Phone integration... meh...

[DevTheo]

This message is more or less for the staff at Windows Central (and I'm surprised no one has reported it). Whenever I see a new feature for the phone integration with Windows 10, I think to myself I hopeI can turn that off. In fact I used to have insider builds on a couple of my machines in my office, but the day that all my machines went bonkers with a notification about a text message from my phone (which is sitting in a charger right next to me), I knew I had to get that turned off immediately. I had to dig at the time (it was not obvious).

Ayway, I have found that as MS is releasing new features for Win 10 I am finding myself less and less interested.. let me name off a few over the last couple years "People Hub", "timelines", every phone integation feature (I want to text on my phone.. I'll email on my laptop or desktop..).. It feels like every new big feature is something I'm scratching my head wondering why this is such a big deal (because it's not o me). Mind you I was a big Windows Phone guy, and actually had 20+ apps in the stores (although admittedly many of them were crapware.. the actual number was more like 5).. I guess as I move further away from the MS eco system (I have a Nokia 6, and in my day job more and more my applicatins are moving to linux), my passions for Windows hae waned.

I can't be the ony person who feels this way, can I?

PS. I'm still pretty passionate about my XBox and many of the MS apps.. just the windows features of the last several years haven't really excited me like I have seen others get all excited over.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I also find it strange that they are developing mobile like applications for the desktop OS. I'm left to wonder why? Some things I get...a mobile integration for texts is a good idea, but at the same time, they are the slowest to come to this idea as well. Apple has theirs well integrated, and most other IM/Text apps have some kind of web interface too.

 

[DevTheo]

I guess I differ from you in that I don't really want most of the phone features. The only phone feature they added that I am intrigued by is the ability to cast the phones image to my laptop (actually a Surface Book 1) screen(BUT, I won't turn on the rest of that mess in order to use it). So, many things that I guess some see as time savers just don't resonate with me. I guess I'm different from everyone else.

I guess maybe my digital life is segmented.. I use my phone for some things and my various PCs for other tasks. I am comfortable typing on the phone keyboard, etc. I don't know that I want to cross the streams that much.

 

[Drael646464]

As a primarily desktop user, I quite like being able to type text responses with a real keyboard, but I'm with you on the cacophony of notifications. I'd probably prefer if they only 'binged' on one device, the one that I was using.

Timeline or people's hub is handy if you have the right workflow, but I don't use either. What it is good for, is finding the thing you were doing on the other device (PC to phone, PC to tablet)

I use apps on my PC all the time. For one, I use a tablet, so being touch friendly is important (even with full win32's like fruity loops or adobe illustrator). But also, I find it easier having an app like experience for things like social media, rather than having it all crowded in browser tabs. You get a notification count on the start bar. Just more pleasant.

I wouldn't say is smartphone like on a desktop, because it's scaling. More like an ipad experience.

That said, some apps like facebook are unstable, so not every app is as polished as I'd like. I'd like to see PWA take off. I think that covers 90 percent of what people use apps for, and it's platform independent. Then they can save UWP for the intensive stuff, gaming, media creation that win32 was for (and is still used for).

As for windows features to be excited about? Well I was super into the idea of shape writing on the touch keyboard, but that's still a bit buggy. Important as heck on a touch device, but it STILL isn't fluid and unflawed. In fact touch keyboard in general is slow to come up. Basic stuff MS, get it right.

I'm keen to see the new cortana's contextual language, but I'll probably only use it for reminders. I don't think I'm ever that excited about OS features for anything. I read new features for Android versions, and it could put me to sleep. Likewise with OSX or iOS....oooh, they have a new type of emoji, and some substitute father than tells you you've been on your phone too long. I just don't think OS features are generally that exciting.

I'm keen to see windows core though. Hololens is cool AF, can't want till they reach the consumer stage. And if I was disabled, that eye tracking thing is groundbreakingly useful.

 

[Ryujingt3]

I never got the Your Phone app to work properly. But being able to interact with your phone is MS's attempt at creating a unified experience. They tried this on their own devices, and failed, so now they are piggybacking off competitors instead to achieve the same goal.

 

[ochhanz]

I really like Timeline though, even while I don't use it between devices. It integrates well with multiple desktops, switching apps and I can search fast for previously opened programs. I only wish I could search by typing without having to press the search icon (similar as with the start menu).

 

[Laxman Dhotre]

They never failed at making unified experience. With windows phones, literally everything was synced. You could literally use your lumia as computer. The platform failed.

 

[wolfpack219]

I just started using the my phone app on my Surface Go with a Samsung S20 FE. I really like. I'm saving battery on my device first of all and second I like having the notifications and such show up on the Go. It could be improved but I've not had any major issues so far. The text reply and being able to pull up certain apps in a partial screen is really helpful for a user like myself.