Is lack of apps the real WP problem?

[treeflip7]

It's really quality, not quantity. Most of the major apps are there, although there are certainly gaps, but what really pisses me off is when major apps aren't stable or half-featured.

Take IG for example. It works well, but the IG story videos constantly lag, something that doesn't happen on ios or android. This is unacceptable. Don't add a feature unless it's of high quality.

 

[Cartman]

I own a Huawei Mate 8 and a 950XL. I have always preferred the Windows Phone OS over Android. I don't know why that is, but for me it just works the way I like an OS to work.

But I stopped using the 950XL about six months back, simply because the apps available on Android (and that I actually use) were not available on WP.

And so it is that I have thrown in my lot with Android - not because of the OS, but because of app availability on the platform. And that's so sad for me, knowing that MS is really at the behest of app developers (or lack thereof).

Is the situation ever likely to change? I really hope so, because every day I wish I could go back to my WP.

Mart

Yes, made the switch to an iPhone 7 plus from a 950 XL due to app availability. Would go back if the apps were there but not just the apps...quality of apps is also important.

 

[PerfectReign]

Samsung is the leader in the android world. A lot of companies follow them, they may have kickstarted a trend.

I concur. Natella, Pinos, Belifore and the crew probably knew WM10 was a no go for consumers. Hence the reason many at MS now use an Android or Iphone device. (My TAM swears by his Iphone 6+)

HOWEVER, with One Core, the Elite. X3, the new S8 and other devices, they can look to the post PC world.

Sent from mTalk

 

[Wevenhuis]

I think there is an app gap problem.

Three fields I'm noticing a problem.
1. Lack of quality.
-many apps that support a powerful single feature, but few that manage to combine related features, or do mot utilize the full capable app platform features effectively. Such as the a third party app supporting the start of a timer by simply pressing the live tile and not having to go into the app. But it doesn't support alarms. Native windows alarm clock does, but does not support the timer live tile function. Or a few well known news apps that don't support comment sections that the website does, or don't support pinning sections or articles as live tiles for quick and easy access, where the favorites list is too long to search manually and a search function is missing. Just to name a few.

2. Lack of medical apos. Many high end references such as Netter, AO, Merck manual and more are missing from the list. To a degree they could be accessed via the web. For for offline backup reference reading it would be nice to have the app available on the windows store platform).

3. Support for small or.local business/accessory apps. Almost all these sites support iOS or Andoid by default. It makes it extremely difficult to find any market supports for these apps to work with windows 10 mobile. Its a slight hinderance to get engaged with windows in local and smart businesses around you. Less sense of being connected and flexible to your surroundings.

But all else windows 10 and 10 mobile work fine for me for.everyday use.

 

[Bobarino777]

I would go back to my 640 if the apps were there.
I don't ever expect to use wm10 again because I don't think it will happen.

 

[madchadmi]

There is no question it is app gap. I have been a Windows Phone loyalist. I had the first samsung before the droid came out. Then I had windows phone 7,8, and then 10. I had the Lumia 950XL, still have it. But I finally surrendered and bought a Samsung S7 edge for only one reason, app gap. I need the Wemo Home Automation Apps, SiriusXM app, my banking apps, scott trade, router apps. Not to mention we need the quality versions of the app, for things like waze. I also need my weber Igrill app. I still miss windows phone 950xl. I still have the device and use it for wifi, to test out updates. But I will not go back to microsoft, unless it lets the apps I own on android into its ecosystem. Microsoft has the technology. They just need to release it.

People use this technology to save time. They want a common ecosystem and flow. If I have to use one device for somethings and another for other things, that makes life difficult. With android, all the apps are there.

 

[Brian Thomsen]

The reality is people are monkey see, monkey do mentality. If everyone else is using it then I should use it as well. That is the mentality of most Iphone and Android users (Your Mom, Dad, Grandparents, Kids, etc). Most users aren't interested in all the bells and whistles they just want to do what everyone else is doing. Microsoft dos not have a very big app gap issue. Yeah there are a few apps here and there that are missing, some of which are notable like Snapchat. But they actually have a decent base of standard apps people use all the time (Facebook, Twitter, Uber, etc).

The real challenge is getting the monkeys to see the Windows environment as a better banana then the one they have in their hand. I think Microsoft is making a difference in the marketing of the Surface brand and delivering great products. Getting potential customers to take a second look at what has been seen as a stiff work only (the OS your Dad uses) company.

