Universal apps are failing

[cracgor]

Universal apps are a big hit! This helps to bring the apps of PC to the mobiles and vice versa. As a result, unlike in Win 8.1 for PC, most of the popular apps are now available on Windows 10 for PC! Due to universal apps, mobiles and laptops are now helping each other to grow their app market and this rise is exponential!

My point is just that universal apps let phone apps go to PC easily. There is less benefit to move your PC app to mobile. There is even less incentive to move your iPhone so to PC to get it on windows mobile.

What are the great universal apps coming to the platform? Please enlighten me. For PC people still make traditional software over apps. My dictation software on PC exists, but not as an app. The developer has no plans to develop for windows mobile and suggested I get an iPhone or iPod. #wmlife

 

[henocksandy]

That's not entirely true. Yes, they run in an emulated environment, but not pretty? I've been playing around with this feature a couple of times and the apps looked exactly like they do on Android (and WM10 will soon look the very same) and were perfectly fluid. No lag, no nothing. If I hadn't known for sure, I would have thought these were native WM10 apps.

You talking about Astoria on Lumias? Lol... Ur joking that it runs smooth! I tried it myself and at first it was ok, then next day my phone started slowing down just like an Android phone! 1week later i could not even reset the phone, it was that worse, then had to use WDRT! I tested this because i read rumors about it slowing down the phone as we use it and it was true! And for your kind information, Microsoft Confirmed it that it was reason they removed it!

 

[henocksandy]

In the end, Android and iOS will start doing the same thing MS is doing right now! Thats why Universal Apps are the future! In coming years when there is a phone with 8GB RAM, do u think Mobile apps need that much power? Universal Apps will show its power! Whereas for iOS, they have to make a new app for phones, and 1 more for Mac with OS X! Now even google wants to copy this by making Chrome OS and Android together! Universal Apps was the best idea by Microsoft!

 

[jhoff80]

And for your kind information, Microsoft Confirmed it that it was reason they removed it!

Actually, a Cortana bug that has since been fixed is what slowed the device down over time. Microsoft has given no reason for the removal of the Android subsystem. As for all of this rhetoric about Android slowing down and all that, a lot of people here clearly haven't used Android in years (or ever) and are just repeating the same talking points against it.

I still prefer the Windows Phone / Windows 10 Mobile operating system and continue to use my Lumia 1020 as my primary device, but a lot of you here are just sticking your head in the sand on this stuff.

Universal apps are great. I love the potential of them. However, has there been a single instance of a big-name app that is missing from Windows Phone 8.1 that is coming to the platform now as a Universal app? So far, we've seen a bunch of updated versions of apps we already had. Nothing really new that fills a hole in what's available.

I've said in another thread, but it's really a tradeoff for what you need. Right now, the needle tips for me just slightly in the direction of my Lumia based on the strength of the OS itself, but the limits of what everyone is willing to miss out on can vary.

 

[dKp1977]

You talking about Astoria on Lumias? Lol... Ur joking that it runs smooth! I tried it myself and at first it was ok, then next day my phone started slowing down just like an Android phone! 1week later i could not even reset the phone, it was that worse, then had to use WDRT! I tested this because i read rumors about it slowing down the phone as we use it and it was true! And for your kind information, Microsoft Confirmed it that it was reason they removed it!

Never happened on my old 1520, nope. And like jehoff said, Cortana was a memory hug thus slowing down some devices. They fixed that. Android emulation hasn't been removed, it's still there. At least in the insider builds. It has just been discontinued for the time being without giving any specific explanation other than that it had issues.

 

[hagjohn]

Here we are again. Back to the chicken and egg situation.

Dev's won't build apps because there are no users.
Users won't switch to Windows because there are no apps.

That is why Microsoft needs to give people a compelling reason to switch to a windows phone. So far, they have failed miserably. I hope they can fix the situation.

 

[BryceMD]

And for your kind information, Microsoft Confirmed it that it was reason they removed it!

The reason they pumped the brakes on android apps is because android developers were mad. The fact that Win10 Mobile ran android apps virtualized meant you could sideload the android apk. Which brings up piracy concerns in terms of lost revenue for the developers, as well as just the fact you can get the app running on an OS it wasn't intended for without the sourcecode and developers consent.

They focused more on ios ports which, from my understanding, actually requires a recompile of the source. It may be a port but it is still technically a native app in the sense it isn't virtualized.

 

[Musicman247]

Never happened on my old 1520, nope. And like jehoff said, Cortana was a memory hug thus slowing down some devices. They fixed that. Android emulation hasn't been removed, it's still there. At least in the insider builds. It has just been discontinued for the time being without giving any specific explanation other than that it had issues.

Actually, the Android subsystem WAS removed from W10m. That's why you can't sideload APKs with the Astoria tools on builds from 10536 on. XDA-Developers has several threads devoted to this.

 

[jhoff80]

They focused more on ios ports which, from my understanding, actually requires a recompile of the source.

It's generally more than just a simple recompile. This might have changed since then, but in the BUILD presentation, Microsoft estimated that Islandwood did about 50-60% of the work, and the developer has to recode the rest of it.

 

[cracgor]

Universal apps are great. I love the potential of them. However, has there been a single instance of a big-name app that is missing from Windows Phone 8.1 that is coming to the platform now as a Universal app? So far, we've seen a bunch of updated versions of apps we already had. Nothing really new that fills a hole in what's available..

