List here what you DO NOT like on 8.1.

[allanbarthelot]

Was looking forward to the notification centre so i could toggle between data and wifi easily, really disappointed there no data. Hope they add it soon

 

[Marked One]

Apart from horrible music, video, pictures app and sluggish interface there's still NO option to control volume only by touch when music is not playing, without touching the volume rocker all the time. After all hardware buttons do have a limited lifespan...

 

[MikeSo]

The music and Videos hub in WP8 was cool, but I really didn't use it for much.

I guess it is different from person to person, but I think many of us here who either never or rarely used other smartphones might have used the hubs in WP differently than those who were already accustomed to how they work in other systems.

I used the hubs extensively, both the People and Music ones. I listen to music on YouTube through myTube and used the links in the Music hub to go to recently played videos. I played podcasts through it, and of course music from Xbox Music which I subscribe to. When I wanted to listen to something, I just clicked on the Music hub - I didn't have to think about the source. Now that is, unfortunately, gone. What makes matters worse is that Xbox Music (the WP8.1 app, not the service) is so much slower on my Lumia 521 than the Music hub was. I guess if they made it at least speed up, it would lessen the damage.

Same with the lack of FB integration in the People hub and Messaging. While it still shows the status updates on FB, to actually read comments or respond, it now has to open the FB app, which is slooooow in comparison. Yes, it has more features. But the quick "in and out" that Microsoft touted back in the day (remember those ads?) is gone. This benefits FB I'm sure, but not me.

Same with Messaging, I never had to care whether I sent or received a message through FB or SMS, it was exactly the same for me, and quick to boot. Now, it's the FB Messenger app, which has to launch every time... and yeah, it's not that fast either. And if I want to send a message, I have to decide first which service to use, and see if they are online there. No more quick switching between them. Not a big thing - but another step away from what WP was conceived as.

Maybe things will be better once apps are better optimized and can launch faster. But wasn't the whole selling point of WP that we shouldn't NEED all these apps for everything? It was one of the things I liked the most about it at least. I get the real world constraints, and the need to keeping up with development of these external services, but it's still disappointing that the core philosophy behind the OS is all but dropped now.

 

[mrllano]

To those who are wondering, the Facebook contracts are still there. You just have to go to settings and edit the filter options. You can view your Facebook friends again in your people hub. Hope it helps. It will work just like before.

 

[Sockymon]

My music app just gives me a black screen. I can't listen to any tunes, not impressed! However, running Podcast Lounge from my SD card has solved my 820's memory shortages and given me something to listen to.

 

[MikeSo]

They are there. It does NOT work as before, it now relies on having the FB app installed.

 

[garak0410]

• XBOX Music App Is Half Baked - Doesn't list my artists from the cloud, no more live tile of who is playing on the start screen.
• Hubs - I kind of miss Hubs, especially the Photo Hub...it is kind of sparse now.
• Facebook Integration - I can almost live without the Facebook Integration like it was before but I find myself missing it a little.

 

[Zoolok]

Using facebook credentials, yes. However, you have to first go to the facebook website (in this case app)
Have a read of this Microsoft drops Facebook and Flickr photo integration from Windows 8.1, recommends official apps | The Verge

Uh, that says, and I quote, "Now there are many apps in the store that offer ways to view photos on other services", about the photos hub on Windows 8 (not Windows Phone), but I'm guessing the logic is the same behind Windows Phone. The basically said that, initially, few applications were available, but now there are plenty, so they don't have to bother with it any more. Oh well.

 

[Ebuka Allison]

I guess it is different from person to person, but I think many of us here who either never or rarely used other smartphones might have used the hubs in WP differently than those who were already accustomed to how they work in other systems.

I used the hubs extensively, both the People and Music ones. I listen to music on YouTube through myTube and used the links in the Music hub to go to recently played videos. I played podcasts through it, and of course music from Xbox Music which I subscribe to. When I wanted to listen to something, I just clicked on the Music hub - I didn't have to think about the source. Now that is, unfortunately, gone. What makes matters worse is that Xbox Music (the WP8.1 app, not the service) is so much slower on my Lumia 521 than the Music hub was. I guess if they made it at least speed up, it would lessen the damage.

Same with the lack of FB integration in the People hub and Messaging. While it still shows the status updates on FB, to actually read comments or respond, it now has to open the FB app, which is slooooow in comparison. Yes, it has more features. But the quick "in and out" that Microsoft touted back in the day (remember those ads?) is gone. This benefits FB I'm sure, but not me.

Same with Messaging, I never had to care whether I sent or received a message through FB or SMS, it was exactly the same for me, and quick to boot. Now, it's the FB Messenger app, which has to launch every time... and yeah, it's not that fast either. And if I want to send a message, I have to decide first which service to use, and see if they are online there. No more quick switching between them. Not a big thing - but another step away from what WP was conceived as.

Maybe things will be better once apps are better optimized and can launch faster. But wasn't the whole selling point of WP that we shouldn't NEED all these apps for everything? It was one of the things I liked the most about it at least. I get the real world constraints, and the need to keeping up with development of these external services, but it's still disappointing that the core philosophy behind the OS is all but dropped now.