As Daniel Rubino has pointed out. Microsoft has lost the smartphone battle. Until they emerge with something new, (a more delicious banana) the status quo will not change. Once that product is released and they market it like they have marketed the Surface brand. Then and only then, are they likely to change the monkey's minds.

 

[mobilejk]

Unfortunately, like a lot of Microsoft products they will pull the plug on WM because of their own incompetence and nothing else.

 

[v.connelly]

I hardly ever use apps on my Lumia 982. I think if Edge had more features and better integration that would be fine. Like auto fill/complete, Pin the Favicon as a full tile, remember user names and passwords, etc. I think that would be fine. Plus many sites have better mobile experiences than their app.

I also believe better main apps with fuller features (People or Photos app for example) and bring back some nice features that Windows Phone 8 had that Windows 10 is lacking.

 

[editguy]

In fairness, I think MS found themselves in a "catch22" situation in a couple of ways. Regarding apps, developers wouldn't develop because they said the user base was too small. People wouldn't buy the phones because they said there were no apps. Carriers don't want to carry the phones because they say the sales are too small. But, at the same time their sales people actively discouraged people from buying Windows phones trying to switch customers to Samsungs or iPhones (I've actually experienced this more than once and had acquaintances experience the same thing). MS hasn't helped themselves, either, but it's hard to gain traction when you have two major things working against you right out of the gate.

 

[Pieter Comello]

Simple Answer Yes Yes Yes Even the Band app wrx better on Android !!!!

 

[pmartineau]

Marketing from MS and the Carrier...Not present
MS stopped talking about Windows Phone (W10M)
MS is not giving love to Lumia device (950 in my case). Firmware and windows 10.

Lack of app is not a problems for me. I'm ok using web. Maybe Microsoft should help dev (money, teaching...) to create good web rapper. Most of the app just get data from a server and display it.

MS need to finalize (speed up) integration between Win10, Win 10 Mobile and Cortana.

Cortana should be able to replace a lot of application. With a nice set of API, dev could implement entry point to their application and device. Those API could be use by any AI.

In a near feature, the users should use Cortana, Siri, google AI or Samsung AI to get the info they want or to control the device they need...

Hey Cortana, turn light on.
Hey Cortana, create a Tile on my phone and PC to display the daily weather in my location.
Hey Cortana, I bough a new Fitbit. Can you set it up....
Hey Cortana, Create a Snapchat account...add a Snapchat Tile on my devices...

(replace Cortana by Siri if you want)


No more app issue!

 

[t8ntlikly]

Personally I don't see it as a problem. There are a couple of apps that I would like sure, but they aren't necessary to either my daily use or productivity. What I have found out is that on certain sites that don't have apps, their mobile websites are superior to their apps. Yep! I've compared them on my sons' Android phone. That said, yes there are a few where that is not true and an app would be great. Luckily for me those are few and far between. I did have an Android phone for a while (circa 6 months) and got so fed up I switched with my sons and got a new Lumia Icon, and haven't looked back. I might, <key word Might> have stayed with the Android phone but Xbox was a mess, as were some of the games I like, but the biggest issues for me were: 1: I'm not a google fan although I have softened up on that a bit, so syncing was a real problem. That was overcome a bit by Firefox's weak attempt, and by using Pocket. But for me it just didn't work. #2 issue was the mapping. Ok, get your laugh in now. but here is why.
With Maps, I have the entire USA downloaded onto my phone and set to "Off Line". When I need directions from point a to point b I just put it in and go. I don't have to download that route like one has to using google so I don't get data charges. I tried HERE Maps and found that they weren't like I remembered when they were on the Windows Phone. By that I mean that yes I could set them to Off Line, but here again unlike MAPS if I added a location, that location didn't sync unless I went back on line. MAPs very simply does. No muss no fuss.
Bottom line for me is I will stay with Windows 10 Mobile as long as I can get a decent phone, EVEN if I have to switch carriers.

 

[sdreamer]

I own a Huawei Mate 8 and a 950XL. I have always preferred the Windows Phone OS over Android. I don't know why that is, but for me it just works the way I like an OS to work.

But I stopped using the 950XL about six months back, simply because the apps available on Android (and that I actually use) were not available on WP.

