Your turn - 8 things that Microsoft needs to fix in Windows Phone 8 right now.

[a5cent]

I don't think the question is what does VPN do, the question is what is the use case on a mobile device.

I agree. However, the use case is different for almost every company. I would hope people have enough imagination to think up those use cases themselves, after understanding that VPN is just a security feature. It does nothing on its own, beyond providing a secure connection over a public network.

This is useful to anyone that requires data from corporate HQ while working from home or on the road. It's a basic feature used by almost every single large corporation and their employees.

This strikes me as a power user thing that isn't really of value to any but a small subset if users. If they did this before the other items on these lists they'd be fools

It depend on WP's target market. If MS wants to sell WP devices to corporations, that 8-point list is almost irrelevant. Supporting VPN is then far more important, as almost every CTO will instantly exclude WP from consideration otherwise.

 

[Technoloay]

Alright:
1- This is a must, really. A Notifications center with quick settings switches, but please in windows phone style.
2- The multiple toast notifications from the same app thing. Instead of swiping each to the right, maybe swipe to left to remove all?!
3- The apps in the store shouldn't be concentrated in the US region only. When people ask me about the apps, I add 'most apps in the US region only'. BONUS: better apps quality?
4- A way to organize the home screen. Too much scrolling, right?
5- Multitasking problems like more than one 'scene' for the same app and the ability to close the apps from the multitasking page.
6- Storage problems to be fixed - from apps to SD to 'other' storage (although I'm good with that till now).
7- Less minor/ major errors and bugs. I can't see updates in the store app; too many error codes; etc.
8- All the other previously mentioned points; i.e. different volume settings for different stuff, etc.

The ones in bold have some apps to do so; they really have to be built in.

 

[Erik Reemst]

TAKE a look to Samsung s3 and use there improvements but then on wp8

 

[sd4f]

I bought a Nokia L920 at the start of the year, and i'm very happy with the phone, in general. I think a lot of the issues, are just annoying, but don't majorly detract from what WP8 does well; but with that said, features and usability improvements, in no particular order, that I would really like to see are:

1. File management. I want to be able to download any file off the internet on the phone, even files that i can't use on the phone. There should be a "save as" feature or similar, like on a PC. I think also zip apps would come in handy at some point, but at the moment it's impossible. Having a L920, i don't have issues with external memory, but i think this should be incorporated, allow the additional memory to store apps. A separate files app, i don't think is necessary, a file browser could be integrated into the search app.
2. Universal search. This issue has been done to death, but i really like the windows 8 search where it categorises things into files, control panel, etc. I think the search should mainly facilitate the functions it already has, but separate buttons to either search the phone, and categorise, or search settings and search and or browse files (as per previous point) would be really great.
3. Email. The email app is quite good layout wise, i'm very happy with it in that respect, but inability to download every attachment, or to be only able to attach photos from the email app, the office files from the office app (and only one at a time) is just not good enough. The Android hotmail app was a lot better in this regard, It even had a quiet time feature, absent on WP8 (see next point though)
4. Phone quiet time. While I only want email notifications to stop at night, i think it would be best served by having a better feature where the user can select what goes through quiet time, so setting up the time periods and selecting what notifications are disabled, and possibly which apps are or are not. At the moment i've disabled an email noise, i'd prefer to have one, but don't want to have to put the phone on silent at night.
5. Notification Centre. Not much I can add beyond what has been said, except that i think it would be good if it had a few settings on the same page, things like brightness, flight mode, battery saver mode, screen rotation lock, stuff that helps you get to those contextual settings you switch frequently, easily and quickly accessable, just like on android, where you swipe down the notification tray, and you get a few settings there. Alternatively, rather than holding the power button is only to switch off the phone, adding those options there wouldn't hurt either (as well as switching off the phone).
6. Music App. Gapless playback, scrubber and folder view. It's also annoying me that you can't close the music app, you can pause an app, and back your way out, but then every time you change the volume, it shows up there. Hardly a major detraction, but would be nice if it was fixed up. Folder view is also a big thing for me, because i find it much easier to drag and drop files, and organise them in folders; at the moment, i have a mess in the albums section, and i have a mess in the artists section, and i have a mess in the songs section. If there were a folder view, at least i can easily organise it how i want, and go through that way. To put it in perspective, i have a folder named "random" which is where i throw individual tracks, so once you build up a bunch of those, unless you rename the album and artist for each of those tracks, it's makes the whole music organisation a complete mess.
7. Office app. Not very good excel app, won't let me run certain functions in cells which i could on third party spreadsheet programs on android, and desktop MS excel. Very annoying to have to figure out how to do certain things in a spreadsheet with the limited function set available. MS was supposed to release a good office app, this one is quite worse than competitors in this regard. Looks and use isn't bad, but they count for little when i can't run spreadsheets.
8. Separate volumes. Ringer/Multimedia volume is mandatory, but I also have a few issues when using headphones. The phone should ring through the loudspeaker as well as headphones when they're plugged in. When headphones are being used, all volumes should relegate to multimedia, or a third headphone volume; i use good quality in ear headphones, which attenuate a lot of external noise, and are quite efficient (or sensitive) so my normal volumes are 6-8 out of 30, when i get calls, there is a separate talk volume, and it's too loud, but when using the phone normally, i want the loudest setting. This is an area that can get a fair bit of work put in to make it user friendly, and tunable for minimal intervention by the user. At the moment, it's quite annoying.
9. Close apps. I think the swipe down to close would be a nicer gesture over having an X in the corner, but either is fine. Should be able to close things when done with them.
10. IE App. Needs work on the layout. At the moment landscape view, the URL bar takes up too much space, making landscape view not much better than the portrait view. A concealable URL bar would be a good feature to switch, and i really think, displaying the URL is a real waste of space. While it's good that you can select which buttons are on the toolbar, ideally all would be there, and a button to then bring up a box to view or change the URL. Most URL's are too big to fit anyway, so it's not really useful in the first place.
11. Camera. The camera is quite good on my L920 with one notable exception; the compression is too high, softening the images too much. It would be much better if you could add options to select the level of compression.

