3 months later - WHERE ARE THE BIG APPS??

[Ultimateone]

I don't need any other apps at all, I dont even miss instagram tbh

 

[jrdatrackstar1223]

I came from 4s to 920 and I don't want to switch back. 920 is so much better than the simple and plain 4s. Perhaps, im just a more techy guy than you are. :/Sent from my Lumia920 using Board Express

I hate the 4s, but it works. iOS thing is so boring and stale, but when I need it to work, it works. Siri WORKS and doesn't transcribe cuss words to me. Out of the 3 Windows Phone 8 devices I had, every time I tried to make a voice note, the dictated text wouldn't even come close to what I had said (mind you, in a quiet area at that). When I make phone calls, people can hear me crystal clear on my 4s, and don't say I sound like I'm being cutoff or in a tunnel. I'm not one that has to have EVERY APP in the world, but the apps that were announced were ones that I was always waiting for on Windows Phone (Gameloft games and other apps). What happened? They said they would be available and where are they now after 3 months....? I just got sick of things being announced and never coming to fruition.

Do I like iOS more than Windows Phone? Heck no. I just had no choice but to switch something that simply worked according to my needs, and Windows Phone is not that (at least not now). I check this blog everyday, so when I see things start picking up and Microsoft getting it together, I'll come back. Until then, I'll have to stick with this stale, boring OS that works. Again, these are according to MY NEEDS. Others may not need the apps announced, or NFC mobile wallet to be unlocked, or 32GB minimum of storage, but I DO; in addition to my "extra feature" needs, I needed my phone to work as a phone, which neither my 2 Lumia 820s nor Lumia 920 did...

And unless you're a software developer, I doubt you're as techy as me :smile:

 

[lipper2000]

I think some are just not happy no matter what...there will always be an app that iOS has that android doesn't or that WP8 doesn't...
I don't know what "bugs" people are referring to but my 920 has zero bugs...

There are so many little things that make me love the 920...Nokia drive, the dolby software, the app they made to painlessly set up connecting to a network the phone was not bought from, the constant free games they give, the camera, etc...

If you don't like the phone, sell it. I don't understand the need to whine about threatening to sell it...it's not like anyone here is going to solve your particular fundamental problem with a device...if you are not happy, move on.

These are gadgets...they are not worth getting upset about

 

[wharfratg]

I'm still waiting for Pandora, but not worried about counting the months or days. When it gets here, I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

 

[martinmc78]

Quick question.

If MS came out tomorrow and said "Sorry guys we tried but none of the big developers are willing to convert their apps to WP8. We tried throwing money and support at instagram, we offered the mom and pop temple run guys support, the pandora guys just wouldnt answer our calls, Mark Zuckerberg is too busy trying to get his stock value back up and working on graphical search engines, The guys from twitter are being d*cks and demanding more than were willing to give them. We just cant keep trying to convince them, were turning into the house guest that just wont leave and thats not what were about."

What would you all do? Seriously. Would you all try and back out of the contracts your on because of a couple of games that everyone else has got and you cant take random pictures of your food and feet and post them in the same place as everyone else. Would you switch to Android because the facebook app youve got isnt quite as good as the one you use on the internet? Would you switch to iOS because you know they have got a better twitter client?

Give it all time. Ive just purchased all three versions of skulls of the shogun. You know how awesome it is to sneakily play it at my desk at work, autosave it and continue the game on my surface on the train journey home then get in and finish the level on my xbox . Same game 3 different screens all seemless - can you say the same for android or apple?

If you bought a WP and expected an overnight deluge of goodness youve got it all wrong - its not gonna happen - Its going to be a slow burner. To get the most out of what MS are providing youve got to go with the 3 screens philosophy. The phones not got it all on its own, go for 2 out of 3 with an xbox and your phone gets a little more useful. Go for the trifecta with a surface or W8 tablet/PC and everything just works so well.

So i cant post a picture to instagram. Has my world ended? No. Will my world end? No. Will i post my picture of my dinner to facebook and twitter where all my friends will get to see it anyway? Yes think i will do that. Might even put a comment on saying it was indeed "quite tasty".
So i cant play temple run like the guy next to me on the train is on his ipad mini. Has my world ended? No, Will my world end? No. Will the guy get his ipad mini stolen off him on the train? Probably. Will his world end? Definitely. Will i be sitting there playing The Gunstringer on my surface while it happens?

