The Windows Phone App Gap Thread

[psurob55]

Got me as well. Ordered a note 5 last night. Not really happy about it, but the whole verizon/MS thing really put the nail in the coffin.

 

[Krystianpants]

You know who doesn't have to SIM swap? Android users. They don't give two cents about love tiles. I really only use the counting numbers. Live tiles are difficult to use for backgrounds. You have to spend time laying out the tiles. I wish either all tiles were transparent, or there was more empty space like on a PC. They honestly take too much work. Even weather I have to open a couple times a day to get an update. They used to be more useful before backgrounds. I feel like only textured backgrounds make sense, and who wants that? I want a picture of my dog without a chunk of his head taken out by facebook or twitter or office apps.

I agree that all tiles should have the following as part of the required design.
-Standard tile
-Transparency tile option
-ability to turn off the live tile for both cases

Folders should also have the ability to turn off live feature and allow apps to be displayed statically in the folder. I have put this in feedback but no one seems to care. But honestly live folders just make things look like a mess, especially if you mix non transparent tiles with transparent tiles. And the people tile looks so bad I have to keep it small. It's not really about the circles it's about how they cycle and how they work on the edges, and how the contacts with no picture still show up as a blank circle.

And recently I have realized that the notifications should also have transparency with a setting for how much transparency you want. This caused me issues while i was playing a game and the notifications came in and it started blocking my view. At least with transparency I would still be able to see what it is happening.

 

[Jeff Merritt1]

I was going to switch myself...then I realized, why? I have everything I need on my phone. At the end of the day it is only a phone. I have Facebook, Instagram, Vine, Twitter, some odd games, a great camera and camera apps, Office, and whatever else I need. My 950 is excellent.

 

[jhmoxl]

Sad part is that the MS apps perform better on the other OS's, especially Outlook.

This is what finally got me. When I downloaded windows 10 mobile and I compared outlook there to what I had on my ipad and I thought, okay Microsoft isn't all in here. And if Microsoft isn't determined to make sure they are diminishing the app gap even to the point of their own apps being equal then it is gameover. Universal apps are for this a hail mary that may take years to actually address the problem if they ever do. I look back at the fall 2013. Lot of positive news and momentum for phone 8. Long way to go but it felt like it was headed in the right direction. Then nothing. a drought of phones, every new os update being 6 months later then it needed to be, important apps staying beta or drifting behind ios versions, and reduced investment in getting apps. So I switched, sadly, because my windows phone was the first phone I could afford that actually gave me a great experience.

 

[Paul Cordova]

I left due to being on Verizon (Note 5) However my business apps are back! Concur actually lets me write and approve expense reports instead of just taking pics of receipts. I have ADP payroll now. All my credit card and banking apps. I really didn't realize how bad the app gap was until I left. I probably won't return unless full functional versions of productive apps are available.

 

[Joe Acerbic]

I so very much wish that if Nadella or Panay or whoever at Microsoft holds an AMA session, somebody would ask WHY their own apps on Windows Phone are junk compared to their Android and iOS versions. It's so inconceivably senseless.

 

[MikeSo]

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".

Phones are much more personal than one's religion!

It is silly in many aspects but it really does feel like a big deal to leave. The Lumia 900 was the first smartphone I bought, I never felt like I had a need for one before then. I got used to the unique OS and really neat hardware which was more fun than it's competitors, even though it had drawbacks. So I have invested quite a lot of time and money in what has always been something great to use but that has also always been behind in some functionality (and ahead in others, let's not forget that!) and in app innovation.

To leave feels a little bit like breaking up. I will keep WP as a backup on the side and come running back as soon as there's hope for the future again though.

 

[AlexFirth91]

Been using iOS in addition to Windows 10 for 3 years now and recently Android for the hell of it. Windows 10 and even before with the beginning of WP7 (had the htc HD7 at launch) always been behind the curve in terms of Apps which yes is highly important. Imagine if Ferrari's were sold with an I6 engine, no one would buy it! Well Windows 10 Mobile/WP 8.1 IMO is an exotic car of an OS but with no strong engine (apps) its not even given the time of day by social media kings aka people who'd invest into it. Microsoft has been behind the curve overall for some time now and it truly shows with the current situation of the Xbox One. Thank goodness their OS and Office divisions are the life-force of the company. Yeah its Mobile 1st but more so in the sense of Windows 10 Pro tablet-PCs and Office Mobile on all platforms (iOS, Android, Windows 10 Mobile). And on the contrary SnapChat is the highest growing app at the moment. I'm pretty sure I see more adults than pesky teens on it. Besides the chat features the live Snaps like from major cities or important events around the globe is amazing and actually performs well. I can't see why people belittle a private corporation that made a 25 year old a Billionaire.

 

[chezm]

I don't see people at grocery store looking at their phone to find stuff, but they release these apps anyways just in case. And of course they are so niche that they know it's unlikely a windows user will walk in and need it.

Seriously? Here where i live i'd say 30-40% of the people shopping in grocery stores are on their phones, my wife and her friends all use the apps to check points, get coupons, sales, etc.

 

[TennisGuy45]

Seriously? Here where i live i'd say 30-40% of the people shopping in grocery stores are on their phones, my wife and her friends all use the apps to check points, get coupons, sales, etc.

I used to do that until I found out my local grocery store lets me load deals right onto my card from the website.
Now I load coupons and deals on a computer before I leave the house.
Then when I get to store I just shop and when I check out deals are auto applied.

This led me to ditching the shopping apps. Of course I still use a grocery list but that is something so generic any platform has dozens of apps to take care of that.