Now, i just really hope Microsoft is willing to do something about WP8, and work on improving as many of the complaints in this thread as possible. I really hope they are as enthusiastic about this platform as I am, it's a great phone OS, but detracts in a few critical issues. The foundations are there for WP8 to be the best compromises of usability and a closed platform, taking into account, that i'm not really after an open platform like android, i'm not too keen that my phone, which has cameras, microphones, gps and internet access, to get any sort of malware; i just want a good reliable phone, first, then smartphone functionality. My L920 really handles the phone part well, it's very reliable, unlike my previous android phone. The smartphone part, does need work.

Someone needs to figure out how to get microsoft to commit to improving the platform. They owe it to use early adopters. They don't really want to burn us continually (WP7 users were hard done by) as they will have to put significant effort to win us back, so again, i really hope they're paying attention to these sorts of threads and comments.

 

[dalydose]

The obsession with Instagram crying is aiming its tears at the wrong target. Take thee to instagram.com and tweet @instagram. It is NOT Microsoft stopping them, it us your holy Instagrime that refuses to build or even allow 3rd parties to build a functioning Windows Phone app.

What IS in Microsoft's control that should happen ASAP is putting their own apps on Windows Phone, like Skype and Photosynth. Both of these teams should exclusively focus on Windows Phone to bring them to the platform with feature parity to the competing platforms. I find it insulting to read about improvements to Skype on iOS and Android while we are still stuck in a stripped down beta.

Also, what about the supposed kozy relationship with Facebook? Isn't Microsoft an investor? I see no reason that they can't get FB to put out an official app with all the features that iOS and Android get, plus they can put out the dumb Instagram. That would make me happy just so I can stop hearing the wailing angst that the lack of a sub par, photo filtering, square cropping app seems to bring out in people.

Microsoft also needs to address the "other" storage issue. It is literally a growing problem with no real information nor a fix.

Oh yea, give us back Zune, please.

 

[dawindbag]

I agree. However, the use case is different for almost every company. I would hope people have enough imagination to think up those use cases themselves, after understanding that VPN is just a security feature. It does nothing on its own, beyond providing a secure connection over a public network.

This is useful to anyone that requires data from corporate HQ while working from home or on the road. It's a basic feature used by almost every single large corporation and their employees.



It depend on WP's target market. If MS wants to sell WP devices to corporations, that 8-point list is almost irrelevant. Supporting VPN is then far more important, as almost every CTO will instantly exclude WP from consideration otherwise.

I hear what you're saying, but I think its a stop gap. Companies are moving to cloud solutions and the need to tunnel in for local file storage and remote desktop is going the way of the dodo.

