Why WP isn't as popular as it should be.

[BackToAndroid]

You've had the device three weeks. Two weeks ago, you created a user account named "Back to Android." By my math, you created a user account with the name "back to Android" roughly a week after buying a Windows Phone. There's not a carrier in the country who wouldn't let you swap for an Android phone one week in.

None of this smells right to me.

I bought my phone "sim free" from a "Carphone Warehouse" store. It's unbranded and unlocked. Three weeks is approximate, I was responding in haste. I could have taken it back, but there's essentially nothing wrong with the phone and I don't like dishonesty.

With hindsight, I should have chosen a less provocative username, but I was angry when I first signed-up, so there you have it.

I'll freely admit that Android is imperfect, has idiosyncrasies and can be flaky, but it's the closest thing to having full pc functionality in my pocket.

Touchscreen phones are above all, fun and novel gadgets. Playing around with these phones is part of the user experience, that's why the iphone won so many hearts; it's beautiful, fluid, responsive and stylish. Personally, I don't like IOS because of the walled-garden approach of Apple. I get no enjoyment from using my Lumia.

The only positive thing about my phone is the GPS performance. It's way better than my old Android, but then, is that a virtue of the OS, or the hardware?

I don't mean to disrupt threads with negativity, but the topic at hand is an important one and all opinions should be considered.

 

[blackhawksfan75]

So here I am a customer with a Bold 9900 with company Y looking to switch and go with company X. I have pretty good knowledge of all the ecosystems on the market, iOS, Android, WP7, and BBOS. What kind of sales tactic would you use on a customer such as myself who is still undecided by which smartphone to get.

I tell you what my main focus areas are, I have an iMac at home, enjoy some social networking, apps (mainly for entertainment, sports, and gaming), music, emails, and overall good quality phone.

Now, I explain the downfalls of each device I owned. Apple iPhone 3/4, lots of apps no doubt, but can be very buggy. The dropped calls, the instability as I have to reset the phone on numerous occasions. I may have ended up with a lemon but my carrier wouldn't acknowledge that. The Android I had was an Xperia X10 I found it to be not very user friendly, the battery life was terrible and did not sync with iTunes very well always crashed on me. Blackberry BB9900, I absolutely love the QWERTY physical keyboard as well as the notification system, but my patience is wearing thin due to the uncertainty surrounding RIM and App developers dropping off like flies for other platforms.

 

[Mitlov]

So here I am a customer with a Bold 9900 with company Y looking to switch and go with company X. I have pretty good knowledge of all the ecosystems on the market, iOS, Android, WP7, and BBOS. What kind of sales tactic would you use on a customer such as myself who is still undecided by which smartphone to get.

I tell you what my main focus areas are, I have an iMac at home, enjoy some social networking, apps (mainly for entertainment, sports, and gaming), music, emails, and overall good quality phone.

Now, I explain the downfalls of each device I owned. Apple iPhone 3/4, lots of apps no doubt, but can be very buggy. The dropped calls, the instability as I have to reset the phone on numerous occasions. I may have ended up with a lemon but my carrier wouldn't acknowledge that. The Android I had was an Xperia X10 I found it to be not very user friendly, the battery life was terrible and did not sync with iTunes very well always crashed on me. Blackberry BB9900, I absolutely love the QWERTY physical keyboard as well as the notification system, but my patience is wearing thin due to the uncertainty surrounding RIM and App developers dropping off like flies for other platforms.

I would point out that WP7.5 has:

(1) very good integrated social networking; show how easy it is to upload a photo to facebook.

(2) rock-solid stability and smoothness (ironically, it's more comparable to Apple OSX for desktops than the more-versatile-but-less-refined Windows desktop OS).

(3) unlike RIM, which is small and declining, WP has the fastest-growing app store of anyone. It's small but growing momentum rapidly, not small but declining.

 

[socialcarpet]

With hindsight, I should have chosen a less provocative username, but I was angry when I first signed-up, so there you have it....I get no enjoyment from using my Lumia...I don't mean to disrupt threads with negativity...

