How would you change the OS if you could?

[Simon Tupper]

I don't want you to tell me "the OS is perfect it's simple and elegant" you all know that Microsoft told us to believe that.

What I want is you to take 30 seconds to think about what could be changed or improved.

Be creative.

 

[axispraxis]

... 27, 28, 29, 30. This is a trick question, right?

 

[TrophyNostalgia]

Minor Tweaks

I don't want you to tell me "the OS is perfect it's simple and elegant" you all know that Microsoft told us to believe that.

What I want is you to take 30 seconds to think about what could be changed or improved.

Be creative.

There is very little for me to criticize, the only quirks I would like fixed would be constant WI-FI connection (not dropped after lock screen). Additionally I would appreciate enhanced Bluetooth functionality. I haven't been able to properly transfer some files via the Windows Phone Bluetooth.

 

[Simon Tupper]

There is very little for me to criticize, the only quirks I would like fixed would be constant WI-FI connection (not dropped after lock screen). Additionally I would appreciate enhanced Bluetooth functionality. I haven't been able to properly transfer some files via the Windows Phone Bluetooth.

Very true those two are not working so well... but hopefuly it's been adressed in wp8

 

[anodynamic]

Sub-homescreens for the hubs – sections where I can pin favorite music and videos in the Zune hub, same for favorite games and contacts and so on in their hubs.

The idea of being able to pin anything to the home screen is nifty, but it's only good for the most important stuff.

 

[CurtisQuick]

Rotating Tiles

It would be awesome if the tiles rotated when the phone was turned from portrait to landscape and back again. That alone would give WP eternal bragging rights over other older boring phone OSes.

It would also be great if hubs (like the photo hub and the people hub) rotated when the phone was turned.

 

[Mio_Ray]

Better HTML5 support in the Browser

Sent from my Lumia 800 using Board Express

 

[snowmutt]

It would be awesome if the tiles rotated when the phone was turned from portrait to landscape and back again. That alone would give WP eternal bragging rights over other older boring phone OSes.

It would also be great if hubs (like the photo hub and the people hub) rotated when the phone was turned.

With you.

Landscape modes for the XBOX Live screen, Office Hub, Zune Hub, People Hub, ....

Oh, you get the point. I just think landscape slider devices are needed to help bring qwerty fans over, and the experience needs it. Landscape mode seems like a silly thing to not be native in this day and age.

 

[cckgz4]

I don't have a problem with the os but want to fix things like Bluetooth connectivity. My headsets always lose connection after idling for a couple of mins

 

[SnailUK]

My single biggest annoyance with WP7 is the camera. My HD7 has such a slow camera, if there is any sort of movement, its useless. Being that most of my photos are of my young children, i now have to use the missus' iphone for any pictures.

I'm sure the latest WP7 devices are much better, and i'm pretty certain WP8 will have resolved the issue completely.

 

[scottcraft]

I don't have a problem with the os but want to fix things like Bluetooth connectivity. My headsets always lose connection after idling for a couple of mins

Bluetooth connectivity could certainly use improvement. My Trophy drives me crazy when pairing with the bluetooth device in my truck. My android handles it much better.

 

[mprice86]

As others have said above, just a more consistent UI. I want every screen and app that comes as part of the OS to have a proper landscape mode.

As for anything else, I will never trust any company enough to use an NFC phone as a method for paying or doing anything else. I haven't used bluetooth in nearly 10 years - the first day I got a Sony Ericsson w800i, never since. And I have little to no interest in graphically intensive 3D games on a phone.

Maybe it's sad that I'm not looking for my phone to be the most important and integral piece of technology in my life, but right now, other than those UX changes, there is nothing I want added to the OS. And that's having really thought about it.

 

[Corepc]

If I could change the OS I would add a notification center hub or history hub. That display incoming calls, txts, email, toast, by day.

 

[1jaxstate1]

Agreed. I don't see why it's not in the Me tile. They have twitter and FB notifications there. Not sure why all other alerts aren't included.

If I could change the OS I would add a notification center hub or history hub. That display incoming calls, txts, email, toast, by day.

 

[DanielCeleste]

Notifications (push) are virtually nonexistent, and those that do manage to find their way in are a mess.

 

[Retro_uk]

I'm liking my first windows phone experience on the whole. But if they want to hold in to me and get me buying a windows 8 phone, then there are a fair few things I need.

Notification light for when you miss a text/call

One button access to various profiles of vibrate/sound etc. Just sound on/off isn't good enough

Various font sizes when texting. Surely this is a no-brainer? I hate having to get my glasses just to read a text message.

This is just the first few things off the top of my head, and things that my 3 year old Nokia does with ease. Windows should be forging ahead, not lagging behind. Going from an older phone to a new OS and missing out on basic features like those, is jarring to say the least. I'm assuming none of the above can be fixed with apps because they won't allow it? Which seems ludicrous. Do they think - with texting especially - that only young people with perfect eyesight buy these things?

Friend of mine was after a new phone, loved what she was seeing, then saw the size of the text font. Went from loving it, to not even thinking of buying one now.

 

[sdreamer]

• Dialer needs vast revamping to get back legacy features such as smart dialing; i.e. just replace it with RapDialer (needs deeper integration to history and such first though).
• Password/pin protect purchases in the Marketplace.
• Allow users the option of a wallpaper on the start screen. Apple was like this before, but since then, they've allowed it.
• Better volume profiles. Headsets should have their own volume setting compared to system volume, and Bluetooth should automatically be pumped to 100% when in use since Bluetooth devices have their own volume control.
• System alert profiles. Should allow people to set when things are going to be put on vibrate, silent, loud, etc.
• Better ringer control. It should be like legacy devices to easily switch between silent, vibrate, and loud. Right now if I want to toggle vibrate I need to go into settings all the time (thankfully they put Ringtone at the top of the list).
• Context sensitive and local search. The search button is limited in terms of locally searching for apps you have, but it can't search for Contacts, emails, and what not; you have to go into those apps first.
• Better photo management. Allow multiple selection and creation of albums. Allow it to sync to the computer as a camera like the iPhone does, thus lessening the reliance on installing software before using it.
• 12-key keyboard layout for one handed texting with T9 support; the Japanese keyboard has it, why can they do it in English?
• Add to contacts/Calendar Search app functions

These are by no means, new features for smartphones, we've seen them before on the Windows Mobile platform, Blackberries, Palm, etc. So these are things that should be there to give us a solid experience using our devices.

 

[selfcreation]

HDMI output for my TV is all i can think about..

most impotent that it stays a WP and doesn't start copying lame gimmick features from other OS.

 

[bear_lx]

improved voice to text, tellme needs work...
improved gps turn by turn nav
deeper custimization without going overboard...

 

[Winterfang]

Take out all of the stupid restrictions and bad decisions. But the problem of bad third party apps I don't know how to fix, Slacker Radio is so laggy :'(.