New to Windows Phone; some observations and questions

[reversalagent]

I took the plunge and bought a used 928 off of eBay. So far, getting used to it after coming from Android. I have posted some in the 928 forum, but wanted to post some thoughts/questions in the general forums:

1. Calendar tile. for the time being, I hooked in my Google account on this phone. Included in the account are calendar entries also. Using a double wide tile on the start screen, it only shows 1 entry, even if there are multiple entries for that day. The same with the lock screen. Is this right?

1a. This is the same for the double wide text message tile too it seems. It will only show one listing instead of multiple if there are unread text.

2. Brightness. I have tried it multiple ways, with the automatic brightness on and the brightness set to low. No matter what, if I pick the phone up in the morning in a fairly dark room, it is quite bright. Anyone have any suggestions or ideas?

3. I have a Windows 8 machine with Bing Finance and some stocks added within the app. I downloaded Bing Finance to have access to those stocks easily on the phone also. Alas, there are not listed automatically. Is there no sync between desktop and phone version of Bing finance?

 

[DBDev]

1. I Think it is that way.
2. Does it get darker if you set it to the lowest setting and turn of auto?
3. I don't think you can sync them, but I'm not sure.

 

[mpt15]

The in built calendar will only show one entry. But there are other apps that can show multiple entries on the double wide tile:
Chronos calendar
Iconical
Simple calendar.

Im sure there are more apps. Check them out in the store.

 

[crash1989]

My responses in bold

I took the plunge and bought a used 928 off of eBay. So far, getting used to it after coming from Android. I have posted some in the 928 forum, but wanted to post some thoughts/questions in the general forums:

1. Calendar tile. for the time being, I hooked in my Google account on this phone. Included in the account are calendar entries also. Using a double wide tile on the start screen, it only shows 1 entry, even if there are multiple entries for that day. The same with the lock screen. Is this right?

1a. This is the same for the double wide text message tile too it seems. It will only show one listing instead of multiple if there are unread text.

Yes, it only shows the one event or text message. I suggest you get one of the awesome calendar apps available on windows phone calendar | Windows Phone Central
As for the text message there is no such app I know of. The lockscreen also shows only one event or message.

2. Brightness. I have tried it multiple ways, with the automatic brightness on and the brightness set to low. No matter what, if I pick the phone up in the morning in a fairly dark room, it is quite bright. Anyone have any suggestions or ideas?

There are quite a few threads on auto brightness issue Search | Windows Phone Central . It seems to be a hit and miss for many users.

3. I have a Windows 8 machine with Bing Finance and some stocks added within the app. I downloaded Bing Finance to have access to those stocks easily on the phone also. Alas, there are not listed automatically. Is there no sync between desktop and phone version of Bing finance?
No Windows 8 bing apps and WIndows phone 8 bing apps donot sync anything between them.

 

[Kellzea]

The built in calendar tile will only show one, but there are other apps that will show more detailed info.

The lock screen data can be increased again by using certain apps or setting them as main and secondary info points.

Auto is the darkest it goes, its a blessing and a curse, lumias are very very bright, this is awesome in the day, but stings at night.

I don't know anything about stocks im sorry.

 

[western_riders_dad]

Brightness. I have tried it multiple ways, with the automatic brightness on and the brightness set to low. No matter what, if I pick the phone up in the morning in a fairly dark room, it is quite bright. Anyone have any suggestions or ideas?

Just a comment or two. Your choice of background color and accent color within the theme settings can certainly have an impact on overall brightness of your screen. For example, I am using "emerald" for my accent color against a dark background. I chose this combination to potentially help a little with overall battery life, and a side-effect is more of an overall darker home screen. Of course, if you are viewing an application that has a white background, or light background then certainly the screen could come across as too bright, in a dark room.

Also, I have noticed that since the GDR2 / Amber update on my 928 that the screen is darker in general with it set to "automatic" brightness, in comparison to before the update. For me, this works well, although, others have commented that they feel the screen is now too dim for their preferences.

 

[reversalagent]

The built in calendar tile will only show one, but there are other apps that will show more detailed info.

The lock screen data can be increased again by using certain apps or setting them as main and secondary info points.

Auto is the darkest it goes, its a blessing and a curse, lumias are very very bright, this is awesome in the day, but stings at night.

I don't know anything about stocks im sorry.

Your 3rd point is it exactly. During the day, it is not bad and easy to see. In the morning or in a dark room, it can be blinding. There has to be some kind of happy medium. The phone came with the GDR2/Amber update, so not sure what it was like before this.

 

[WanderingTraveler]

1. Think of it as a limitation with the default tile APIs for Windows Phone.
2. Have you tried the following?
-Dark Background
-Brightness set to low
-Turn on battery saver brightness under settings>display+touch
-Turn on battery saver.
3. There is no sync. Believe me, I've been looking for it.

 

[Loco5150]

Check True Calendar 8. Im sure you will be pleased. It should work good with Google calendar.

 

[reversalagent]

2. Have you tried the following?
-Dark Background
-Brightness set to low
-Turn on battery saver brightness under settings>display+touch
-Turn on battery saver.

Yes, yes (with automatic brightness both on and off), yes and yes (when the charge is low). It is mostly in the mornings when waking up, it is insanely bright.

I know I am new to Windows Phone and would expect some changes/differences coming from a different platform, but so far, I really just don't get some design decisions. You would think a Bing app would be synced to the desktop Bing app since MS is promoting the 3 screen model.

A double wide tile should be able to display more information than 1 line of text.

But, I digress, I will continue to give it a shot and see how it goes.