The "app gap" between WP8 and Android/iOS isn't as big as you might think...

[hopmedic]

You are only talking about quantity. The problem is quality. Plenty of WP8 apps are bad copies of good apps on other platforms. The quality original is what's missing.

But when you're talking about quality, let's also talk about bad originals and good copies. Words With Friends is pathetic on WP, while Words By Post is my scrabble game of choice, and apparently that of many others.

 

[moegumby]

Words with friends was just updated and runs much better.
Sent from my HTC6990LVW using Board Express

 

[tgp]

At my workplace, about half have Windows Phones, and the other half use Android. Here's what I've noticed: the WP users have molded into the capabilities of their phones. They say there's nothing they need to do with their phone that it can't. The Android users do things with their phones that the WP guys can't. Because the WP guys never had the possibility of doing those things, they don't see them as necessary.

My brother-in-law is an iPhone user. When it was time to upgrade he wanted a Windows Phone. He told me he wondered if the app shortage would really be a problem. He sat down and looked at the iOS apps he uses, and checked to see if they were available on WP. A few very important ones to him weren't. One was a banking app, and I don't remember what the others were, but I think one was a synced shopping list. His upgrade choice: iPhone 5.

In my mind, the app shortage is likely to remain as long as the WP market share is so small. If you were an app developer, would you develop for a platform with 2% of the market share? Without market share, apps won't come. Without apps, market share won't come. I think Microsoft needs to take it upon themselves to get the apps developed.

My 2?

 

[brmiller1976]

And WP guys can do plenty of things with our phones that Android guys can't as well. Apps alone aren't a source of capability, and most capabilities should be articulated and designed by the user.

 

[hopmedic]

Words with friends was just updated and runs much better.
Sent from my HTC6990LVW using Board Express

But it still doesn't have a UI that is natural for a WP user. It still tries to make me be an iSheeple.

but I think one was a synced shopping list.

Like Shared Shopping List? That's the one I use - the wife and I have loved it for more than a year.
Or the ad-free pro version Shared Shopping List Pro

And WP guys can do plenty of things with our phones that Android guys can't as well.

Like not worry about malware is a HUGE one as far as I'm concerned.

Don't get me wrong - I know there is a shortfall, but I think it's blown out of proportion. There are apps that do that job for many of the things you want. Just because it doesn't have the same name doesn't mean there isn't an app.

 

[JAMES JIRON]

I actually disliked the diluted app pool of android.

 

[lordofthereef]

I think it depends who you talk to and what apps you are comparing. Games? Android and IOS blow WP out of the water right now. There is literally no contest. Everything else? Depends on what you use. There are still some apps I miss. And while there are alternatives to a lot of things, I like using the same aol across all platforms. That may be less of an issue for people who don't use multiple devices like I do. There are also a handful of apps I have come across that are simply less feature rich on WP than they are on their IOS and Android counterparts. Yelp and Facebook are good examples of this. I would say those are two pretty huge apps, too. We aren't talking some ambiguous app that nobody had heard about.

WP is catching up fast and I am sure within a year, assuming sales keep up, we will see most of this too. But right now, from my viewpoint, the disparity is still pretty big.

 

[phatboy66]

When I go to the Google Play store or Apple's App Store, the difference is pretty clear to me compared to the Marketplace! WP8 is just not there yet.

 

[deadinsidesavior]

People who say "There are plenty of things I can do on my WP that you can't do on Android/iOS" are just really not being realistic. I'd have a much better chance switching between Android and iOS and remain very satisfied than switching from Android/iOS to WP8, in terms of applications (not the OS user experience), that is just a fact. Almost all major applications are very well developed on both iOS and Android, and have almost the same features and functionality.
For example, many people happen to be deeply tied into to Google's platforms, gmail/calender/tasks/contacts etc. iOS has well developed alternatives to google's 1st party applications. WP simply does not.
And for those of you who say "Just use Microsoft's much better developed ecosystem", that's the same as telling someone to stop using google services and switching to Apple services, or vice versa, it makes no sense. And these days, you're not just buying a phone anymore. If all your friends use Whatsapp for IM, you have 2 choices, use Whatsapp, or stop IM-ing your friends. Or, you can try to convince ALL of your friends on Android/iOS to switch to Kik. Good luck with that.
If you want to use VOIP, yeah, Line/Viber, both extremely solid on Android AND iOS, and better than Skype in my experience, are not available on WP8. So, you have Skype.
This isn't ONLY an argument about whether you can complete certain tasks, it's about compatibility with other platforms as well.
Those of you who keep saying "the numbers are all dublicates, and just do the same thing", if there are 1000 twitter apps on Android, and 50 on WP8, those numbers are not the point of discussion. It's the 10 out of 1000 on Android that do an amazing job, and 0.5 out of 50 on WP8 that works okay, this is the number that matters. Some people don't seem to get the point. Then you say "why do you need 10 twitter apps? That's stupid", I don't need 10, I need 1. But what if I don't like the theme on 5 of them, and 2 of them have square buttons and I don't like squares, and 2 of them have menu drawers and I don't like that? Doesn't mean other people are gonna hate it as well. It's called "choice". And you have no choice on WP8.

 

[lordofthereef]

^ didn't quote for brevity's sake...

