(Official) What WP needs to succeed

[theroo2001]

Sad to say, I left

I thought I'd just write a short review of Windows PHone 8, because to be honest it was really something i wanted to believe in.

I got the phone three weeks ago and loved the interface and the tiles and all. But as I started using it, lots of things just started to fall short.

1) I am a google ecosystem guy, so initially this really wasnt a problem in terms of syncing from WP8 to Google, but what I found really bad was that actually when I tried to migrate to the Windows eco system, this was tedious and laborious. Sure it was possible, but not simple. Actually, scratch that, it wasn't possible, because when I tried to migrate all my emails to outlook.com, outlook.com just stopped downloading it after a while, and that was after 2 attempts.

2) So even if I didn't even want to migrate my google ecosystem, the outlook/microsoft ecosystem just didn't work for me no matter how hard I tried. Microsoft somehow hasn't seemed to think any of this through. Sure the outlook.com email platform is very nice online, but things like Calendar just looked horrendous. and outlook.com was launched in August 2012. It's bad enough that it wasn't updated together, but after 4 months, hotmail calendar looked like it was from 1990! and, well, WP8 didn't even have a search function in the calendar.

3) Major apps for WP8 were all buggy. Whatsapp (sometimes messages got lost when sending and receiving a few at the same time, cannot send video from the camera roll, video capturing in whatsapp also buggy), Facebook (doesnt filter properly, and basically does not compare to iOS and android in terms of functions/usability) and so on and so forth.

4) WP8 itself lacked basic obvious things. Why could I not select multiple videos in camera roll. Why could i not delete multiple videos. Syncing with skydrive often was left wanting. Email threads often got confused in the mail app. Live tiles were buggy and didn't update properly.

5) And best of all, as I was going to sell my Lumia 920, the reset option in the phone was buggy and basically turned it into a brick. I also had some problems with the charging icon remaining on even when not charging. Not only that but as I tried to sync my WP8 with my mac it couldn't because i didn't have OSX 10.7 (which came out only a year ago) which really summed up the whole experience for me. Eventually it was the same old Windows through and through... amazingly inefficient and user unfriendly.

It's weird, but after all these years, Windows is still Windows, buggy as ever and just bizarre. I was prepared to overlook maybe a couple of these things, but after a while (only 3 weeks actually) i just couldn't take it.

Eventually I traded my Lumia 920 for a Nexus 4 and sure, the build quality isn't fantastic but who cares, it WORKS as a phone. and the customisability, well, it's android.

I'm sad to say that after using an Android phone for the first time ever (always had been an iPhone user for the past 6 years), I actually do not regret it, and am relieved i managed to get off the Windows Phone ecosystem. I won't go on about how good android is, but i just want to say i am very sorry that WP just didn't work out. Not solely because of Windows PHone itself, but really because of all the things that surround the ecosystem which are meant to work.

Ah well.

Please don't bash me, i guess some people will say "good riddance, we only want Windows lovers" but i really wanted to, i did, i tried. and i am really trying to be objective about the whole experience!

 

[halimaw96]

Seperate media volume
Notification Center
SWYPE. Please Microsoft.
Custom text alerts, as well as custom vibrate alerts
Individual tile colors, not just a theme.
Native smart dial. Yes RapDial is there, but still
Tile divider (super thin tile with label that lets you categorize your apps)
Playlist creation
Separate back button and forward button for IE10, the capacitive back button should be used for exiting the browser. Much better for exiting the browser w/o having to press it a billion times.
Orientation lock
Haptic feedback on keyboard
Better uses for the search button

Right now I'm having a little buyers remorse with my 920, I feel like I should've gone with android. But, I always like to root for the underdog. Add these features and I'll be a very happy camper.

 

[sdrawkcabII]

Re: (Official) Why I don't like WP8 Part 2 (What WP needs to succeed)

Going to stick with stuff that I don't believe has been said so far...

