I am fed up! Banks leaving Win Phone...Wells Fargo, this time

[Ektalog]

October 24 last date for the Well Fargo Windows Phone App. Needless to say, our Windows phones will soon be trashed, there are barely any useful apps left. This is too much.

(Since it is now clear that Microsoft is the culprit, and they don't care, October may also be the start of our explorations into other OS for our PC's. MS is failing us on many fronts. This is a good time to question their loyalty to us.)

 

[Laura Knotek]

Unfortunately, it is probably difficult for banks to justify the costs to maintain apps due to the low numbers of their customers using the Windows 10 Mobile platform. Banking apps would require extensive support just due to the security concerns.

 

[PerfectReign]

2017 will be teh Year of the Linux Desktop!

 

[anon(50597)]

Unfortunately, it is probably difficult for banks to justify the costs to maintain apps due to the low numbers of their customers using the Windows 10 Mobile platform. Banking apps would require extensive support just due to the security concerns.

Exactly. There comes a point where it's not worth the cost or effort. Same thing happened with BB10.

 

[Ejay Lozano]

Windows phone has no apps, just bookmark tiles. This just pushes me to get the Nokia 8 and switch to android. Whatever this arm or uwp, they need to push it quick, the OS is dying to a slippery slope.

 

[Ektalog]

Unfortunately, it is probably difficult for banks to justify the costs to maintain apps due to the low numbers of their customers using the Windows 10 Mobile platform. Banking apps would require extensive support just due to the security concerns.

That is very true, Laura.

In addition, from my point of view, Microsoft caused the issue. The mobile platform was abandoned after being sold to us. Had Microsoft kept to their commitment, at the very least very few users would have left the Window Phone platform after adopting it. Thus, a minimum critical mass would have been retained, perhaps even increased, to justify the developers' efforts.

Conceptually, it was a win-win program. The productivity and convenience gains to be had from a properly functioning platform for mobile and desktop devices made for a very compelling and attractive product lineup. That vision was lost in the shuffle.

Sadly, Microsoft lost its ways, not even delivering on the PC side either. Not that there are real alternatives (the other monsters want your soul and privacy also).

Anyway, I just dropped plans for a new Surface Pro and a new Dell PC (though I have 4 already). The PC's will begin to adopt Linux. Office 365 will soon be dropped and Libre Office will do fine. My wife will have to get rid of her Win Phone, as will I, and the Apple/Android duo may have to do, if I cannot avoid it. I got tired of defending Microsoft.

 

[darrell reimer]

Just pin the web/mobile site to your start screen. My local, small bank, has an Android and iPhone app, but not one for our Windows phones. I have an old Galaxy S5 that I keep up to date, to see what i'm missing. The Android app for my bank is terrible. Even on my S5 phone, it's better for me to pin the web page/mobile site to the start screen, than to use the cheapie app. Same with my local transit company. There are over 12 transit apps for my city; most are bloated with so many add-on and extra garbage. Even on my S5, I pin the transit web/mobile page to the start screen; it's sleeker, doesn't have any adds and other garbage, and does exactly what I want it to.

 

[techiez]

October 24 last date for the Well Fargo Windows Phone App. Needless to say, our Windows phones will soon be trashed, there are barely any useful apps left. This is too much.

(Since it is now clear that Microsoft is the culprit, and they don't care, October may also be the start of our explorations into other OS for our PC's. MS is failing us on many fronts. This is a good time to question their loyalty to us.)

Dont worry WC will have an article soon as to why this is a good thing. /S

 

[fatclue_98]

In all honesty, Wells Fargo tried. They used to have a WP7 app and later a WP8 app. When W10 came along, they re-released a W10-only app but there simply weren't enough users to maintain it. I think it's unfair to blame Microsoft, Palm or BlackBerry completely for their failures. If the developers won't build the apps, you can't blame consumers for not buying into the ecosystem. Just my $.02, not going to beat this poor horse anymore.

 

[tgp]

In all honesty, Wells Fargo tried. They used to have a WP7 app and later a WP8 app. When W10 came along, they re-released a W10-only app but there simply weren't enough users to maintain it.

True, for mobile. But the rhetorical question is: why are Wells Fargo and other developers ignoring the 500 million Windows 10 desktop users?

 

[fatclue_98]

True, for mobile. But the rhetorical question is: why are Wells Fargo and other developers ignoring the 500 million Windows 10 desktop users?

My guess would be that most desktop users like myself would be using a browser. Besides mobile deposit, what can a banking app offer that can't be done on a desktop-class browser? Also, most desktop computers and many laptops have only front facing cameras for videoconferencing and such. How would you take a picture of your check?

Sent from my HP Elite x3 on mTalk

 

[etphoto]

My guess would be that most desktop users like myself would be using a browser. Besides mobile deposit, what can a banking app offer that can't be done on a desktop-class browser? Also, most desktop computers and many laptops have only front facing cameras for videoconferencing and such. How would you take a picture of your check?