No. Too busy playing skulls of the shogun.

The "Big Apps" will come - but they wont be instagram and they wont be temple run. The truly big apps will be the ones that effectively use all 3 screens. Its what WP8 and W8 is all about its MS philosophy. Alot of people seem to have lost sight of that and just want to be the same as the guy next to you with his GS3 or iphone5. If you want to be that guy put down your WP and buy what the other guy has - hes got what you want.

Since BB10 launched the complaining about MS has gone through the roof. The MS bash threads are popping up daily. "Why cant we have this?" "Where is that?" "How come hes got it before I have?" Its all so incredibly depressing. Its all so incredibly "meh"
If you dont like it people move along, theres obviously nothing for you to see here.

Apologies if anyone is offended by the above - if you are - grow up a bit. If you can rant, so can I...

 

[jrdatrackstar1223]

^ I totally agree. For me, I just simply left and will deal with it. I will sit on the sideline while it picks up to where I need it to be, for my needs. It's still my favorite OS, but I just need time for the bugs (that any new OS will have) to be fixed, and things missing to be added for MY needs.

I think where people start getting worried and posting is from Microsoft acting like they don't pay attention to what people are saying. Tech blogs, people on this forum (which they claim they listen to), reviewers, anyone who could be a potential customer; their voice is who you, as a company, should listen to. It's not about just doing things to keep up to pace with the other companies, but it's about meeting the requests of your customers while putting your own spin on it. For example, adding a notification center would be meeting requirements of your customer base, but make it so that it's unique from other operating systems. Just telling people "Our live tile interface is unique and so different that you could use that as a notification center" just doesn't fly. It's this type of attitude that people get angry about...

I think this is the problem Microsoft is facing; when they themselves talk about the great reasons a customer should get a Windows Phone, they talk about Live Tiles and how Facebook, Twitter, etc is tied into the OS. They state that's it's different from other OSes, and you're then making yourself different from the clones out there. The problem with this is they're trying to force this down customers' throats with THEIR ideas of what the OS should contain, instead of taking suggestions. Android and iOS can afford to do this they've met most of their customers' requirements (IE higher sales), but when you have next-to-0 marketshare, ALREADY have a bad image as a company (you can't tell me that people just HATE Microsoft because they're Microsoft), and try to give people reasons as to why they should just accept your company's philosophy about a given topic of the OS, you're asking for backlash...

Just my .02

 

[DavidinCT]

Skulls of the shogun is cool and all that but, how many games acutally work like that ?

Everyone is up and arms about BB10 and their 70K apps but, does everyone on here know that they Made a Dev tool that will convert ANY android app to BB with almost NO CHANGES IN CODE ????? That app that you have been waiting for that is available for Android or iOS WILL be avaiable for BB but, not for Windows Phone. So everyone who is upset about it, should be. This is something I even worry about and most of these apps (besides games) I could care less about.

Nothing takes away that I love my Windows Phone 8 device and yes better than iOS or Android but, it does not take away from Apps and games I want and SHOULD have by now. With Windows Phone Microsoft has said a lot of things but, there is still a lot it can't meet up with. Where is this great app to sync with (Have you seen the WP sync app ? It's a joke) ? Where is this beta tester program so we can get updates before everyone ? Where are all these apps that they claim we are getting ? Xbox....Where are the key titles for xbox exclusives ? Can we even play other xbox members from our phone ? Why I can't hear audio messages from my fellow xbox members on my phone ?


Dont get me wrong, I will stick with my device because I do like it and like it better than the other options but, the limits of Windows Phone does bother me a little.... and people with WP should let MS know about it..

 

[tositem]

I need Path. That's it.

Oh, yes - Temple Run won't hurt!

 

[rockstarzzz]

Voip is more fcukd than anything else. Viber, no calls. Skype, hardly. Line, no calls. Is there any voip app, that isn't gtalk, that works flawlessly? No. 3 years since they are in this game, trust me they are taking it as a proper marathon like they said

 

[justreason]

I have said and seen this in other threads... Microsoft has the OS and hardware battle won but the app store battle lost..

You could switch our store with apples app store and there would still be complaints...

