Does Windows 10 mobile have a future in the world of iOS10 and Google Nougat?

[libra89]

Re: Does Windows 10 mobile has a future in a world of iOS10 and Google Nougat?

As for battery life, how have you achieved this feat? Did you disable all the live tiles? Is battery saver set to kick in at 100 percent charge?

Yes seriously, I'll love to know too. My 640 on Windows 10 Mobile barely gets over a day.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

Re: Does Windows 10 mobile has a future in a world of iOS10 and Google Nougat?

The basics I'm referring to are things like: taking a picture when I press the shutter button, not delaying for 30 seconds then getting a shot of my shoes when I'm standing there trying to figure out why the camera's not working; core apps (like mail, calendar, people and photos) that don't randomly crash; having accounts that sync properly, not kick back (and un-copy-and-pasteable might I add) 0x8XXXXX error messages that, after copious research, appear unfixable; multitasking without "Resuming..." popping up all the time; VOIP apps like WhatsApp that don't randomly make my voice sound like a robot's, necessitating ending a call and starting it again; design consistency across a user interface; solid WiFi and Bluetooth connections; reliable notifications, so if you happen to miss a call you can get back to someone in a timely manner (just this morning my phone failed to deliver ANY notifications, when I saw something else not working properly I powered it down but it got stuck on the lockscreen. I waited at least five minutes but nothing happened so I performed a soft reset. After it rebooted a pile of backlogged notifications poured in. W10M is like a perverted game of whack-a-mole, you just never know how it's going to fail at at an inopportune time or otherwise screw you over); you know, minor things like these.

As for battery life, how have you achieved this feat? Did you disable all the live tiles? Is battery saver set to kick in at 100 percent charge?

Okay, you have a bad experience and continue to have one. Are you the majority though? I don't believe so. I know it feels awful to have this crazy experience - I don't know if we can write that off as a bad hardware combined with bad luck or what.

I'm using a 540 - taking pictures - never crashed or slowed down
Core apps crashing - never happened (to be fair I've only had it 3 weeks now)
Yahoo account has sync issues but I think it's just yahoo
I've never seen resuming screens - no joke
I use whatsapp calling - never experienced your issue
Wifi and BT work though I've never realised BT can be slow in transfers
I have most notifications off - so the ones I get are reliable

The biggest thing I've faced is that UC browser is using more battery than it should.

and yes, I have battery saver on from100, always have

 

[CraigCole]

Re: Does Windows 10 mobile has a future in a world of iOS10 and Google Nougat?

Okay, you have a bad experience and continue to have one. Are you the majority though? I don't believe so. I know it feels awful to have this crazy experience - I don't know if we can write that off as a bad hardware combined with bad luck or what.

I'm using a 540 - taking pictures - never crashed or slowed down
Core apps crashing - never happened (to be fair I've only had it 3 weeks now)
Yahoo account has sync issues but I think it's just yahoo
I've never seen resuming screens - no joke
I use whatsapp calling - never experienced your issue
Wifi and BT work though I've never realised BT can be slow in transfers
I have most notifications off - so the ones I get are reliable

The biggest thing I've faced is that UC browser is using more battery than it should.

and yes, I have battery saver on from100, always have

Turning off all the features and trumpeting the improved battery life is a bit like saying you only put gas in your car once a year but only drive it 100 miles in that time, no?

As for my phone, yes the overall experience has been terrible. When it works properly I quite like it, however, every other time I pick the thing up it seems something else is malfunctioning. I'd take it back to AT&T to get another refurbished handset (this is already my second one) but the problems aren't consistent enough and they'd never swap it out. :-(

 

[Chintan Gohel]

Re: Does Windows 10 mobile has a future in a world of iOS10 and Google Nougat?

Turning off all the features and trumpeting the improved battery life is a bit like saying you only put gas in your car once a year but only drive it 100 miles in that time, no?

As for my phone, yes the overall experience has been terrible. When it works properly I quite like it, however, every other time I pick the thing up it seems something else is malfunctioning. I'd take it back to AT&T to get another refurbished handset (this is already my second one) but the problems aren't consistent enough and they'd never swap it out. :-(

I am using my phone, but according to my usage needs.
My typical day has me checking 5 email accounts 2-4 times a day, responding to emails, sending a couple of text messages, 3-10 calls a day, dozens of whatsapp messages, browsing on facebook a few times a day, listening to music on my commute to work and back home (40 -60 minutes each way), the occasional web browsing, photos, videos taking

All the above and my battery is down 25-35% when I sleep. I don't have Cortana

So is my usage low or high or medium?

