Microsoft support for Windows Mobile

[anon(50597)]

No problems either here. Very very occasionally an app will play up. But that happens on all mobile platforms. I generally get more app crashing on Android 5 than win10m.

If you look at the multiple threads regarding the new builds you see that your experience isn't exactly normal.
I was the same way, until CU everything on my Idol4s was working great. Then problems started creeping in. It got to the point where it was unusable and I had to find something else. There's a reason mobile is losing so many customers: software problems and no support. That's an unsustainable business model.

Sent from mTalk on my SP4

 

[73blazer]

I have an ATT business account so whenever I have had a technical issue I get straight to MS enterprise support, which is both state-side and w/ high level techs. Sorry, consumer side...

I'm and AT&T Business customer. I use the premier website to manage my at&t account. Where is this super special business support for W10 mobile you speak of? AT&T has support for phones you buy from them, which is nice, never used it because the phones they sell are very limited. No 950Xl and no HP.

 

[K H 1979]

I have been a MS loyal since Nokia discontinued Symbian on its smartphones and went with MS. I had the Lumia 800, 920, 925, 930 and currently 950 XL as private phones and a Lumia 435 as a small business smartphone.

I am extremely disappointed, especially with the 950 XL**due to the frequent reboots (sometimes 4 to 5 times in 10 or 15 minutes!!!) and sudden shutdowns, battery drains etc... They have never been solved since I have the phone and the feedback that is being sent to them falls on deaf ears!

Last week I had to order a new phone and for the first time in years, I was confronted with the choice iOS or Android. I never used either one of these OSs. Windows was not an option since not supported anymore by our IT and they were reluctant to have to configure a phone with Win10Mobile while 99.99% of the company phones are either iOS or Android!

I went with Android since Apple never was and will be an option for me. I have the Samsung S7 now for 2 days and I'm absolutely not regretting my choice. Not only the phone is of premium quality built, Android 7 (Nougat) is very nice and intuitive. I had no issues whatsoever setting up the phone and even setting up my own e-mail account without any intervention from our IT!!!!!!

I am still holding on to my Lumia 950XL as my personal phone. I love the OS, I really do, but the lack of support and update, including the existing apps, more than the lack*of apps itself (which is bull), is my main concern and frustration. If by Q4 2017/Q1 2018 MS does not come with a clear support strategy for mobile and a great mobile device in line with their surface line-up of devices, I*will leave the platform indefinitely. A Samsung Note 8 or the current Galaxy S8+ would be one of the devices of choice... ****

 

[73blazer]

I have the Samsung S7 now //////// A Samsung Note 8 or the current Galaxy S8+ would be one of the devices of choice... ****

Speaking on support, while you'll have it so long as that is the latest Samsung model, Samsung is notorious for zero support/updates etc as soon as the next model comes out. You won't get new builds of android or updated anything except apps. Apps will update for a while until that app doesn't support the "old" version of android your phone is on .... and your left int he dust. Occasionally they'll post a build on their website for your "legacy" device (that is probably less than a year old), but installing these without the carriers sanctioning is time consuming, convoluted and those builds are loaded with more bugs than W10Mobile because they didn't have to do any rigid testing for mass OTA release, and they know these builds will only be installed by enthusiasts who really want the latest of android and everyone else who asks "hey, where's the update for my model"....they can point and say, here on our website see we have it...good luck figuring out how to install it if your not a tech person. The last one I installed was so riddled with bugs and there was no way to go back because the old "build" was the one that came on the phone and was not posted anywhere for a consumer to get, wireless didn't work with dhcp, constant crashes and reboots, VPN didn't work, certain apps using certain gps api's didn't work...it was unusable. I had to throw the phone away, at 9months in. There were certain hack fixes for some of the bugs posted by people, but to do the fixes you had to root the phone (a whole different time consuming process) and hack the core and then re-install your hacked "build" and try it. yeah....real nice. I'll never ever buy another samsung again.