Again, I have to ask, why are you here?

You're not looking to be convinced of the merits of Windows Phone. You want to go back to Android. You don't get any enjoyment from your Lumia.

Did you actually believe that people on a Windows Phone enthusiast forum would want to hear what you have to say about how much Windows Phone sucks and how you can't wait to go back to Android?

Or are you one of those complainers that thinks Microsoft is hanging on your every word on the forum and you are contributing "constructive criticism" that Microsoft will use to improve future phones?

Either way, doesn't make much sense at all for you to post here unless all your intent is to troll.

It's that simple.

We can't change the things you don't like about your Lumia. You are allowed to return it even if it's not technically malfunctioning. You didn't do enough research into Windows Phone before you bought one. That's no one's fault but your own. Now you want to come here and crap all over a forum for people who like Windows Phone because you're not a savvy consumer?

If you have nothing to contribute, and clearly you don't, why not go find an Android forum to post on and why on earth would you keep a phone you so clearly don't care for?

Someone here might even be willing to buy your Lumia from you, if you don't want to return it for whatever reason. Have you considered that?

Go buy an Android. Go join and Android forum and be happy and let us be happy too.

 

[blackhawksfan75]

I would point out that WP7.5 has:

(1) very good integrated social networking; show how easy it is to upload a photo to facebook.

(2) rock-solid stability and smoothness (ironically, it's more comparable to Apple OSX for desktops than the more-versatile-but-less-refined Windows desktop OS).

(3) unlike RIM, which is small and declining, WP has the fastest-growing app store of anyone. It's small but growing momentum rapidly, not small but declining.

Two more things: Does the camera have auto-focus? Because that is one of my biggest pet peeves with the Bold 9900 which makes it very difficult for up close photo shots. Secondly, how compatible is it with a mac computer? Is there a desktop client that I can download?

 

[selfcreation]

With hindsight, I should have chosen a less provocative username, but I was angry when I first signed-up, so there you have it....I get no enjoyment from using my Lumia...I don't mean to disrupt threads with negativity...

Ok , so you got MAD at WP because it dint meet your personal preference ( honestly that's your own fault, you should have done research first...)

second: even if the phone isnt defective you can bring it back its called: BUYERS REMORSE!!


and third.... you got MAD so decided to come not only TROLL the forums with USELESS RENTs but also create a TROLLER USERNAME!??

OOOK so.... your lucky your not getting banned.

 

[hwalker84]

It's a tough sell because its called a "WINDOWS" Phone. The Windows brand shouldn't be anywhere near this OS.

I pulled out my White Lumia the other day and someone asked what it was. When I told him it ran Windows Phone 7 they responded by saying "Windows mobile is the worst piece of **** i've ever used" "I'd never touch that device and can't believe you would". The brand damage is done. I explained that it has nothing to do with the old windows mobile but that still didn't matter. This isn't the first time I've had this reaction with various people.

From the start this should've been called Metro or something else creative.

 

[sting7k]

Yeah, I agree, I've heard all that, but it doesn't really worry me.

To be honest, while I proudly display my device and even reccomend others to the platform, I can't really push it as hard as I'd like to.

The main problem right now is that the platform is just immature. It is very stable, silky smooth, and has a ton of potential, but right now, it's just not caught up with iPhone and Droid as far as what's possible to do on these phones.

The biggest issue by far is the lack of 3rd party apps. However, this, I'm not really worried about. People are buying these phones, and as the platform continues to grow, apps will be developed. Windows 8 will be a major turning point, because all of the sudden, Windows phones will have specs which are just as good if not better than their iPhone and Droid counterparts. Not to mention it will have the same silky smooth UI that blows Droid and iPhone out of the water. Nokia will make a superior phone to both Apple and whatever the myriad of Droid vendors can come out with. High res screens, multi core, baked in Skype integration, etc. is all on the way, and that will certainly attract a lot of people. It will just snowball from there as people realize that Droid may not be the best #2 after the iPhone.

