Google Calendar

[bret91786]

I like that my Windows Phone 8 can sync my Google calendars to the phone. I like that it can remind me of my appointments, events and meetings. I HATE that it can't handle time changes. I got my Windows Phone in December. Then, most of my events were reminding me an hour early. A couple months later I noticed that a new event I had added was reminding me at the right time. So I went through most of my events, deleted them and added them back. You can do the math--this was in February. And I was happy. Now everything was right. Then last weekend, the time changed one hour forward. Now all my events are reminding me one hour late.

Now you might be thinking this is obviously Google's fault. Perhaps it is, but Thunderbird and Rainlender don't have any problem interpreting the correct time from the very same calendars. So obviously it can be done and must not be too complicated for free apps to be able to handle it.

So why can't Windows Phone 8? It's something so basic. Between this and the inability to turn off reminders per calendar, and the fact that many apps are missing major features on Windows Phone, I'm 80% sure I won't buy another Windows Phone. But hey-- Microsoft, you have 18 months to change my mind, so let's get working on it...

 

[Narse77]

I think it has more to do with Google than WP8. I have switched to outlook for my calendars and email. I just have Gmail forwarding mail to my outlook.com address. I have not had one single hiccup since.

 

[Muessig]

Google's history with Windows Phone is spotty at best and they've gone on record saying they don't plan to support Windows Phone 8 at the moment because they don't see it as being worth their time. We can argue all we like and it sure doesn't paint Google as a corporation in the best light but it is what it is. I can understand you prefer to use the Gmail calendar but have you tried some of the alternatives there are out there? Most people think the default Outlook/WP8 calendar is pretty basic and needs updating and I'd have to agree but I've never missed a notification or had it notify me of something late. There are some brilliant calendar apps that have been featured on the main site not too long ago that you'll find with some search-fu that might just fill that calendar hole on your phone.

 

[bret91786]

Well, if it were just my personal stuff, I could move that. But two of the calendars are shared at work, and Google Apps is what's used for email, contacts and calendar. Neither Microsoft nor Google do a great job with following standard (understatement of the year). A lot of people use Google's services, and if Microsoft wants to increase market share for their phone, telling people they won't work with Google isn't the way to do it. I'd sooner give up the phone than move everything. And I'd bet a lot of people feel the same. I'm the only Windows Phone user at work. If I had to guess percentages, I'd guess 90% Andriod, 9% IOS and just me on Windows Phone. Vendor lock-in is a thing of the past and it's time Microsoft started doing a better job making things cooperate.

 

[Talldog]

...if Microsoft wants to increase market share for their phone, telling people they won't work with Google isn't the way to do it.

It's Google that's telling people they won't work with Microsoft, not the other way around. MS is trying to get CardDAV and CalDAV support in WP as fast as they can.

 

[markfive]

It's Google that's telling people they won't work with Microsoft, not the other way around. MS is trying to get CardDAV and CalDAV support in WP as fast as they can.

+1

Google used to provide Exchange ActiveSync support, and then they chose to drop it. Subsequently MS asked Google to delay the closure of the Google EAS service to give MS time to develop Card & CalDAV support for WP.

I don't think MS are the villains of this particular story. I'm not sure what else they could have done. I also don't subscribe to the theory that Google dropped EAS to spite MS - they dropped it simply because their own clients use CardDAV and CalDAV and ultimately that's what they would prefer you to use.

 

[bret91786]

I don't think MS are the villains of this particular story.

... and I'm not necessarily blaming them. WP market share is low, so developers and companies like Google don't see a need to support it fully, so people get frustrated with WP and abandon it for other phone OS that works better for them. Unfortunately, until MS makes a phone OS that works well for the majority of consumers, that cycle will continue. So while MS is not the villain, the burden falls on them to fix basic features like the calendar so that it just works whether the consumer is using MS services or another major company's.

I chose to give MS a shot this time, even though I wasn't convinced that it was the best choice. At this point, I'm more frustrated with my phone than happy with it. Some of the features are cool. But I want my phone's basic calling, contacts and calendar features to work right and allow me the flexibility I'm used to. In the case of WP8, it doesn't. So, like I stated in my original message, if the basic features don't get fixed, I will likely buy an Android phone next time.

 

[Talldog]

+1

Google used to provide Exchange ActiveSync support, and then they chose to drop it....I also don't subscribe to the theory that Google dropped EAS to spite MS - they dropped it simply because their own clients use CardDAV and CalDAV and ultimately that's what they would prefer you to use.

The thing is, they didn't drop it. They still support EAS for existing connections, and more importantly, for their business customers, which means they will likely be supporting it for a long time to come. Given all that, it's hard to come up with a valid reason why they would drop support only for new connections, which includes people (like me) who were long time Gmail users and just happened to buy a new MS device. When you add in the fact that in conjunction with dropping EAS support, they developed a replacement Gmail client for iOS while pointedly declining to develop one for any MS platform, it's hard to see them as the good guys here. Especially for someone like me. My wife and I replaced our iPads with Surface Pros, and 4 weeks later we've replaced Gmail with Outlook.com and our Samsung Android phones with Lumia 822s. That's a lot of aggravation I could have done without, although we're both happy to be back in the Windows phone world.

 

[markfive]

The thing is, they didn't drop it.

Correct, I should have said they used to provide it for Gmail accounts. My bad.

 

[Narse77]

I think it will only get worse when it comes to Google and MS etc. Also I think that Google will do the same to Apple as soon as they think they can get away with it. They want to dominate the market and keep you in their app infrastructure.