Could Microsoft revive windows phone?

[Christopher Kendalls]

I keep hearing about apps in this conversation. You don't need apps for anything. Edge and Chrome are powerful enough that developers could find a way to tie into them and avoid developing apps. Apps could become so 2007 if Google and Microsoft were serious enough about advancing their own efforts in this space. I don't know what Apple is doing; I don't really care.

And I only say that because I do not see Apple progressing. I don't see them pushing technology forward anymore. What they gave us in the iPhone X was a better iteration of old ideas. Facial recognition is not new. Augmented Reality is not new. These were conservative bets to differentiate the iPhone X by making it appear as though the iPhone was moving into the PC space, without them coming right out and saying it to consumers. I say this because, on the level of implementation the iPhone X handles these things, they do it with hardware you would otherwise find in a PC. But again, a lot of marketing hyperbole and not just coming out and saying this to consumers.

On my Android I can stream music through SoundCloud and iHeartMusic without an app. I've got Twitter without an app. I have Google Plus without an app. And there is a lot more that I would do if it were worth my time, if developers would create Progressive Web Apps for those services. For example I should have email on my browser; only thing holding me back is that no one is offering notifications.

I cannot repeat myself enough that stuff I needed MacroDroid and Tasker to do Microsoft allowed me to do on Windows Phone with Gadgets, which looked like an app but in reality was baked into Windows 10 Mobile. And Edge would simply figure out any website I needed to run with ease. Not to mention the reading mode which is something Chrome still does not do right.

But hey, you guys want apps. Enjoy them on Android and iOS, which cannot even do a dark theme right. Apps are so yesterday. But only us nerds and geeks understand that the message has yet to get out to the masses.

 

[Christopher Kendalls]

I've been on Verizon the last 20 years and using a 8/8.1 Windows phone for the last four years. Today, I'm activating a 950 on Cricket and moving to 10 finally. The dream dies hard.

I take my hat off to you. I did not have the tenacity to hold onto 8.1 that long. I would still be on 10 if it weren't for the bugs and lousy hardware support.

 

[TKAtlanta]

Duffman77 must be Jason Ward's pseudonym. Let Windows Phone die!

 

[Some Gadget Geek]

Full windows 10 in a mobile phone form factor would provide an excellent source for development. The restrictions of the current Windows 10 Mobile is too much for users; it outweighs the benefits of say, universal Windows apps. So that is probably why they're losing market share. I would suggest waiting for the reaction to the company's Andromeda foldable. It could be a game changer.

 

[Mister Wolf]

This conversation is too late. A year ago it would've been fine. Windows Phone died a long slow death. The fans didn't deserve that. Microsoft deserved to lose all that money and credibility though.

 

[VARUNGUPTA16061992]

I think they shouldn't consider mobile at all. though important but I think they never took (nor they will) take mobile seriously. it was never their first priority.
during glorious wp years it was nokia and then hp that made wp a wonderful experience.
bringing awesome devices to apps it was Nokia who made sincere efforts and got it right. unfortunately it costed a lot to them and they had to sell it off. after which ms just screwed it. 950 would had been a lot better if Nokia had launched it.

And given their current Windows core initiative .. one platform had to die.. coz phone nd desktop were two different species. they couldn't be blended in current state.

 

[zr2s10]

I hung on for as long as I could. I finally had to buy a new phone out of necessity. Lumia 950XL had been as buggy as I could stand.
I bought a Pixel 2 XL from Google.
to be honest, the only thing I miss is the start screen from Windows Phone. Everything else is so up to date and... functioning.
In the end, it was not a Windows Mobile versus other brands, but a move towards something that really works.
Windows Mobile is now in such a bad shape that I came to really hate Microsoft for their lack of motivation, especially on Mobile.
I really was a hardcore fan, but it got me blind for a long time. with my new phone in hand, I really feel like I was not seeing how inefficient Windows Mobile has become, especially because of the app gap.

Try "Launcher 10" for Android. Not perfect, but easy to implement if you really miss the layout. It's like Windows 10M, but with apps! lol

 

[GreyFox7]

They can make as many "phones" as they want with a Windows flavored mobile OS the result will be the same until they address the App Gap issue. No UWP doesn't address that issue because people that want phone apps want apps that are available and successful on other phones to replace that which they already have and no UWP app fits that bill, at best they are poor substitutes.

The one thing they could do to make a Windows Mobile phone successful is give it an Android subsystem that would run Android apps and a mechanism to conveniently get them. That's it, anything else will fall into the same void every prior effort fell.

There is no game changing, disruption event coming that will materially alter the outcome.

 

[egonunes]

Well, the question to me lies on 2 remarks:
1- I completely distrust Microsoft for consumer products on the mobile...
2- therefore I will not spend my money on any new MS hardware, and I mean ANY.
So, as long as the revival does not imply new hardware I do not why not. It's just to charge and use my old MS phones.

 

[JaySeeDoubleYou]

I think Win10Mobile and [quote unquote] "Windows Phone" as we know it is likely beyond any kind of hope.

However, that does NOT mean that I believe that we are left bereft of any kind of hope for any kind of DEDICATED Microsoft or "Windows" presence in the mobile space (meaning, as opposed to Microsoft just riding piggy back on Android or Apple.)

I'm basically a "Jason Wardian" when it comes to the future of mobile in the ecosystem. I believe we'll see something at least similar to his "ultra-mobile PC with telephony" that is initially geared for Enterprise and extreme prosumer. I think we'll see it this year or next. Then, if it can build any momentum at all, and not just die on the vine, then I believe in maybe another two or three years, it'll work its way back into the consumer space, where it may succeed or may fail.

