Loving the OS but ...

[bobo616]

I have switched from an iphone which I am sure lots of people have and there are various things which I am not sure if the OS can do, can anybody confirm the points below? I am a lumia 820 user in case that makes a difference and only got the phone yesterday.

1. I am unable to show the status bar at all times so cant see how my battery or signal is all the time (I know I can tap the top of the phone to show this)

2. I am unable to see how much mobile\cellular data my phone has used

3. I am unable to see how much space an individual app is taking up.

4 I am unable to add contacts without them syncing across to my outlook account

5. I am unable to add calendar reminders without them syncing to outlook.

6. I am unable to assign individual contacts different text alerts

7. I only get a single text alert so if I forget I dont get a reminder

8. I am unable to add to the custom dictionary for frequently used shortcuts such as lol

9. I am unable to select a different search engine in Internet Explorer rather than just Bing or Google

10. I am unable to backup my phone locally on my PC rather than to the cloud

Thanks in advance

 

[VagrantWade]

I was going to respond to these with a list...but most of these are things you can do, you just clearly aren't doing it right. I suggest reading a help guide or binging. Teach a man to fish etc.

 

[jsntrenkler]

Yes I agree Bing or google are both your friends.

Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express

 

[bobo616]

Yes I agree Bing or google are both your friends.

Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express

I appreciate what you are saying but I thought other people who may have experienced similar issues might want to help me rather than having to trawl the web.

 

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

I have switched from an iphone which I am sure lots of people have and there are various things which I am not sure if the OS can do, can anybody confirm the points below? I am a lumia 820 user in case that makes a difference and only got the phone yesterday.

Ok then, let's look at these problems shall we

1. I am unable to show the status bar at all times so cant see how my battery or signal is all the time (I know I can tap the top of the phone to show this)

This is actually only an issue of the "Panoramic view" in MS apps. When the text at the top slides along as you slide across the parts of the interface to different parts, if you get what I mean. Outside of MS apps, it's down to the developer to add the functionality in.

2. I am unable to see how much mobile\cellular data my phone has used

I believe there is a way on Nokia devices, but I aren't sure, as I have a HTC WP7.

3. I am unable to see how much space an individual app is taking up.

You can go to Marketplace/WP Store and check that way. Rounded to the nearest MB.

4 I am unable to add contacts without them syncing across to my outlook account

Don't use a Microsoft account... I've seen my dad pull it off on his Nokia Lumia 800.

5. I am unable to add calendar reminders without them syncing to outlook.

Same as 4.

6. I am unable to assign individual contacts different text alerts

This isn't possible as far as I am aware.

7. I only get a single text alert so if I forget I dont get a reminder

This is an intentional from Microsoft. It's to encourage you to use the Live Tiles to check for stuff, rather than it being spoon-fed to you.

8. I am unable to add to the custom dictionary for frequently used shortcuts such as lol

Type it out, then select the word, and then click on it in the bar that appears with a + next to it.

9. I am unable to select a different search engine in Internet Explorer rather than just Bing or Google

You can actually get Google now!? Wow, on my HTC WP7 it's Bing or bust...

10. I am unable to backup my phone locally on my PC rather than to the cloud

Intentional, to try and promote cloud services. Plus it means it's always there.

 

[bobo616]

Ok then, let's look at these problems shall we



This is actually only an issue of the "Panoramic view" in MS apps. When the text at the top slides along as you slide across the parts of the interface to different parts, if you get what I mean. Outside of MS apps, it's down to the developer to add the functionality in.



I believe there is a way on Nokia devices, but I aren't sure, as I have a HTC WP7.



You can go to Marketplace/WP Store and check that way. Rounded to the nearest MB.



Don't use a Microsoft account... I've seen my dad pull it off on his Nokia Lumia 800.



Same as 4.



This isn't possible as far as I am aware.



This is an intentional from Microsoft. It's to encourage you to use the Live Tiles to check for stuff, rather than it being spoon-fed to you.



Type it out, then select the word, and then click on it in the bar that appears with a + next to it.