• Landscape/sideways viewing supported throughout the OS (including start screen)
• Vertical rectangle full sized tiles
• Close apps by swiping up or down in the multitasking window (it's a pain having to press the back button all the way through an app just to close it)
• Make the search button context sensitive again. I don't need 100% all the time access to Bing, I really don't.
• Cycle through unread messages/emails on the full sized message/email tile/lock screen instead of just the latest
• Display as much of the message as possible instead of just one line on the full sized message/email tile/lock screen.
• Search by phone number or email in contacts instead of just by name (sometimes I need to figure out who owns what number)
• The option to have a control bar (back/forward/refresh/tabs) in Internet explorer
• Open to favourites in Internet explorer if no page is open already.
• Pictures for plain text smilies (like in WP7 a colon and a close bracket plain text smilie would be replaced by a round yellow smilie face) so the smilies other people send me still look pretty n stuff.
• Enter button in the smilie list so I can start a new line right after putting in a smilie and not have to tap the smilie button again (the enter button is easier to reach and turned off smilies in WP7).
• Send/read offline Facebook messages natively instead of just in the app.
• Expand functionality of the news feed in the people hub (Like comments, etc).
• Tag people in check ins from the Me tile.
• Upload photos from the Me tile.
• Toast notifications from Facebook without the app (can you tell that I don't like using the Facebook app?)
• Skype integration without need for the app.
• Skype chat integration into the messages hub.
• More chat services in general really. We need more than just Facebook and MSN.
• Skype access without needing a Skype username. I should be able to just use my live email address to sign in (this is more of a problem that I have with Skype than WP8 though)
• The ability to add artist/album pics in the Music player natively (yes there's an app that does this, but it should be built in)
• A more feature rich media player in general would be swell, actually
• Zoom in/out while recording video

I could go on, since I'm constantly finding things that could use improvement, but that's all I Can think of off the top of my head.

I'm seriously one of those people that feels like if I need to go into an app to do something it's a bloody nuisance. This is why I went to Windows Phone in the first place, the hubs are just so much cleaner, smoother and faster. Microsoft really needs to expand the functionality of existing hubs and create new ones (like a notification hub that everyone seems to want).

I like your list and will add to it:

• Expand the Keyboard in landscape mode to use more screen real estate.
  
• Add Windows 8 gestures/features (I mean, come on, I thought this was obvious Microsoft?), like picture unlock, drag from the top of an app, toward the bottom of the screen to force-close an app (hitting that back button to close apps is archaic and unintuitive). When you drag to half-way down the screen, you get the task switcher, where the app gets pinned as a task in the switcher, and u can close apps in the task switcher by swiping them down. Swiping up, or tapping on it, resumes an app. What happens to the Back button? It remains, so there are two ways to get to the task-switcher now.
  
• Fix the view of opened apps pinned to the task switcher, so you can properly see at least 2 of your opened apps. Or, add an option for another Grid view, where you see a screenshot of the app, but in a Grid lay out, where you see several apps at once. Makes more sense, aye?
  
• Pressing the Search button once brings up Search, pressing and holding the Search button brings up TellMe. I think that makes more sense, as TellMe is used to find out information, the name implies it. It is a more interactive Search. This brings up the question of what happens when holding down the Home button? When you hold down the Home button, it should act as a dedicated App Launcher, where the user can set its function. So, in settings, you can set the behaviour of that button (of what App it will launch). It can be any app you choose; IE, calendar, a game, the app list, metrotube, the phone app, etc. I think it will be a great feature, to have the ability to set that as a dedicated phone app, so you don't have to go to the start screen or app list to launch the phone dialer.
  
• Individual and Automatic Live Tile colour switching. This is great for customisation. You can change colours of Tiles individually, or have them change holistically automatically. You never know what colour theme you'll get when you pick your phone up. This brings more customisation without sacrificing the look/feel of WP8.
  
• The size of the heading font can be changed between 3 sizes, small, medium and large. As it is, the font is currently set to large. But I realise some people have a grievance with this. This adds a bit more customisation, without sacrificing look/feel.
  
• Call Blocker.

