The Windows Phone App Gap Thread

[Bradleykinz]

i'm with you bro, for me was the uber partner app that pulled the trigger for me. Got a new car, lets make some cash in uber...NOPEEE SORRY NO APP FOR YOU

My radio in my car has extra features, like apple maps, that only iPhone users can use. Sucks since I miss out on features since I own my Lumia. Not saying I would use those features but it's nice to have the option. Same goes for apps, do I need all of the apps? No but its nice that they are there.

 

[cracgor]

Are you really gonna use those "missing" apps? Really, who else uses Snapchat beside horny teenagers sexting each other?
All the important apps (from important companies) are there. Evernote, Rhapsody, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Netflix, Hulu, and the list goes. The "app gap" is a myth from Google and Apple. By the way I don't need Google, when there's Bing and Outlook mail. Dropbox is there. Youtube has lots of apps, and the "official" one was crap anyway. There's nothing important missing. F*** Google for being so anticompetitive.

Right on. We have everything you need in the store. Ringcam, yik yak, xfinity, amazon music, amazon video, time Warner cable, tv channels (fxnow, AMC), chase, bank of America, American airlines YouTube, epic haiku, medscape, Starbucks, Lowe's, Zoes kitchen, Georgia public radio...

You could literally just list all the apps we have that are major all day, and it wouldn't change the fact that the app gap is huge.

Also, for everyone saying how awesome our keyboard is... Why can't it/if figure out words like it/our all/app/ask too/to is/I or it/if/or. It is just so annoying having to correct all these little words when is type/swipe. I really don't know what the other keyboards are like, but this is not really perfect. I thought it should try to use context to predict the next word out at least the type of word.

 

[cracgor]

My radio in my car has extra features, like apple maps, that only iPhone users can use. Sucks since I miss out on features since I own my Lumia. Not saying I would use those features but it's nice to have the option. Same goes for apps, do I need all of the apps? No but its nice that they are there.

I have this constant reminder in my car where you can launch into Pandora or aha on your phone that I can't use or delete. Just so I can know everyday my phone is just a little incomplete...

 

[Lyme]

I've given up.. the current build of windows 10 mobile leaves a lot of stability and speed to be desired and the missing apps and the really horrible customer service at the microsoft store has done me in.

 

[Bradleykinz]

I am hoping MS can improve w10. I would love to come back after a year of use with my s6. I love w10 on my laptop and I am an insider on Xbox and the beta version of w10 was very polished on Xbox when I installed it in October. I am still use going to use MS apps, OneDrive and outlook for example. So I am not completely abandoning ms ecosystem. After a few years of owning a focus flash , my brother bought a 920 then I got a 1020 then my dad got a 635. Now its just my dad since he is still on contract. We are dropping like flies.

 

[Narayanan Krishnamurthy1]

I am also starting to feel the app gap. No practo app, or bigbasket app. Even fb app and twitter is pathetic. Windows10 astoria bridge is also broken. I am thinking of move
to iphone or android. But still not sure which one to go for

 

[EBUK]

Are you really gonna use those "missing" apps? Really, who else uses Snapchat beside horny teenagers sexting each other?
All the important apps (from important companies) are there. Evernote, Rhapsody, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Netflix, Hulu, and the list goes. The "app gap" is a myth from Google and Apple. By the way I don't need Google, when there's Bing and Outlook mail. Dropbox is there. Youtube has lots of apps, and the "official" one was crap anyway. There's nothing important missing. F*** Google for being so anticompetitive.

Hangouts? No, and there's no third party alternative.
Orbot? No, there's no app that will automatically route all internet traffic via TOR.
DNS changer? - No, can't find an app that will automatically change the DNS settings.

I love my Lumia 735, but there is FOR ME an app gap that makes sticky with Windows Phone an increasingly difficult choice.

 

[Draganta]

I am almost on the samr boat friend. My bank has a 81 app, it worked after the upgrade to 10, but after my factory reset, I cannot download it. I contacted them, and they have no plans to make it available on Windows 10 as hardly anyone with Windows Phone uses their app. I could live with the rest of the missing apps, but mobile banking is one of the core things I miss so much daily. I can partly manage on my iPad now, but as soon as my 640 XL needs replacement, I will be looking to camp Apple first.

 

[Draganta]

Are you really gonna use those "missing" apps? Really, who else uses Snapchat beside horny teenagers sexting each other?
All the important apps (from important companies) are there. Evernote, Rhapsody, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Netflix, Hulu, and the list goes. The "app gap" is a myth from Google and Apple. By the way I don't need Google, when there's Bing and Outlook mail. Dropbox is there. Youtube has lots of apps, and the "official" one was crap anyway. There's nothing important missing. F*** Google for being so anticompetitive.

