Is the live tile problems a developer issue or simply a bad live tile layer

[Jazmac]

For a long time I've been putting the issue of tiles that won't update on the backs of developers but now I wonder if the problem isn't one that Microsoft shouldn't be addressing.

Many apps that have live tiles seem to work just fine when you have a fresh handset with not much on it. But after you begin to populate the phone with a good number of apps, many sporting a live tile, many of the live tiles simply refuse to function.

I don't know if there is some kind of limit to the number of apps using live tiles you could have (which seems likely) or the way Microsoft built the live tile layer but I find it hard to believe dev's are this sloppy. Live tiles should function regardless of how many apps are on your phone. Too many of mine quit working. So I wonder if this isn't something Microsoft shouldn't be addressing.

 

[montsa007]

Could you list a few tiles that aren't working?

I tried a few tiles and I'd be blaming the developer (not completely) and not the OS. Some apps conflict with the OS'ses background app permissions and may not function correctly, also if you enable battery save some apps may go crazy on the live tile.

 

[Vikram Dinesh]

Microsoft: Unlimited Live Tiles in WP7, Only 15 Third-Party Apps Use Them

How many live tiles do you have on your start screen including the OS live tiles and how many background tasks are active on your phone? I think this problem is being caused by what is being discussed in the link above.

 

[Ray Adams]

As a developer I can say, that mostly problem with live tiles lies on developer side, not OS. A lot of developers don't know that OS caching tiles images and to force OS update tile you have to save and update your tile, using new unique file name.
But if your tile is only updated by background task, the task itself may not be launched and or disabled by user. Thus tile remains same

 

[crash1989]

ahh, I think I might know the answer to this(correct me if I am wrong ).

Just a quick question to you - Do u use all the apps regularly (like say daily or once in 2 days) ?

I am asking this because I read on msdn (somewhere) that the WP8 OS just doesn't run the background agent after expiry.

Developers can override the expiry of the background agent, but by default it is 14 days or so. Hence if u donot open (or activate) an app for 14 days,the code for updating the tile which is dependant on the agent won't run and hence the bland static tile issue.

Also, bad coding can result in faulty live tiles, if the agent crashes twice the OS will disable the agent

Therefore, I don't know whom to put the blame on

 

[Jazmac]

ahh, I think I might know the answer to this(correct me if I am wrong ).

Just a quick question to you - Do u use all the apps regularly (like say daily or once in 2 days) ?

I am asking this because I read on msdn (somewhere) that the WP8 OS just doesn't run the background agent after expiry.

Developers can override the expiry of the background agent, but by default it is 14 days or so. Hence if u donot open (or activate) an app for 14 days,the code for updating the tile which is dependant on the agent won't run and hence the bland static tile issue.

Also, bad coding can result in faulty live tiles, if the agent crashes twice the OS will disable the agent

Therefore, I don't know whom to put the blame on

Weather Flow. Used daily. It did update on its own early on. Now it never updates.Chronos. The best calendar app on WP in my opinion. It no longer updates. I have my people tile. It seems to update and I almost never touch it. ESPN Hub. Love this app. Updated at one time. No longer does. Time magazine app is another that no longer update. So are all these developers lazy? Sloppy? It seems very unlikely to me.

@Ray Adams. Explain what you mean by "mostly?" Does MS share in some of the blame? In your opinion as a developer. (thank you for what you do btw).

@ViKram. I have turned off all but two running in the background, (Chronos and Weather Flow) Didn't run anything else for an entire two days and no updates. Also, I'm running a Lumia 920 WP8. Does that number transfer to Wp8 devices as well? I'm guessing it doesn't but again, I'm guessing here.

 

[crash1989]

Those are apps with quite a name. I don't think devs are to blame.

I hope microsoft guys can answer these questions. Actually there is an ongoing issue with the updates of apps not being available at regular intervals to which MIcrosoft replied that they are looking into it.

This might be something they could look at.