What would it take for you to come back to Windows Mobile?

[mbrdev]

There's one very simple answer for the vast majority of us:

Apps.

What good is a smartphone if you can't do anything with it?

Maybe they could market them as dumbphones instead, would probably sell a lot better lol

 

[ViveLeRoi]

Sadly Ballmer melted into a large puddle of goo and sweat not long after and his mantra of "Developers, Developers, Developers" has been associated with his demise, thus the current lack of enthusiasm for Developers at Microsoft.

 

[John20212]

There is only one thing that would make me come back and give MS one last chance, and that is if they made a Smartphone with the Nokia Lumia 1020 Camera tech 41mp sensor or even better if they can improve it, and made it run on a phone with the latest ARM specs with removable microSD card and battery, or alternatively a first win32 powered phone with full Windows 10 on board.
But the key would have to be the use and improvement of the Lumia 1020 camera, nothing short of that would convince me to come back to Windows Phone.

 

[Wmercado_1984]

I would love to still love windows phone great platforms that only needs more attention to compatibility and applications even from Microsoft itself and better features for it own phone brand. I mean seriously android and apple Microsoft apps are better designed and better looking even faster than Windows (not fare). Still I think there is hope if the windows mobile gets attention to the details that make the competition better. I promise you, that happends we will see great amount of developers bringing the mos popular and use apps with the great features to equal or surpass the competition. Details make up a great platform.

 

[Ratindra Sharma]

Just a new phone with 3/4 GB RAM, fingerprint, 64 GB or Higher Memory, AMOLED screen that's it. I had to get my L640 replaced because of the issues and I just could not get a replacement. I was forced to get Android and I just can't tell you the frustration. Things that you are so used to are not their in Android: Dark Mode, Better OS performance, Contacts or People App, Dialer, No replacement for Apps like NewsFlow, Appraisin, Onedrive integration etc.... . And on top of that most of the apps have are just dead icons and you keep moving between different screens to find an app. I can go on and on.
The hype of NO APPS is an exaggerated expression now.

The only question now remains is Why MS Why? Windows 10 is great and it is better than the competitors. It is not the Windows ecosystem that led to the downfall but it is the strategy used by MS. It is failure of MS.

I will still wait for that Ultra Mobile

 

[mbrdev]

It just seems like not a day goes by that you don't hear about a developer closing up shop on the Windows Store. Yes, there are a lot of apps on the store, but how many of those are quality apps? How many of those are knock-off alternatives that don't work as well? You could ask the same for the rest, but I would say the ratio of good to bad apps are much better on Google, Amazon, and Apple than they are on Windows. And even if they are the same apps as the other platforms, they tend to run better because they are spending development funding on them. That money is coming from app purchases.

It may not be the best solution, but they have to do something to shore up the store and give people more reason to pick up a Windows phone when comparing it to an Android or iOS device. Paying them off up front may not be the best or the right answer, but a deal has to be made somewhere to get them to even consider coming to the Windows Store. You're absolutely right, one or two apps is not going to do it. They need to improve the overall health of the store with high quality apps across the board. If you don't even have the user base to guarantee sales of apps, you have to get creative to sell the developers on Windows. It's the chicken and the egg problem. Which comes first, the users or the apps? No one's going to buy your devices if you can't do anything with them other than basic functions, and no developer is going to design an app for your device if no one is there to buy it.

In my opinion, Windows is a better platform. As I've said elsewhere, I love my Nokia Lumia. I've had it for over three years now and it's the most stable phone I've ever owned. I have had essentially zero issues with it. It's been supported up to this point and I see no reason why that support should stop given the specs of my phone until something like Windows on ARM is on a telephony device and becomes the norm. But with the limited list of devices for the Creator's Update, I've come to the realization that I'm going to have to make a decision very soon.

I can tell you first hand that out of that 2.8 million apps not even 0.1% are worth even looking at. As for quality I found most apps I use on W10M were much higher quality than their counterparts on Android, often the Android apps had more features but they are as buggy and laggy as the OS itself. I'm using an old iPhone at the moment and the apps quality and features are better than W10M in most cases but the OS is boring and and gives me no pleasure to use at all.

UWP is a fantastic platform and coupled with Xamarin it is also a smart choice for developers, the problem is though even now that Microsoft owns Xamarin, they don't mention W10M for anything, they promote it solely as a tool to create cross platform Android and iOS apps, even in the documentation it's all about Android and iOS and that is a huge mistake. Microsoft has completely put the breaks on any mention of W10M to developers and to be honest are not even promoting UWP for desktop as much as they should either.

In the end, I don't want 2.8 million apps in the Windows Store, to be honest it's a complete waste and just makes finding anything worthwhile so much harder. I would prefer if the store was curated with only a few thousand apps so long as each app is high quality and actually worth using.

 

[bhairavpardiwala]

Wish they open up the all api's for access like android .

