Current apps situation for 8.1?

[dlalonde]

Hey there!

I'm currently using WM10 so I'm getting the new versions of apps with the UWP look and all. But what's the current situation of the apps on 8.1? Are they still getting updated or are they all abandonned? Or even are the UWP compatible with 8.1?

Thanks!

 

[Indistinguishable]

Hey there!

I'm currently using WM10 so I'm getting the new versions of apps with the UWP look and all. But what's the current situation of the apps on 8.1? Are they still getting updated or are they all abandonned? Or even are the UWP compatible with 8.1?

Thanks!

Some apps for Windows Phone 8.1 are still receiving updates. There are some pretty big name apps that haven't developed apps solely for Windows 10 Mobile, but instead are continuing to support their Windows Phone 8.1 apps. WhatsApp, for example, is updating their Windows apps pretty frequently, but for both Windows Phone 8 & Windows 10 Mobile.

I think that Microsoft is updating their own apps for Windows 10 Mobile with far more frequency than Windows Phone 8.1, though.

 

[dlalonde]

Some apps for Windows Phone 8.1 are still receiving updates. There are some pretty big name apps that haven't developed apps solely for Windows 10 Mobile, but instead are continuing to support their Windows Phone 8.1 apps. WhatsApp, for example, is updating their Windows apps pretty frequently, but for both Windows Phone 8 & Windows 10 Mobile.

I think that Microsoft is updating their own apps for Windows 10 Mobile with far more frequency than Windows Phone 8.1, though.

So say the Facebook app or the MSN apps are pretty much left behind?

 

[Indistinguishable]

So say the Facebook app or the MSN apps are pretty much left behind?

My guess is that the Microsoft made Facebook app will eventually be left unsupported because of the UWP Facebook app that was made by Facebook. But I don't think we have word on that.

 

[libra89]

For the apps I use, there are hardly any updates. Before Friday, I haven't turned on my old daily driver for 3 months and some, and there were only 14 updates. I was so disappointed to see that. In 2 weeks, I get about the same amount of updates on my iPhone SE.

Seeing that pushed me to try out Insider, a lot more updates are there.

 

[PF Mail]

Some apps for Windows Phone 8.1 are still receiving updates. There are some pretty big name apps that haven't developed apps solely for Windows 10 Mobile, but instead are continuing to support their Windows Phone 8.1 apps. WhatsApp, for example, is updating their Windows apps pretty frequently, but for both Windows Phone 8 & Windows 10 Mobile.

I think that Microsoft is updating their own apps for Windows 10 Mobile with far more frequency than Windows Phone 8.1, though.

Agree on this. I believe the apps on my W10M that are getting updated are Microsoft's own. I recently went back to 8.1 and was surprised that I had forgotten that a lot of the same apps on 8.1 work not only better, but have a lot more features. They were fully designed for 8.1. Some of the W10M non-Microsoft apps are just there with the basic functions, and some don't work quite right.

I like the idea of the UWP, but I don't think that works for Microsoft's Mobile platform, at least not the phones. I rather have my apps designed and optimized for the platform/devices.

 

[Indistinguishable]

8.1 work not only better, but have a lot more features. They were fully designed for 8.1.

Can you give some examples of apps that have more features on WP8.1 as opposed to W10M?

 

[P1ng0fDeath]

Can you give some examples of apps that have more features on WP8.1 as opposed to W10M?

To be fair, the new Bing News and Bing Search kind of suck compared to their 8.1 counterparts... But I can't think of many others else.

 

[PF Mail]

Can you give some examples of apps that have more features on WP8.1 as opposed to W10M?

The Dailymotion app is 10x better. Even the Microsoft Calendar and Mail work better. It's funny, I always get these "give me some examples" replies when it comes to apps.

 

[Indistinguishable]

I'm speaking more to the features. The Windows 10 Mobile of Outlook Calendar & Mail are significantly more feature rich than their WP8.1 counter parts. Dailymotion I can't really speak to, because I've never used it.

 

[libra89]

I miss Cortana actually displaying info on the live tile, but aside from that, for a good amount of apps the difference is like night and day. GroupMe is so much better.

