Lack of "corporate" apps is killing WP

Hydrated

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I've been using WP since January 2013, and I really like the OS and the WP/Win8 infrastructure.

I've been an evangelist for WP8... and I've convinced 4 close friends to try the WP8 platform. And yesterday the last of those 4 jettisoned their WP8 devices and went back to their iOS or Android devices.

All 4 of those people left WP8 for the same reason... lack of the apps that they wanted/needed. There are many apps to cover what I call silly apps... Youtube... Pandora... Instagram... etc... but what is missing in almost every case are what I call "corporate apps". Mobile banking... store discount apps... website mobile access apps...

I've pretended that not having these apps was no big deal... but I'm fooling myself. Using the mobile websites for my banks and investment brokers is a poor substitute and lacks the functionality of their mobile apps. My banks offer mobile deposits and bill pay through their mobile apps... but this is difficult or impossible through their mobile websites... and using the full websites is too cumbersome on a small phone screen.

So I don't know what the future of WP holds. I have had great experiences with the OS itself... it's smooth and stable. But I must admit that I'm tempted to bail on WP myself if the situation doesn't change with corporate app support.

Has anyone else had problems with those corporate apps being absent or unsupported?
 

SwimSwim

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Well, it's hardly like Microsoft can push a magic button and make those apps appear, otherwise they would've a long time ago.

Yes, the app support on Windows Phone does leave something to be desired, but it's up to early adopters like us to stick it out, grow the market share, which will in turn, attract developers. I know it's kind of annoying, but what else are we to do?
 

RN50

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If Microsoft went directly to these app makers and paid them a wad of cash the apps would be made. I don't use instagram but alot of other do. Y not just go over to the makers and say make us an app and we will give us x amount of cash.

To be fair the banking apps have started to arrive in the uk but agree that the discout apps aren't as good as ios and android
 

SocalTouch

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Since WPCentral is the biggest Windows Phone community on the web, I suggest that We start a sticky on WPCentral homepage which mentions all basic official apps still missing on Windows Phone along with twitter accounts of companies making those apps and support forums where we can question them on the lack of development of apps on Windows Phone.

If 50% of all WPCentral unique visitors pound those companies on twitter in public, we will see most of those apps out in 3 months!
 

SwimSwim

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If Microsoft went directly to these app makers and paid them a wad of cash the apps would be made. I don't use instagram but alot of other do. Y not just go over to the makers and say make us an app and we will give us x amount of cash.

To be fair the banking apps have started to arrive in the uk but agree that the discout apps aren't as good as ios and android

Microsoft was trying this as far back as WP7. Despite Microsoft literally paying people to develop for WIndows Phone, very few developers jumped on board. Developer's want to see market share before they get on board, so they can have a large audience giving them a continuous revenue stream.
 

RN50

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but we have 3rd party apps that are in some cases quite better than the official !

We WP user might know about 3rd Party apps however a newbie would not know this. They type in intagtam and then the instance app would come up and they would be thinking wtf is this.

Id personally rather have official apps as lets face it there is alot of clutter in the apps store. Just type in Facebook and see the amount of apps that show up.
 

Muessig

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The app situation is improving and while it's not as quick as we want it to be, we're seeing progress. The Windows 8 and Windows Phone stores will be unified before long and that will improve the situation further. This doesn't mean I'm happy with where we are. It also doesn't mean I'm in the position where the lack of a banking app or other corporate app will make me leave the ecosystem but I completely understand if you're in that position.

As a current user of the WP system I feel like it's our duty to kick up a fuss and let the developers of these corporate apps know that there is demand for Windows Phone versions of their apps. With the introduction of Windows Phone 8 it became easier for developers to make apps for the system alongside other platforms, but it's still not as easy as it could be. Honestly it's what you make of it - it's either a waiting game (WP is gaining ground as a platform and therefore more and more developers are taking notice) or it's time to stir up the developers by directly contacting them and letting them know their customers demand a WP version of that app.
 

Andraz Podjaversek

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For banks? You'd trust your banking information to a third-party app? :-O

i didnt mean 3rd party apps for banks but the ones that OP said(instagram/youtube) ... I personaly have every app i need on my phone, also ie works quite well with banking sites and you can pin stuff to start screen so its almost like an app. It is not the problem of wp that your bank is slow and cant make an app for other platform.... The app situation was a problem maybe 6month to 1year ago now its just plain bull**** and people stupidy.. If someone can't read that 6tag is 3rd party client and can't pin banking site to start screen I feel sorry for them ...
 

gwinegarden

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Microsoft was trying this as far back as WP7. Despite Microsoft literally paying people to develop for WIndows Phone, very few developers jumped on board. Developer's want to see market share before they get on board, so they can have a large audience giving them a continuous revenue stream.