 

[a5cent]

I hear what you're saying, but I think its a stop gap. Companies are moving to cloud solutions and the need to tunnel in for local file storage and remote desktop is going the way of the dodo.

I can't predict the future, but I doubt that. The cloud is basically about hosting. It has little or nothing to do with security (more about safety). As a result, all cloud services I'm aware of also support and encourage the use of VPN. Cloud based hosting and VPN solve completely different problems, so one can't replace the other.

 

[Mr_Drewskie]

Underkill. It's missing too many important features. Check my list for details. And the suggestions just above this post are excellent.

I think it is very similar to my list aside from some different wording and one or two different suggestions. I like that he sees the overall WP8 experience as good and the things it's missing are more of a nuisance than anything else. I still think my list is a good indication of what people are looking for ...mostly because I wrote it by comparing everyone else's lists.

I don't see why Microsoft doesn't tackle each issue individually and then release it. Say for example the notification center. Make it, test it then release it and move on to the next like email or sound profile fixes. Why not do that instead of releasing it all in one update. Imagine how much more exciting things would be if we were getting updates every few weeks instead of every few months.

 

[sd4f]

I don't see why Microsoft doesn't tackle each issue individually and then release it. Say for example the notification center. Make it, test it then release it and move on to the next like email or sound profile fixes. Why not do that instead of releasing it all in one update. Imagine how much more exciting things would be if we were getting updates every few weeks instead of every few months.

I don't think that's the best idea. Android had a fast firmware update program, but look where it is, completely fragmented.

The portico update didn't add much useful stuff, it fixed a few issues, I hope the next update looks to start making WP8 as smart as android or windows mobile OS, because that's the major detractor for me; file management, downloading any file and saving to the phone, and email attachments are a big problem and i can't see why they would want to limit those functions.

I also forgot to add to my previous list. MS should fix the clocks and alarms apps; such a brilliant swipe system for WP8, so they decide to make the alarms and world clock separate apps. Stupid stupid stupid, it should be one app, with a stop watch and a timer as well. Maybe throw in the quiet time function into it as well.

 

[Gambit11B]

Some of this is probably redundant, but:

1) Notification Center - even if it was on the lockscreen and being able to go straight to that notification by selecting the icon, right there on the lockscreen.

2) Folders - there HAS to be SOME way of cleaning up the long list of apps!!! There's no way I want to pin everything to start, and the list can become very disorganized (alphbetical order isn't always sufficient).

3) Profiles - having an easier way to set the audio/vibrate functions for different situations would be excellent, rather than always having to maually turn up/down or off all together.

4) Universal Search - I don't think this needs explained at all.

5) Apps - The new kernel was supposed to make porting easier for devs..... and there were many promises of big apps being ported, but these have STILL yet to see the light of day on WP8. There are plenty of apps that list iOS, Android, and BB..... BB!!!!! with no WP8 anywhere to be seen!!!!! Are you kidding me???

6) Battery Life - I know its not just a problem on 920's...... something is happening that sucks the sh*t out of the battery life. And I don't think I should have to disable every app from background tasks, turn off wi-fi, nfc, etc just to get a days use out of my phone.

7) True Multitasking - I don't think this needs explanation, nor do I think it's truly possible with the phone's battery life.

8) Surface Phone - I understand it might hurt MS's relationship with OEMs, but they released a tablet, didn't they??? I truly believe that if MS wants to start putting a dent into the Apple/Android marketshare, they should release their own phone. Period. That way, deficiencies/updates/etc could all be handled without all the 3rd party interference with customer experiences.

 

[a5cent]

5) Apps - The new kernel was supposed to make porting easier for devs..... and there were many promises of big apps being ported, but these have STILL yet to see the light of day on WP8. There are plenty of apps that list iOS, Android, and BB..... BB!!!!! with no WP8 anywhere to be seen!!!!! Are you kidding me???

7) True Multitasking - I don't think this needs explanation, nor do I think it's truly possible with the phone's battery life

8) That way, deficiencies/updates/etc could all be handled without all the 3rd party interference with customer experiences.

5) You are misunderstanding something. Although WP8's "new" kernel does (indirectly) make porting apps a lot easier, that applies to Windows RT apps only. In regard to porting iOS, Android or BB apps, that "new" kernel helps nothing at all... absolutely nothing. Microsoft decided to allow developers to write native code libraries and apps for WP8. This will make it easier to port some games from those competing mobile platforms, but that has nothing to do with the kernel.