 

[casab1anca]

Re: Does Windows 10 mobile has a future in a world of iOS10 and Google Nougat?

I'd take it back to AT&T to get another refurbished handset (this is already my second one) but the problems aren't consistent enough and they'd never swap it out. :-(

I've had several of the issues you mentioned and I don't believe any of those are hardware-related. The 950 has got some amazing hardware that is ruined by sub-par software and/or firmware. Redstone fixed a lot of the performance and stability issues but several issues remain. If it were possible to slap on iOS or Android on the 950, I think the difference would be night and day.

I've been flip-flopping between all 3 mobile platforms in the past year and I can say that WP is still the most intuitive, but with big-name apps like Amazon, eBay and PayPal leaving the platform, I honestly don't see a future.

 

[iamakii]

Re: Does Windows 10 mobile has a future in a world of iOS10 and Google Nougat?

Zero. Just for enterprise users and ahem fanboys that are still blinded by their love of Windows Phone.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[Chintan Gohel]

Re: Does Windows 10 mobile has a future in a world of iOS10 and Google Nougat?

I've had several of the issues you mentioned and I don't believe any of those are hardware-related. The 950 has got some amazing hardware that is ruined by sub-par software and/or firmware. Redstone fixed a lot of the performance and stability issues but several issues remain. If it were possible to slap on iOS or Android on the 950, I think the difference would be night and day.

I've been flip-flopping between all 3 mobile platforms in the past year and I can say that WP is still the most intuitive, but with big-name apps like Amazon, eBay and PayPal leaving the platform, I honestly don't see a future.

these big name apps like amazon and ebay are big in some countries (you can guess which ones). The same countries where WP did not or has not done well

Our biggest telcom Safaricom have forayed into taxi services like Uber with their own app, and guess what, they have a W10M app.

 

[Tunde Fajimi]

Re: Does Windows 10 mobile has a future in a world of iOS10 and Google Nougat?

Frankly the market leaders aren't going anywhere. The year after year of their pulling ahead is over. Margins on Android are atrocious, and frankly 50% of the market is not sustainable. Carriers are lowering prices, even they feel the pressure of the saturation. In a saturated market a well resourced, well organized opponent can go far. We tend to think of things failing in months in this market. Yet iPhone is almost 10 years old. They didn't get here overnight, neither did Android and neither will Windows mobile.
A couple years ago forums were ablaze that there was no possible way MS could succeed with Surface, that they were doomed to drop it. I note the same issues now as then. The product is good, and none of the other competitors has a better core product. It will take time (and yes marketing) but the time to really blaze the market isn't quite here yet. Look at the X3 selling out so many times. It's not changing fortune by itself, but it's fulfilling a market desire. That is the sign to pay attention to. Some part of the market truly wants these devices. NY Police Dept and BMW all going Windows phone. Airlines using entirely Surface tablets. Things are changing. Just not in terms of weeks. This is a longplay game because the others have had years of lead time.

Thing is, the businesses buying ones are following their CTOs recommendations. It's a one-person, business-tech situation and not a mass user-driven situation. You may be surprised many of those users prefer other devices in their personal lives.

Maybe MS should just leave the consumer hardware market for smartphones, and focus on breaking the next-gen device Surface-like device (Hololens/Band with LTE radios) to transform the consumer expectation.

 

[Tunde Fajimi]

Re: Does Windows 10 mobile has a future in a world of iOS10 and Google Nougat?

Related somewhat too is that W10 on desktop and laptop isn't so great either--definitely a downgrade from W7 in terms of stability and lack of hassle. We switched at work some months ago and I don't think a day goes by without some weird glitch like add-ons dieing, or having an update lock up the computer. My father's PC was locked up totally until we restored back to W7, having to wipe out all his data in the process. Doesn't give you much confidence in UWP moving forward.

So sorry Ten Four. That must have been annoying, having your dad lose all his data. MS does need to improve in the perception of stability and maturity of their platform. There's still this beta feel I get to the interface and the random "BSOD" with weird error code and I'm in IT.

