Going back to WP7...

[bobdonkey]

I got an 8x and I am actually thinking of returning it and getting another WP7 device, probably a Lumia 800.

The hardware is beatiful, but I can no longer use podcasts which is a big issue for me. I am also missing some key apps - Spotify being the main one, as bad as it is on WP7. The 2 main things I used the phone for, Spotify and podcasts, don't work.
And really, WP8 doesn't have many features that I will miss that are not included in 7.8 - so I figure I might just get an 800 sim free, hopefully get 7.8 soon, and then I will have almost the best of both worlds - new start screen (which is not that great anyway and takes too much management), the new colours, etc, and still be able to use podcasts and Spotify. In the meantime I'll wait for this mess to get sorted out and pick up an 8x cheap later in the year, or the next round of hardware.
Does that sound crazy?

 

[Pete]

Seems perfectly reasonable to me, given your needs.

 

[Muessig]

I like to listen to a few podcasts and I'm having to download them and put them on the phone manually which isn't a huge deal breaker for me but is less than ideal. I can understand you moving back to WP7 but I wouldn't throw away that 8X just yet depending on how quick you have to return it. I'm willing to bet that Spotify and other podcast support will come sooner than later.

 

[Daniel0418]

It is really frustrating about the lack of apps. Especially on the 8x. Not only does every app have a black bar, but even the part that is there looks pretty horrible. Comparing my angry birds star wars compared to android and iOs devices with high red screens and it looks horrid on the 8X. It sucks... Such a nice screen gone to waste. Indont mean to be a whiner. I will hold onto my 8x for the long haul, but it is depressing that devs just don't care about this platform.

 

[bobdonkey]

My 8x just rebooted itself too for no reason, just sitting there on charge. I have seen it do this once before, that is twice in 2 days. I think it has to go back...

 

[Joelist]

It is really frustrating about the lack of apps. Especially on the 8x. Not only does every app have a black bar, but even the part that is there looks pretty horrible. Comparing my angry birds star wars compared to android and iOs devices with high red screens and it looks horrid on the 8X. It sucks... Such a nice screen gone to waste. Indont mean to be a whiner. I will hold onto my 8x for the long haul, but it is depressing that devs just don't care about this platform.

This is ridiculous.

The screen on the 8X is totally superior to pretty much every other smartphone. It is indeed Hi Res (342 ppi). That beats the iPhone and also beats virtually all but the absolute latest Androids. It looks absolutely fantastic and has excellent color reproduction. It is Super LCD 2 which many prefer to AMOLEDs. I just loaded up Angry Birds Star Wars on the 8X and it pops off the screen looking tremendous - and no black bar.

 

[Mafiatounes]

Spotify already said they are working on a update, the thing is we are missing alot of apps because the SDK has been released a couple a weeks ago, so just give it some time and chill i can assure you that WP8 is a better (will be better) than WP7.5.

All major OS updates on all platforms, have needed modifications on the apps side to have it work good and this can take a bit of time depending on the devs.

 

[socialcarpet]

 

[HerronScott]

I thought that all of the WP7 apps would work on WP8 so why is Spotify not available on WP8 if it's available on WP7?

Scott

 

[vedichymn]

I thought that all of the WP7 apps would work on WP8 so why is Spotify not available on WP8 if it's available on WP7?

Scott

There's a number of WP7 apps that don't appear if you access the store from a WP8 device. The support folks on twitter indicated that's intentional because the app isn't compatible.

 

[andrewkim789]

I might have heard wrong, but I think I've heard from a keynote that all WP7 apps will be compatible with WP8. I really expected that, and I had no doubt that any app wouldn't be compatible. Even with a different kernel, if there are more features in WP8 than WP7 why are some WP7 apps not working??

WP Apps -> WP8 -> Non-exclusive apps (WP8)
-> OEM Exclusive (WP8 SPECIFIC OEM)
-> WP7 -> 500+mb RAM -> Works with WP8 (WP7 NORMAL RAM, WP8)
-> Doesn't work with WP8 (WP7 NORMAL RAM)
-> Lower RAM -> Works with WP8 (WP7, WP8)
-> Doesn't work with WP8 (WP7)
-> OEM Exclusive (WP7 SPECIFIC OEM)



Fragmentation?

 

[Robinsonmac]

Install the apps from your computer, they are all listed there

 

[Gaichuke]

Spotify for WP7 was made with C++ instead of Silverlight under special permission from Microsoft. Only the Silverlight apps are compatible with WP8. This effectively means that Spotify has to make a completely new version for WP8.

As for why they haven't started it early enough for it to be available on launch date, I don't know. I'm sure Microsoft would have offered early access to their WP8 SDK for Spotify.

 

[thejoyofsobe]

http://i.imgur.com/Kmy9a.gif

pretty sure the OP's in the UK. while podcasts work fine for us yanks, i think i recall the brits getting screwed in that respect.

 

[mturner7472]

uggh, i hate when people say podcasts work fine for the folks in the US ... this podcast solution from MS is beyond ridiculous ... almost made me return my 920 a few days after purchase ... but i feel like SOMETHING will be done to make this better ... how awful is it that in order to get podcasts in their appropriate places on a windows phone, i have to use a piece of software from apple ... and even that is sketchy / flaky / hit or miss (and my god how awful is podcasting in iTunes?!?!)

don't get me wrong, i'm not leaving the platform ... just annoying that my POS arrive had the software to make podcasts a COMPLETE breeze.

And, please don't tell me to use the built-in podcast feature in Xbox Music on the phone ... it's awful and everyone knows it.

• The settings only allow for up to 5 episodes kept ... or ALL ...
• You can't add any URLS for podcasts that don't show up in the marketplace
• every time the phone resets, it removes the following
  • progress in a segment (which means trying to figure out where you were in a segment)
  • unplayed/played status (which means re-downloaded every episode you've already listened to)
• The music app all together doesn't remember what the last piece of media you played was
  • wp7 you could have a song or segment paused for HOURS