 

[mayconvert]

I am going to say it. And no one is going to like it.
DEVELOPERS ARE THE REASON WP FAILED.
A LOT of blame does rest on balmer and Nutella. but developers caused this platform to fail.
here's why:
Apps. Yes, yes, we all know, there's no apps on Windows mobile/WP whatever you wanna call it.
But, the apps that ARE there: ARE FLIPPIN TERRIBLE when compared to Android and downright laughable when compared to iOS apps.
I will use two examples.
Starbucks: took FOREVER to finally get a starbucks app, they waited until the platform was dead before even trying it. The starbucks app is just one example of 10,000 where even when the developer does make an app, for whatever reason, Windows developers write terrible, featureless, web wraps, that are absolutely atrocious next to their iOS counterparts.
Chronicle - Bill Reminder: bought this app on OSX and iOS years ago, it syncs via iCloud to ALL my Apple devices without even thinking about it. Full featured, great interface, best money I have ever spent on an "app" for desktop and mobile.
Chronicle on Windows: (universal app) terrible just doesn't say enough. it's worse than terrible. it purely showcases the lack of effort that windows developers put into their Windows apps vs other operating systems.

This trend was the Norm for every single windows phone app I tried over the years. Every single one of them were Jokes when compared to iOS / OSX versions of the SAME EXACT APP.

Microsoft doesn't need to pay a trillion to get every single app that is on the other guys. They need the top 50,000 GOOD APPS. Banks apps, REAL FACEBOOK, not some MS version that sucks. Snap chat, Geico, allstate etc. NAME BRAND APPS. we don't need a single Fart app, or goofy junk app. we need the CORE apps that makes peoples lives easier.
Microsoft also needs to say Google: I am sorry, please release ALL of your google apps on WP. PLEASE.
I know half you tin foil hat people think that MS isn't spying and selling everything you do, but google does.
Trust me, MS is invading your privacy just as much if not More than Google.
And you know what, YOU don't have to use a single google app. but I want every single one of them and I want every single google sync feature like Google photos, calendar, notes, mail, G+, Chrome (since MS can't seem to make a web browser at all anymore, Edge SUCKS)

MS needs to require that ALL windows apps, universal or not, live up to the same standard as they do on iOS.
if not, MS will NEVER be back in the mobile business. WP could have been 30% market share right now if not for Developers, balmer and Nutella.

 

[PBlessing]

Over all I had no problem with the hardware (but PLEASE bring back the 1020's camera!!!) and I loved the OS. For me it was the apps that were missing. I hated being told just use the web version or that app is not made for MS platform. I had to switch over because of apps that were just not available that my company required me to use and a few social apps that I wanted to use.

 

[garisa]

Well, what would be the most important would be Microsoft to prove themselves to be reliable. I would have no issue with advising somebody to buy a Windows phone if I knew they are really dedicated to Windows 10 mobile, or at least to their UWP. I would have no issue with them starting to with Windows 10 for ARM, as this way they would make phones with far more superior continuum which would still heavily depend on UWP. So UWP apps would still be there, but Microsoft would have to take care that Windows 10 mobile users don't lose access to these all these UWP apps which would be used on those newer phones.

In other words, I don't want to talk somebody into buying a Windows phone when I am not sure they will not be left behind in less than three years. Sure, somebody will say "OMG, of course people are supposed to buy a new phone after two years", but even cheaper Android phones can work for at least 3-4 years, and so should Windows phones.

 

[tchaikie]

I already said that Windows Phone will die unless it ran android apps. Unfortunately Microsoft killed that plan. So with it they killed Windows Phone. By the time the current Windows phones would have gone old, in 2 years time, there won't be windows phone anymore. Run android apps and Windows phone will live, that's the only way i will return.

 

[polaromonas]

One word: Apps. I can live with W10M as it is, I even like it. But I switched to the iPhone simply because there's no apps I wanted to use on W10M. MS needs to not only provide tools for developers, but also incentivize them to code for UWP ecosystem.

 

[patsundwall]

I would love to go back to Windows phone, but it would need to run the apps I need. And right now they are on Android. If they would bring back the Android bridge I would be back as soon as I could get a phone.

 

[Kot Prada]

Nothing, since I didn't leave it.

 

[Kot Prada]

I already said that Windows Phone will die unless it ran android apps. Unfortunately Microsoft killed that plan. So with it they killed Windows Phone. By the time the current Windows phones would have gone old, in 2 years time, there won't be windows phone anymore. Run android apps and Windows phone will live, that's the only way i will return.

Actually, I would die if I will have to use Android cr*p on my 950 XL.

 

[Kot Prada]

Over all I had no problem with the hardware (but PLEASE bring back the 1020's camera!!!) and I loved the OS. For me it was the apps that were missing. I hated being told just use the web version or that app is not made for MS platform. I had to switch over because of apps that were just not available that my company required me to use and a few social apps that I wanted to use.

