Why are apps so poor quality?

[Laura Knotek]

I agree however the difference is all the major apps function flawlessly on android and ios, they wouldn't think of putting out a crappy app, on WP even the major apps are buggy.

I wouldn't say that is the case.

Discovery News is an official app from a major company. It hasn't been updated for Android for over 2 years and doesn't work.

 

[cracgor]

I use the built in Podcasts app on Windows. While simple, it seems to work and I can always play my Podcasts. Clearly not cross-platform to iOS or Android, but does the job on Windows phone.

You still have to open it to get it to update podcasts, which is fine if you prepare and do some work. The problem is I always forget until I'm off WiFi.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[realwarder]

You still have to open it to get it to update podcasts, which is fine if you prepare and do some work. The problem is I always forget until I'm off WiFi.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

It always just works for me. There are zero delays when I open it to playing the latest podcast.

 

[cracgor]

It always just works for me. There are zero delays when I open it to playing the latest podcast.

I can stream the podcasts, but I often forget to download the podcasts before taking a flight or going out of the country. I never got it to automatically update the podcasts without opening the app.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[WPenvy]

You know, people like the OP really bug the **** out of me. I'm a dev, and you don't seem to realise how much time some of these apps take.

Bear in mind that most apps you want, you want for free. Made by independent/freelancers not corps.

Also, when was the last time ANY of you went to the Developers Corner of the forums and checked out stuff? Lots of people ask for help testing their apps (myself included) only to find that no one replies.

Hmm, yeah, I wonder why quality isn't better. /s

 

[Laura Knotek]

You know, people like the OP really bug the **** out of me. I'm a dev, and you don't seem to realise how much time some of these apps take.

Bear in mind that most apps you want, you want for free. Made by independent/freelancers not corps.

Also, when was the last time ANY of you went to the Developers Corner of the forums and checked out stuff? Lots of people ask for help testing their apps (myself included) only to find that no one replies.

Hmm, yeah, I wonder why quality isn't better. /s

The apps that the OP mentioned, with the exception of Pocket Casts, are all free and from large corporations, not paid and from indie developers.

 

[WPenvy]

The apps that the OP mentioned, with the exception of Pocket Casts, are all free and from large corporations, not paid and from indie developers.

Yeah I added the "Made by independent/freelancers not corps." but not in the right place I suppose. I'm ranting on apps made for free

 

[jlabelle]

Lack of motivation and attention simply.

For instance :

• Aeries or Fenice are miles ahead of Twitter
• 6gram is miles ahead of Instagram
• MyTube or TubeCast or MetroTube are much better than YouTube app on iOS / Android

Those are simple example showing that with care and dedication, the applications can be really great.
As long as there are good 3rd party app, I do not really care to be honest.

 

[TheChazas]

Apps, or some particular Apps? cause there ARE good quality Apps, free and paid.

People forget W10M is absolutely brand new, and most Apps are old from/for older 8.1 system, New Apps based on new Software/Hardware are just to come.

By the Way, MS going the right way, soon we can expect nice and stable OS, where we don't need to worry much about the Apps, cause OS it-self has a lot, it is not an empty System where you need to download everything, and besides that, like I said, a lot of quality Apps are just to come.

 

[Zeem Frostmaw]

It's like going into a super market and picking up a box of branded cereal only to find it's filled with scrap paper after opening it. Do you blame the supermarket or the people/company who packaged the product?

Going by my experience with customer complaints, the supermarket almost always gets blamed.

 

[rfr0st]

Coming from Android as a long term user, I find a lot of apps is lacking.
The best part about Android is that you almost always can find an app that has the feature you miss in the OS itself.

3rd party apps I can understand since the big market is not there.
But big name apps like Spotify and Facebook is severely lagging behind.

And don't get me started on Edge. An app from MS that is supposed to be universal and works like crap on my 950XL.
The rendering is just awful! Really wish for Firefox to come soon.

What I would like to see is better support from companies that deliver enterprise (big or small) solutions to come over, especially like Asana or Harvestapp that I personally depend on for work.

 

[WPenvy]

Coming from Android as a long term user, I find a lot of apps is lacking.
The best part about Android is that you almost always can find an app that has the feature you miss in the OS itself.

3rd party apps I can understand since the big market is not there.
But big name apps like Spotify and Facebook is severely lagging behind.

And don't get me started on Edge. An app from MS that is supposed to be universal and works like crap on my 950XL.
The rendering is just awful! Really wish for Firefox to come soon.

What I would like to see is better support from companies that deliver enterprise (big or small) solutions to come over, especially like Asana or Harvestapp that I personally depend on for work.

Oh you think Edge is bad on mobile? Don't even go on desktop then. Actually runs better on mobile than pc

 

[rfr0st]

Oh you think Edge is bad on mobile? Don't even go on desktop then. Actually runs better on mobile than pc

Tried it briefly before i reverted back to 8.1 on my Surface Pro, didn't really use it enough to have an honest opinion.

Sadly, I think it's on par with Samsungs native browser on Android. Not good, not bad either.. but really annoying at times when sites try to implement a mobile mode and you just want an ordinary desktop experience. Cnet is a good example when Edge is not working it's magic I found out today.