What I'm a little bit concerned about right now are the little details that are bothering me.

For example:

-Why can't we choose custom colors for our tiles? The only color I really like is the "blue". But I'd really like to have a gray. I can't comprehend why an option like this was left out, and why we're only left with about 7 colors to choose from, the majority of them ugly.
-Why can't we resize our tiles? I'd honestly prefer them to be maybe 3/4 the size that they are now. Or maybe 3 to a row instead of 2 to a row.
-Can't choose pictures that show up on the pictures tile. So no naked pictures of that chick I tagged last night because I'm afraid they'll show up on the pictures tile randomly.
-Why can't we have the option to keep Wi-Fi connected when the phone is sleeping? Getting very sick of waiting 8 seconds for WiFi to reconnect when I wake up the phone.
-Maps could use a huge update. No option to turn on satellite mode, have to zoom in real close.
-Put a damn forward and back button on internet explorer. Dumbest idea to combine the phones back button with IE back button. Also, IE can have sluggish performance.
-Multi tasking is just not what it should be. Can't close out different tabs without going into them. So if I want to close out of everything, I have to hit the back button 50 times? Clumsy. Also, it's not true multitasking. Every time I switch apps the things reloads.
-What if I want to separate my FB contacts from my true contacts? Or have Facebook integration, but not add the contacts to my contact "list". I do think there should be a "phonebook" that's separate from "people". I mean, a lot of people have greater than 1000 friends, I have about 500, these are people I don't need to see when I am trying to find a phone number. I might call 30-40 people regularly. It would be awesome if I could have a phonebook with only those people in it, separate from the "people hub". I could only imagine how annoying it would be with over 1000 Facebook friends.
-FB Integration. Could be VASTLY improved. It's nice now but not what it could/should be.
-The list of apps is just not a good way to display them. Let us create our own folders and put apps in them.
-Speaking of folders, let the phone act as a USB device that we can manage data on!

These are just a FEW of the items I've come across. Like I said, I love the OS and I'm glad I'm using it in its infancy. Excited to see where it goes from here. But I'm definetely not worried about the future of this platform. It's just too good to have consumers continue to ignore it forever. The "Windows" stigma will dissapear, if I recall Apple used to have a pretty lousy stigma for a long, long time.

You can turn on sat. view, on maps hit the three dots at the bottom right to bring up settings then tap "aerial view on".

You also can filter facebook contacts out of your contacts list. Go to settings, people, filter contacts list and you can set to not display facebook in your contacts but still have it integrated.

 

[Mitlov]

Two more things: Does the camera have auto-focus? Because that is one of my biggest pet peeves with the Bold 9900 which makes it very difficult for up close photo shots. Secondly, how compatible is it with a mac computer? Is there a desktop client that I can download?

(1) Yes. Unlike Android, all WP phones have a physical camera button. Like a point-and-shoot camera, you push down halfway to autofocus, all the way to take the shot.

In full disclosure, the autofocus on my HTC 7 Pro (an older, cheap Windows Phone) is annoyingly slow and makes it a bit hard to get action shots. However, I think it's much faster and better on newer or higher-end Windows Phones.

(2) Microsoft distributes the Windows Phone 7 Connector app for free on the Apple app store. I've personally never used it, since my main computer is a Vaio, but my understanding is that you can use it to download updates to your phone, transfer music from iTunes, etc.

 

[based_graham]

It's a tough sell because its called a "WINDOWS" Phone. The Windows brand shouldn't be anywhere near this OS.

I pulled out my White Lumia the other day and someone asked what it was. When I told him it ran Windows Phone 7 they responded by saying "Windows mobile is the worst piece of **** i've ever used" "I'd never touch that device and can't believe you would". The brand damage is done. I explained that it has nothing to do with the old windows mobile but that still didn't matter. This isn't the first time I've had this reaction with various people.