There are a handful of things that WP does better than the competition, bit I have never seen anyone claim that it can do things the others can't. In any case, when a claim like that is made about any os, I generally require some sort of example from this person for me to take their opinion seriously.

At the end of the day, most of what you listed were your opinions. I find Skype to be great. Everyone I know uses it for video chat. As far as whatsapp is concerned, I didn't know to care since nobody I know uses that. I am sure it will come, eventually. The way that phone plans are going though, texting will be included in peoples lines here sooner or later anyway so there will be no extra costs incurred by SMS.

 

[Koekjes]

It's mostly about specific apps from specific companies, that are not yet here. I say not yet, because I hope those companies will be convinced that they should also release their apps for Windows Phone.

 

[05Paris]

For some of us it's nice not knowing what we are missing. I am in perfect bliss with my L920 Red Dawg and a handful of apps I wanted/needed. The only app I'd add I don't have is Vudu but I can work around that anyway. As for the bulk of what a lot of folks are talking about...how many sound replication, game apps does one need? I can fart on my own and I quit gaming a long time ago and found a real life. Picture app-check, music-check, social media-check, email-check, news-check, sports-check, gps-check, camera-check, Office-check...oh, did I say I can actually use this device to make a phone call? And the gravy part...the L920 not only looks great but feels great in my hand...works for me.

 

[MacDaMachine]

"found a real life"

Your life was fake until you stopped playing video games?

 

[jdhooghe]

I can definitely see the downside to the lack of apps but I've never been an app person. Most apps you download are interesting for a day and then you say they are stupid and delete them. WP needs those essential mainstream apps though to be competent. The younger crowd especially thrive on stupid apps like pinterest and instagram. They aren't going to buy a phone that can't do things their friends can. Honestly, I am happy with the app selection but again, I'm not an app guy. I do wish I could filter out the apps with languages I don't speak though. It also gets annoying wading through those apps which are basically shortcuts to get you to the mobile sites on the internet.

 

[tjwheels]

My thought exactly, it's all relative to what each individual is missing. I've owned a Windows phone from the beginning and have switched my sim card out between phones based on my schedule and the apps I anticipate I will use. Never that big of a problem untill the dreaded mini sim and using adapters. Over the last year things have got to the point where I'm down to just a hand full of apps I need for WP8. I really have accepted the fact that I may never get the DISH Adapter app and is the one I really wish I had. With that being said I prefer many of the WP7-8 app versions better than those of the other platforms.

 

[hopmedic]

Well, while it is clear that we all have differing opinions on the app shortage, one thing is clear. Dilbert had a Windows Phone when they were still VERY early in development, since this strip is dated 3/10/2009...

 

[Jeff Foster]

I came to WP because of Tmobile and I don't need my iPad in my phone very much. I would like a few of my already purchased apps and really dont intend to buy them again on windows. Actually unless WP puts out some unique well priced apps I might not buy ANY.

In your phone list I'm surprised you never had an iPhone. It's really an amazing piece of technology.

 

[deadinsidesavior]

^ didn't quote for brevity's sake...

There are a handful of things that WP does better than the competition, bit I have never seen anyone claim that it can do things the others can't. In any case, when a claim like that is made about any os, I generally require some sort of example from this person for me to take their opinion seriously.

At the end of the day, most of what you listed were your opinions. I find Skype to be great. Everyone I know uses it for video chat. As far as whatsapp is concerned, I didn't know to care since nobody I know uses that. I am sure it will come, eventually. The way that phone plans are going though, texting will be included in peoples lines here sooner or later anyway so there will be no extra costs incurred by SMS.

That was actually a response to brmiller1976 a couple of posts above me.

I tend to be very long winded, but I'll keep it short this time.
Yes, you are absolutely correct, those are all my personal opinion.
In the end, with that "That's your opinion" mentality, this platform is going nowhere. WP users with have their WP mentality, and everyone else should just stick to their platform. Unfortunately, WP takes up about 3% marketshare.
"It'll come eventually", maybe, we can hope for that. Or maybe, devs won't care. Who knows. I'm still waiting for those updates as well.
That's all I can say.

 

[vmmartini]

Do the math. How long has iOS been in the publics hands vs Windows Phone 8 approximately a month. Any how many of those 600,00 apps do you personally use? The app count non-sense will resolve itself over time, and frankly I think it is a shame. A huge percentage of iOS and Android apps are literally junk, or are one of 10s of copies of another app. Talk to us in 6-12 months. I think by them people will have something to compare to and quantity will be a lot less interesting than quality of not only the apps, but the whole eco-system. that's just the consumers. If WP8 takes hold, content publishers (and carriers who subsidize phones) will finally be able to shake off the ruthless gouging from Apple. We have ourselves a real fight developing. Eventually the app count bragging rights won't be important to anyone. It's not important to a lot of people already. I'll ask again, how many thousands of apps do you personally need? If you have more than 200 apps on your phone, that would border on the absurd. I am speaking of the collective 'you' so don't take offense. There is a point to this.

 

[edjr07]

The app selection is even worse now than it was on 7.5. There apps right now that I have on L900 that I can't get on my 920. Also sometimes it not just about having the app. Its also about the quality of the app. I'm all for third party apps and yes some are more feature filled than the official apps. And typical official apps are great in quality and are free. The app crunch is going to really be there way WP will succeed.