7) As explained in many other threads, supporting unrestricted/true multitasking would be a terrible idea, not just due to the taxation on battery life.

8) You are taking experiences from Android and assuming WP works similarly. This isn't true. Every WP device is essentially equivalent to a Google Nexus device. Although a Surface Phone may have some benefits, the one you are referring to isn't one of them. Microsoft can update any device at any time without causing any technical difficulties. OEM intervention isn't required. I don't know why Microsoft doesn't distribute updates directly, but the reasons aren't technical.

 

[ramm941]

they need to fix the mms..

I can never send a picture text :/

I went through all the support via the phone and I ended having to reset my entire phone.. and it worked for a day, and then stopped working again.

 

[travisel]

Microsoft please fix my "other" now over 8GB and growing!

One of eight things should be more memory control and breakdown of what "other" really is!

 

[sd4f]

8) Surface Phone - I understand it might hurt MS's relationship with OEMs, but they released a tablet, didn't they??? I truly believe that if MS wants to start putting a dent into the Apple/Android marketshare, they should release their own phone. Period. That way, deficiencies/updates/etc could all be handled without all the 3rd party interference with customer experiences.

I really don't think that's necessary. The fortunate thing with MS tighter control on hardware specs, means that the phones around are quite similar. With that said, I think the major problems with WP8 are all software related.

Google had to do their own phone series, because if they didn't, no one else, certainly no OEM or especially a carrier would push it for them. Fragmentation, was, and still is a major issue with android, and from my experience, bugs, malware, and lack of updates is incredibly annoying for a phone which is supposed to be open and user friendly.

By releasing the nexus line, they basically defined what an android phone had to be; MS has already done that with its specs for windows phones, and you just look at the lumia phones, there is some differentiation, but i really struggle to see, hardware wise, what can possibly be done to either a HTC 8X or Lumia 920 to improve it, at this stage, the only thing in all honesty is improve battery life, and still improve camera quality, beyond that, nothing really worthwhile, it's mainly software things which are really annoying with WP8. At the moment, the bugs in WP8 are very minor, it's just user functions and flexibility of the platform which needs catching up, and i really hope they do add those things.

 

[JoeWang4]

1. Notification Center: They would need to rewrite considerable parts of the API for that. It would take some time.
2. Universal Search: Why? Useless on a phone.
3. Instagram: Not MS' fault FB is stuck up
4. 'X' to Close Apps: I admit that would be nice in multitasking...
5. Better Xbox Gaming: No. If you want Xbox gaming, get an Xbox
6. Folders: No comment
7. Independent volume and profiles: I've always viewed that feature as for the lazy.
8. Fix Xbox Music and Video: No comment

 

[philpeeps]

1. Notification Center: They would need to rewrite considerable parts of the API for that. It would take some time. To log toast notifications? Easy enough. An independant developer already did it.
2. Universal Search: Why? Useless on a phone. Used it all the time on webOS and iOS. Plan to use it all the time on WP8 if it is ever implemented.
3. Instagram: Not MS' fault FB is stuck up
4. 'X' to Close Apps: I admit that would be nice in multitasking...
5. Better Xbox Gaming: No. If you want Xbox gaming, get an Xbox
6. Folders: No comment
7. Independent volume and profiles: I've always viewed that feature as for the lazy. You see it as lazy, everyone else sees it as efficient.
8. Fix Xbox Music and Video: No comment

See my comments in bold.

 

[Juana M ramirez Ramirez]

Daniel just posted a really great editorial on what needs to be fixed right now in Windows Phone 8. He picked the top 8 issues that are most pressing for Windows Phone.
Read the article here.

For the lazy:

1. Notification Center
2. Universal Search
3. Instagram
4. 'X' to Close Apps
5. Better Xbox Gaming
6. Folders
7. Independent volume and profiles
8. Fix Xbox Music and Video

Do yourself a favor and read the article so you can see the logic behind those concerns. In the meantime, I want to ask you what are some issues you want Microsoft to address right now?

One thing I'd love to see is tighter integration between all my devices: Xbox, Windows 8 devices (Desktop/laptop/Surface) and my Windows Phone gluing the whole experience together. For example bookmarks between my laptop and phone should sync, my browsing history should also sync between any device I use IE on.