From the start this should've been called Metro or something else creative.

No it should be Windows because that's Microsofts bread and butter. Every OS has a ****ty revision when ppl respond to oh Windows Mobile I quickly mention its not its totally different. I show them tiles hubs and the speed and ppl are quick to jump the bandwagon.

 

[based_graham]

The main reason why WP isn't as popular as it should be is because..

1. Carrier support now were seeing what if AT&T and other carriers promoted Mango as hard as AT&T pushing the Lumia brand right now marketshare would of skyrocketed.

2. OEM support. If all OEM's treated their WP's like how Nokia is treating their Lumia brand marketshare would of increase Android hype would of went down.

2 KEY reasons and it slowly starting to change.

 

[BackToAndroid]

Go buy an Android. Go join and Android forum and be happy and let us be happy too.

I've already PM'd my desire to have my account removed, so you'll have your wish soon enough. I stand by all of my criticisms though. Goodbye.

 

[Mitlov]

I've already PM'd my desire to have my account removed, so you'll have your wish soon enough. I stand by all of my criticisms though. Goodbye.

You don't need to have your account deleted in order to just stop posting. People aren't flaming you for throwing out criticisms; they're flaming you for throwing out UNCONSTRUCTIVE criticisms. You haven't added anything useful to this thread:

They are bland, boring and lack basic functionality.

Bland and boring are totally subjective. But in my mind, the opposite is true. WP is polarizing--people love it or hate it--and that's the opposite of "bland and boring." What do you mean?

Lack basic functionality? It's the basic functionality (social networking, email, music player) where WP7 does best. It's in the high-end performance user criteria, not basic functionality, where WP7 lags behind Android. What "basic functionality" are you talking about?

Furthermore, there should be a global privacy setting which gives the user complete control of their privacy on a single screen.

Interesting idea, and a real concrete suggestion. What other OSes have one centralized privacy menu that governs privacy for all apps?

I won't get started on Zune...

Say something or say nothing at all. For most people here, Zune is fantastic. It was a primary selling point for me. If you don't like something about it, be specific.

 

[BackToAndroid]

Bland and boring are totally subjective. But in my mind, the opposite is true. WP is polarizing--people love it or hate it--and that's the opposite of "bland and boring." What do you mean?

I mean, whatever phone you have is virtually indistinguishable from mine - visually, functionally and performance wise.

What "basic functionality" are you talking about?

I can't transfer files over Bluetooth. I can't access the storage space to transfer files.
I have to swipe the screen to see what connectivity is active (signal strength battery status etc) I can't store phone numbers without a "live" account - and have them sync'd to a remote website. I have to go into settings every time I need to use wifi/Bluetooth/gps. I can't have a wallpaper, or personalise the device - beyond changing the colour scheme.

Say something or say nothing at all. For most people here, Zune is fantastic. It was a primary selling point for me. If you don't like something about it, be specific.

I offered my opinions in the "questions about Zune" thread.

 

[jbjtkbw007]

So here I am a customer with a Bold 9900 with company Y looking to switch and go with company X. I have pretty good knowledge of all the ecosystems on the market, iOS, Android, WP7, and BBOS. What kind of sales tactic would you use on a customer such as myself who is still undecided by which smartphone to get.

I tell you what my main focus areas are, I have an iMac at home, enjoy some social networking, apps (mainly for entertainment, sports, and gaming), music, emails, and overall good quality phone.

Now, I explain the downfalls of each device I owned. Apple iPhone 3/4, lots of apps no doubt, but can be very buggy. The dropped calls, the instability as I have to reset the phone on numerous occasions. I may have ended up with a lemon but my carrier wouldn't acknowledge that. The Android I had was an Xperia X10 I found it to be not very user friendly, the battery life was terrible and did not sync with iTunes very well always crashed on me. Blackberry BB9900, I absolutely love the QWERTY physical keyboard as well as the notification system, but my patience is wearing thin due to the uncertainty surrounding RIM and App developers dropping off like flies for other platforms.