 

[Joe920]

Re: Does Windows 10 mobile has a future in a world of iOS10 and Google Nougat?

Speaking of ten four, today is October 4th, the day google announces their next phones, presumably the Pixel and the Pixel XL (pronounced Pixelixel?). Noon eastern, 9am pacific.

And in unrelated news, this morning I really enjoyed that I could listen to the Soma FM app in my car, and then use Cortana to figure out the song. Pretty great that 'she' can listen to the phone output. The audio never even interrupted.

Oh Cortana, just when I thought I was out, you pull me back in

 

[davebwi]

Re: Does Windows 10 mobile has a future in a world of iOS10 and Google Nougat?

I'm going to view this from two points of view.

First, from a consumer point of view, IF having access to the latest and greatest is your thing than at this point in time WM is a complete waste of time. You're better off sticking to iOS and Android. Also, when we get to the bottom line for a consumer, experience is everything and right now, for the moment, experience means apps. Until that changes, WM is dead last for most consumers. Hence the barely 1% market share.

Second, from the point of view of business. WM has pretty much all you need and then some. It's not perfect and I have little doubt not everything is available for all enterprises but on the whole, WM is a good business OS. For those businesses going to Windows 10 having a W10M makes sense. With Continuum it makes even more sense. So from that perspective you can see the divide.

MS is interested in attracting businesses because that's where see the market there for them. Lots of enterprises use Windows, unfortunately not all will upgrade to Windows 10 any time soon. But I guess this is a way to entice them.

It really doesn't matter if MS bring out the 'Surface Phone' or not. The average consumer won't care in the least. Without the apps W10M might as well be dead for the consumer. For businesses on the other hand, a Surface Phone might be a great thing.

This is the crux of the problem. MS wants businesses to be the push to get W10M popular. Consumers who are on W10M want MS to push for consumers to get the apps they want. However, MS's strategy is business first at the moment in hopes that increase numbers, thus being more attractive to developers. This is a long term straggly and one that consumers, being the 'I want it now' mentality, can't work with. Hence the drop in number of consumers.

So, to put it bluntly, if you're a consumer and want W10M to succeed any time soon you're going to be waiting a long time unfortunately because at the moment W10M strategy isn't for you.

That's my two cents.

I agree completely, The APPS are the problem.. But what Microsoft seems to not get is that Business users, dont want 2 phones,
I am a small business owner, Until recently,I had 9 Lumia 950's for my main employees, slowly changing to Galaxy 7S... I loved my windows phone, but I needed 1 phone to run my business , and set my alarm at home , and my business, and some times Business owners go to sporting events! and would like an app for those things too.....

 

[Ten Four]

Re: Does Windows 10 mobile has a future in a world of iOS10 and Google Nougat?

I agree completely, The APPS are the problem.. But what Microsoft seems to not get is that Business users, dont want 2 phones,
I am a small business owner, Until recently,I had 9 Lumia 950's for my main employees, slowly changing to Galaxy 7S... I loved my windows phone, but I needed 1 phone to run my business , and set my alarm at home , and my business, and some times Business owners go to sporting events! and would like an app for those things too.....

^^This^^ Even if you love Windows it is impractical to force everyone to use a phone ecosystem they surely don't use in their personal lives. If nothing else, you will have disgruntled employees. Plus, I imagine many companies will go with whatever the CEO and CTO like, and chances are very high they are using Apple devices.

 

[DavidinCT]

Re: Does Windows 10 mobile has a future in a world of iOS10 and Google Nougat?

I agree completely, The APPS are the problem.. But what Microsoft seems to not get is that Business users, dont want 2 phones,
I am a small business owner, Until recently,I had 9 Lumia 950's for my main employees, slowly changing to Galaxy 7S... I loved my windows phone, but I needed 1 phone to run my business , and set my alarm at home , and my business, and some times Business owners go to sporting events! and would like an app for those things too.....

Windows Phones are great for corporate customers... they don't want their employees playing with all the apps...

Anyway about it, it's a problem with the OS.... Just try to do anything LOCAL with a Windows Phone and your very limited, Android or iOS, you get every TV station, every Radio station, you get the local pizza place and even the local super market, with apps for every one of them....Not with Windows Phone... Microsoft screws up again....