Live Tiles - What is the Deal?

[cbrines]

Why is it that live tiles randomly stop working every month or so? WP7, Mango, WP8, Portico, it doesn't matter. All versions of the WP platform have this issue and it's so aggravating, I'm ready to quit the platform.

What is the deal?

 

[Curtieson]

bad developer coding.

I have a Stock market app, I have had it for a couple of months now and it has never stopped working. My weather app, that I have had for closer to two years, always has issues where it won't update....on WP7 and WP8, just opening the app fixes it though.

 

[BeaverJuicer]

All my native tiles still work, as does WeatherFlo, Facebook, Skype, Weave. These really are the only live tiles I use.

EDIT: And I have been on this phone since November.

 

[martinmc78]

Yeah cant say ive had any issues with live tiles and Ive had my 8x since October and had and HD7 for two years before that.

You might as well quit then. Something obviously isnt working for you...

 

[cbrines]

I've owned an HD7, Titan and now a 920. All phones, on all versions of WP exhibited this issue.

Integrated apps (email, SMS, etc.) do not have have any issues. 3rd party apps are hit and miss. Some apps, like GroupMe, CNN, Appointile work as advertised. Other apps, like Amazing Weather HD, Markets & Me, Twabbit, etc., stop working randomly. Sometimes a soft reset fixes it, sometimes I have to uninstall/reinstall, and sometimes only a hard reset will fix it.

 

[cbrines]

All my native tiles still work, as does WeatherFlo, Facebook, Skype, Weave. These really are the only live tiles I use.

EDIT: And I have been on this phone since November.

Skype has never worked reliably for me. It always works for a few days, then stops working until I uninstall/reinstall.

 

[anthonyng]

for skype I'm starting to think if someone messages with a skype account it gets my messenger notifications working again.

But I'm also inclined to think it's improper developer coding as I have apps such as Tanks, appointile, Accuweather that keep working including the stock applications. Hopefully they find out what they are doing wrong so it's more reliable.

 

[Curtieson]

I've owned an HD7, Titan and now a 920. All phones, on all versions of WP exhibited this issue.

Integrated apps (email, SMS, etc.) do not have have any issues. 3rd party apps are hit and miss. Some apps, like GroupMe, CNN, Appointile work as advertised. Other apps, like Amazing Weather HD, Markets & Me, Twabbit, etc., stop working randomly. Sometimes a soft reset fixes it, sometimes I have to uninstall/reinstall, and sometimes only a hard reset will fix it.

Sooo...as I said, what is the common denominator between ALL those phones? DEVELOPERS!

If Markets and Me doesn't work...ditch it. Never had an issue with my stock app. Try "MyStocks", great little Live Tile.

 

[ammarmalik2011]

bad developer coding.

How is it that so many developers seem to have problems with this particular feature?

 

[Mio_Ray]

I think You have to open the app every once in a while to keep the background task alive.
Sent from my Lumia 920 using Board Express

 

[cbrines]

I think You have to open the app every once in a while to keep the background task alive.
Sent from my Lumia 920 using Board Express

I've heard this before, and honestly, that shgouldn't be an issue for me, because the apps whose live tiles are malfunctioning, get opened a few times a day.

 

[locoworks]

my battery status tile won't update unless you open the app. when they say 'live' tiles, i think they mean comatose and in need of an adrenaline injection and a defibrillator zap.

 

[PipoDj]

Well lucky for you guys whose native live tiles are updating after 30seconds. My lumia 820, a brand new one, all live tiles stop animating/working/updating after 30seconds! I am totally disappointed. I have tried factory reseting my phone. still the problem persists. Also take note i haven't downloaded anything, unistalled pre-loaded nokia apps and only the ME tile on the start screen and guess what, after 30 seconds it stops animating. same is true with the people tile. I need help with this one too

 

[WasteSomeTime]

I just want a 3rd party app that shows pictures of my contacts. I mean something different from the people app. Its so hard to actually find an app that has a functioning live tile.
Sent from my SGH-i677 using Foroplex

 

[Curtieson]

I think You have to open the app every once in a while to keep the background task alive.

That was true in WP7.X, but not in WP8. There were articles about how they changed that. Before, if you had something pinned to the start the phone would allow the background tasks to run for 2 weeks, if the app wasn't used/opened in two weeks it would stop. Now, as long as the user has it pinned to the start screen it will run.

Well lucky for you guys whose native live tiles are updating after 30seconds. My lumia 820, a brand new one, all live tiles stop animating/working/updating after 30seconds! I am totally disappointed. I have tried factory reseting my phone. still the problem persists. Also take note i haven't downloaded anything, unistalled pre-loaded nokia apps and only the ME tile on the start screen and guess what, after 30 seconds it stops animating. same is true with the people tile. I need help with this one too

Are you talking about 30 seconds straight? Again, that is a feature, not a bug. Why do you need your tiles to keep spinning for minutes/hours on end? They will flip a couple of times, and then stop. If you want them to keep flipping, just go to another screen and come back and they will restart that process. There are only 2 sides to the tiles, what are you trying to read that takes more than 3 or 4 seconds?

How is it that so many developers seem to have problems with this particular feature?

Now that is a great question! and I have no idea! I would say because it is new is the #1 reason. But it clearly isn't impossible to do, as a lot of companies do it well. I have never tried to make a LIVE tile myself, but it could be a lack of good documentation explaining the process?

I do feel there is a TON of room for improvement with them...I wish there was a way to better test out the live tile features for apps though. It is nice that the App Store says they have live tiles now, but that isn't really enough.

 

[BeaverJuicer]

Well lucky for you guys whose native live tiles are updating after 30seconds. My lumia 820, a brand new one, all live tiles stop animating/working/updating after 30seconds! I am totally disappointed. I have tried factory reseting my phone. still the problem persists. Also take note i haven't downloaded anything, unistalled pre-loaded nokia apps and only the ME tile on the start screen and guess what, after 30 seconds it stops animating. same is true with the people tile. I need help with this one too

A) Livetiles only update a max of every 30 minutes.
B) Animation stops after 20-30 seconds of inactivity, because the phone thinks you are no longer looking at it. Touch your screen, and everything will start moving again.

 

[Abdul Rahman Noor]

I've read somewhere that only the first 7 (or so) can be Live Tiles on the homescreen, and the remaining ones just stay updated when you open them.
Can someone confirm?

 

[rockstarzzz]

I've read somewhere that only the first 7 (or so) can be Live Tiles on the homescreen, and the remaining ones just stay updated when you open them.
Can someone confirm?

There are 2 limitations on live apps:

1) if the app hasn't been opened at least one time in 15 days, live tiles and background tasks will stop until the app is opened.

2) if there are more than 6 background apps WITH live tiles, only top 6 will work.

 

[cbrines]

There are 2 limitations on live apps:

1) if the app hasn't been opened at least one time in 15 days, live tiles and background tasks will stop until the app is opened.

2) if there are more than 6 background apps WITH live tiles, only top 6 will work.

I had thought that the 'six live tiles' limitation ended with WP8?

 

[Connie Litrenta]

Really the only app I have problems with on ocassion is the weather app. Also, most of the sports apps don't work well either. Ones that do work well though - CNN News, Audible, Facebook Pro and any others that came preinstalled.