My idea for a Notification Hub (note, I refer to it as a Hub, not a centre, in keeping with the theme of WP.) :-

Create and use a gesture that allows users to access the Notification Hub from anywhere on the phone. The Hub will have notifications in categories; Messages (sms, skype, email, tweets, facebook messages...basically any messaging service that runs on the phone), Updates (app and system updates), Downloads and whatever other category MS deems fit.

The Hub has an infinite scrolling system, like the Start Screen, where the first string of data of a message is displayed for each update, and to the right is a drop down arrow that displays the full data. For example, you get an sms message from Tom, in the Messages category, it reads "Hey man, I need to get that picture you took on..." V - With 'V' being the dropdown arrow to display the full message. You can also tap the message itself to be taken to the area of the phone that houses that message, so if its from a Skype user, Skype opens up. The very bottom of the message has a few icons/options that relate to the type of Notification you receive. For Texts you get Reply, Call, Delete. Updates: Update, Remind Me Later, Ignore. Downloads: Open, Delete.

The categories themselves are expandable with the little V beside them, as categories only display the last 3 Notifications for that category (So it's not cluttered like Android), and I'm sure users want a way to see all their notifications.

Swiping to the right from the Notification Hub brings up the app list. Swiping to the left carries you to the Start Screen.

What you guys think?

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

(Official) Why I don't like WP8 Part 2 (What WP needs to succeed)

Add more twitter and Facebook integration into the people hub.

Call block feature

More camera options.....

Kinect and Xbox features for gaming in including better games.

Make keyboard use the excess space on the side.

Bring Zune player back.

 

[willybraatlund]

Re: (Official) Why I don't like WP8 Part 2 (What WP needs to succeed)

• Orientation Lock
• Make the live tiles actually show me notification
• Make the search more like the windows 8, so you can search from different apps etc.
• Improve the 1st party apps like facebook, twitter
• Improve Xbox music
  • Better search, faster too
  • Make it possible to synch from mobile to w8, not just from w8 to mobile
  • Make and edit playlist
• Picture password (android have the maze, wp should have its own)
• Swype
• Maybe change wallpaper behind tiles?
• Skype integration (without the app)
• Import/Synch favorites in Internet Explorer
• Like the iphone, tap on top of the screen to get to the top. Hate to scroll all the way up
• Shortcuts for wifi, cellular, bluetooth
  • actually just make us able to pin settings to start screen.
  • This ones for nokia; make shortcut to audio settings

About the apps, its actually not that big of the problem. The problem isnt the amount of apps wp is lacking from, the problem is all the apps people actually want. And from my point of view, it is some big name games, instagram, spotify, youtube, snapchat etc. The big names. If i were microsoft, just send some money and say, make an app within a week! NOW!

 

[Alva street]

Re: (Official) Why I don't like WP8 Part 2 (What WP needs to succeed)

I'm coming from a Nokia point of view, so please bear with me.

I use to love Nokia phones, this isn't a Nokia phone, but a Windows phone with Nokia logo on the screen. I now have the 820 phone and after having it a few days I miss my C7.

- I imported my C7's phone contacts via Bluetooth and now they are mixed together with my Hotmail contacts (I have over 800 people in there). I can't seem to separate them as I only have the option to hide my Hotmail contacts which then also hides my phone contacts. Any ideas what I can do?

- I now can't use the 820 as USB mass storage unit or plug it in to my Mac or work colleagues' without having to down load a program for each Mac I work with. Using my C7 I could drag and drop using PC or Mac. The program I do have to download is only for Mac OS X version 10.7 or later, I have OSX 10.6.8 on a home MBP and the Windows app doesn't work on it.

- I now can't watch any clips from Youtube or BBC News due to no Flash support, Youtube is one of the biggest sites in the world, so why ? If I don't need Flash then let me decided, don't do it for me.

- I can't adjust how my music sounds as I now don't have an EQ any more,

- Xbox Smartscreen doesn't work due to me working in the Middle East, why does where I live matter if I want to use the phone with my Xbox? The Nokia seller said I could use with my Xbox, I can't. I was looking forward to this as it was one of the selling points for me.

