off to make sure the app library continues to grow and we do not lose anymore working apps.

If Win 10 is 10 + months away WP8 cannot limp buy waiting on that. In 10 + months the hardware will be ever more obsolete and the app situation will be barren.

 

[TLRtheory]

The loss of poorly updated apps and weak web wrappers (which pretty much covers all we had) isn't really phasing any appeal.

Having Mint and Prism means the world to those who really care about mobile banking and mobile payments.

 

[DavidinCT]

Personally, this might be my end for Windows Phone that I love so much. I use the BOA app all the time, at least 2-3 times a week and deposit checks all the time with it. Now I will have to run (out of my way) to a bank to deposit checks just because I have a Windows Phone ?

Yes, I love Windows Phone, I have been a fan from release and I was a Windows Mobile/PocketPC user from 1.0. Yea, I know I have not had a BOA app for the past phones but, once you have it, have the features of it, and actually use most of them, to take it away is a BIG deal.

Sad to say because of my NEED for this app and it's features, after it's gone, I will have to put my ICON on the shelf for a while. I'll be hunting down a used Android phone because I wont touch a Apple product.

This is not putting good progress towards Windows Phone, there was always a sort of "app gap" (depending on your needs) but, this just makes a bigger gap, and in the long run, as BOA is a major bank across the US, this will just make it worse and less people will buy a WP device because of it...

 

[Santos lil elpair]

At this point I would rather see Microsoft sell/lease its camera patents and apps to apple or google. I like the Windows OS and Onedrive in particular, but there are a lot of concessions, like not being able to take photos from your phone and print them at Costco or Walmart or Walgreens or anywhere else without putting them on another device first. Not as much support while traveling and connecting to services, etc. Microsoft doesn't seem to be working on building the brand either and seems like they have written it off a bit as well.

 

[Santos lil elpair]

Mint is hard to rely on. I tried it out and getting the amounts to sync properly never worked out. I could be +/- 1,000 on any given day and it was hard to categorize expenses. so I gave up pretty early on.

 

[agentmikeyd99]

Will the app continue to function after they stop support?