Missing features, apps and all, W10M is still a quite pleasant experience and honestly I don't miss Android much.

 

[vEEP pEEP]

Maybe 99% for you. And I thought the same way

But banking apps, or anything local - don't exist for WP. It is catching up to me. Coupgon works at my local grocery store, but I don't have the app available to me. Email the developers - they have no plans to be on WP even with W10. So I actually don't have the opportunity to save money with our the right platform.

I do agree that some apps have the bare essentials and effort is not made to spruce them up. I do have hope Windows 10 will make a difference in the app gap...

Glad you posted - interesting stuff!

People always talk about the app gap on Windows phone, for me there is no app gap, its got 99% of the apps I need, the problem is they are rubbish quality and some just plain don?t work.
I am not one for filling my phone with endless apps, I just install exactly what I need, and for me these are.
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
Spotify
Pocketcasts.

Instagram ? Has a major annoyance for me in that it leaves massive gaps in the timeline, I have a small data allowance so only turn data on when needed but doing this on Windows phone leaves a gap from when it was last on until now with no way of filling the gap like on Ios or android.

Twitter ? This has a similar issue with a gap in the timeline, its also missing notifications from people you follow, there is no moments, if I go to search for someone I follow on the other platforms when you start typing it autocompletes, not so on Windows phone, also when you search for something the results just appear in any sort of random order from any time, there is no listing from newest to oldest.

Facebook ? Personally it works fine for me but judging by reviews no so for others.

Spotify ? First of the bat its slow as molasses, resuming anyone? But more annoying than that is it randomly deletes off line content. What do I mean by this? Well because I have no wifi access at work I make content off line at home to listen to at work, you listing to a playlist, the music stops, you hit play again nothing happens, you then look at the phone the little green off line tick is gone, yes its decided to delete it. I had Spotify installed on SD card and thought that was the issue, so installed to phone same issue today, deleted an entire playlist.

Pocketcasts - This is the king of podcasts apps, I own it on Ios and android. For me the best feature is the sync feature so I can sync my podcasts between all platforms. So you sign into pocketcasts it starts syncing which again is as slow as molasses so you leave and open something else and let it run in the background, you come back maybe 10 mins later and it?s in the exact same place, it doesn?t do anything in the background leaving it pretty much useless, it won?t auto download apps or sync no they fail, even the screen has to be kept on or downloads fail, this put me off it so I never played any more with it but they ruined the best podcast app.

May be I am fussy? I?ve used all platform so know how these apps should work but the simply don?t on WP

 

[cracgor]

Lack of motivation and attention simply.

For instance :

• Aeries or Fenice are miles ahead of Twitter
• 6gram is miles ahead of Instagram
• MyTube or TubeCast or MetroTube are much better than YouTube app on iOS / Android

Those are simple example showing that with care and dedication, the applications can be really great.
As long as there are good 3rd party app, I do not really care to be honest.

I was a huge MyTube fan, but honestly after getting a v10, YouTube is better. Especially when you consider that you have to pay for MyTube. I guess it has a download feature.

Sure 6gram is better than Instagram on windows phone in some ways, but again with in app purchases to make it work. It is also not better than the iOS or Android counterpart in my opinion--as this is only opinion.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[editguy]

I was a huge MyTube fan, but honestly after getting a v10, YouTube is better. Especially when you consider that you have to pay for MyTube. I guess it has a download feature.

Sure 6gram is better than Instagram on windows phone in some ways, but again with in app purchases to make it work. It is also not better than the iOS or Android counterpart in my opinion--as this is only opinion.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

Yes, we know, everything WP is lousy and everything iOS and Android is perfect. Reading your posts is like living groundhog day.

 

[Bloobed]

The apps that the OP mentioned, with the exception of Pocket Casts, are all free and from large corporations, not paid and from indie developers.

For platforms that are not their main concern, corporations tend to outsource heavily. That, combined with their general willingness to not pay enough for the development results in apps being rushed out. The smaller companies that are usually doing the actual development also don't often have the money for the right tools, which would help the process.

 

[7a2eer]

Whinecentral
Need an Android Nokia ASAP. Nothing interesting on forum since Astoria leak. I think we passed the period in which we call this behavior "venting".

P.S: WindowsCentral app on Android works better than the WP one XD
Can add this to your list!

 

[cracgor]

Yes, we know, everything WP is lousy and everything iOS and Android is perfect. Reading your posts is like living groundhog day.

Why do you have to fill in my words for me? I understand not looking hearing opinions contrary to your own-no one likes that.

I would like the windows platform to survive, but I'm not doing it by blind optimism... Didn't work for several years.

I feel like some of the posts about app parity including 3rd party apps are from people in a closed environment telling themselves what is true. I'm trying to offer objectivity in responding to some of these posts.

Good luck editguy!

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[anon(5518418)]

I would love Windows Phone to survive as I love the interface but that's as far as the love goes, as was mentioned in another thread, Windows Phone itself is fast, the apps are slow and its they are half assed. I am sticking with iOS, the interface really bloody annoys me though, its dated as hell but everything just works with no issues,