You can actually get Google now!? Wow, on my HTC WP7 it's Bing or bust...



Intentional, to try and promote cloud services. Plus it means it's always there.

Thanks for your advice.

1. I dont see the the battery or anything at the top of the screen unless I tap this, this is even on the start page.

2. The was a beta Nokia app but that has now gone sadly.

3. unfortunately apps like twitter may start small but can grow, at least that was my experience on the iphone

4.Dont you need to have a microsoft account for the phone to work?

5. ditto

6.I didnt think this could be done yet, had to wait for it on the iphone as well despite being so simple

7. I am forgetful so hopefully this isnt going to cause too many problems ;-)

8. Sorry I meant autocomplete suggestions, for example if I type ll on my iphone it converts it to lol, is this possible?

9. Maybe I will look at alternative browsers such as surfy

10. I have issues with storing things in the cloud due to security concerns but doesnt look like I have a choice

Thanks again.

 

[shinygerbil]

Most of paladinleeds' replies don't make sense if you actually wanna use the phone properly.The issues you've highlighted are sadly real issues which most of us just have to put up with. People will do their best to try and ignore them and blame the user, etc - but they're there.

1. I dont see the the battery or anything at the top of the screen unless I tap this, this is even on the start page.

Sadly yes. I believe devs can set it to show up permanently within their app, but not many do.

2. The was a beta Nokia app but that has now gone sadly.

DataSense may address your issue, when it arrives.

3. unfortunately apps like twitter may start small but can grow, at least that was my experience on the iphone

Yep - even innocuous-seeming apps can amass a large amount of cache files. Good apps will actually have a cache cleanup function, or just good cache management in the first place - but there is still no way to see a list of apps and their sizes. (Note: there were homebrew apps for fully-unlocked WP7 devices which did this, but until WP8 gets broken apart, we got nothing.)

4.Dont you need to have a microsoft account for the phone to work?

5. ditto

Yep, good luck using your phone without an MS account. All I can suggest is maybe creating a dummy Google account and using it for your contacts? I'm pretty sure you can do that if you wanna keep them out of your MS account.

6.I didnt think this could be done yet, had to wait for it on the iphone as well despite being so simple

Nope, can't be done. I think you can with ringtones but not alerts - and I've never wanted to do it, so don't know.

7. I am forgetful so hopefully this isnt going to cause too many problems ;-)

Again, your only option is to make sure you use Live Tiles - and check them every now and then. There are (fairly unsubstantiated) rumours of MS adding a notification centre, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

8. Sorry I meant autocomplete suggestions, for example if I type ll on my iphone it converts it to lol, is this possible?

Don't think so. The keyboard does do a pretty good job of learning, though, so it is likely that if you keep making mistakes and correcting them it'll end up doing what you want. (After 2 years of using the iPhone keyboard, it was never as good as my WP7 keyboard for typing prediction/suggestion, but YMMV)

9. Maybe I will look at alternative browsers such as surfy

In case you weren't aware, all browsers are simply skins of IE10 - which is not to say they are bad, but they will add limited functionality.

Search engines can be added through the registry, but obviously we don't have access to that until WP8 is broken open. (Side note: my HD7 actually came with a choice between Bing and an o2-branded Yahoo search.)

10. I have issues with storing things in the cloud due to security concerns but doesnt look like I have a choice

Sadly no - but there will probably be a way to manually backup once the syncing apps get a little more functional. (Fingers crossed.)

 

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

Most of paladinleeds' replies don't make sense if you actually wanna use the phone properly.The issues you've highlighted are sadly real issues which most of us just have to put up with. People will do their best to try and ignore them and blame the user, etc - but they're there.

I was just trying to do my best. Obviously, as I'm currently stuck with a WP7 device, my experience with WP8 is limited. I don't know anybody IRL that has a WP8 device, and only a very small handful of people with WP7 devices... Of course, that is going to severely limit my knowledge but I do try my best.