If they are willing to pay you to write it, then write it. The average "revenue" from iOS Apps is about $1000.
 

SwimSwim

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If they are willing to pay you to write it, then write it. The average "revenue" from iOS Apps is about $1000.

I agree with your consensus, Microsoft was paying people to write apps. It's more of an issue of bias against Windows Phone than anything. The media and web want to watch Microsoft die, and for Apple and Google to rule the earth.
 

MacDaMachine

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If Microsoft went directly to these app makers and paid them a wad of cash the apps would be made. I don't use instagram but alot of other do. Y not just go over to the makers and say make us an app and we will give us x amount of cash.

That wouldn't help at all. It would just turn into "Im not making an app until the market share increases or Microsoft pays me." And trust MS won't be willing to pay every single dev. And just because they pay them doesn't mean they will continue to update the app.

Look at twitter for example, they haven't updated since June.
 

tgp

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but we have 3rd party apps that are in some cases quite better than the official !

You need to realize that official WP apps are often lower quality than their iOS & Android equivalents. Some 3rd party apps may be better than official WP apps, but very few 3rd party WP apps are better than 1st party on iOS or Android. There might be a few, but for the most part they're not.

I find a lot of WP apps, even official ones, that are either lack function or are buggy. For example, the Facebook app, which is 2nd party, does not filter out feeds that have been hidden. And the MLB At Bat app, which is official, doesn't work half the time. At first when it didn't work I was able to get it working by changing the Date & Time setting to manual and set the date a day earlier, but lately that hasn't even worked. I suspect companies can't get the APIs/access they need, which may be part of the reason they hesitate to develop apps in the first place.
 

Guzzler3

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As for corporate apps, the best thing to do is to write them and ask for a WP app.

If enough people ask, they might write one. I've got my Wells Fargo now. I wrote them, and I'm sure a whole bunch of other people did too.
 

Hydrated

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i didnt mean 3rd party apps for banks but the ones that OP said(instagram/youtube) ... I personaly have every app i need on my phone, also ie works quite well with banking sites and you can pin stuff to start screen so its almost like an app. It is not the problem of wp that your bank is slow and cant make an app for other platform.... The app situation was a problem maybe 6month to 1year ago now its just plain bull**** and people stupidy.. If someone can't read that 6tag is 3rd party client and can't pin banking site to start screen I feel sorry for them ...

You quite obviously did not read my post.

1) I acknowledged that we have all the silly instagram and social apps that we need. We're missing the serious apps that adults use.
2) As I said, accessing the websites of these banks or brokerage houses is not meant to be done on a screen the size of a phone and is a poor substitute for a well designed mobile app. Trying to enter text or numbers while scrolling back and forth to find buttons or text fields is tiresome.
 

Andraz Podjaversek

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You quite obviously did not read my post.

1) I acknowledged that we have all the silly instagram and social apps that we need. We're missing the serious apps that adults use.
2) As I said, accessing the websites of these banks or brokerage houses is not meant to be done on a screen the size of a phone and is a poor substitute for a well designed mobile app. Trying to enter text or numbers while scrolling back and forth to find buttons or text fields is tiresome.

Ups somehow I missed that part.. I apologize.. But then again as it was already said Microsoft or WP can't do much about it .. Its on users to press on their bank. I live in a small country with really small banks compared to u.s.a. And most of them have apps on WP.. Its up to the bank how quick it can adapt or how users press on it ..
 

Manu Tyagi

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You quite obviously did not read my post.

1) I acknowledged that we have all the silly instagram and social apps that we need. We're missing the serious apps that adults use.
2) As I said, accessing the websites of these banks or brokerage houses is not meant to be done on a screen the size of a phone and is a poor substitute for a well designed mobile app. Trying to enter text or numbers while scrolling back and forth to find buttons or text fields is tiresome.

Don't know about you but here in India we have all the officials banking apps, be it HDFC Bank of America, Federal bank, even state owned banks have official WP apps and they are really great app very well woven around the WP UI, even the official Indian Rail app is only on WP neither on Android nor iOS, Airtel one of the largest mobile service provider also launched official app here..
So regarding the "CORPORATE" apps i think situation here is much better, since in India WP moved to second place in smartphone market share..
 

N_LaRUE

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I know this is more concentrating on the 'app' issue but you mentioned 'corporate' apps. I'd just like to add my two cents worth here. Not only is the lack of corporate apps an issue, the fact that they haven't made the phone enterprise ready is a big downfall. WP should have been positioned to replace BB instead it appears they concentrated on the consumer market more.

Now I know some companies have taken up WP. However it's not 100% enterprise friendly, especially those that have strict policies. This is what I'm referring to. They're losing a very large market share due to this.
 

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