Microsoft needs to pay attention to RIM in regards to developers

[irvin792]

the type of developer you describe is what I refer to. They have no concept of common architectures and function points to economically support multiple platforms without doing it with quick hit handouts from sugar daddy providers like Microsoft or RIM. So they cry poor and support the "popular" platforms....where their app can join the literally 100s of thousands of apps that are never downloaded.

yea, win8/rt/wp are markets ripe for the pickins!

 

[a5cent]

I don't think Windows Phone is an arbitrary platform, as from what I understand its pretty simple to make your app windows8/RT/windows phone compatible, so your hitting 3 markets pretty easily.

I agree with you on that one. In this thread we were talking about porting between OS', like BB10, Android and WP, so my statements are only relevant to that topic...

Ports between WRT and WP8 are a different topic entirely.

A question... What makes it a better choice to develop for WP than say Symbian, Tizen or Jolla? Surely you would say market share, and I would agree, but to the bean counters they are all the same. If the estimated WP sales don't surpass estimated development costs, no developer will get permission to bring it to WP. To the bean counters, choosing any one of them over an other seems arbitrary...

 

[NokFromApp]

Wouldnt it be cool if MS released some big name apps around the 30th of Jan?

 

[a5cent]

the type of developer you describe is what I refer to. They have no concept of common architectures and function points to economically support multiple platforms.

That criticism is probably fair to a degree. On the other hand, multiplatform capabilities weren't on anybodies minds when the platforms were developed (with the exception of RIM). Different OS features, different programing languages, different UI concepts and guidelines... all those things make it extremely difficult to abstract away the differences as you suggest.

Im fairly certain that in most cases, developing a multiplatform foundation is likely more expensive than just rewriting the entire app, not to mention the maintenance costs such code would incur by having to keep up with OS developments on iOS, Android and WP.

 

[ttsoldier]

.

However, providing AAA titles EXCLUSIVELY to WP carries none of those risks while offering many more benefits. Want to play multiplayer Madden NFL, Halo or Farcry on your mobile device? ... only available on WP ... That is a much stronger sales pitch. That is about reversing the dynamics.

THIS. makes so much sense.

 

[Villain]

One thing we have to remember... RIM is a company that has 100% of it's focus on the mobile market.

BB10 looks amazing IMO but I'm going to wait and see.

 

[ttsoldier]

.

BB10 looks amazing IMO but I'm going to wait and see.

BB10 Looks like IOS and Android smashed together. Please. What is so amazing about it? You can swipe sh*t from the side? Whoop. Dee. Doo.

 

[Villain]

BB10 Looks like IOS and Android smashed together. Please. What is so amazing about it? You can swipe sh*t from the side? Whoop. Dee. Doo.

Clearly you don't pay attention to the ouside markets. did I say it seems to be the best at everything? nope BUT it does have some nice features.

 

[aniym]

Developers can act like real whores sometimes. Good devs won't flock to the platform of the day for a quick hit of cash, but I've seen plenty that do. You know them, they are the apps in the marketplace that were updated maybe once or twice and then they orphaned the app while continuing to develop for ios or android.

If they continue to update their Android/iOS apps but abandon the WP version, chances are there wasn't much cash to be had anyway.

 

[LeLee092]

#1 is going to make them look wayy to desperate, once your lower your prices or have something free, its hard to get people back to paying the original price.
Its going to decrease their value and integrity.

I like idea #2 (not sure if thats legal, it could be misguiding), but i agree with #3 and #5!

 

[tungha]

One thing we have to remember... RIM is a company that has 100% of it's focus on the mobile market.

BB10 looks amazing IMO but I'm going to wait and see.

remember when they release the Playbook, that's also an amazing tablet. Then what happened to that tablet now? I don't think RIM can recover since they've been already out of the race

 

[Napocensis]

BB10 Looks like IOS and Android smashed together. Please. What is so amazing about it? You can swipe sh*t from the side? Whoop. Dee. Doo.

Can?t believe how mesmerized people are about WP live tiles and forget about the intrinsic functionality of an OS. WP has few great features, but for my needs it still can?t compare to BB of 5 years ago, and I do not think it stands a chance to BB10.

I don?t care if I swipe left or right, push, pull, press or depress, but just give me the bloody functionality to perform basic tasks, such as attaching a PDF from a folder to an email.

 

[Jabid21]

This is my first post in the forums, however I haven't created a thread so I'm posting this as a suggestion of what should have been included with WP8 off the bat.
I think Microsoft needs to get their heads together and be more serious about developing and fixing the shortcomings of Windows Phone. First of all they should actually listen to its customer complaints regarding the features (or lack thereof) in the OS. They also need to make quicker and smaller update schedule so that they can roll out and deliver bugfixes and improvements faster.