 

[EvilBagheadMan]

I think what most people don't understand is that defending the OS with "I don't use that app so it doesn't matter that Windows doesn't support it" is not a good defense. The app store needs to be more inclusive of all apps, and decent versions of them as well, not the stop gaps that we have now. My contract is up on my Lumia Icon soon and I want to jump, just because I am tired of missing out on apps that I would use on a more daily basis (banking, shopping, etc.) as well as apps that I could use at home (Verizon FIOS)... There is a huge app gap, and while I think it is a great OS, there is not alot of use for a great plate with nothing on it.

 

[editguy]

Seriously? Here where i live i'd say 30-40% of the people shopping in grocery stores are on their phones, my wife and her friends all use the apps to check points, get coupons, sales, etc.

Other than carrying on conversations, I've never seen anyone using their phone in a store. I know that some people do, but I've never personally seen it. And there are still a lot of retailers that don't do it.

 

[editguy]

I think what most people don't understand is that defending the OS with "I don't use that app so it doesn't matter that Windows doesn't support it" is not a good defense. The app store needs to be more inclusive of all apps, and decent versions of them as well, not the stop gaps that we have now. My contract is up on my Lumia Icon soon and I want to jump, just because I am tired of missing out on apps that I would use on a more daily basis (banking, shopping, etc.) as well as apps that I could use at home (Verizon FIOS)... There is a huge app gap, and while I think it is a great OS, there is not alot of use for a great plate with nothing on it.

There's a "huge" gap for you, but not for everyone. It has everything I need. But complaining about it won't change it. Microsoft can't force companies to make apps for WP. If it doesn't meet your needs, then go where it does. It still cracks me up that people act like their lives will come to an end if they don't have all of the apps that they "need". Seven years ago most of this didn't exist and yet somehow we survived without it. First world problems.

 

[editguy]

And on the contrary SnapChat is the highest growing app at the moment. I'm pretty sure I see more adults than pesky teens on it. Besides the chat features the live Snaps like from major cities or important events around the globe is amazing and actually performs well. I can't see why people belittle a private corporation that made a 25 year old a Billionaire.

And they refuse to put it on Windows Phone, so what do you expect MS to do? They won't even allow a third party app. Personally, I wouldn't use it even if there was one. Just another thing to waste time.

 

[MikeSo]

It still cracks me up that people act like their lives will come to an end if they don't have all of the apps that they "need". Seven years ago most of this didn't exist and yet somehow we survived without it. First world problems.

Are you a Microsoft exec perchance?

If it doesn't meet your needs, then go where it does.

That's what people do, unfortunately. That's what this thread is about.

 

[joshua hildebrandt1]

Did the same about 2 weeks ago ...I owed a 640 for about 3 months and finally couldn't take the absence of so many apps...and important ones at that....This issue is NOT including the countless times apps on the 640 did not open properly... Facebook wouldn't update for a day or 2,Tapatalk wouldn't NEVER work ,and the there are countless other apps....just downloading a simple PDF file from a my Google drive was a COMPLETE pain... Oh and I don't even want to mention the browser, it's pretty bad ... Back to Android I go ..I tried.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Other than carrying on conversations, I've never seen anyone using their phone in a store. I know that some people do, but I've never personally seen it. And there are still a lot of retailers that don't do it.

I had the cashier scan my loyalty card at the register and paid using my phone yesterday.

 

[Richie Alex]

After 7 years with WinMob 5/WP7/WP8 and excitedly buying every new flagship, I hit exactly that wall last week.

There are two apps (Beem and AirWatch MDM) which my company uses that respectively don't exist and don't work on WP. Half my team users SnapChat, but we all know about that. I also got tired of every time I heard about a new app or game, it didn't exist on WP.

So last week I got a Galaxy S6. While there's a *lot* to critique (including that I desperately miss the WP UI), I'm keeping it because the apps are all there and the browser works correctly. And since I'm getting booted from my *paying* 200GB OneDrive acct, the tether of laziness was snapped for me.

I hope WP gets it together. I really, really do. But after waiting for everything that would be better with Mango/8/8.1/Denim, I got tired of waiting. When Microsoft makes a great phone *with* a robust marketplace, I'll be back. But for now I don't feel like, as the consumer, it should be my job to keep waiting.

 

[fdruid]

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.

I'm puzzled by your reply. For one, you seem to have a rigid notion as to what a smartphone is, which seems to be centered on your experiences with other OS, or related to the use of certain particular apps. You should realize that the "do things" argument is more subjective than you're making it, and that by your own definition, WP phones are smartphones.
For example, I use a lot of apps of most categories, but don't use and I don't even know by name any of the apps you're naming, and I wouldn't consider any of them to be vital to the platform. They seem to be very specific store chains or services.
I don't buy either into the "there's an app for that" thing where every little app seems to be so important that if It's not out for WP it makes the platform worthless. That's my main point against "app gap" cases.

Then, I don't think this is the place to use "WP ******" as an insult, because to some extent I assume everyone who's in this site is one (well, you said yourself that you "like WP over anything else", that qualifies for fanboyism? Probably, I don't really care).

Another thing, and what prompted me to reply to this topic, out of many I keep seeing pop up in the forums, is this kind of "I'm leaving WP in spite and I feel a need to rant about it" threads. Criticism is good, but I don't think that an outright expression of dislike is very constructive. Because I believe it all comes down to personal preferences, so you might not like WP and prefer Android, or the exact opposite. And It's perfectly fine. But I Wonder what those posts are really trying to say. Is people who leave the platform hurt, feel dissapointed because they didn't get what they expected? In any case, the net is already full of negative views of things, venting and ranting.

 

[fdruid]

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".

This, a thousand times. And It's what I'm trying to say. What's this tantrum, this "yelling at the doorway before slamming it shut"? What does it achieve?