I couldn't say it better. The difference between a universal IOS app is the apps already exist.

My experience is most normal people avoid the Microsoft app store and revert their windows 10 machines to a desktop type interface.

The hardest part is there are no palatable answers.

 

[BryceMD]

It's generally more than just a simple recompile. This might have changed since then, but in the BUILD presentation, Microsoft estimated that Islandwood did about 50-60% of the work, and the developer has to recode the rest of it.

Yes fair point, it's more than a simple recompile. My point was you can't just grab the ios app package and side load it like you could with the android apps. It actually needs to be recompiled for Win10.

 

[elindalyne]

We're getting new universal apps every day... Way to early to determine whether or not it's a success or failure. They just updated the SDK for Windows 10 to have more tooling for universal apps as well as released a big updated to VS 2015. The VS update has plugins for creating universal apps for not only Windows, but also for Android and iOS.

The way I see things happening within the next year we'll see more and more universal apps come out thanks to W10 adoption and better tool availability. We've already got rumors that a SnapChat app may be coming out sometime next year. Combined with the Redstone update that should add more Continuum features and the "Panos phone" that is rumored to be coming, W10M becomes more and more compelling.

One thing that people miss a lot with the UWP and Continuum is just how broad the UWP actually is. IoT is part of this equation. You could theoretically have smart devices being controlled by the same software that is on your phone. All those science-fictiony type smart homes are beginning to become feasible.

The UWP is absolutely not a short term project. Continuum and UWP are interrelated and compelling. Use your imagination. I for one look forward to the day when I can drop my phone on the counter and have it connect to a touchscreen panel to control my home. Yes, it's far off, but the underlying framework is being laid as we speak.

 

[jhoff80]

IoT is part of this equation. You could theoretically have smart devices being controlled by the same software that is on your phone. All those science-fictiony type smart homes are beginning to become feasible.

I already have a ton of smart devices being controlled by software on my phone. (I currently use SmartThings, which supports Zigbee, Z-wave, and connects with Hue, among other devices). It in no way requires those smart devices to be running Windows 10 to do so.

 

[elindalyne]

I already have a ton of smart devices being controlled by software on my phone. (I currently use SmartThings, which supports Zigbee, Z-wave, and connects with Hue, among other devices). It in no way requires those smart devices to be running Windows 10 to do so.

You're misunderstanding me. You can have an IoT application that runs a kiosk be the same package that runs on your phone, that runs on your desktop. 1 codebase to support rather than 3. You could also have said kiosk in small form plug into or broadcast to a giant touchscreen monitor and display different information and have different options.

Stuff doesn't just go desktop -> tablet -> phone. It can go the other way too.

 

[jhoff80]

I get that, but I guess my problem is more that I don't really understand the practical application of that. I mean, an ATM running Windows 10 wouldn't be helpful to get me as a consumer a phone app.

Generally, IoT stuff is really specialized anyway. It's great for Microsoft to get that stuff running Windows 10, but I'm not really sure it helps this problem.

 

[cracgor]

You're misunderstanding me. You can have an IoT application that runs a kiosk be the same package that runs on your phone, that runs on your desktop. 1 codebase to support rather than 3.

It depends on a lot of ifs. Microsoft's best mobile plan will be to invent something that is not a phone that can replace your laptop because they can't even make a phone that can replace your phone.

 

[elindalyne]

Baby steps. The important thing with the UWP package is it gives you a baseline to build off of. Combine that with continuum and it makes it a lot easier for devs to support multiple environments.

Look how quickly responsive website design took off.

 

[cracgor]

Baby steps. The important thing with the UWP package is it gives you a baseline to build off of. Combine that with continuum and it makes it a lot easier for devs to support multiple environments.

Look how quickly responsive website design took off.

Sure it makes it easier to make an app on one device and put it on every device, or easy for users to move from device to device.

My reason for starting this thread is I see no compelling reason to believe having an app on your computer will save mobile. Maybe it is because I'm in the windows ecosystem but I thought universal apps were going to get PC apps to mobile, but I don't see that happening. The problem with universal apps is many apps are suited for 1 type of device. We are missing mobile apps, and I do not see any reason to compel developers to make an app on the universal platform to take advantage of mobile if it does not already exist.

 

[elindalyne]

I can think of quite a few IOS/Android apps that would benefit greatly from having a desktop application...

I'm trying to think of exactly what type of app you're talking about that wouldn't benefit from a different environment.

Since people are citing Starbucks a lot... All the information you see in the application on iOS would be available in the app without the mobile payment. Still a useful app for those that like Starbucks.

 

[cracgor]

I can think of quite a few IOS/Android apps that would benefit greatly from having a desktop application...

I'm trying to think of exactly what type of app you're talking about that wouldn't benefit from a different environment.

Since people are citing Starbucks a lot... All the information you see in the application on iOS would be available in the app without the mobile payment. Still a useful app for those that like Starbucks.

The main benefit to the iPhone one was the payment barcode even before the NFC abilities. If they made this Starbucks app for PC without payment information, how would that help mobile? Even if they make it universal, you have a subpar app.

I was in your line of thinking a couple of months ago. But now I can't really say I see how it will lead to the development I want.

I also don't know what the exciting apps going universal are. The only that I can think of that led to mobile development was vlc. All the others are like mytube or baconit, which are fantastic apps that fill their respective voids. They however were already on mobile, so it just improves the PC.