I use Snapchat. I picked the habit up when I lived in the states for a year. I use it to send funny things that remind us (my friends from there) of our days together. I have it on my iPad now, but it is not ideal. An example of my Snapchat usage: Last week I was organizing a Meze (a mediterrean apperitive table with booze) and I sent out a pic of the mediterrean spirits I have bought with the message: Guess what's up! All my international friends tried to guess, and one of them was like: OHH REALLY?? MEZE?? Darnit I wanna come too! If I do that through Whatsapp, it is not the same! I miss Snapchat

 

[640xxxl]

App gap is not deal breaker for me. I just want existing apps to work properly. I can live with bugs in WM10 preview, but the day it's says it's final and I found live tiles gives me wrong notifications or I cannot read/send sms or not getting notification for sms, the same day I'm back to Android.

 

[fdruid]

You know, objectively, these "app gap" stories are all about people unable to adapt and compromise. Good riddance, be happy with whatever phone you end up with. Hope it's perfect, though I highly doubt it.

 

[asikis]

I am following this post for quite some time now and I can say I agree with most o fpeople, either the ones abandoning the WP or staying on MSFT boat.
I am a WP user since 2012 with many Lumia devices passing through my hands.
I personally do not use apps so much on my phone. I mainly use Bank app (existing on W10M but outdated version, in comparison to iOS/Android one, with ugly UI compared to the new one. But still I can do my work), Facebook Beta (has become better but still not on the iOS/Android level. Really wasn't FB supposed to release a new W10 universal app???), some news apps (Flipboard and MSFT news work for me).
I am not a big app user. BUT I need to agree that the gap is there and mainly with the quality of the existing apps and also the games where gap is even worse.....
BUT for me the biggest ? as for today is the MSFT own ecosystem for mobile division:
- MSFT apps (office apps, OneNote, Skype, Outlook) work better on iOS and Android. When MSFT will offer the same app quality and features to its own OS?
- MSFT lacks some areas on their ecosystem. Where is an iBook related app from MSFT? I have iPad and I really enjoy the plethora of books I can find even in my language (Greek). The Music/Movies store is not available world wide but Apple one is. Come on, they are MSFT! They should have all these thing on place. Apple is clever on geeting my money.
- W10M has a new fresh look and surely it is now more attractive to people. But, as other have spotted, there is now an incosistency on the UI between natve apps, 3rd party apps etc. This is not good for the overall experience.
- The RTM W10M build on my 830 works better than previous but still has some bugs. Most annoying is the reboot I experience once every two days. And I am not the only 830 owner to get this. The small SMS crashes, settings crashes etc surely do not add confidence. And YES these Resume and Loading screens are still there whereas on WP8.1 they wer enot there or at least so often. Not to mention the inconsistency between lock screen / glance screen notifications and actual status. I read that these issues will be fixed when the official SW for each device model becomes availabel that will have the correct drivers. Hope this is the case.

Thinking of buying the 950 but having all these on my mind is a break for me. I like very much WP, I lve the unique glance screen, I love the pin-to-start unique feature, I love that i have FM Radio function (something that iPhone doe snot have and i consider as an important factor for my daily needs), I love the way the notification area is organized and I love (or used to love up to 8.1) the stable and fluid OS operation that has now gone with W10M (and hope to come back with some OS updates).

I am still on dilemma if I will go for 950 or stay with 830 for some months or jump to iPhone where i have a huge base of paid apps and games cause of hte iPad (Android is less posiible for me as I hate Google's logic although there are excellent device offerings out there).
I just feel, as others, that MSFT is stil not doing all things they should do to make the OS succeed.....and surely with the existing situation on apps and games (mainly) they cannot make me give them any money as I have done with iOS and my iPad where there are plenty of beautiful games for me, my son, apps for astronomy etc.

I do not know what Panos can do later on 2016 with the rumoured Surface phone but I believe that the problem is not so much on the device but on the ecosystem and apps. Maybe MSFT cannot any longer catch up with the train of mobile world. Maybe they need to release a fork Android OS with their own apps and services and maybe even tile-like UI.

 

[cracgor]

You know, objectively, these "app gap" stories are all about people unable to adapt and compromise. Good riddance, be happy with whatever phone you end up with. Hope it's perfect, though I highly doubt it.

Will let you know.

 

[mvierling]

You know, objectively, these "app gap" stories are all about people unable to adapt and compromise. Good riddance, be happy with whatever phone you end up with. Hope it's perfect, though I highly doubt it.

No, you're clueless. It is not about being unable to adapt and compromise, it is about actually using a phone as a "smartphone". If all you want to do is make calls and text, then Windows Phone is great. If you want a smartphone that can actually do things, then Windows Phone is not the one. Hey, I like Windows Phone OS over anything else, BUT I like being able to run Redbox, Costco, Kroger, Sysaid, SplashID, MyChurch, museum apps, TV Station apps, plus countless other things that Windows Phone can't do. I say "good riddance" to fanboys like you who refuse to accept reality.

