W10M is dying right in front of my eyes :-(

[Minh Junior Dinh]

I got my L950xl and its got a lot of sentimental value (it was practically free and I got it from the Microsoft Store for $400AU)

 

[Loc Ngo]

I am happy with my Lumia 950XL and personally I find that Windows 10 Mobile is the best mobile OS. But I'm considering buying an Oppo J5 because as much as I love my Lumia 950XL, I can't stand MS's algorithm for the front camera. The preview on the phone look fine but the actual pictures are far worse. They are pixelated and the colour profile is completely messed up every time, changing to some sort of a blueish tone.

 

[Techno04335]

I get the feeling that a lot of the sentiment that the platform is dying is because people are looking for negativity and live in a bubble. Obviously, if you gravitate towards that type of information your fears will be confirmed and you too will switch, thus furthering the spiral downwards that otherwise might not have existed.

Though I agree with your statement, but most people switch from windows phone because the negativity is the lack of conveniency or apps. Which applies in different forms depending on the user. If you are a hardcore Lyft, Youtube, Snapchat, common popular mobile game, or Here maps user it is not available on windows phone. If you use messenger, Instagram, and etc, you are probably rarely getting updates on wm10.

Most people only state the negativity because that is the only negativity on WM10. well aside from a unstable first release.

 

[Joe920]

None of the major players in SMS style message apps have left ( WeChat, WhatsApp,ect), if they were to close up and dump Windows Support that is when you can start to SMASH the Panic button !!!!!!!!!!!

True, but my worry is that with MS is sending such clear signals that WP is over, the few UWP developers that we do have might even decide it's not worth the effort to enable phone use, hastening WP's demise. Case in point: Nextgen reader UWP only works on PC. And with dropping sales and MS' clear disinterest, who can blame them. Then by the time their 'category defining device' could eventually become popular it's already late 2018. Very curious about the state of the market by then! #hopelessinseattle #slowandsteadylosestherace

 

[Rosebank]

The dropping sales and the reports of people leaving cant be ignored, its a fact. Also the prices of the devices via MS store seem to get reduced rather quickly too to get rid of stock levels, who are MS actually keeping this platform alive for? I struggle to understand their strategy its all wrong, keep developing an OS with no new devices? I do think by the time MS invent a new device there will be little to no fan base, that arguably could be a strategy in itself, but I have never heard of a company deliberately trying to loose customers, that is not what a business is allowed to do on many levels, Business is about keeping the numbers of customers happy and not the opposite.
I admire there is some passion being shown on this forum posting about the positive aspects of the OS and I welcome that.
I would love for this platform to succeed but I feel its not doing that currently, still its interesting to be a part of, you just never know whats going to happen next?
The future surfacephone can be the best bit of mobile hardware on the planet, but without Apps it will most likely fail, people need apps (the vast majority) and this is the reason MS are barely treading water in this sector. People don't want to have to stop, load up an exe program under emulation on their device to do something simple an app can do in a fraction of the time, Mobile computing I am all for it but how practical will it be? No Apps and your doomed.
Lastly why did MS outsource the support for Lumias and W10M ?Who will support the "New" device?
If only MS could tap into the other markets apps somehow?

 

[Kot Prada]

Maybe. But my hate to Android and Apple is strong. So, I will better stick with MS, than with those 2 ****s.

 

[helsten2]

From Digi.no - IT-bransjens nettavis

Should phase out thousands of Windows phones in Norwegian municipalities

Over 100 Norwegian municipalities are dependent on Windows-based smartphones in health and care services.

Only in Oslo they have purchased 3.000 units, so health workers on home visits can get mobile access to Gerica - a solution for electronic medical records from Tieto.

The Nordic IT giant now admits that there are some challenges that mobile app only supports Windows Phone 8 and later.

- Now it starts to get hard to get hold of Windows Phones. Microsoft hath sold mobile their division, and there is little downtime with access devices in the market, confirms sales manager Snorre Johansen Tieto Norway faced digi.no.

A platform in freefall
Windows Phone or Windows 10 Mobile plunged to a global market share of 0.4 percent last year. The fall will only continue if we are to believe forecasts from IDC.