One of the main reasons I loved my Nokia C7 was that I could use it on both PC and Mac as I work with both every day. Now it looks like Nokia/Windows has gone the way of the Iphone/Apple's stupid garden, so unless things change this will be my last Nokia. I really want Windows 8 to work and get better (I'm not some Apple fan boy just in case you were wondering), but closing the phone off so it won't work with Apple/Adobe products seems to me not very thought out. I hope Nokia/Windows come together, work these things out and Windows let Nokia do what they do best and make phones.

Peace out.

 

[Fabio Mauri]

RE: (Official) Why I don't like WP8 Part 2 (What WP needs to succeed)

I would say that the lack of a notification center is the biggest issue to be solved on wp8 in the next version.

There are other little things that can be improved, such as upnp/dlna support, but these are (imho) secondary in a smartphone with respect the notifications management.
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920

 

[jdom]

Re: (Official) Why I don't like WP8 Part 2 (What WP needs to succeed)

most of the features u guys want will come,but not until the next generation of windows phones comes out .that my opinion

 

[rollo.martins]

Re: (Official) Why I don't like WP8 Part 2 (What WP needs to succeed)

Local sync, local sync, and local sync. Everything. I dont want to set up the phone again and again whenever I had to return it for repair. Or if I lost it. Like Apple does.

And I do not use the cloud because I do not want Microsoft to see my data. Period.

 

[alvarezjpr]

Re: (Official) Why I don't like WP8 Part 2 (What WP needs to succeed)

• pressing the search button once brings up search, pressing and holding the search button brings up tellme. I think that makes more sense, as tellme is used to find out information, the name implies it. It is a more interactive search. This brings up the question of what happens when holding down the home button? When you hold down the home button, it should act as a dedicated app launcher, where the user can set its function. So, in settings, you can set the behaviour of that button (of what app it will launch). It can be any app you choose; ie, calendar, a game, the app list, metrotube, the phone app, etc. I think it will be a great feature, to have the ability to set that as a dedicated phone app, so you don't have to go to the start screen or app list to launch the phone dialer.

+100.

 

[manicottiK]

Re: All that WP misses

These lists appear now and again. They can typically be grouped into just a handful of categories:
1. Incorrect or false statements. (8)
2. Things that are pretty much immaterial or not different than other modern phones. (6)
3. Complaints about integration, new ways of working, features already promised or requests rejected. (10)
4. Things that are really about wanting true multitasking or a file system and then some tools to deal with the consequences that come from having them. (5)
5. Things about volume controls and profiles. (8)
6. Things about dialing and call history. (5)
7. Other feature requests. (10)

1. Cannot search your music collection on the phone, only in the Marketplace.
   Better Search Options for Locally stored music on phone-
2. Calendar scheduler has no weekly view and monthly view is non-zoomable.
   Week view in Calendar
   Make the monthly calendar view zoomable
3. No cellular video call.
   Native video calling is a must. Not everyone uses Tango-
4. IE browser has no text reflow, no download capability and no offline reading.
   Add Text Wrapping/Reflow to improve browsing experience!
5. Cannot set alarm snooze interval.
   Third party alarm app enhancements (custom sound & snooze time)-

Items in categories 1,2, and 3 I ignore. Items in category 4 I'm semi-interested in as a geek, but don't expect much action on because of the direction that Microsoft has apparently set for the platform. Categories 5, 6, and 7 are real opportunities for growth.

That said, posting missing features lists on third-party discussion forums might help you in the short term by getting the aggravation off of your chest, but it's not going to help you in the long term. Instead, providing feedback using the Microsoft-recommended mechanisms gives you a chance to let MS know what's important and for you to engage in a decent discussion with other users. For the five items in category 7 above, I've already found the best discussions going on at http://WindowsPhone.UserVoice.com. Go there. Engage in the discussion.