And so it is that I have thrown in my lot with Android - not because of the OS, but because of app availability on the platform. And that's so sad for me, knowing that MS is really at the behest of app developers (or lack thereof).

Is the situation ever likely to change? I really hope so, because every day I wish I could go back to my WP.

Mart

Yes and No. You cannot attract users if they're apps they expect are not going to be there, so they won't risk it to find that out if it is or not. You cannot attract apps if there are no users. You cannot attract either if there is no hardware. So in the Nokia era, Nokia pushed, and low and behold we started attracting both with attractive hardware. The apps started coming with the steady push of hardware, at the same time users, mainly the fans, started spreading the mindshare. What still remained was this app gap. They still lacked snapchat, lacked a ton of medical references (which caused me to switch), etc. This either caused people to switch back, or just couldn't get passed that final barrier of achieving a much more stable mindshare. Sure it was there, but it was there with promises that it was coming, and it somewhat eventually did. We finally got Instragram, etc, but you couldn't get teenagers to come across because snapchat was missing, you couldn't get adults to move because the mindshare just wasn't being generated by those that knew, and what mindshare was there was a majority of "oh WP doesn't have that app" etc. So in the end the lack of apps killed that moment that Nokia worked so damn hard on and sacrificed for. Nokia pushed and it was paying off slowly, and Microsoft eased off and killed it off that momentum.

 

[LumPhile]

I hardly ever use apps on my Lumia 982. I think if Edge had more features and better integration that would be fine. Like auto fill/complete, Pin the Favicon as a full tile, remember user names and passwords, etc. I think that would be fine. Plus many sites have better mobile experiences than their app.

I also believe better main apps with fuller features (People or Photos app for example) and bring back some nice features that Windows Phone 8 had that Windows 10 is lacking.

Not sure if you're being sarcastic but Edge, on my phone, can already do all of those things

 

[rsanabria183]

I have been a wp user since the beginning and the app gap is not and has never been an issue for me. The problem is the performance of Windows 10 mobile has been very poor. I currently have a Lumia 950XL and I experience about 2-3 random restarts per day and other bugs. I wish they would bring back a lot of the wp7 features and performance that made it such a great and unique OS. My 2nd phone is a Huwawei 5x, which is a great phone but I always keep coming back to my Lumia 950xl because of the user experience but if these bugs are not fixed soon, I may switch to Android permanently. Android is not perfect but has improved over the years and is a decent OS. I've had a few iPhone's but i've had bad experience with updates that sometimes make the phones unusable, my last iphone was the 3GS so i'm not sure if this is still the case.

 

[Yangstax]

I don't use Snapchat. I don't play much games on phone. I really don't have app shortage problem on my L950XL. Live Tiles is far more important for me than apps. There is nothing I can't get around it. There are 500K apps in Store, 2500 of them are Continuum apps. I have 250+ apps installed on my L950XL while less than 30 of them are frequently used. I'm super happy with L950XL.

 

[fatclue_98]

Simple Answer Yes Yes Yes Even the Band app wrx better on Android !!!!

No, no, no. Cortana is no longer supported on the Android app. Hasn't been since January.

 

[WPWeasel]

For me, yeah. My app requirements are actually pretty bare bones, and some great third party apps are currently filling in for lack of official options on my Lumia 640. But there's others that are missing that I increasingly can't live without (Arlo and Haiku apps being key examples) and my wife is getting fed up with me having to nick her Android and Apple devices to use them.

I might have been able to scrape by if there were W10, non-UWP apps available. But that's not an option either. So off to Android land I go......

 

[Manus Imperceptus]

For me, the app gap was never a showstopper. I had the basics plus my banking app; most other stuff could be handled just fine with the browser. Unfortunately, some antisocial goon broke the display on my 950XL, and the hardware situation being what it was, I was more or less forced to go Android. Sitting now with an Axon 7, there are things I like about my Android replacement device, but far more things I miss from my old succession of Lumias, both on the hardware and UI front.

For me, personally, I'd go back in a heartbeat if MS or someone else released a state of the art Windows phone, and MS started putting a bit of love and affection towards their mobile devices! Particularly Edge could do with a once-over; with better website rendering, Edge could easily take the place of 90 % of all apps on my phone! Heck, even on Android I tend to go the browser route over apps much of the time...!
Right now I'm just crossing my fingers for a Surface Phone with scalable display running true W10 in the not too distant future; now THAT would be a game changer!