I feel like Microsoft is trying to deliver the apps to us but the developers see Microsoft as the evil company.. The hipster or in style phone is the iPhone.. When grandmas, aunts, cousins and others have it.. Developers see the money.. Not to add that Apple has the best marketing campaigns next to Nike.. journalism doesn't help Microsoft either.. They look to rip Microsoft a new ******* at any chance..

At the end of the day.. You can wait and pray or move on like others have said..
Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

 

[uselessrobot]

Everyone is up and arms about BB10 and their 70K apps but, does everyone on here know that they Made a Dev tool that will convert ANY android app to BB with almost NO CHANGES IN CODE ????? That app that you have been waiting for that is available for Android or iOS WILL be avaiable for BB but, not for Windows Phone.

Have you actually read up on reviews of that feature? It's an emulated environment running an outdated version of Android. So you've got apps referencing Android functionality which is a big problem in and of itself. The bigger problem is that everything runs like crap. As it stands it's a clumsy novelty that Blackberry shouldn't have made available because it's just going to result in a lot of pissed off users.

I was impressed when I first started reading up on Blackberry. But the more I learn the more skeptical I become of the platform. The entire OS seems to have a steep learning curve. There's a lot of neat functionality, but it's not intuitive. Ironically, it's kind of like the Office of mobile OSs. Most people are overwhelmed by the functionality overload and even power users sometimes end up frustrated.

Blackberry might enjoy a spurt of development early on, like Windows Phone 7 experienced in the early days, but we'll see if it's sustainable. Of course, the publicity is stealing Windows Phone's thunder which is why Microsoft needs to start pushing the platform more aggressively.

 

[DavidinCT]

Have you actually read up on reviews of that feature? It's an emulated environment running an outdated version of Android. So you've got apps referencing Android functionality which is a big problem in and of itself. The bigger problem is that everything runs like crap. As it stands it's a clumsy novelty that Blackberry shouldn't have made available because it's just going to result in a lot of pissed off users.

I was impressed when I first started reading up on Blackberry. But the more I learn the more skeptical I become of the platform. The entire OS seems to have a steep learning curve. There's a lot of neat functionality, but it's not intuitive. Ironically, it's kind of like the Office of mobile OSs. Most people are overwhelmed by the functionality overload and even power users sometimes end up frustrated.

Blackberry might enjoy a spurt of development early on, like Windows Phone 7 experienced in the early days, but we'll see if it's sustainable. Of course, the publicity is stealing Windows Phone's thunder which is why Microsoft needs to start pushing the platform more aggressively.

yes I did read about it and that it was an emulator but, from reports I read, smaller apps (a lot of big name apps) not really games unless it was smaller puzzle type games would run perfectly and the end users would never know. Sure, heavy graphics games might not run but, a lot of those "missing apps" are part of them that can be "emulated" and it pads their numbers more.

I dont wan to turn this discusson into a BB vs. WP but, there is a steep learning curve for BB and after looking over the videos about the OS, I can tell you for sure, Windows Phone has nothing to worry about on that aspect, as WP is a lot easier to use.


Time will see where BB goes but, I still wonder why BB got all these missing apps and we are still waiting for a lot of them....

 

[89caps]

I did not intend to sound like I am bashing WP. I love my 920 and sticking with it because it works best for me. I don't like that MS talked about getting top apps and not a single one has shown up.

No, I don't expect WP to be the first on the list for developers, but I want to see MS respond to this app gap with actions, not just talk. If developers don't want to develop I would stay with the phone as long as I could do without those apps.

 

[ohgood]

^ I totally agree. For me, I just simply left and will deal with it. I will sit on the sideline while it picks up to where I need it to be, for my needs. It's still my favorite OS, but I just need time for the bugs (that any new OS will have) to be fixed, and things missing to be added for MY needs.

I think where people start getting worried and posting is from Microsoft acting like they don't pay attention to what people are saying. Tech blogs, people on this forum (which they claim they listen to), reviewers, anyone who could be a potential customer; their voice is who you, as a company, should listen to. It's not about just doing things to keep up to pace with the other companies, but it's about meeting the requests of your customers while putting your own spin on it. For example, adding a notification center would be meeting requirements of your customer base, but make it so that it's unique from other operating systems. Just telling people "Our live tile interface is unique and so different that you could use that as a notification center" just doesn't fly. It's this type of attitude that people get angry about...

