FYI ... Important GDR2 Fixes

[GoodThings2Life]

Since picking up my Lumia 1020 yesterday, I discovered the following WP8 glitches are fixed:

1. We can now play WAV files again, particularly the voicemail attachments from Exchange Unified Communications.
2. When on a call, incoming notifications will SOFTLY play the correct notification tone ONCE.
3. Notification/ringtone sounds will now play over Bluetooth/Headsets again instead of only through internal speaker.
4. Me/People tiles use high-res versions of photos now.

I don't know about anyone else, but these were extremely irritating on the pre-GDR2 WP8 releases. They were driving me just shy of 90 shades of crazy.

 

[TechFreak1]

Thanks for posting, if you find any others please let us know -) can't get the L1020 until september and hopefully Amber will not be a staggered release...

 

[slick5150]

Glad to hear the WAV issue has FINALLY been addressed.

 

[Ebuka Allison]

Other Storage has been fixed. It now works as advertised clearing up space when needed.

 

[tissotti]

Other Storage has been fixed. It now works as advertised clearing up space when needed.

It seems like some are still experiencing problems, like WPCentral artocle said.

 

[GoodThings2Life]

It seems like some are still experiencing problems, like WPCentral artocle said.

I wouldn't really call it a problem. I have 2.7GB, but it's not increasing. I use SkyDrive backup, lots of apps with background jobs, and lots of email attachments. If it stays minimal, I'll be happy. My only gripe is not being able to see what's using that space.

 

[theefman]

I think it still is a problem, losing 2GB on an 8GB (actual more like 6) device is definitely an issue. So far many have reported it growing but not one single report of it clearing itself which means its still a bug. They should provide a way to manually clear that storage or an option to set a limit otherwise people are going to wind up in the same boat as before.

 

[GoodThings2Life]

I think it still is a problem, losing 2GB on an 8GB (actual more like 6) device is definitely an issue. So far many have reported it growing but not one single report of it clearing itself which means its still a bug. They should provide a way to manually clear that storage or an option to set a limit otherwise people are going to wind up in the same boat as before.

I'm referencing the 1020, not an 8GB device, so again... if it's not increasing and decreases "as needed", then it's not a problem. If it's 2GB on an 8GB device, I agree it's a problem, but if storage is important add a storage card or consider storage more important in a future purchase. I should point out that I'm using the 1020 in exactly the same way I used the 920, and I never saw mine go above 3.5GB in the 9 months I was using it.

Anyway, the topic has been beaten to death on several occasions, and this thread is for actual, documentable FIXES. I'd prefer to keep it that way. Plenty of threads on the topic of Other Storage.

 

[TechFreak1]

I'm referencing the 1020, not an 8GB device, so again... if it's not increasing and decreases "as needed", then it's not a problem. If it's 2GB on an 8GB device, I agree it's a problem, but if storage is important add a storage card or consider storage more important in a future purchase. I should point out that I'm using the 1020 in exactly the same way I used the 920, and I never saw mine go above 3.5GB in the 9 months I was using it.

Anyway, the topic has been beaten to death on several occasions, and this thread is for actual, documentable FIXES. I'd prefer to keep it that way. Plenty of threads on the topic of Other Storage.

I agree, lets keep this purely for documenting fixes only.

 

[DrewT3]

The WAV file fix is great news. That accounts for about 2 hours of the 1600 hours a single WP engineer has had since the release of WP8.

 

[GoodThings2Life]

Hell, I'll assume it took a full day to plan, develop, and test, and it's still a drop in the bucket. I'll take what we can get, but what I want to assume is that the bulk of the work is focused on WP8.1 release which we haven't seen a lot about yet.

Don't get me wrong, I want more out of the GDR's than just fixes... honestly, I want every hub and Settings module to be an updatable app via Store so that we're not stuck in this perpetual state of no-update bull***t. There's no reason why they couldn't/shouldn't make it so the app team can release a People hub functionality update any time they want without a core OS update. Likewise for any other apps like Alarms, Calendar, Messaging, Email or anything else.

And who knows, maybe that's exactly what they're doing for WP8.1... no idea, but it works for the Windows team, and they're in the same division finally, so hopefully we'll see it play out for us.

EDIT: I also recognize that a HUGE part of OS programming is on the API side of things, not just UI fixes. That does require huge investments of engineering time, so I can understand why they prioritize it over some things.

 

[Arjun KR]

I really don't have any issue on the notification tones while on call,they usually play at low volume(I have L620 GDR1)

 

[tk-093]

Hey, Android still can't play those wav files so we got one up on them.

 

[tgp]

1. We can now play WAV files again, particularly the voicemail attachments from Exchange Unified Communications.

I was always intrigued by the fact that WP doesn't play .WAV files, considering .WAV is a Microsoft format.

Hey, Android still can't play those wav files so we got one up on them.

Huh? I tap a .WAV file on my Nexus 4 and it plays.

 

[a5cent]

Since picking up my Lumia 1020 yesterday, I discovered the following WP8 glitches are fixed:

1. We can now play WAV files again, particularly the voicemail attachments from Exchange Unified Communications.
2. When on a call, incoming notifications will SOFTLY play the correct notification tone ONCE.
3. Notification/ringtone sounds will now play over Bluetooth/Headsets again instead of only through internal speaker.

I don't know about anyone else, but these were extremely irritating on the pre-GDR2 WP8 releases. They were driving me just shy of 90 shades of crazy.

Thanks for the info GT2L! But why oh why do good folks like you have to put this together in the first place? Why must Belfiore tweet that GDR2 solves WP8's storage problem (which from a consumers point of view it does not), and why do we need WPC to explain to us WTF the storage problem actually is and what GDR2 is doing to address it?

Where is the comprehensive list of release notes for GDR2? Why is this not communicated transparently? Microsoft, your communication policies suck!

 

[DrewT3]

Hey, Android still can't play those wav files so we got one up on them.

Android lets third party apps handle WAV files, so at least there is a solution. WP8 blocks third parties from handling WAVs so we are stuck waiting for MS to decide to fix it.

 

[inteller]

Thanks for the info GT2L! But why oh why do good folks like you have to put this together in the first place? Why must Belfiore tweet that GDR2 solves WP8's storage problem (which from a consumers point of view it does not), and why do we need WPC to explain to us WTF the storage problem actually is and what GDR2 is doing to address it?

Where is the comprehensive list of release notes for GDR2? Why is this not communicated transparently? Microsoft, your communication policies suck!

they are not going to post a comprehensive list of these embarrassing flaws that should have never existed.

 

[a5cent]

they are not going to post a comprehensive list of these embarrassing flaws that should have never existed.

a) if Belfiore can tweet about those 'embarrassing' flaws, then MS can damn well also mention them in the release notes.

b) if MS can make weekly references to bug- and security fixes for their flagship product, Windows, then MS can damn well make quarterly references to such issues for WP.

It's not that MS are too embarrassed to talk about problems. It's that they have some idiots in management who don't understand that the only thing worse than occasional miscommunication, is having no communication at all. They are so scared of making mistakes, that they are frozen into complete inaction.

MS must grow a pair and openly and honestly discuss the state of WP. They must be able to admit mistakes, explain them and be transparent about forthcoming fixes. Frankly, their management's unprofessionalism is a lot more embarrassing than any mistake an engineer could make.

 

[wonderwhy]

I just want to check something with you guys, did the 925 also get released with GDR2 like 1020?

 

[sdc1]

I just want to check something with you guys, did the 925 also get released with GDR2 like 1020?

Yes it did.