Sent from my HP Elite x3 on mTalk

All the Surface computers have rear facing cameras.

Twitter: @PhotographyET

 

[tgp]

My guess would be that most desktop users like myself would be using a browser. Besides mobile deposit, what can a banking app offer that can't be done on a desktop-class browser? Also, most desktop computers and many laptops have only front facing cameras for videoconferencing and such. How would you take a picture of your check?

That's my thought as well. FWIW, I don't agree with those who believe that developers are avoiding low hanging fruit by ignoring desktop users. Personally, I don't use apps on the desktop when the browser is available. You can even get notifications with the browser.

I've mentioned this before, but we spend our time trying to convince ourselves and others that developers should be targeting the wealth of desktop users with apps, but apps on mobile are going away because of web apps. To me this seems opposite of real life!

 

[fatclue_98]

All the Surface computers have rear facing cameras.

Twitter: @PhotographyET

Yes, but I don't think there's 500 million of them out there as @tgp mentioned.

 

[Laura Knotek]

My guess would be that most desktop users like myself would be using a browser. Besides mobile deposit, what can a banking app offer that can't be done on a desktop-class browser? Also, most desktop computers and many laptops have only front facing cameras for videoconferencing and such. How would you take a picture of your check?

Sent from my HP Elite x3 on mTalk

I agree. I don't use any Store apps on desktop, just x32/x64 programs.

 

[fatclue_98]

That's my thought as well. FWIW, I don't agree with those who believe that developers are avoiding low hanging fruit by ignoring desktop users. Personally, I don't use apps on the desktop when the browser is available. You can even get notifications with the browser.

I've mentioned this before, but we spend our time trying to convince ourselves and others that developers should be targeting the wealth of desktop users with apps, but apps on mobile are going away because of web apps. To me this seems opposite of real life!

I've never fully understood the obsession with apps. Maybe it's because I'm used to laptops more than a phone or because a phone (to me) is a last resort type of thing. There is a version of mTalk for desktop but I rarely use it. Fact is, I rarely use any of the UWP apps for desktop simply because Chrome, Firefox and Edge do so much more, are infinitely easier to navigate and are more keyboard & mouse friendly.

Outside of a BlackBerry Passport, I won't do any Excel work on a phone. Are you kidding me? Continuum-based remote desktop is my one and only solution when I'm on the road. My Surface 3 LTE (which I'm typing this on) is my secondary device when my big screen isn't handy, like now. On weekends I don't want to see an email or other type of notification other than a text or phone call from a friend inviting me over for a brew and a burger. Seriously thinking about getting a DIGITS SIM card for use in a flip phone for this very purpose.

 

[RobbieRobski]

I left BofA because they discontinued their app and switched to Wells Fargo. Then I switched back to BofA because wells fargo had deposit restrictions on mobile check deposits and by then BofA had released a new app for W10M. So yeah really sucks and even though the BofA app is just a web app wrapped as an app (pretty sure anyway) it works.

 

[anon(50597)]

I've never fully understood the obsession with apps. Maybe it's because I'm used to laptops more than a phone or because a phone (to me) is a last resort type of thing. There is a version of mTalk for desktop but I rarely use it. Fact is, I rarely use any of the UWP apps for desktop simply because Chrome, Firefox and Edge do so much more, are infinitely easier to navigate and are more keyboard & mouse friendly.

Outside of a BlackBerry Passport, I won't do any Excel work on a phone. Are you kidding me? Continuum-based remote desktop is my one and only solution when I'm on the road. My Surface 3 LTE (which I'm typing this on) is my secondary device when my big screen isn't handy, like now. On weekends I don't want to see an email or other type of notification other than a text or phone call from a friend inviting me over for a brew and a burger. Seriously thinking about getting a DIGITS SIM card for use in a flip phone for this very purpose.

Apps = convenience and many times have more features than a website. While laptops/desktops can ultimately do more, most people don't have them with them 24/7. It is a mobile society and people crave the ability to do things when they want.
My 2 cents.

 

[loribinca]

WF? that's my bank. Guess I was right to put my phone back in the drawer..

 

[TechFreak1]

Just pin the web/mobile site to your start screen. My local, small bank, has an Android and iPhone app, but not one for our Windows phones. I have an old Galaxy S5 that I keep up to date, to see what i'm missing. The Android app for my bank is terrible. Even on my S5 phone, it's better for me to pin the web page/mobile site to the start screen, than to use the cheapie app. Same with my local transit company. There are over 12 transit apps for my city; most are bloated with so many add-on and extra garbage. Even on my S5, I pin the transit web/mobile page to the start screen; it's sleeker, doesn't have any adds and other garbage, and does exactly what I want it to.

The website or mobile website does not give additional functionality that some users are used to - mainly cheque deposits through scanning using the camera. Granted many people don't even use cheques these days.

In regards to the mobile website, it also depends how optimised the website is and how it handles scalability. For example, certain UX elements are just too cumbersome to use with mobile screen as some banks still use 'mouse hovering' for additional menus.