Your turn What do you want in Windows Phone 8 right now?

 

[miloadams]

Windows Phone has to catch Google Now, NOW!!

When I first putdown a BlackBerry and picked up a Windows Phone one of things that drew me inwas its paradigm to be a smarter phone:

At the time, Androidwas complicated - overrun with menus, cluttered with widgets. iPhone was allabout silos - hop-in, hop-out, you do the hokey-pokey and that's what it wasall about - constantly re-entering the same data at each silo...

Ahh but WindowsPhone.... It "was" fast, fluid, with whimsical animations that mademy device feel alive all while intuitively managing background tasks so Ididn't have to. And i got a lot bit moreout of my battery than those other smartphones did (always to my friendssurprise)....

but what it didbetter than any other phone was it was smarter, more efficient. the language ofreduction, and the focus on typographyand hierarchy made it easier and faster to consume content. It surfaced information faster too. Dedicatedcamera button... I never missed the shot, even if my friends did.. "Onetouch" to Bing that made my friends think I could do black magic when iwas able to tag a song at the pub faster or "Scout" the perfectrestaurant or bar when we were traveling...in fact my Windows Phone pretty muchalways "Smoked" those other phones...

But now in WindowsPhone 8 i feel the platform is going in a different direction... so focused onapps and of course i know it's important for the ecosystem to grow, but are welosing our way?...App connect was such a great concept - I wasn't constantly re-enteringdata: the restaurant information was passed to reservation app which was thenpassed to my navigation app... Now the paradigm i hoped to avoid I'm consumedby. I'm in and out of the People Hub and The Facebook App because thefunctionality of the hub hasn't really expanded since 7.5. Do I go into thePeople Hub or the Facebook app? and Twitter or LinkedIn? Still no Foursquaresupport in the hub? Which is faster -hubs or app silos? Which do I use - thehubs or the individual apps? it's becoming always a dilemma and one that'swasting my time...

All the while, The latest Androids are making great advancesin building the next "smarter" phone. With Google Now you get allthis information that is relevant surfaced to you, a smarter mobile device. Withouteven searching, relevant information is surfaced to you. Mobile boarding passesdelivered directly to you, intuitively, when you arrive at the airport,notifications pop-up on your phone "It's time to leave for work in themorning," based on the current traffic conditions, search results beforeyou search, sports scores of teams you've searched for, translate and currencycards for when you leave the country, your hotel confirmation email when youarrive to check-in at the hotel... My friends' Jelly Beans are becoming sweeterthan my Windows Phone...AND they're arriving at the information I need fasterthan I can now with the new Google Now assistant. ...It's impressive and it's the nextlevel in the intuitive assistant smartphone - crunching all the data so youdon?t have to; and, something I can't help think might make my day moreefficient and easier than my Windows Phone currently can.. And Key Lime Pie?Who doesn't like key lime pie, it only sounds like it's getting better..

yeah live tiles haveevolved and yeah they're certainly more personal than they were in WindowsPhone 7.5, that glance and go is still a great concept, but I wouldn't bet itall on black on live tiles where most are updated as infrequently as hours, andstill yet most developers haven't wrapped their heads around the potential oflive tiles and aren't deploying live tiles in their applications to fullpotential..

What we need NOW inWindows Phone 8 is to tighten up what was first started in Windows Phone 7 andthat's to be the smarter smartphone. If we don't have apps from all theairlines then we need for our OS to fill in and surface mobile boarding passesfrom our email when we arrive at the airport...and all the little things Ican't think to do, but that my smartphone could. We need a Google Now onWindows Phone 8 Yesterday. Because, "yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away."

 

[scottcraft]

I'm also hoping Microsoft expands the capabilities of tellme to be competitive with google now.

 

[Connie Litrenta]

Re: Windows Phone has to catch Google Now, NOW!!

I still use Google Voice but if I was THAT stuck on Google as a whole, I would have stayed with Android. The only thing about this phone I can't quite get my head around is that Office (a Microsoft product) is not nearly as functional as the Android alternatives (Documents to Go, Quickoffice Pro, etc.). I can't even add/delete rows in the spreadsheet for pete's sake! I'm sorry but I really do expect more from a Microsoft phone. I'm hoping this will improve with time but for now I'm left to work around this issue. Oh and what's with the inability to email PDF's as attachments? C'mon MS, if nothing else, I expect a Windows phone to do Office better than anything else out there.