I think this is the problem Microsoft is facing; when they themselves talk about the great reasons a customer should get a Windows Phone, they talk about Live Tiles and how Facebook, Twitter, etc is tied into the OS. They state that's it's different from other OSes, and you're then making yourself different from the clones out there. The problem with this is they're trying to force this down customers' throats with THEIR ideas of what the OS should contain, instead of taking suggestions. Android and iOS can afford to do this they've met most of their customers' requirements (IE higher sales), but when you have next-to-0 marketshare, ALREADY have a bad image as a company (you can't tell me that people just HATE Microsoft because they're Microsoft), and try to give people reasons as to why they should just accept your company's philosophy about a given topic of the OS, you're asking for backlash...

Just my .02

That's a very positive critique, well done.

 

[sharpinator]

People who are talking about lack of apps and so on shouldn't be shut down because they are hurting your precious OS. It is just healthy to talk about some annoyances. Many people have entered 2 year contracts with their phones so they are stuck with their devices for 2 years. Who knows how long people will be waiting for basic features. For the people who say they don't care about apps that's fair enough but some things are just irritating. I have a seperate notification tone for facebook, twitter, gmail and text messages so I know exactly what app is trying to notify me without even glancing at the phone and even then I have a notification light letting me know I have a notification therefore I don't have to unnecessarily unlock my phone to see notifications. Do I have any control over these things on windows phone? No

I'm not out to get the operating system, I actually really like it and I WANT it to be successful. These are just a few gripes that I have and other people share these gripes.

 

[hacer619]

im not talking about apps now but I was a windows phone user(htc Mozart) then me and 3 of my friends switched to the 4s later (3 months before ios6 release). and after the release we updated to ios6 what should I say viola 3 of us got non working wifi phones and now all of us got lumias.
and believe me after that I always look for the user experience from the os side and not the app availability

 

[sharpinator]

should of switched to android!

 

[Saiyaku]

a lot of those "missing apps" are part of them that can be "emulated" and it pads their numbers more.

but this begs the question: why settle for this pseudo android hodgepodge when you can get a real android device (and up to date, to boot!) for the same price? The moment bb10 decided to shape itself like Android while running emulated Android apps, they already lost the "differentiation wars".

Ps: quote != thanks, damn this wpcentral app :/

 

[travisel]

I say wait to see what Microsoft has to say @WMC Feb 25/13.

http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/

Windows Phone 8.1 to be shown.
What's WP8.1 name again hush...hush? Fix what? Add what?

Now with alot of talk about the new BB10 OS and almost NO talk about the new iOS6.1 ...? What's up with that? Android 5.0 "Key Lime Pie" in the works Microsoft better be ready to keep all of us happy!

 

[tebugg]

but this begs the question: why settle for this pseudo android hodgepodge when you can get a real android device (and up to date, to boot!) for the same price? The moment bb10 decided to shape itself like Android while running emulated Android apps, they already lost the "differentiation wars".

Ps: quote != thanks, damn this wpcentral app :/

this is exactly how i think about this. the BB Z10 is expected to be $199 with last years hardware. why would i buy a z10 when i can spend that $199 on an android that doesnt need an emulator? and speaking of the emulator, apps dont look good on it. it doesnt give you the updated android graphics, it's gingerbread graphics. not good. but i can understand some of the frustrations about apps. i too wish the app movement would move faster, but it just doesnt work like that. remember in 2009 when android had a horrible store and their market share was nothing compared to the iphone? look at where they are now. WP8 is not like WP7, the kernel is different and more flexible for what MS wants to do. but it was somewhat backwards compatible to where some WP7 apps could be used on it, although they wouldnt be able to look as good on it as a native WP8 app. that allowed MS to open WP8 with 125k apps. can blackberry say that? they only opening with 70k apps. all the apps they have WP8 already has. most the games they have WP8 already has and there's lots of games WP8 has that bb10 doesnt. and bb10 still has the same issue with google not making apps for them and instagram not making an app. atleast WP8 has a nice 3rd party instagram app, you just cant upload pics with it, then again neither can any other 3rd party instagram app. bb10 has a 20 million installed user base, WP8 has 45 million. i'm just trying to say, while some apps arent here, there is STILL alot to like about WP8 and it's not as bad as some people make it out to be.