- We have an ongoing dialogue with Microsoft. They are trying to reassure the market that 3-4 producers have plans to create Windows-based smartphones continues Johansen.

He does not seem particularly convinced.

Microsoft says that they continue to develop Windows 10 for mobile, but has no comments on the company no longer has phones for sale.

Renewed for thousands NOK apiece
HP flash last year with a new top model called Elite X3.

The model did not do overly well on the test bench at our sister website Tek.no but a retail price of around NOK 8.000 makes it anyway irrelevant for the customer group we're talking about in this article.

- Our customers use the phone as a tool in home care. It is then in your pocket with everything they need equipment for wound care and so on. It provides, among other wear and devices do not last as long. Our customers usually buys Windows Phones to around NOK 1.500-2.000, says Sales Manager at Tieto.

In Oslo they currently have 2.450 Windows Phones. They are renewed for a thousand NOK apiece as they break, get digi.no stated.

Phases out Windows phones
If the supply of affordable Windows Phones will not move up, the Tieto have to focus on other platforms.

- There are under constant evaluation. We will wait a bit to see if it actually gets more Windows phones or not, says Johansen.

In councils department for the elderly, health and social services in Oslo is one even more specific. There is already a dialogue between the city and Tieto to have created an Android version.

- We are now in dialogue with Tieto to develop a new generation Gerica mobile solution customized Android platform, says the agency's Head Stein Schatvet in an email to digi.no.

- Does this mean that Oslo will phase out Windows phones?

- Yes, but it will happen only when Tieto has its Android version ready. This will be a gradual transition based on product development, and it will be emphasizing that all respect to user safety are safeguarded, says Schatvet.

So no reason to object
When Tieto renewed its Gerica mobile solution for approximately three years ago, they chose to develop the solution for use only on Windows Phone platform.

- Because the solution used for processing of health information and we chose to secure health data through to block the phones of all other data usage, so we do not need to protest this.

Oslo has agreed to purchase a fleet management system (Mobile device management tools, MDM) that will be used on Gerica phones.

- This tool will make it possible to open for the use of the Internet, downloading apps and so on without that information security is threatened, says Head Stein Schatvet in Oslo.

----

Translated with Google Translate. Original article:
Skal fase ut mange tusen Windows-telefoner i norske kommuner - Digi.no

 

[Rosebank]

Market share 0.4% even lower than the 1% I had in mind when I wrote this forum post.

 

[anon(3463402)]

W10M is not dying, it's developing. Market share is irrelevant. Who gives a **** for stats? I use what I like.

 

[ErazerHead]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here: yes, the Windows Store has a lot less apps than Android or iOS, but is this the end of the world?

Let's face it - most apps on iOS/Android/WP are **** anyways: free to play games trying to nickel and dime customers make the bulk of App Stores, most of the rest being freemium apps with loads of ads, and most of them do the same thing anyways. For every Evernote or Word you have tens of camera apps to add tints or stickers, messaging apps with a slightly different twist and no interoperability.
With the exception of Google's apps (no maps in particular remains a sore spot), I'd say the app gap is not nearly as big an issue as it's made out to be.

Let's also look at the bright side, areas where Windows Phone is genuinely ahead of the curve:

• The UI is well thought out and has some genuinely useful features (live tiles a particular standout)
• It offers a consistent experience while giving a choice across devices and manufacturers
• There are no genuinely horrible devices like many cheap Android phones are, mostly because OEMs can't eff the OS up
• It has the best support for expandable storage and most devices support it in hardware, which means no price gouging for memory
• It is as safe as iOS, if not more
• It is one operating system and one store across form factors. The same app can work across mobile, desktop and tablet form factors - without needing to buy again. This is where eventually Google and Apple will want to go too.

 

[Kerry2112]

Honestly, from an apps perspective, if Edge were even halfway decent, I could live with using mobile websites to get around the app gap (for banking apps, etc.) But Edge, as currently constituted, just doesn't cut it for me. I can't use my bank's mobile site on Edge and there's no Windows phone app for it. So I have to use the DESKTOP site on my 950XL, which is a real pain.

If the Surface phone ever, um, surfaces and it has a browser that REALLY rocks and W10M continues to develop apace, that would be enough to keep me on the platform despite the app gap.