 

[xandros9]

Speaking on support, while you'll have it so long as that is the latest Samsung model, Samsung is notorious for zero support/updates etc as soon as the next model comes out. You won't get new builds of android or updated anything except apps. Apps will update with features for the "new one" and your left int he dust. Occasionally they'll post a build on their website for your "legacy" device that is probably less than a year old, but installing these without the carriers sanctioning is time consuming, convoluted and those builds are loaded with more bugs than W10Mobile.

Samsung flagships consistently get two major OS updates throughout their lifespan.

And funnily enough, my dad's bottom-of-the-bargain-bin early 2016(?) Samsung (on Cricket) is getting security patches. Not monthly like BlackBerry, but every two-three months.

 

[AndyCalling]

I have a Lumia 950XL and whilst I will certainly not claim B2X are a good support company at all, the issues described in this thread are not quite as they are being described. I have a fully up to date OS and set of apps (not insider or beta). I have tested the MS Mail app with continuum and it works fine. That being the case, either MS have fixed the app bug the OP reported in a matter of days (pretty good dev response time for a big company) or B2X was correct to suggest reflashing the phone OS. If you don't have the equipment to do this (any cheap 2nd hand laptop with a USB port will do it) then you need to return your phone to get it reflashed. Same would be true for any Apple or Android device. Others hijacking this thread to report many crashes as 'bugs' know very well (assuming they have looked at the L950XL forum here at all) that this is a problem with their battery or they need a hard reset or a reflash. To those, misrepresenting your issue and hijacking threads won't reduce your annoyance. Better to actually address your problems directly, as they can be solved. Calling everything an OS bug will likely just mislead others and discourage them from looking for solutions to their own issues which is a bit mean really (though I'm sure you didn't mean it to be). The only significant bugs I have with the OS ATM is the Edge browser unresponsive tab on most launches, but we all have that one and I expect it is being worked on. It is easily worked around. The broken MS Wireless Display Adapter app is getting annoying and MS need to hurry up with a fix for that (happens to all phone users since CU) but the adapter itself still works whilst we wait so not a huge issue for now. Ok, B2X are awful in general, but even if through blind luck their advice in this matter I have to say, grudgingly, is not incorrect.

 

[73blazer]

Samsung flagships consistently get two major OS updates throughout their lifespan.

I disagree, from first hand experience. I had a flagship note 1, as soon as note 2 came, no more android updates, security [patches, ZERO, and the next up version of android was so different, half the apps updated to a point where they had to make a choice to cut off the old version of android or some of the apps offered two versions of the app to support older versions of android.
My brother in-law had a S5, same story, S6 (or 7, I don't quite remember if that was the battery debacle or not) came, and his device no longer got ANYTHING from samsung.
Two builds OTA from the carrier....no way.

 

[73blazer]

I have a Lumia 950XL and whilst I will certainly not claim B2X are a good support company at all, the issues described in this thread are not quite as they are being described. I have a fully up to date OS and set of apps (not insider or beta). I have tested the MS Mail app with continuum and it works fine. That being the case, either MS have fixed the app bug the OP reported in a matter of days (pretty good dev response time for a big company) or B2X was correct to suggest reflashing the phone OS. If you don't have the equipment to do this (any cheap 2nd hand laptop with a USB port will do it) then you need to return your phone to get it reflashed. Same would be true for any Apple or Android device. Others hijacking this thread to report many crashes as 'bugs' know very well (assuming they have looked at the L950XL forum here at all) that this is a problem with their battery or they need a hard reset or a reflash. To those, misrepresenting your issue and hijacking threads won't reduce your annoyance. Better to actually address your problems directly, as they can be solved. Calling everything an OS bug will likely just mislead others and discourage them from looking for solutions to their own issues which is a bit mean really (though I'm sure you didn't mean it to be). The only significant bugs I have with the OS ATM is the Edge browser unresponsive tab on most launches, but we all have that one and I expect it is being worked on. It is easily worked around. The broken MS Wireless Display Adapter app is getting annoying and MS need to hurry up with a fix for that (happens to all phone users since CU) but the adapter itself still works whilst we wait so not a huge issue for now. Ok, B2X are awful in general, but even if through blind luck their advice in this matter I have to say, grudgingly, is not incorrect.

