ChanceNC
New member
Re: Initial thoughts on Developer Preview of WP8.1
Well, sad to say, I was forced to revert to Windows Phone 8 yesterday afternoon. In some other posts in other threads, I mentioned that I started experiencing phantom back button/start button presses about three or four weeks ago. I *never* had these issues prior to moving to 8.1, yet I wanted to attribute the behavior to excessive heat causing the digitizer in my phone to act up. That may be the case, but if it is heat, it's probably because the phone doesn't know how to manage it because the firmware isn't in tune with the 8.1 software. It got to be just too annoying, so I torched it and went back to the latest WP8 release for my device. The thing is running like a champ. I have purposely been giving it the spurs (running GPS navigation, playing games, using it in direct sunlight) and it has yet to act up. That said, it might twitch like a jumping bean as soon as I click the Post button for this message.
But here's some funny stuff:
I don't miss the notification center.
I prefer not having persistent indicators at the top of the start screen for Wi-Fi, cellular, etc.
The tile background image is just eye candy. I couldn't care less about it. It was cool at first, but it just doesn't send me.
I wasn't using Cortana very much. I thought I would use it more as time progressed, but I didn't.
I do miss the separated volume controls.
I'll be just fine until the official release comes out. And for anybody else who is having issues on a Nokia device, reverting back to WP8 was a breeze following the instructions here: FAQ - FAQ - How can I recover/reset/restore my phone software? - Nokia - USA
8.1 is excellent, but it's not yet ready for prime time, at least not on the 928.
Well, sad to say, I was forced to revert to Windows Phone 8 yesterday afternoon. In some other posts in other threads, I mentioned that I started experiencing phantom back button/start button presses about three or four weeks ago. I *never* had these issues prior to moving to 8.1, yet I wanted to attribute the behavior to excessive heat causing the digitizer in my phone to act up. That may be the case, but if it is heat, it's probably because the phone doesn't know how to manage it because the firmware isn't in tune with the 8.1 software. It got to be just too annoying, so I torched it and went back to the latest WP8 release for my device. The thing is running like a champ. I have purposely been giving it the spurs (running GPS navigation, playing games, using it in direct sunlight) and it has yet to act up. That said, it might twitch like a jumping bean as soon as I click the Post button for this message.
But here's some funny stuff:
I don't miss the notification center.
I prefer not having persistent indicators at the top of the start screen for Wi-Fi, cellular, etc.
The tile background image is just eye candy. I couldn't care less about it. It was cool at first, but it just doesn't send me.
I wasn't using Cortana very much. I thought I would use it more as time progressed, but I didn't.
I do miss the separated volume controls.
I'll be just fine until the official release comes out. And for anybody else who is having issues on a Nokia device, reverting back to WP8 was a breeze following the instructions here: FAQ - FAQ - How can I recover/reset/restore my phone software? - Nokia - USA
8.1 is excellent, but it's not yet ready for prime time, at least not on the 928.
I'm a little over 24 hours in with WP8.1 on a Lumia 928 and I love-love-LOVE it. I thankfully have experienced virtually none of the bugs (yet) from the compilation thread, and I'm blown away by all the upgrades this update brought. The only thing I've noticed (and, really, it might have been present before the update) that might be considered an issue is an occasional and brief dropout in audio, happening once this morning while listening to Pandora in the car (could've been shoddy cell signal), and again this evening while playing NBA Jam (could've been something running in the background competing for resources).
Battery life is the same as it was pre-update. I took the phone off my charger at work around 6 PM this evening. I've been pounding it, browsing the internet, checking social networks, listening to music, giving it little chance to sleep or stay off. I'm at 55% battery remaining. That's a win.
The Action and Notification Center is a nice and overdue addition.
Separate volume adjustments was long overdue and works very well.
Cortana has not proven to be very useful yet, but that's because of my lifestyle. Functionally, it's excellent.
I was worried after reading reviews about the "neutered" hubs but, honestly, I prefer the way they work now over how they did before. And, with time, the "new way" will work even better.
My favorite feature upgrade is the ability to increase the number of tile columns and use an image for the tile backgrounds. It looks great and lends a very personal touch to the phone that wasn't there before.
Hoping for smooth sailing till the official carrier release!
(and, no, I did not do a clean install, but this is my first toe-dip into dev releases, so my OS was official from the get-go)