 

[libra89]

Honestly, from an apps perspective, if Edge were even halfway decent, I could live with using mobile websites to get around the app gap (for banking apps, etc.) But Edge, as currently constituted, just doesn't cut it for me. I can't use my bank's mobile site on Edge and there's no Windows phone app for it. So I have to use the DESKTOP site on my 950XL, which is a real pain.

If the Surface phone ever, um, surfaces and it has a browser that REALLY rocks and W10M continues to develop apace, that would be enough to keep me on the platform despite the app gap.

I agree about Edge. It needs to not only be better, but also perform better too.

 

[anon(50597)]

W10M is not dying, it's developing. Market share is irrelevant. Who gives a **** for stats? I use what I like.

I think this is the best and most relevant post this far.
It may not be what some want it to be, but it's not dying.

Sent from my Alcatel Idol 4S

 

[anon(50597)]

Honestly, from an apps perspective, if Edge were even halfway decent, I could live with using mobile websites to get around the app gap (for banking apps, etc.) But Edge, as currently constituted, just doesn't cut it for me. I can't use my bank's mobile site on Edge and there's no Windows phone app for it. So I have to use the DESKTOP site on my 950XL, which is a real pain.

If the Surface phone ever, um, surfaces and it has a browser that REALLY rocks and W10M continues to develop apace, that would be enough to keep me on the platform despite the app gap.

Edge is certainty a work in progress and areas where it can improve. My bank works extremely well on Edge where others, like yours, do not. The good thing is updates are coming rapidly. We will get there.

Sent from my Alcatel Idol 4S

 

[Rosebank]

Let's face it - most apps on iOS/Android/WP are **** anyways

That's simply not true.

 

[Mehrdad Aria]

I have lumia 830 and i love this platform but 100% my next phone will be a Nokia with Android, in fact i hate Android but this is the best choice (ios is very expensive). Unfortunately i should say windows mobile is ***, because of:
1. no offline maps and inaccurate maps
2. ridiculous limitations for Devs
3. low quality apps (specially social app: facebook, telegram)
4. windows mobile is very unstable
5. even dont have oldest features like flip to silence or LED notification

 

[digitaldd]

I went Android for a awhile because i got what i considered a decent cheap phone (Honor 5x) unfortunately the company that mnaufactures it (Huawei) had no intention of supporting it beyond releasing a marshmallow upgrade. That seems to be the problem with all non-flagship Android devices (if you pay the $500+ for the flagship you get support for up to 2 years occasionally longer). That's where Apple shines it is common for them to support one of the current generation iPhones for 3years, i guess that is what Apple customers pay the extra money for.

Currently I'm using an Idol 4S, for what its worth best windows phone device I have used so far though i wish the camera had OIS and focused a bit faster, didn't occasionally have issues recognizing that wired headphones were connected, and didn't lose access to the SD card until an app was relaunched.

Anyone have a recommendation for a cheap Continuum dock? I though the Microsoft HD-500 Display Dock which came out with the 950 & 950XL would have dropped in price or something instead no one has it anymore even Microsoft won't sell you one of the ones they have in their stores. I just need USB ports/HDMI and DP out/power to charge the USB-C based phone. Now MS is pushing the USB-C laptop/surface docks which are pricey Any suggestions under $50?

 

[Scott Pisciotta]

I was excited about x86 on ARM, but it will still have a problem. All of the good mobile apps don't have x86 support anyway. Waze (that will be canned on WP watch), any good mobile games, banking apps (to scan checks).

It's clear that the Facebook Beta app is a PORT of an iOS version because it is huge in size, which is a clear indicator of some code porting, that usually leads to hugely inefficient and large files. The performance is horrible.

The only hope would be some type of Android emulator that doesn't take too much of a performance hit in WP

 

[Rosebank]

I wonder if there is a x86 program that can run Android apps? I mean not a virtual machine but a x86 program lol

 

[fatclue_98]

I wonder if there is a x86 program that can run Android apps? I mean not a virtual machine but a x86 program lol

AmiDuos and Bluestacks are the only game in town. They each install via executables so that makes them a prog in my book.