iOS user and Windows Phone user, WORRIED about the future of WP

[iphonemilk]

Hello everyone,

Brief history of gadgets owned.

Every Single iPhone (even the 5), All 3 iPads
Motorola Droid 1, Nexus one, SGS2, Droid Razr Maxx, SGS3, (Nexus 7 tablet)

The HTC Titan and the Lumia 900.

---------------------------------


Now that we've got that out of the way, first off, where I currently rank things with myself on my personal opinion of overall EXPERIENCE and Ecosystem, just the "whole picture" of the choices are.

1. iOS in first.
2. Windows phone second
3. Android is just beyond annoying.




---------------------------------

The reason for this thread.. I WANT WINDOWS PHONE TO SUCCEED! oh my god i do!

I just love how smooth the OS is.. like iOS.. i love how everything just works..

but my biggest draw back people... and this really is at the end of the day big for me..


ARE APPS... where's the Waze GPS app?

Is google + ever going to come to WIndows phone?

I mean sure.. netflix is on here.. but there's some MAJOR.. MAJOR apps with me that i have not even heard rumors that are coming to Windows phone and this is a major let down...

I think with other people out there as well.. they won't be willing to totally just give themselves to a platform until that platform has just as many choices as the other.. and right now iOS still continues to lead in Apps.. it's just mind blowing every Thursday which i have dubbed "NEW APP THURSDAY"

You see the app store on iOS go through a change on the homepage blowing my mind with all new apps. Android and Windows phone both felt the same way.. i would constantly check for new apps and nothing even struck out to me that i would want to download anything.

Thoughts? Discussion?


BTW i'm totally buying the Lumia 920...i'm just really disappointed that there's almost no Apps for windows phone STILL...

 

[fierywater]

As someone who is heavily considering an HTC 8X (I'm a Verizon customer), this is a concern for me as well. I'm definitely bailing from Android, but I worry about WP8's future.

This comes as someone who had an HTC Trophy until I replaced it with a phone from my employer. Now that I'm back on my own, I'm ready to come back to WP...I think. The quality of third party apps was definitely worrisome, but I loved the smoothness and...not-Apple-ness.

I guess we'll see what Microsoft has to unveil on the 29th.

 

[Coreldan]

Android sorta started from nowhere too and they arnt in a bad place now either. So did iPads, they initially had very few actual iPad apps.

I'm not concerned, but then again I dont really care overly much for apps anyways on any devices. I was spoiled by being a Symbian user that did everything out of the box

It's the usual catch 22, egg or chicken problem. You need apps to get customers, but you need customers to get developers.

That said, Unity at least is coming on WP8 which is a big thing. This makes importing many big title games from iOS and Android an easy task.

WP7 was riddled with many problems, such as lack of native code. One problem also being that when Nokia finally managed to get some spark going for WP7, MS killed it with saying WP8 wont be upgradeable on those devices. Now WP8 is coming which will have support for a good while, I think it'll be different for that reason too.

 

[iphonemilk]

Android sorta started from nowhere too and they arnt in a bad place now either. So did iPads, they initially had very few actual iPad apps.

.

Well the difference was (and i was there on the day 1 ipad)

If there wasn't an iPad app you could just USE the iPhone app blown up. Yes that'snot the same but the point is the app was still there for me to use.


one of the best examples i can give would be for things like Waze GPS.. i'm a HUGE and heavy Wazer now.. i use it and contribute to the Waze GPS community for almost 2 hours of driving every single day... that is a big loss for me switching to WP

 

[aventador779]

You guys worry about WP's future? I'm more confident than ever. I'm switching from the Galaxy Nexus to the 920 when it launches.

Why am I confident you ask? Windows 8 kernel. Developers are going to make a huge amount of apps for Windows 8, and can easily transfer it to Windows Phone 8.

It's also a growing platform.

Especially Windows is the biggest platform for PC's, so there will be a big development for apps.

Also a low $40 price tag to upgrade?? Lot's of people will upgrade to Windows 8. Which means even more development.

So I'm pretty confident

 

[mlm1950]

Android doesn't have an "ecosystem", and doesn't really have a definable 'experience". Windows is an "ecosystem" that is a lot more than just apps, and has a much larger potential for an "experience" than iOS.

Whether MS can put it all together and make it all work remains to be seen.

 

[Coreldan]

Well the difference was (and i was there on the day 1 ipad)

If there wasn't an iPad app you could just USE the iPhone app blown up. Yes that'snot the same but the point is the app was still there for me to use.


one of the best examples i can give would be for things like Waze GPS.. i'm a HUGE and heavy Wazer now.. i use it and contribute to the Waze GPS community for almost 2 hours of driving every single day... that is a big loss for me switching to WP

You can use WP7 apps with WP8 too, although its not all that good/big, but it still has 100k apps or so. Naturally some of the important ones are missing (hence this thread), but still.