First off, thanks for doing your due diligence and researching beforehand. Its much appreciated.

Now, my recommendations are simple. You have 30 days to try out the platform. You have this forum to answer your questions and many, MANY intelligent and passionate members here that will guide you through your new experience. Finally, you have tried them all. Sounds like you're in a position to try something new. Worst case scenario is you find that it doesn't fit your needs, you thank contributors for their assistance, and we part ways with no harm being done. What do you have to lose?

 

[socialcarpet]

No it should be Windows because that's Microsofts bread and butter. Every OS has a ****ty revision when ppl respond to oh Windows Mobile I quickly mention its not its totally different. I show them tiles hubs and the speed and ppl are quick to jump the bandwagon.

Sorry, I agree with the other guy.

The Windows brand doesn't carry any cachet except with nerds. Most people have either a neutral or a negative connotation with "Windows". They either think of Windows Mobile or Windows 95 or XP. Something they have to use, but don't love.

It's hard to see that if you're a computer enthusiast who likes Windows though.

Windows 7 has definitely improved the image of Windows, but it is still a tarnished brand in the eyes of the average consumer. They remember Windows 95, 98, Me, Vista... a long stream of mediocre OS's that didn't become OK until the end of their runs when MS worked most of the bugs out, but then the damage was done.

I think Windows 8 will go even further to helping repair it's reputation though and if they really get the integration thing right, THEN it might make some sense to identify the phone with the desktop OS brand.

But right now I don't think it helps at all and it may even hurt a little. Most people do not want "Windows on their phone" and you can see from what people are posting here, you're starting from a negative, you have to convince people it's not Windows Mobile and it's not like the Windows on your PC.

I think a lot of people would be more receptive and more curious if it was just called something else.

I guess the flip side of that though could be that at least Windows sounds familiar. It might give some people a sense of security that this isn't some new crazy phone OS out of nowhere that's going to be here today, gone tomorrow.

Hard to say...

 

[tekhna]

No it should be Windows because that's Microsofts bread and butter. Every OS has a ****ty revision when ppl respond to oh Windows Mobile I quickly mention its not its totally different. I show them tiles hubs and the speed and ppl are quick to jump the bandwagon.

False. Historically the bulk of Microsoft's profit comes from Office. And no, they don't jump on the bandwagon, obviously. Microsoft has a lot of work to do when it comes to:

a. Getting people to know they even have a mobile operating system (seriously, I'd love to see statistics on whether first-time phone buyers even know WP7 exists) and

b. Getting people to know that it isn't WM.


Edit: Actually, I've sort of answered my own question, and it's both better and worse for Microsoft--

Android also scores as the most “preferred operating system” among current smartphone owners and those who intend to buy a smartphone. And NPD says it generates the most interest among consumers, both from those already using Android devices and those on other platforms. Example: one-third of current BlackBerry owners say they want Android devices the next time around.

But here’s a curious fact: when all mobile users who either owned a smartphone or intended to purchase one were asked about what kinds of devices they want to buy next, 44 percent also said that they were considering Windows Phone 7 devices — meaning that the door is open for significantly more sales of Windows Phone 7 devices, if Microsoft and OEMs (and specifically its newest and biggest OEM, Nokia) get their acts together.

That is no mean feat: Android and iOS are covered tons in the media, and Windows Phone — surprisingly for a Microsoft product — seems to have missed the boat on brand awareness. An embarrassing 45 percent of consumers surveyed by NPD said they were unaware of Windows Phone 7.
(HOLY ****! 45% of smartphone buyers don't even know WP7 exists.)

And among the 50 percent of consumers who said they will be buying a smartphone, but didn’t want to buy a Windows Phone, the biggest reason, accounting for 46 percent of respondents, was because they didn’t know enough about the Windows Phone OS.

NPD notes that the second-most used reason was OS lock-in — too much time or money invested in the current OS. (And that’s one more reason why it’s so important to have app stores — even if they don’t make much money for the OEMs hosting them.)