 

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

Re: (Official) Why I don't like WP8 Part 2 (What WP needs to succeed)

Pressing the Search button once brings up Search, pressing and holding the Search button brings up TellMe. I think that makes more sense, as TellMe is used to find out information, the name implies it. It is a more interactive Search. This brings up the question of what happens when holding down the Home button? When you hold down the Home button, it should act as a dedicated App Launcher, where the user can set its function. So, in settings, you can set the behaviour of that button (of what App it will launch). It can be any app you choose; IE, calendar, a game, the app list, metrotube, the phone app, etc. I think it will be a great feature, to have the ability to set that as a dedicated phone app, so you don't have to go to the start screen or app list to launch the phone dialer.Individual and Automatic Live Tile colour switching. This is great for customisation. You can change colours of Tiles individually, or have them change holistically automatically. You never know what colour theme you'll get when you pick your phone up. This brings more customisation without sacrificing the look/feel of WP8.

Two ideas I agree with. I'll let you have them. Unfortunately I'm only going to accept the second one as far as automatic live tile switching, but still keeping all tiles the same colour. The first one just makes sense though (but does it make HTC Sense :wink, but perhaps the use for the Long-Press Start could be changed to your idea as below.

My idea for a Notification Hub (note, I refer to it as a Hub, not a centre, in keeping with the theme of WP.) :-

Create and use a gesture that allows users to access the Notification Hub from anywhere on the phone. The Hub will have notifications in categories; Messages (sms, skype, email, tweets, facebook messages...basically any messaging service that runs on the phone), Updates (app and system updates), Downloads and whatever other category MS deems fit.

The Hub has an infinite scrolling system, like the Start Screen, where the first string of data of a message is displayed for each update, and to the right is a drop down arrow that displays the full data. For example, you get an sms message from Tom, in the Messages category, it reads "Hey man, I need to get that picture you took on..." V - With 'V' being the dropdown arrow to display the full message. You can also tap the message itself to be taken to the area of the phone that houses that message, so if its from a Skype user, Skype opens up. The very bottom of the message has a few icons/options that relate to the type of Notification you receive. For Texts you get Reply, Call, Delete. Updates: Update, Remind Me Later, Ignore. Downloads: Open, Delete.

The categories themselves are expandable with the little V beside them, as categories only display the last 3 Notifications for that category (So it's not cluttered like Android), and I'm sure users want a way to see all their notifications.

Swiping to the right from the Notification Hub brings up the app list. Swiping to the left carries you to the Start Screen.

What you guys think?

 

[shpankey]

Re: (Official) Why I don't like WP8 Part 2 (What WP needs to succeed)

My phone before this WP8 one (Nokia Lumia 820) was a Samsung (Focus I think, not sure, but it was near the launch of WP7). I sure do miss my old phone's black levels though. Wow, this 920 is not even close to it in that regard. In fact, I'm worried something's wrong with my 920 as the old Samsung obliterates it in black levels. Also miss how light weight the Sammy is, and the long battery life. Oh well... hopefully some of this improves.

So, for the thread topic... Not sure if any of these have been mentioned.

1. In the email applications, the ability to "Empty" a folder completely. I hate having to click on each email individually. Especially for the Junk folders.

2. I'd love for the Applications section to have something similar at the top as the Games section does, where it has your most recently used apps at the top. I'd love to see, just below that, your most used applications in the past month listed. Say top 5 of each. I would also like to have the ability to sort the entire apps or games list by the "most used" and not just alphabetical, where the most used app/game is at the top, then the next most used, then the next, etc, etc, etc.

3. The ability to edit you dictionary's custom added words with the ability to add words manually from there as well. It sucks if you accidentally add a misspelled word to reset your entire dictionary!

4. Add several more tile sizes. One would span the entire screen as the largest one does now, but be half the height. Another would be half the size of the smallest one now. Another would be half of the width of the screen (as the 2nd largest is now) but half the height. All of this would just allow extreme customization to allow me to group the same types of apps into one tile height space.

5. Speaking of the above, I would LOVE the ability to add a custom tile that is a folder, named by yourself. Where when you select this Tile/Folder it takes you to a custom screen which has all of the apps/games of your choosing inside it. Basically just like the "Games" tile does now. But you choose what you want in it.