Well yeah, tI used the music and video hub for that as well. It was nice to have, but never really did work for MyTube and MetroTube all the time. As for facebook, notice that twitter integration is still present. Perhaps Microsoft should have replaced FB messenger with twitter DM's. That would've been awesome.Arrgh, damn facebook, I loved that integration . And the messaging being gone annoys me as well because I have two facebook accounts, and use the messenger for the other one. However, it was half done and prone to outages. Not sure whose fault that is . I generally message with Whatsapp, Skype or Via text so this really doesn't hit me much. To be fair, it;s neither better nor worse, just different. Speaking of which What happened to the quick Tweet and Facebook post buttons on Control Center in iOS 7? | iMore
Same thing with Apple last year. Hmm...

 

[cannon#WP]

-where is the agenda view in the calendar?

This is one that has me scratching my head. Yes, I like the new weekly view, but the agenda view was way easier for me to read. Why remove one in lieu of the other?

 

[Ebuka Allison]

Uh, that says, and I quote, "Now there are many apps in the store that offer ways to view photos on other services", about the photos hub on Windows 8 (not Windows Phone), but I'm guessing the logic is the same behind Windows Phone. The basically said that, initially, few applications were available, but now there are plenty, so they don't have to bother with it any more. Oh well.

Actually, the photos hub in windows phone still works for viewing facebook photos. It's the use our apps thing that's different.

 

[captaincalamity]

Surely integration of Facebook, twitter and your whole image/social accounts is the the key feature that windows phone stands out beyond Android and iOS...remove this...Windows phone doesn't stand out anymore, am I wrong.

 

[jasqid]

me too, cortona isn't made for the uk so i won't use it until it is released world wide

I've come to the conclusion, after playing around with Cortana for 24 hours, that its just a gimmick. Yeah its a beta and probly will get better down the road but its just a catchup right now. I cant see myself using this any further than as a quick way to make a reminder or schedule a date... quicker than I could type it.

 

[Idzaudin Idz]

Heating issue here! Without intensive use

 

[Pedro Guong]

The comma is still there, you just have to look for it on Keyboad.. Talking about Windows 8.1, I don`t like to have a Cellphone data carrier shorcut on the Notification Center. Also, I miss the option of silence the phone with just one touch...

 

[JohnStrk]

Surely integration of Facebook, twitter and your whole image/social accounts is the the key feature that windows phone stands out beyond Android and iOS...remove this...Windows phone doesn't stand out anymore, am I wrong.

Agreed! The social network integration is one of my favorite WP 8 features.

From what I've been hearing, if you want to post something, Check In, or comment on a FB post from the Me & People Hubs, it opens the FB app? This is not integrated anymore and not very efficient. I think we will find the FB app wasting a lot more battery now especially if the background task needs to be allowed for any push notifications.

I guess Facebook was forcing these changes on Microsoft! Sad

 

[tapehead]

I just discovered that Xbox Music is now putting my artists in the wrong order.

Azealia Banks
Annie Lennox

Bryan Ferry
Broken Bells
Bobby Brown

Cyndi Lauper
Civil Twilight
Cro

Duran Duran
Del Amitri
David Bowie
Dire Straits
Des'ree
Damone

WHAT EVEN IS THIS.

 

[Jeff Pun]

Why they remove the 24 hour format from date and time, and also please change back to the original xbox game and music , this one is making it more user unfriendly. Also, add a few more choice for tile size
For system, let the background task bar return
Calender: give my back the old style

 

[Keith Wallace]

So much to dislike...

1. The games are in the app list, and that pisses me off (probably more than it should). One of my favorite things about Windows Phone was that the Games hub kept both lists (app and games) from being cluttered by the other. I hated having to use the app drawer on Android, then sift through apps AND games. Now, this has almost ruined everything decent about the update single-handedly.

2. System apps don't use transparent tiles. I already hated that they didn't follow the accent color. Now that they won't play nicely with the transparency, it makes that transparency look stupid, meaning I'll never be using that setting.

3. Xbox Music and Xbox Video are separate apps, and you can't uninstall either. I didn't mind that they were splitting the apps because I never used my device for videos. I figured I'd delete the Video app and get a little more storage. Instead, it can't be removed, meaning all we got was a more-cluttered app drawer from it.

4. I'm not finding a way to re-enable holding the Search button on the lockscreen to open Bing. I liked that, because I usually was searching from the context of taking my phone out of my pocket.

Not even going to lie, I'm not sure I consider 8.1 and actual upgrade for Windows Phone, in terms of personal use. I never wanted/needed a notification center, as everything I wanted notifications for was a live tile. I never felt like Music+Video needed split. I liked not having my games and apps in the same group. I don't believe that Cortana is any less of a spybot than what Siri or Google Now would be, to be quite honest. I also don't need the things Cortana offers (voice-based things don't interest me). I freely admit that the package of things that WP 8.1 offers make it closer to what the average user wants, but as someone who doesn't use his phone for a whole lot, it is a major step back for me.

I want my uncluttered app list back. I want my "hold search to open Bing from lockscreen" back. I want device-wide consistency with my tiles.

 

[jwinch2]

I really don't like the changes of the phone app. I liked it when you could open the contacts through the phone app...

You still can.