These are some suggestions (in no particular order) MS could do IMO to make Windows Phone better. Certain features mirror its cousin Windows 8/RT and even its competitors.

1. More customizability: Introduce a color palette that users can touch/drag/slide or enter hex color code to customize tile color. Also include more background colors other than black and white. However, I don't think wallpaper on start screen would be a good idea considering the amount of dead space the live tiles leave.
2. Support for file explorer: Include a file explorer to allow access to user storage. Since Windows Phone 8+ supports external microSD, let user make use the most of the card with more freedom. This support should also include the ability to phone to browse files for uploading and attaching files of any extension.
3. Support for app (and its data) to be installed on the SD card: (I'm not sure if it actually is available) This was supported on WM, there are cheap 4-8GB phones out there that has little space for user.
4. Better support for file/link associations: Let the user decide which app to launch by default when a certain file is opened or a link activated. Example: If we click a link to youtube, an app like MetroTube should launch to play the video instead of opening the website.
5. Support for gestures: Like its bigger cousins WP can be a whole lot more intuitive if gestures are included. This will make task switching and UI navigation easier. (I tend to swipe in from the right and hit the windows button in Win8/RT instead of reaching for the button at the bottom)
6. A smarter Tellme: Just to keep bloggers from shunning WP on this matter.
7. Scalable screen resolution and allow higher specced chipsets: Android is already one step ahead of the game as its flagships devices will be shipping with 1080p screens and 4+ core A15 chipsets. WP may be up to snuff as it is but falling behind makes blogger complain and take away the opportunity to bragging rights.
8. Ability to scrub/seek video, music on default players: I mean, really, is this part so hard to miss? Tapping and holding buttons are painful and counter-intuitive.

RIM is seemingly hitting the right notes regarding many of these issues, and apparently app submission numbers for its portathon are pretty high. I love windows phone and respect its competitors but I don't want WP to go the way of webOS because of MS's inability to fix these apparently minor issues. Sometimes it's the little things that can take things far. I wish MS luck this year. They might need it. I apologize for the long post and am willing to take it down if I violate any rule.

 

[redtalon]

MS did do a massive giveaway at //build/ and there were a lot of developers there. Watched the keynote Ballmer got up on stage and did his usual lively performance - if i remember right every developer there got a free lumia 920 a free surface rt, massive boost to skydrive storage and a reduction on signing up as a windows 8 developer. Thats around $1000 of incentives for developers that were there. How much more do they need?

I didn't realise that the BUILD conference has MS employees in it and some don't even program...

As for incentives, the platform needs more phones out there, needs more apps to get more phones. Chicken and egg cycle. So they have to bribe devs to create an app, otherwise its a waste of time and money for them, especially with two other platforms which create more opportunities.

 

[ttsoldier]

Clearly you don't pay attention to the ouside markets. did I say it seems to be the best at everything? nope BUT it does have some nice features.

First you said it looks amazing, now it "has some nice features"

There s a massive difference there... I'll agree that it has some nice features. Amazing? Far from it.

 

[martinmc78]

I didn't realise that the BUILD conference has MS employees in it and some don't even program...

As for incentives, the platform needs more phones out there, needs more apps to get more phones. Chicken and egg cycle. So they have to bribe devs to create an app, otherwise its a waste of time and money for them, especially with two other platforms which create more opportunities.

And the point of your post was? An attempt at sarcasm with the first line?
As for the next bit. I dont see giving devs the tools they need to create apps bribery, its more good business sense. Im developing apps win WP8 myself, havent recieved a single bribe yet, still doing my day job and coding in the hour or two i get at home.
Please also explain how there are more opportunities developing for iOS and android? App markets on both are saturated with many apps duplicated and useless. If you think about it the best opportunity you'll ever get is right now, developing for an emerging platform with an emerging app market. You should know that being a developer yourself.

 

[tk-093]

Sounds like RIM has a gigantic advantage over MS for apps. From what I have been told by RIM, a developer can take an Android app, and in 5 minutes it can be running on a BB10 device. The user won't even tell what is a native BB10 app and what is running in the "android player."

 

[a5cent]

Sounds like RIM has a gigantic advantage over MS for apps. From what I have been told by RIM, a developer can take an Android app, and in 5 minutes it can be running on a BB10 device. The user won't even tell what is a native BB10 app and what is running in the "android player."

Well, it's not that easy... or more precisely... it can be, but usually isn't (at least that is what people say on RIM's developer support forums). But still, investing a couple days to port an Android app to BB10, as opposed to a few months to port it to WP, is a huge difference!

How well this actually works remains to be seen though. It might be awesome, but it might also turn out to look like down town lag central. I wish them well, but want to hear what people think before I make up my mind how great it is. I'd also like to know how well such apps integrate with the OS, if at all. The potential is certainly there. Go RIM!