6. Some kind of notifications ribbon at the top that shows which items have notifications currently. A central place showing all notifications.

7. The ability to show the battery, wifi-lte-3g, etc. info at the top at all times.

8. The ability to set the lock screen time to any amount of seconds/minutes I chose. Not just 1, 3, 5, minutes.

9. More brightness settings instead of low, med, high. I would like ultra-low, low-med, med-high & ultra-high to be added as choices and for the Auto setting to also take advantage of these in-between settings.

10. The ability to choose the color of text on all the phone settings pages.

11. Add Flash and Java support.

12. The ability to use custom images for Tiles/Folders.

13. Support to direct connect to a Windows 8 PC or Laptop and have control in the exact same way the smart glass works on Xbox 360 with the ability to connect with this functionality from anywhere, not just when your in range of the machine (or do they currently have this?).

14. I would love to know if I already have an app installed when browsing apps/games and not have to go into the app and select it before I find out.

15. Option for the app store to NOT show apps/games I already have.

16. In the marketplace, an option/link I can click on that shows all of the apps/games I already paid for. This helps in future phone upgrades as a place I can go to and get all of the apps/games I bought on a previous phone. Also, the ability to "Download and Install all missing apps/games" from that list (just a timesaver).

 

[LowDownDirtySkynyrdFan]

Re: (Official) Why I don't like WP8 Part 2 (What WP needs to succeed)

im not saying i don't like w8p...i like it a lot, but does it have the ability to select all the messages in a email box (when you link them together), can you delete them all or do you have to click one by one. that gets annoying as ****

 

[sdrawkcabII]

Two ideas I agree with. I'll let you have them. Unfortunately I'm only going to accept the second one as far as automatic live tile switching, but still keeping all tiles the same colour. The first one just makes sense though (but does it make HTC Sense :wink, but perhaps the use for the Long-Press Start could be changed to your idea as below.

Lol! Actually in the idea to have the tiles change colour automatically, I didn't mean for each Tile to change randomly. I meant it the way you were implying, to have the entire theme change collectively, but automatically. It keeps the uniformity and harmony of the OS intact. But, I do think Tiles colours should be able to change individually too, by the user. But that one's a small matter. I think the former adds an element to WP8 that no other OS even has the potential to do.As for the Notifications Hub being accessed by holding down the Home button, that's an excellent idea, but I really like the idea of having an option to have a capacitive button be able to launch any app the user sets it to launch as a 2nd function. I'm just not sure which capacitive button will do this. Search's 2nd function would be TellMe, Home's 2nd function would be Notifications Hub, and Back's 2nd function will be the task switcher. It just seems odd to have the Back button be used to launch a set app, although in my idea, there are two ways to access the Task Switcher (swipe gesture and press+hold the Back button).Any ideas how we can implement either a 2nd Function button-press for a Notifications Hub, or for a user-defined app launcher?

 

[omniusovermind]

Re: (Official) Why I don't like WP8 Part 2 (What WP needs to succeed)

The exact same apps bought only once working on both WP8 phones and RT tablets

 

[Dave Blake]

Re: (Official) Why I don't like WP8 Part 2 (What WP needs to succeed)

The exact same apps bought only once working on both WP8 phones and RT tablets

They do? What apps exactly?

 

[omniusovermind]

Re: (Official) Why I don't like WP8 Part 2 (What WP needs to succeed)

They do? What apps exactly?

My post was intended to answer the "what needs to be improved" part of the title

 

[Dave Blake]

Re: (Official) Why I don't like WP8 Part 2 (What WP needs to succeed)

My post was intended to answer the "what needs to be improved" part of the title

Okay got ya. Finally something you said makes sense.

 

[omniusovermind]

Re: (Official) Why I don't like WP8 Part 2 (What WP needs to succeed)

Okay got ya. Finally something you said makes sense.

Lol I just got flamed by an administrator! I'm not emotional or insulting to you. North am I angry, I actually got a chuckle out of this. Are you going to infraction/suspend/ban me, or debate?