How come Your company forces You to use certain OS... what country do You live in? Do You have some freedom? Zimbabve?

 

[Kot Prada]

I am going to say it. And no one is going to like it.
DEVELOPERS ARE THE REASON WP FAILED.
A LOT of blame does rest on balmer and Nutella. but developers caused this platform to fail.
here's why:
Apps. Yes, yes, we all know, there's no apps on Windows mobile/WP whatever you wanna call it.
But, the apps that ARE there: ARE FLIPPIN TERRIBLE when compared to Android and downright laughable when compared to iOS apps.
I will use two examples.
Starbucks: took FOREVER to finally get a starbucks app, they waited until the platform was dead before even trying it. The starbucks app is just one example of 10,000 where even when the developer does make an app, for whatever reason, Windows developers write terrible, featureless, web wraps, that are absolutely atrocious next to their iOS counterparts.
Chronicle - Bill Reminder: bought this app on OSX and iOS years ago, it syncs via iCloud to ALL my Apple devices without even thinking about it. Full featured, great interface, best money I have ever spent on an "app" for desktop and mobile.
Chronicle on Windows: (universal app) terrible just doesn't say enough. it's worse than terrible. it purely showcases the lack of effort that windows developers put into their Windows apps vs other operating systems.

This trend was the Norm for every single windows phone app I tried over the years. Every single one of them were Jokes when compared to iOS / OSX versions of the SAME EXACT APP.

Microsoft doesn't need to pay a trillion to get every single app that is on the other guys. They need the top 50,000 GOOD APPS. Banks apps, REAL FACEBOOK, not some MS version that sucks. Snap chat, Geico, allstate etc. NAME BRAND APPS. we don't need a single Fart app, or goofy junk app. we need the CORE apps that makes peoples lives easier.
Microsoft also needs to say Google: I am sorry, please release ALL of your google apps on WP. PLEASE.
I know half you tin foil hat people think that MS isn't spying and selling everything you do, but google does.
Trust me, MS is invading your privacy just as much if not More than Google.
And you know what, YOU don't have to use a single google app. but I want every single one of them and I want every single google sync feature like Google photos, calendar, notes, mail, G+, Chrome (since MS can't seem to make a web browser at all anymore, Edge SUCKS)

MS needs to require that ALL windows apps, universal or not, live up to the same standard as they do on iOS.
if not, MS will NEVER be back in the mobile business. WP could have been 30% market share right now if not for Developers, balmer and Nutella.

Simply, Android suits You more. That's all. I don't need any Google **** on my smartphone. If so, I would use Android. But I don't use Google and it's services. And I like Edge: I even uninstalled all other browsers from PC. So, just stick with Android

 

[bleached]

Microsoft doesn't need to pay a trillion to get every single app that is on the other guys. They need the top 50,000 GOOD APPS. Banks apps, REAL FACEBOOK, not some MS version that sucks. Snap chat, Geico, allstate etc. NAME BRAND APPS..

Even if Microsoft spent a trillion dollars and had all the apps available, Windows Phones would still not sell for one reason: Windows phones benefit no one except Microsoft.

Manufacturers and carriers never took Windows phones seriously because it is Microsoft's platform, not theirs. They all took Android seriously because Google offered them their own platform. Samsung doesn't create Android phones, they create Touchwiz phones. Motorola didn't create Android phones, they were Blur phones. Amazon didn't create Android tablets, they were Fire tablets.

The app gap is just a symptom of Microsoft failing to get manufacturers and carriers excited about Windows phones. Microsoft needs to find a way to get them onboard first. Creating a platform that only benefits Microsoft has the exact opposite effect.

 

[utg001]

For me, all Microsoft has to do to keep me in is first up improve maps, like a lot. Microsoft has no answer to Google maps and without Google maps on Windows a lot of other apps that I use simply cannot come to the platform.

Secondly, I think the time has long gone where Microsoft could have done something to get in the market. Right now Microsoft can only keep releasing a phone every two years, in limited supply to keep the community alive and just assign a bunch of engineers that keep working on introducing small features in Windows.

The thing is, I am someone who doesn't need a lot of apps to stay in Windows, in fact I still am a Windows fan. I had to switch to android because there is no Windows phone available in my country anymore. As refreshing as android is I still cannot live with android. At the same time, Microsoft needs to understand that I'm sticking to Windows because its my choice, I just expect Microsoft to keep updates coming frequently.

On the point of updates, let me remind you why I came to Windows in the first place, it was the people's app all the way back in Windows Phone 7. I could use that phone without ever installing any app from store. I think if Microsoft keeps adding features right into the OS itself, people will see the appeal.

 

[deankaltsas]

come out with a fantatstic camera and battery. don't mind if it's thicker as long as it has longer battery life. as for functionality, office lens needs to add pages like google scanner does. sounds like a small thing but it's a big one for me at work.