It's a bug, and it's still there. The mail app works in continuum IF you use hp desk dock or MS's display dock. Using miracast wireless or hP's lapdock (wire or wireless), it's broke. I did reflash the lumia, doesn't help. It's a bug, hands down, no doubt. There's several upvotes on it in feedback, and others are reporting the same thing. I've tried on two other people's Lumia 950's and the problem is there too. The problem is reproducible and is absolutely a problem with the mail app in the latest version if using the 'production' build of the OS and not any of the insider stuff.
Besides, "reloading the OS from scratch" is not a solution. Aside from being extremely time consuming , that fact that this is acceptable so commonly by some is a joke. Half the time the answer is even more involved as it involves reloading and then NOT restoring your backup and having to set everything back up from nothing. That is absolutely not acceptable.

 

[AndyCalling]

I am using the Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter v2 (so Miracast) with the latest release version OS and mail app with continuum and can assure you this is not a universal problem. If you reset now, due to the changes with the CU you will likely not have the same need to hard reset in the future as updates are now provided differently. Unless I have a magic phone, this is not a bug that affects everyone. That means you can correct it, unless you have a hardware issue (doesn't sound like it). Have you tried a different mail account? Perhaps you have an account problem? Perhaps you have installed other software that is interacting badly with your phone? This is demonstrably not a universal problem so waiting for a 'bug fix' may not be a great plan A.

 

[AndyCalling]

I've just checked the calendar as well to make sure, and that also works in Continuum. Could it be a local server issue? If so, trying a non-MS account might help. Just try wiping all your mail app settings and accounts from your phone app because something is upsetting your app that is demonstrably not affecting mine. This means you can solve it, it is possible. I know this is frustrating but there is a solution somewhere. Just waiting may not prove fruitful though, because MS may not be able to duplicate the issue from their end.

 

[AndyCalling]

One more idea, perhaps your Miracast dongle is causing issue somehow? I know my Roku Stick no longer works properly (audio issues) since it got an update, so it could be third party issues somehow. My MS adapter does work fine though. I can't test with my wired dock right now, but I will at the weekend. Wireless works fine though.

 

[73blazer]

I've just checked the calendar as well to make sure, and that also works in Continuum. Could it be a local server issue? If so, trying a non-MS account might help. Just try wiping all your mail app settings and accounts from your phone app because something is upsetting your app that is demonstrably not affecting mine. This means you can solve it, it is possible. I know this is frustrating but there is a solution somewhere. Just waiting may not prove fruitful though, because MS may not be able to duplicate the issue from their end.

I don't know what a "wireless adapter" is, if you connect via "wireless" that's miracast in my book. There's no additional hardware to use wireless, so I don't know what a wireless adapter is. I just hit continuum, connect and pick the thing I want to connect to (TV that supports mira-cast, lapdock etc), connect and try to launch the mail app on the connected display and it will crash. It will open on the phone wihile connected in continuum, but not on the connected display. Outlook logo and crash. .
Every phone I try I can produce the issue. My old lumia I reloaded and without putting anything on the phone , no backup, no apps, nothing, mail app crashes right way. HP has also produced the issue and is working it from their end. It is a bug, no question about it. You can take a phone that hadn't been updated in a while and it works just fine, update the mail app to latest without doing anything else, and it's broke.