According to figures from Gartner, Microsoft’s mobile platforms (mainly Windows Phone devices) took just 1.6 percent of all sales of smartphones worldwide in Q2 2011; Android was well in the lead, accounting for 43.4 percent of all sales.

 

[Mitlov]

Bland and boring are totally subjective. But in my mind, the opposite is true. WP is polarizing--people love it or hate it--and that's the opposite of "bland and boring." What do you mean?

I mean, whatever phone you have is virtually indistinguishable from mine - visually, functionally and performance wise.

A Lumia 900 Cyan, an HTC Titan II, and an HTC 7 Pro are indistinguishable visually, functionally, and performance-wise? What? They've all got the same screen resolution and all have single-core processors. The similarities end there. Case design, camera type, screen size, processor speed, physical keyboard on the 7 Pro...all of these are huge differences.

If what you want are OS skins like HTC's sense, Samsung's TouchWiz, and Amazon's carousel, you can keep 'em. That stuff is awful. It's what we refer to in the PC world as "bloatware," and the first thing most knowledgeable users do is uninstall Vaio Gate, Dell Dock, etc.

What "basic functionality" are you talking about?

I can't transfer files over Bluetooth.

Can't do that with an iPhone either, for the record.

I can't access the storage space to transfer files.

I have no problem pulling files on and off it with the Zune software on my PC.

I have to swipe the screen to see what connectivity is active (signal strength battery status etc)

An annoyance--I'd rather be able to set the info there permanently--but it's not enough to say that the phone "lacks basic functionality."

I can't store phone numbers without a "live" account - and have them sync'd to a remote website.

Whenever I add a contact, it asks me if I want to link it to my Windows Live account or my gmail account. Have a dummy Windows Live account but link everything to your gmail. Problem solved.

I have to go into settings every time I need to use wifi/Bluetooth/gps.

I leave wifi on all the time; I don't see much purpose to continually turning it on and off. It takes me a single tap on the "settings" key to access which wifi I'm on if it's not automatically routing me to the one I want. Bluetooth is in the same menu.

If changing settings only takes a single tap, why do you care whether they're located in the settings or on the homescreen? It's just as fast to adjust them in settings. Put settings as one of your first eight tiles if you're continually needing to access that stuff.

I can't have a wallpaper, or personalise the device - beyond changing the colour scheme.

Is having nekkid ladies as your background really "basic functionality"? I'd like to be able to set wallpapers too, but that's not basic functionality in my opinion.

 

[Mitlov]

I think a lot of people would be more receptive and more curious if it was just called something else.

I guess the flip side of that though could be that at least Windows sounds familiar. It might give some people a sense of security that this isn't some new crazy phone OS out of nowhere that's going to be here today, gone tomorrow.

Hard to say...

"Microsoft Metro." Familiar (Microsoft name) yet new ("Metro" instead of "Windows"). Best of both worlds. It even has Ford-like alliteration (Ford Focus, Ford Fusion, Ford Fiesta, Ford F-150...).

Besides, there aren't even any "windows" in Windows Phone (like the windows that give the Microsoft Windows desktop OS its name.

 

[blackhawksfan75]

First off, thanks for doing your due diligence and researching beforehand. Its much appreciated.

Now, my recommendations are simple. You have 30 days to try out the platform. You have this forum to answer your questions and many, MANY intelligent and passionate members here that will guide you through your new experience. Finally, you have tried them all. Sounds like you're in a position to try something new. Worst case scenario is you find that it doesn't fit your needs, you thank contributors for their assistance, and we part ways with no harm being done. What do you have to lose?

Unfortunately in Canada we have 14 days. Usually that is pretty sufficient time. However, I would like to try something new. I am extremely unhappy with Telus plus, I like gadgets and always want to try the latest thing. What makes Windows Phone stand out above the other platforms? Other than the most common reasons. I have read some reviews which say the Lumia is a pretty awesome phone.