 

[ricardo pereira3]

No, you're clueless. It is not about being unable to adapt and compromise, it is about actually using a phone as a "smartphone". If all you want to do is make calls and text, then Windows Phone is great. If you want a smartphone that can actually do things, then Windows Phone is not the one. Hey, I like Windows Phone OS over anything else, BUT I like being able to run Redbox, Costco, Kroger, Sysaid, SplashID, MyChurch, museum apps, TV Station apps, plus countless other things that Windows Phone can't do. I say "good riddance" to fanboys like you who refuse to accept reality.

Completely agree I love my icon and i dont need lots of apps or anything, but this is getting ridiculous nothing has changed in the app store AT ALL! I play fantasy football and the nfl fantasy and ESPN FF app are garbage.
For that guy who said 6tag and 6tinder is better then official apps you sir are an ***** and for some of us in the United States we need a smartphone that works not apps that crash everytime.....and question why release a phone with a mobile build that sucks.
And don't mind the grammar

 

[Spicymikey]

Its a shame Nadella didn't take over 8 years ago and they were doing this back then. The strategy NOW all makes sense and is trying to leverage their strength to add a new and unique "universal" world to the online and mobile world. But it might just be too late. The hole they dug for themselves might just be too deep.

They can't abandon mobile since this is critical to ANY strategy for success. So, their only choice probably will be to be a who re and let Android and IOS apps run on Windows. But even THAT might not be enough if all they do is allow side loading. The average person won't do that. They need to allow a company to drop their Android and IOS apps onto the WIndows store and have them download and run on Windows.

That's an enormous technical challenge, but if they could do that, they would actually flip this all on it's head and Windows would then become the center of the universe again with Apple and Google scrambling to answer that new reality

 

[MikeSo]

You know, objectively, these "app gap" stories are all about people unable to adapt and compromise. Good riddance, be happy with whatever phone you end up with. Hope it's perfect, though I highly doubt it.

I've "adapted and compromised" for 3.5 years now. One of those compromises was that I took my Moto E with me when I knew I wanted to use an app that wasn't on WP.
When looking to buy a new phone with a good camera now, I had to ask myself, should I really have to pay $600 for a new 950 and often STILL have to remember to take with me the Moto E? Or should I just get a good Android phone and have it all in one package, but with an OS that I frankly don't like as much?

I chose the latter... but I don't know if it's the right choice. I hope I'll like my Moto X full time as much as I like the Moto E part time (it has some quirks but I attribute those to low end hardware, we'll see if that's true or not).

What I do know is that the "app gap" is real, and that I really can't expect a new smartphone user in 2016 to be willing to do what I did and have two phones with them, or expect them to instantly fall in love with Windows 10 Mobile to the degree that they feel it's worth sacrificing functionality that exists in apps they can't use. It would be GREAT if they did (and some probably will), but that's a tough proposition.

 

[MikeSo]

Its a shame Nadella didn't take over 8 years ago and they were doing this back then. The strategy NOW all makes sense and is trying to leverage their strength to add a new and unique "universal" world to the online and mobile world. But it might just be too late. The hole they dug for themselves might just be too deep.

They can't abandon mobile since this is critical to ANY strategy for success. So, their only choice probably will be to be a who re and let Android and IOS apps run on Windows. But even THAT might not be enough if all they do is allow side loading. The average person won't do that. They need to allow a company to drop their Android and IOS apps onto the WIndows store and have them download and run on Windows.

That's an enormous technical challenge, but if they could do that, they would actually flip this all on it's head and Windows would then become the center of the universe again with Apple and Google scrambling to answer that new reality

I think competing head to head with Android as an OS by allowing Android apps from the Google Play store (if that's even possible!) is a great idea now. I didn't like it at all, but Windows 10 is a different ballgame now. They might be able to give Google a run for its money.

 

[infosage]

The 950 XL is a great phone and I love it. Windows Mobile is my favorite OS for many reasons. Because of my work, I carry all phones at different times. I have an iPhone 6 in my bag (I just have it there for testing purposes) that I carried as my work primary for several months, and I don't use it any more. I have used Galaxies as well, but don't use them anymore. I could replace my HTC One Windows Phone work phone at any moment, so using it pure preference. For personal use, I just got the 950 XL and it is the best phone I have access to (in my opinion).

I know others disagree, that's fine. No ones opinion is more valid than others. Your personal opinion should be the only one that matters when selecting your phone. It's just a phone, not a religion. I find amusing that some people feel the need write about leaving Windows Phone like it is some religious conversion or enlightenment. No one writes, "I have decided to leave Haynes for Fruit of the Loom".

If you have an app you must have, there's not alternative that meets your needs or expectations, you don't want to carry a "work" phone and a "personal" phone, or you just don't like the look/feel of the device, switch phones. None of them are perfect. Maybe Windows Phone will win you back later, maybe they won't. I'd love to have you on the platform for more numbers, and would love to have you come back later, but enjoy your new phone.

 

[Krystianpants]

[/b][/i]when?

Apparently sometime in 2016. Hopefully sooner than later. But it's definitely in the works.