Your missing the point with the post.
There's no support and if support is me spending 3 days trying different things, reloading,s crewing with settings, wiping my mail accounts.....that's not support. While perhaps it's not a universal problem, it sure seems to happen on every device I try or have asked people to try....so it's not just my account or mail or apps. Lumia, HP, doesn't, matter.
Where's the support, your left on your own with piece meal suggestions from forums, feedback, etc That's NOT support. B2X is NOT support. Saying "reload" every time there's an issue just because it "might" fix the problem, is NOT support. Asking the customer to try 290 different things is NOT support.Support is investigating the matter and telling your customer, with confidence, do this and it will fix it, or fix the app or bug. This is a bug, the latest mail app is the culprit, 100%. And it needs fixed.

 

[xandros9]

I disagree, from first hand experience. I had a flagship note 1, as soon as note 2 came, no more android updates, security [patches, ZERO, and the next up version of android was so different, half the apps updated to a point where they had to make a choice to cut off the old version of android or some of the apps offered two versions of the app to support older versions of android.
My brother in-law had a S5, same story, S6 (or 7, I don't quite remember if that was the battery debacle or not) came, and his device no longer got ANYTHING from samsung.
Two builds OTA from the carrier....no way.

Security updates didn't really come to the forefront until the security patch level appeared in phone's about screens in 2015 or so.

But what I'm thinking is that if your experience isn't in line with the list below, your service provider probably interfered or decided updates wouldn't be pushed.

Back in 2013-ish, there was some hubbub about how AT&T delayed a major OS and firmware update for the Lumia 920 and 820 for over several months. Or how Verizon decided not to release Windows Phone 8.1 for their WP8.0 devices. (until they had a change of heart with 8.1 Update 1.)

They have a lot of control but hey, sometimes weird things happen like in the case of the T-Mo S4 as noted before.

Samsung is hardly the shining example of speed and consistency to hold up but still...

Galaxy S III - Launched in May 2012 with 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, currently on 4.3 Jelly Bean. (with some 2 GB RAM models on 4.4 KitKat.)

Galaxy S 4 - Launched in April 2013 with 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, upgraded to 5.0.1 Lollipop. (and weirdly enough, the T-Mobile one got January 2017's security update)

Galaxy S 5 - Launched in April 2014 with 4.4.2 KitKat, upgraded to 6.0 Marshmallow to date.

Galaxy S 6 - Launched in March 2015 with 5.0.2 Lollipop, upgraded to 7.0 Nougat to date.

Galaxy S 7 - Launched in March 2016 6.0 Marshmallow, upgraded to 7.0 Nougat and 8.x O_ is not even available yet.

Galaxy Note - Launched in October 2011(!) with 2.3.5 Gingerbread, upgraded to 4.1.2 Jelly Bean to date.

Galaxy Note II - Launched in September 2012 with 4.1.1 Jelly Bean, upgraded to 4.4.2 KitKat to date.

Galaxy Note III - Launched in September 2013 with 4.3 Jelly Bean, upgraded to 5.0 Lollipop to date.

Galaxy Note 4 - Launched in October 2014 with 4.4.4 KitKat, upgraded to 6.0 Marshmallow to date.

Galaxy Note 5 - Launched in August 2015 with 5.1 Lollipop, upgraded to 7.0 Nougat to date.

 

[tgp]

Samsung is notorious for zero support/updates etc as soon as the next model comes out.

The S6 has been followed by the S7 and the S8. The S6 was release with Lollipop, and it now has Nougat.

 

[AndyCalling]

https://forums.windowscentral.com/e...display-adapter%2F8vwdj9bd9xlz&token=ZQ8cDvLh

It is the standard MS miracast adapter for Continuum, and Continuum via this standard miracast adapter runs the mail and calendar app fine for me on the Lumia 950XL. And yes, I do mean on the TV screen and not on the phone screen. If you are using a different Miracast receiver then it means there may be a problem with the third party adapter (which could be built in to your display). I know that a recent update to my Roku Stick caused Continuum audio to bug out badly (though my W10 tablet still works fine with Roku). The MS adapter does have firmware extensions to miracast to reduce latency and increase range as well, so a worthwhile investment. Perhaps there's a firmware update for your miracast device that would help? If you can, it is very much worth getting an MS adapter for continuum anyway as it avoids third party issues and works with hardly any latency for continuum. If you can't, check with your device forums to see if the problems are experienced by others there. It may provide clues that could help you find an answer.