What does this Waze do btw? Never heard

 

[TMavC5]

You guys worry about WP's future? I'm more confident than ever. I'm switching from the Galaxy Nexus to the 920 when it launches.

Why am I confident you ask? Windows 8 kernel. Developers are going to make a huge amount of apps for Windows 8, and can easily transfer it to Windows Phone 8.

It's also a growing platform.

Especially Windows is the biggest platform for PC's, so there will be a big development for apps.

Also a low $40 price tag to upgrade?? Lot's of people will upgrade to Windows 8. Which means even more development.

So I'm pretty confident

Second that.......and well saids!

 

[Dr. Impossible]

You guys worry about WP's future? I'm more confident than ever. I'm switching from the Galaxy Nexus to the 920 when it launches.

Why am I confident you ask? Windows 8 kernel. Developers are going to make a huge amount of apps for Windows 8, and can easily transfer it to Windows Phone 8.

It's also a growing platform.

I feel the same way. When Android started, there were little to no apps. The apps will come, they did with WP7, they are/will with WP8. I read a post somewhere that said that 30% of the apps in the stores are useful and the other 70% are worthless and you'll forget them or erase them the following week. It's kinda true, I use mostly apps that have a counterpart on the desk that I use like Wikipedia, I use photo apps and some* games. I have downloaded and then forgot about sooooooo many apps since I got my Arrive.

So, no, I don't think the apps matter as much. And as Aventador said, the ability to make useful apps that can run on either platform is major, a major development.


Thanks

-Doc

 

[cammsaul]

I'm a full time dev on all three major platforms at a pretty large tech company and work on a few apps of my own on the side. The company I work for hasn't started working on an WP simply because market share is so low. We have 6 people on our mobile team so between iPhone/iPad/Android we're always busy. Hopefully things will change when Windows 8 comes out. I'm sure that will be a huge success and a W8 app can share a lot of code with WP8, just like iPhone and iPad apps can share the majority of their code.

I try to make an effort to bring all of my personal apps to WP but it's hard to justify the time I spend doing so. On of my iOS apps brings in close to $100 a day at $1.99 each. The Windows phone version never sold more than a dollar a day so I made it free. And it still gets less downloads than the paid iOS app. I love Windows Phone but until market share increases developers will continue to feel that WP apps are "not worth the time it takes to develop them". Again, I hope W8 changes this

 

[Winterfang]

I'm so jealous of the games. So jealous :-(

 

[graigsmith]

i decided to create an account to post. i am a diehard iphone apple user. and i am considering getting the lumia 920. several reasons. i feel that apple botched the iphone 5. aluminum is a soft metal, it's strong for it's weight, but weighs very little. i have heard reports of a drop denting the band around the phone horribly. Second reason is the weird design they came up with butting glass pieces up next to the aluminum... why diddn't they extent the baseplate to nearly touching the antennas? 3rd reason if you want a black iphone the anodizing comes off and you end up with something really ugly. 4th reason, maps. I have an iphone 4 and i love the vector based maps, but if the data is terrible they are still terrible maps; i couldn't even find the post office! 5th Reason nokia designed a better phone. i dislike android and blackberry. i like iOS, i just don't like the phone. polycarbonate is strong and long lasting. and it's doesn't loose color if it gets scratched. Then we come to windows phone. i like how it looks, the animation and smoothness. It's pretty cool and tempting. also i don't know how apple forgot to do wireless charging, who cares about the stupid smaller connector, i want wireless charging. i'm probably going to get a matte black lumia 920.

i should be able to put my music on it from my mac. i think windows phone 7 had a mac sync app. does anyone know if you can mount it as a usb drive and copy music directly to the thing? does anyone know if you can use music as the alarm sound?

 

[TDWhiteKnight]

I have been a die hard WP7 person since day one, but I am surrounded by a family of IPhone users. I was sold by the ads of "get you in and out and back to life". I want it to do what I want it to do when I need it to do it. WP7 did that sometimes. WP7.5 was much better, but....

I don't know if it is because Microsoft has the phone so locked down or what, but I get tired of hearing ads of downloading an app for your smartphone and it includes all smartphones except Windows Phone. For example, Chase bank has a great app for being able to deposit your checks by scanning them with your smartphone, all except Windows Phone (even Blackberry has one). There are so many other apps that I can't get for WP7.5 phone that I can get if I had an IPhone or Droid and I am not talking about useless apps, I am talking about apps like Square so that I can swipe credit cards with my phone. There are apps that will sync with my BodyMedia monitor for IPhone and Droid, but not for my Windows Phone. There are other apps I could mention that would help me from "get in and get out and back to life", but they seam to be only for IPhone and Droids.

My feeling is until Microsoft opens up it's OS so companies like Chase and other big businesses not only supply IOS and Droid apps, but WP apps as well, Microsoft Phones will not make a dent into the Marketplace.