If it does not succeed, then that's probably it for MS in the mobile space. If it does succeed, I imagine that success to be modest, at least for the short to medium term.

It's gonna ba a long, slow, difficult climb out of a hole which is primarily of Microsoft's own making. But it's not utterly impossible. Only it will not be Windows Phone in its current form. That, I'm afraid, is passing away.

If this new paradigm emerges, and turns out to be anything worth a damn at all, then in either 2019 or 2021, I may well take the plunge.

The good news for me is that if this is not the case, at least I've found a place I should be able to be happy with long term - #teampixel ! It marries most of what's good about Android to something reasonably approximating what's good about Apple. The absolutely perfect middle-ground is a Unicorn, which doesn't exist. But I really believe that is reality's closest approximation to such a mythical beast.

I'm still cheering for Surface, don't get me wrong. And under the right circumstances, I'm even willing to still take a chance on Surface, I think. But I really think I can be happy with Pixel should that never happen, or else happen, but be a dud.

Cheers!

 

[Game_Over]

Too late, they already sacked the core phone experts.
they only have surface team cant help on phones and that's why they don't want to call this foldable thing a phone so it wont get compared to a phone and be a failure.

 

[Mister Wolf]

I hung on for as long as I could. I finally had to buy a new phone out of necessity. Lumia 950XL had been as buggy as I could stand.
I bought a Pixel 2 XL from Google.
to be honest, the only thing I miss is the start screen from Windows Phone. Everything else is so up to date and... functioning.
In the end, it was not a Windows Mobile versus other brands, but a move towards something that really works.
Windows Mobile is now in such a bad shape that I came to really hate Microsoft for their lack of motivation, especially on Mobile.
I really was a hardcore fan, but it got me blind for a long time. with my new phone in hand, I really feel like I was not seeing how inefficient Windows Mobile has become, especially because of the app gap.

I hear ya, I have myself to blame for being blind. Generally though, I used to love what Microsoft does. I had about 4/5 Windows phones. I had two surfaces. Now the only thing I own is the Xbox, which is also in a crap place.

I do live in hope that they will sort themselves out, but I will never trust them again.

 

[Vertigo X]

Try "Launcher 10" for Android. Not perfect, but easy to implement if you really miss the layout. It's like Windows 10M, but with apps! lol

I'm actually using Microsoft Launcher (formerly Arrow) and am finding it to be refreshing when used in the vertical setup. Swiping left or right brings up pages I choose (News on the left and Activity on the right) and swiping up and down keeps me on the normal pages with apps and widgets. Aside from lacking the square background of the tiles, the icons and widgets accomplish the goal admirably.

I also use an app called 'Swipe Pad', where you can swipe from a chosen side of the screen (left, right, or bottom) to bring up a drawer of shortcuts that you can access from anywhere.

 

[fjbeiderbecke]

I moved to iOS after trying Android. I still think that WM10 is superior to iOS and Android but it is all about the apps. The apps I use most were not present on WM10 or they were links to a website. With iOS 11 I have a usable OS with some very excellent apps. I think it is a waste to try again unless they can get app parity with iOS 11 and Android (or maybe the top 100 apps on the platforms).

To me the 950 XL was a disappointment. I was hoping for more. In my opinion, the 1520 was the best phone/camera they made.

 

[markeboyle]

It's never too late. PWA will help. Just use all those profits from the android lisencing and we're off to a good new start

 

[markeboyle]

Still miss continuum, the dialer, the SMS, etc ect

 

[Aden Rossinni]

Transition baby, transition. As I've said on a million of these forums, I use WM everyday, all day - X3, 950xl, 950, 640xl, Alcatel Idol......and I run three business' and am onto everything that has electricity running through it. I'll happily transition to the Andromeda because by then my phones have had a good life, AND because they are WM they will still run well in 2 years.

 

[Aden Rossinni]

I hung on for as long as I could. I finally had to buy a new phone out of necessity. Lumia 950XL had been as buggy as I could stand.
I bought a Pixel 2 XL from Google.
to be honest, the only thing I miss is the start screen from Windows Phone. Everything else is so up to date and... functioning.
In the end, it was not a Windows Mobile versus other brands, but a move towards something that really works.
Windows Mobile is now in such a bad shape that I came to really hate Microsoft for their lack of motivation, especially on Mobile.
I really was a hardcore fan, but it got me blind for a long time. with my new phone in hand, I really feel like I was not seeing how inefficient Windows Mobile has become, especially because of the app gap.

Bad shape? Whatever. Maybe just your phone. Swim with it? Never update it? Don't flash it now and again? Can't operate anything more than an iPad? WM is still the best OS

 

[anon(50597)]

Bad shape? Whatever. Maybe just your phone. Swim with it? Never update it? Don't flash it now and again? Can't operate anything more than an iPad? WM is still the best OS

It’s certainly not in good shape, is it?
If you have a device that still fills your needs, that’s great. Not the case for everyone though.

No, they will not revive Windows Phone. Perhaps something new but that would be way down the line.

 

[DeltaHotel]

How hard would it be for Microsoft to change its mind on windows phone and not kill it off? And i mean 'phone' in the truest sense of the word, not a device with telephony capabilities. Is there a reason why they couldn't revive it?

Have you forgotten that MS has sold off the Lumia division which it purchased from Nokia? Do you really believe that MS would be willing to finance another purchase/development of another piece of hardware that, in the end, would be a very steep uphill climb; especially when the Lumia brand only achieved a maximum three percent worldwide market share? If you do, then I'd suggest that you stop smoking whatever it is that makes you believe that type of thought, and stop dreaming. MS has not only shot themselves in the foot, but they have hung themselves by the neck when it comes to competing in the mobile phone market. Satya Nadella has made that very clear. Wise up!