Is there a real "app gap"?

[Fleischyy]

There's a definite app gap, missing really important stuff for me such as CET/CPD work things and also life apps such as ultimate food value diary.

 

[Pierre Blackwell]

The reality of the "app gap" ultimately is in the perception of the one comparing so it varies on how impactful it is on the daily routines of peoples lives. First when you think of "app" what are you thinking of? Usually its a less robust, more convenient rendition of the web based application. However does the fact that there isn't a Mobil app for every website a real disadvantage? For example, I bank with Navy Federal and WP doesn't have an app for it. I do have a tile created that launches the website and honestly it doesn't bother me, but that's me. Educate yourself on what is available. Fitbit, and other apps are,available, however aren't as functional as their Android or iOS counterparts so what do you do?? I found myself with this dilemma. I tried MSN Health and Fitness and now use that. It's one of the best collections of everything you want to know about health and fitness. Someone mentioned calendars. Not sure what you're looking for but there are a plethora of them but what makes things really awesome is how Cortana is integrated into your daily routine, but you need to know how it works. The same goes for third party apps. If I want awesome sounding headphones I don't need Beats By Dre to experience it. The key is do your research and educate yourself. Outside of games I consider the gap epidemic to be made a bigger deal than it is. Again, that's just me .

 

[mpl175]

To me its more of a quality, features, and updates thing than an actual gap. I hate to say it but some of my favorite apps that I can get on both my WP and my android almost always run better and have more features than the same apps on my WP. This is what bothers me. Not to mention the apps are updated more frequently than WP apps. I still prefer WP to android I just wish the apps I use on both were equal. I will say, facebook on WP runs much better than my android one.

 

[Nebel]

There's a huge app gap. You need to look at the bigger picture.
Flashlight apps are rather easy to make, that's why you have hundreds of them.
But I personally miss a lot of apps from Android. Swiftkey (Microsoft keyboard is junk for us multilingual people, especially who type in 3+ languages), PowerAMP, many apps that automate things... the only thing still keeping me with Windows is the UI + Nokia design.

 

[satrus08]

Not only is there an app gap, the the store is pretty bad for discovering new games/apps. Just look at the "Recently Discovered Games" thread on wpcentral. So many good games that are not easily found on the store. The store is pretty bad imo. Also searching in the store is a hit and miss even if you type the app/game title exactly the same

 

[Nebel]

Not only is there an app gap, the the store is pretty bad for discovering new games/apps. Just look at the "Recently Discovered Games" thread on wpcentral. So many good games that are not easily found on the store. The store is pretty bad imo. Also searching in the store is a hit and miss even if you type the app/game title exactly the same

Where is that thread? I tried searching but couldn't find it.

 

[satrus08]

Where is that thread? I tried searching but couldn't find it.

http://forums.windowscentral.com/showthread/264632.htm

If above link doesn't work just search up newly discovered games

 

[walterg1]

I'm an Android user. I'm about to buy a Lumia 920.
Looking thru the Windows phone app store most of what I need will be supported.

I will keep my Android phone to play games that aren't supported by Windows.

App gap , yes its there. It gets more complicated then that,tho.

Subway Surfer's on Windows only supports Windows 8 and 8.1. Windows 7 is not supported.

Subway Surfer's on Android supports,
Gingerbread, Ice cream sandwich, Jelly bean, Kitkat, and of course the soon to be released Lollypop operating system.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I'm an Android user. I'm about to buy a Lumia 920.
Looking thru the Windows phone app store most of what I need will be supported.

I will keep my Android phone to play games that aren't supported by Windows.

App gap , yes its there. It gets more complicated then that,tho.

Subway Surfer's on Windows only supports Windows 8 and 8.1. Windows 7 is not supported.

Subway Surfer's on Android supports,
Gingerbread, Ice cream sandwich, Jelly bean, Kitkat, and of course the soon to be released Lollypop operating system.

Windows Phone 7.x is no longer supported at all. Support ended on 14 October 2014. Microsoft Product Lifecycle Search

 

[walterg1]

Windows Phone 7.x is no longer supported at all. Support ended on 14 October 2014. Microsoft Product Lifecycle Search

Yes I know that, but it isnt the point.
Android Gingerbread came out in December 2010
but it will still play some of the current games.
Ice cream sandwich plays alot of the current games.

Nokia Lumia 900 came out I believe mid 2012 and you can still buy them brand new, and that's a Windows 7 phone.

Windows just doesn't have the developer support that android does, and that's what needs to change.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Yes I know that, but it isnt the point.
Android Gingerbread came out in December 2010
but it will still play some of the current games.
Ice cream sandwich plays alot of the current games.

Nokia Lumia 900 came out I believe mid 2012 and you can still buy them brand new, and that's a Windows 7 phone.

Windows just doesn't have the developer support that android does, and that's what needs to change.

Why would the developers be expected to support an OS version that Microsoft doesn't even support?

 

[walterg1]

Why would the developers be expected to support an OS version that Microsoft doesn't even support?

Some of the developers are still supporting an OS version of Android from late 2010 so why wouldn't they support a newer OS.
Ice cream sandwich is still widely supported by game developers and it came out in October 2011.

I guess they figure the numbers of Windows 7 users isn't great enough to release new games for.?

 

[salmanahmad]

Despite all those hundreds of apps that you describe as "garbage" on Android and iOS, an app gap nonetheless exists.

The Windows Phone store is still behind in the number of apps, even those that aren't garbage, add to that the quality of apps that are on Windows Phone is mostly subpar compared to Android/iOS.

And apps apart, the Windows Phone Store lacks quite a lot of quality gaming titles, forget gaming titles, it lacks quality in general.

No offence, but these are the facts.

 

[tgp]

Looking thru the Windows phone app store most of what I need will be supported.

Yes, the gap is closing as far as the big name apps that are available. If you have an issue, it might be with the quality of the apps. WP is still way behind there. I still don't use a Facebook app on WP. I prefer to use the website.

 

[David Rupnik]

Funny thing no one mensions that a OS thats 5 years old can't have as much apps as a OS thats 8/7 years old.And the fact that Android is way more advertized then WP.I mean,last year I gave my Lumia 630 to my teacher because I wanted to note something and she didn't even know which OS this is or even which phone it is.And we have a advertaizment poster of this phone in school,which she walks bye everday.And its a big poster,like all across the wall.

 

[tgp]

Re: Is there a real "app gap"?

Funny thing no one mensions that a OS thats 5 years old can't have as much apps as a OS thats 8/7 years old.

This makes sense, but yet age doesn't change the user experience. If an app I want is missing, it's missing. It doesn't make me any difference how old (or young) the OS is.

Sent from whatever device I happen to be using today using Tapatalk

 

[Roderick Aspiras]

I think there is a real "app gap" for some people who seem to cannot live without it. I'm not an app person. I rarely play games most of my smartphone usage is phone calls, sms, web browsing, FB, twitter, music and watching youtube videos. If there's something I need to do like banking, I'm on my laptop or desktop or Acer Iconia W4 so it depends on people's need. I think app is a great selling point for some people who really do not know what they want or what they really need. I chose WP because I like it, I'm a MS fan and it does a pretty good job of what I want it to do for now.