Yes, B2X are awful, but in this specific case their advice is not wrong. They will not be able to help with third party issues though, nor with MS account issues, and I'm thinking you might find a problem lurking there somewhere. In future, due to the changes in the CU, you should be far less likely to need a hard reset after an update. I think it worth a full reset without using any backup just one more time post CU (I did do this just in case) as I agree this should not be needed and so does MS hence the new changes to the update system for future updates after CU is installed.

You will love the MS miracast adapter if you can get it though. It is widely considered the best, and for Continuum it helps dodge many an issue in my experience as this is likely what MS tests with. It certainly does Continuum better than anything else.

 

[73blazer]

https://forums.windowscentral.com/e...display-adapter%2F8vwdj9bd9xlz&token=3WK5HaIu

It is the standard MS miracast adapter for Continuum, and Continuum via this standard miracast adapter runs the mail and calendar app fine for me on the Lumia 950XL. And yes, I do mean on the TV screen and not on the phone screen. If you are using a different Miracast receiver then it means there may be a problem with the third party adapter (which could be built in to your display). I know that a recent update to my Roku Stick caused Continuum audio to bug out badly (though my W10 tablet still works fine with Roku). The MS adapter does have firmware extensions to miracast to reduce latency and increase range as well, so a worthwhile investment. Perhaps there's a firmware update for your miracast device that would help? If you can, it is very much worth getting an MS adapter for continuum anyway as it avoids third party issues and works with hardly any latency for continuum. If you can't, check with your device forums to see if the problems are experienced by others there. It may provide clues that could help you find an answer.

Yes, B2X are awful, but in this specific case their advice is not wrong. They will not be able to help with third party issues though, nor with MS account issues, and I'm thinking you might find a problem lurking there somewhere. In future, due to the changes in the CU, you should be far less likely to need a hard reset after an update. I think it worth a full reset without using any backup just one more time post CU (I did do this just in case) as I agree this should not be needed and so does MS hence the new changes to the update system for future updates after CU is installed.

You will love the MS miracast adapter if you can get it though. It is widely considered the best, and for Continuum it helps dodge many an issue in my experience as this is likely what MS tests with. It certainly does Continuum better than anything else.

Oh, I didn't know they had an adaptor for displays without mira-cast. That may operate more like the hard dock.
But, it's not a third party issue and B2X's "advice" was and is wrong, solely on the premise of there is zero investigation and they are picking boilerplate tricks that fix general issues, sometimes, with zero confidence, knowledge or experience that it will correct your issue. Also wrong advice for this specific issue, as, this is an app problem that MS needs to fix, when you say you can produce the problem on multiple phones and accounts, a hard reset isn't gonna help you. I don't really have a desire to carry around a dongle as a solution, and you can't use the dongle with the HP lapdock anyway. It's 100%, not a "third party issue" or an account issue. It's the mail app.
It happens on any TV i've tried that has miracast, 1 LG, 2 Samsung thus far, and also on HP's lapdock which I really don't know what they're using, I know that can connect NFC, miracast/bluetooth, and wired. All modes of that fail.
And the fact that you can take a phone that hasn't been updated with the latest mail app, and update the mail app and then it's broke. That's a mail app issue. Also, HP has confirmed in the case I have with them since it doesn't work on the lapdock, they've reproduced the issue and that it's MS's problem with the mail app, it's important for them if stuff's not working on their lapdock.

 

[73blazer]

Security updates didn't really come to the forefront until the security patch level appeared in phone's about screens in 2015 or so.

But what I'm thinking is that if your experience isn't in line with the list below, your service provider probably interfered or decided updates wouldn't be pushed.