I am going to get WP8, but this will probably be the last WP phone I will get unless I see some real "get in and get out and back to life" apps.

 

[Coreldan]

i decided to create an account to post. i am a diehard iphone apple user. and i am considering getting the lumia 920. several reasons. i feel that apple botched the iphone 5. aluminum is a soft metal, it's strong for it's weight, but weighs very little. i have heard reports of a drop denting the band around the phone horribly. Second reason is the weird design they came up with butting glass pieces up next to the aluminum... why diddn't they extent the baseplate to nearly touching the antennas? 3rd reason if you want a black iphone the anodizing comes off and you end up with something really ugly. 4th reason, maps. I have an iphone 4 and i love the vector based maps, but if the data is terrible they are still terrible maps; i couldn't even find the post office! 5th Reason nokia designed a better phone. i dislike android and blackberry. i like iOS, i just don't like the phone. polycarbonate is strong and long lasting. and it's doesn't loose color if it gets scratched. Then we come to windows phone. i like how it looks, the animation and smoothness. It's pretty cool and tempting. also i don't know how apple forgot to do wireless charging, who cares about the stupid smaller connector, i want wireless charging. i'm probably going to get a matte black lumia 920.

Don't generalize on the anodized aluminium. Apple just did it wrong. For anodized aluminium made right, look at the Nokia N8. Ive had one since day one, so it's over 2 years old now and the aluminium is like I just took it out of the box. Ive dropped it several times and the plastic end caps have some scuffs to them, but the aluminium is wear-free.

I have been a die hard WP7 person since day one, but I am surrounded by a family of IPhone users. I was sold by the ads of "get you in and out and back to life". I want it to do what I want it to do when I need it to do it. WP7 did that sometimes. WP7.5 was much better, but....

I don't know if it is because Microsoft has the phone so locked down or what, but I get tired of hearing ads of downloading an app for your smartphone and it includes all smartphones except Windows Phone. For example, Chase bank has a great app for being able to deposit your checks by scanning them with your smartphone, all except Windows Phone (even Blackberry has one). There are so many other apps that I can't get for WP7.5 phone that I can get if I had an IPhone or Droid and I am not talking about useless apps, I am talking about apps like Square so that I can swipe credit cards with my phone. There are apps that will sync with my BodyMedia monitor for IPhone and Droid, but not for my Windows Phone. There are other apps I could mention that would help me from "get in and get out and back to life", but they seam to be only for IPhone and Droids.

My feeling is until Microsoft opens up it's OS so companies like Chase and other big businesses not only supply IOS and Droid apps, but WP apps as well, Microsoft Phones will not make a dent into the Marketplace.

I am going to get WP8, but this will probably be the last WP phone I will get unless I see some real "get in and get out and back to life" apps.

I dont think it's about WP being so closed down, considering iPhone is pretty much even more closed.

 

[diapers]

Because MS has treated WP7 developers like ****.

 

[Heron_Kusanagi]

Currently I do share some concern over apps. The SDK isn't out to the public yet, and that will make people nervous to some extent.

Still, WP is a great mobile operating system with some fantastic hardware going for it. I also believe that the companies, chief among them Nokia and MS, are aware of the apps situation and will solve it one way or another.

 

[graigsmith]

"Don't generalize on the anodized aluminium. Apple just did it wrong. For anodized aluminium made right, look at the Nokia N8. Ive had one since day one, so it's over 2 years old now and the aluminium is like I just took it out of the box. Ive dropped it several times and the plastic end caps have some scuffs to them, but the aluminium is wear-free."

hmm. good point. apple just put together a poor design, and used aluminum like it was steel. some parts of the case are just too weak for aluminum. i have to wonder if they switched from steel to aluminum at the last minute..

 

[Jaybotics]

I'm a little worried, but knowing how easy it will be to port Windows 8 apps over to WP8, I'm feeling very confident! This will be the third time that I'm giving the WP platform another try, but something tells me that things are going to go right this time. I'm so over iOS, OSX, and Apple in general. I can't wait to get my hands on a Surface, and Lumia 920, and indulge in all of Metro's glory.

 

[jasqid]

Well, I was a WP Mango user on the Sprint Arrive since lauch. I just jumped carriers to Verizon for coverage reasons and Sprint's lack of support to WP.

I switched during the iPhone 5 launch and pre-ordered 2 i-5s. While the wife loves it... I severely miss my WP. That said.... I do like some of the apps better on iPhone such as Waze, Twitter, Facebook, Weatherbug, Fox News etc. Then there is apps like Face-in-Hole that is not even available as well as banking apps.

There is huge room for improvement for WP Apps. But I come back to the OS. WP just flows better for me and is more consistent. I do plan on changing over to either the HTC 8x or the Nokia 9xx if it launches on VZW.

 

[VagrantWade]

I hope WP never turns into trash like Android-Lite(iOS). I am counting the days until I can ditch it.