Sent from mTalk

 

[PF Mail]

I'm speaking more to the features. The Windows 10 Mobile of Outlook Calendar & Mail are significantly more feature rich than their WP8.1 counter parts. Dailymotion I can't really speak to, because I've never used it.

Understand that the Outlook Mail allows you to do attachments now, but I never do that on my phones anyway, and I wouldn't say Calendar and Mail are significantly more feature rich. Their live tiles stop working for no apparently reasons. The 8.1's versions work fine for me.

 

[PF Mail]

I miss Cortana actually displaying info on the live tile, but aside from that, for a good amount of apps the difference is like night and day. GroupMe is so much better.

Sent from mTalk

Right, the 8.1 version is a Microsoft version, much like YouTube.

 

[dlalonde]

To be fair, the new Bing News and Bing Search kind of suck compared to their 8.1 counterparts... But I can't think of many others else.

The Dailymotion app is 10x better. Even the Microsoft Calendar and Mail work better. It's funny, I always get these "give me some examples" replies when it comes to apps.

While I agree that the Outlook mail app is more feature rich, it's still missing some key features that 8.1 had (or even Gmail on Android has) like sending emails from an alias. I still cannot fathom how MS still hasn't released an update to support something they were happy to announce for their mail service (aliases). It's been a year now (considering the desktop and mobile app are the same).

For those who don't have access to Cortana yet, like me, the Bing seach app is indeed pretty useless in comparison to 8.1. You can search... the end. On 8.1 we had music search, local scout and so on. Of course, when Cortana gets released, that will be better.

But if you take Facebook for example, being able to reply to a post directly from the notification is an great addition. The app itself runs better and looks better.

 

[digitaldd]

I for one like the 8.1 MSN news/sports/finance apps better than their windows 10 counterparts.

 

[dlalonde]

I for one like the 8.1 MSN news/sports/finance apps better than their windows 10 counterparts.

Well there were fuctionnalities that were definitely better. But one thing that really bugged me from the 8.1 versions (that is still there 2 years later) is that when they rebranded from Bing to MSN, in the French version, the app was titled "Actualit?ss" and there are spelling mistakes all over the place. That's just amateurish. 2 years and they still haven't fixed that. The same goes with the file manager on 8.1. There's a translation mistake. When they write, for example, "8GB Free" they translated that to "8 Go Gratuit". Gratuit translates to free as in free beer. They should have written "8 Go Libre".

It's minor I know. But geez!

 

[Player Piano]

I for one like the 8.1 MSN news/sports/finance apps better than their windows 10 counterparts.

I definitely prefer the old sports app.

 

[Rinsun]

I miss 'Tasks' which was there in 8.1 Calendar and absent from Outlook Calendar in WM10.

 

[slivy58]

Hey there!

I'm currently using WM10 so I'm getting the new versions of apps with the UWP look and all. But what's the current situation of the apps on 8.1? Are they still getting updated or are they all abandonned? Or even are the UWP compatible with 8.1?

Thanks!

It’s been a good month+ since I’ve last used W8.1 but when I was, it was pretty evident that the frequency of app updates had dwindled considerably. In saying that, all the ones in use by me continued to worked good yet “new” features never came, stability improvements appeared to be what I noticed the most when an update did ensue.

Now that we’re running W10M the story is similar with one caveat, those that did function well on W8.1 have issues on 10, there is only a select few out of the ones I’ve chosen to install but considering the installed-to-owned ratio I’d say it is not very comforting.

IMO W8.1 apps are slowly going to the wayside w/o being supported nor are those requiring UWP support seeing the developers doing so. Now that we are running the “official” release of W10M from my carrier, it’s been several months since I’ve tried the OS under the IP, I have to say the whole OS feels much more fragmented and less fluid compared to 8.1, in other words, many of the puzzle pieces now appear not to belong giving it a cumbersome feeling, not fit for daily use in this camp especially when apps I depended on for my work no longer function satisfactorily.

 

[edwardtom]

I haven't seen a app update in 8.1 phone apps in a while.