Back in 2013-ish, there was some hubbub about how AT&T delayed a major OS and firmware update for the Lumia 920 and 820 for over several months. Or how Verizon decided not to release Windows Phone 8.1 for their WP8.0 devices. (until they had a change of heart with 8.1 Update 1.)

They have a lot of control but hey, sometimes weird things happen like in the case of the T-Mo S4 as noted before.

Samsung is hardly the shining example of speed and consistency to hold up but still...

Galaxy S III - Launched in May 2012 with 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, currently on 4.3 Jelly Bean. (with some 2 GB RAM models on 4.4 KitKat.)

Galaxy S 4 - Launched in April 2013 with 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, upgraded to 5.0.1 Lollipop. (and weirdly enough, the T-Mobile one got January 2017's security update)

Galaxy S 5 - Launched in April 2014 with 4.4.2 KitKat, upgraded to 6.0 Marshmallow to date.

Galaxy S 6 - Launched in March 2015 with 5.0.2 Lollipop, upgraded to 7.0 Nougat to date.

Galaxy S 7 - Launched in March 2016 6.0 Marshmallow, upgraded to 7.0 Nougat and 8.x O_ is not even available yet.

Galaxy Note - Launched in October 2011(!) with 2.3.5 Gingerbread, upgraded to 4.1.2 Jelly Bean to date.

Galaxy Note II - Launched in September 2012 with 4.1.1 Jelly Bean, upgraded to 4.4.2 KitKat to date.

Galaxy Note III - Launched in September 2013 with 4.3 Jelly Bean, upgraded to 5.0 Lollipop to date.

Galaxy Note 4 - Launched in October 2014 with 4.4.4 KitKat, upgraded to 6.0 Marshmallow to date.

Galaxy Note 5 - Launched in August 2015 with 5.1 Lollipop, upgraded to 7.0 Nougat to date.

The note 1 was NOT updated to jellybean, not OTA to the masses. That jellybean build was the buggy POS I was talking about they buried on their website , you needed a bunch of weird third party tools and a PC to install it, and when you did it basically bricked the phone. And they stuck on their website at the time saying "this is the last update for this Legacy device", so whatever was in there, was it. That build, basically didn't work without a bunch of hacks.
Well, mabey they took enough complaints to heart,and improved their update process, and your definitely right that carriers can block releases at their whim, although I don't think that was the case with the note 1 as it was the same for verizon & AT&T people.
My brother in law was on verizon with his s5. He claims it is still on the kitkat and no update has been issued, and he means automatically through his carrier. Probably you can find an update on samsung website, but...you shouldn't need to go there, or have to use third party installers and PC's to "update" your phone. That very 1990'ish!

 

[Drael646464]

If you look at the multiple threads regarding the new builds you see that your experience isn't exactly normal.
I was the same way, until CU everything on my Idol4s was working great. Then problems started creeping in. It got to the point where it was unusable and I had to find something else. There's a reason mobile is losing so many customers: software problems and no support. That's an unsustainable business model.

Sent from mTalk on my SP4

I'm on the insiders preview. But I have heard people on the 4s have some bugs. I think MSFT have focused on the lumias and the x3, and probably neglected the 4s. And the 4s probably has an underestimated userbase too.

 

[anon(50597)]

I'm on the insiders preview. But I have heard people on the 4s have some bugs. I think MSFT have focused on the lumias and the x3, and probably neglected the 4s. And the 4s probably has an underestimated userbase too.

If I'm reading the threads right, it's not only people on the 4s having issues. At some point we have to stop making excuses. We all want the same thing, for MS to be successful. This isn't the way to do it in my view.

 

[extrikate]

I'm on the insiders preview. But I have heard people on the 4s have some bugs. I think MSFT have focused on the lumias and the x3, and probably neglected the 4s. And the 4s probably has an underestimated userbase too.

Device specific issues are typically due to the manufacturer not updating firmware more than it is Microsoft.