 

[rockstarzzz]

I say all WP8 users unite and sort this out while I wait for my Lumia 920

 

[awesomeplant]

A few I may be able to help with:

2. I am unable to see how much mobile\cellular data my phone has used

I can view this data with the myAT&T app. Open it up, sign in and you can see data for the current cycle. The built-in DataSense app from MS isn't ready yet, I don't think, but when it is it'll bring Live Tile support so you can track the data remaining on the start screen if you want. It'll also add some compression settings for websites and stuff.

4 I am unable to add contacts without them syncing across to my outlook account

5. I am unable to add calendar reminders without them syncing to outlook.

Microsoft treats your phone's associated Microsoft account as the home for WP's default contacts and calendars. If you need to keep it separate from your personal Microsoft account, you could try making a new MS account *just* for your phone, and then sync your main Hotmail account separately (and uncheck contact/calendar sync). Alternatively, you can hide your contacts from the Hotmail account in the People Hub by going to "Sort Contacts" and unchecking Hotmail. In the Calendar app, to do this, go to Settings and flip the Hotmail switch to Off.

 

[Etyrnus]

For number 8, type the word in a text box, highlight it like you're going to copy it, and if it is one not in the dictionary already it will give a + (word) option in the autocomplete bar above the keyboard to permanently add it. May have to scroll left to see it, but it will be there.

 

[shinygerbil]

I was just trying to do my best. Obviously, as I'm currently stuck with a WP7 device, my experience with WP8 is limited. I don't know anybody IRL that has a WP8 device, and only a very small handful of people with WP7 devices... Of course, that is going to severely limit my knowledge but I do try my best.

I didn't mean to cause offence. That post was before my first cup of coffee. Nonetheless trying to use the phone without a Microsoft account, or just accepting all of its behaviour as intended, is not exactly optimal

 

[rockstarzzz]

I didn't mean to cause offence. That post was before my first cup of coffee. Nonetheless trying to use the phone without a Microsoft account, or just accepting all of its behaviour as intended, is not exactly optimal

What colour is your 8X? Three, UK?

 

[Laura Knotek]

For the battery level, try this app.

 

[bobo616]

For the battery level, try this app.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I have a battery level app that seems quite good now and I can see how much data I am using by accessing my carrier website but preferred something directly in the OS.

I am giving myself the week to see if I prefer this phone to my iphone before deciding to stay or go back, as well as all the points that I made earlier that some have been addressed my major concern is the text quality on the internet explorer and the photo quality, I have a lumia 820 by the way but if the issue is the phone I may be forced back to IOS due to none of the other phones having everything I want.

Lumia 920 felt too big, HTC 8x had too small storage and the Samsung ativ isnt out yet so I went for the 820. Lets see what this week brings.

 

[Squachy]

The data app you want should be called "counters" in the nokia collection.

I just checked, and unless its a WP7.5 thing, its still there in the marketplace for me. (lumnia 710)

Status bar thing is a little annoying. MS made it so it disappears off the screen so it doesnt clutter (only the clock remains), but most people want it on all the time to see their status.

Dunno if/when MS is going to change it or add a toggle for it.

 

[glassadam]

For the data thing, if you're on at&t, I think you can just dial *3282# into the phone dialer, hit call, and they will instantly send you a text message telling you how much data you've burned through.

 

[shinygerbil]

What colour is your 8X? Three, UK?

Blue - o2 UK.

 

[Brian McBride]

Regarding the Outlook.com account - I really like how it syncs my calendars up. But, if I didn't want that feature, then I would likely set myself up with 2 microsoft accounts. One for my phone and one for me.

 

[bobo616]

The data app you want should be called "counters" in the nokia collection.

I just checked, and unless its a WP7.5 thing, its still there in the marketplace for me. (lumnia 710)

Status bar thing is a little annoying. MS made it so it disappears off the screen so it doesnt clutter (only the clock remains), but most people want it on all the time to see their status.

Dunno if/when MS is going to change it or add a toggle for it.

This app doesnt seem to be in the store via the normal searches but I can find it via another link but says it isnt availble on my phone, so either it doesnt work on wp8 or it isnt available in the uk or doesnt work on the lumia 820