Windows Phone is dead
theverge.com
theverge.com
Insider previews seem to indicate that Microsoft is still investing in making Windows 10 a strong platform on every device including mobile, and I'm very interested to see what this year's development starts to bring...
(Happy Lumia 950 user.)
The article acknowledges that as well. The headline could have been "Windows Phone is dead; Long live Windows 10 Mobile."
But of course the obvious truth of the matter is that Windows 10 is struggling on phones as well. It seemed to be a half-baked weakly-tested operating system when the 950 arrived, and seems to be evolving and fixing problems quite slowly since.
As a 950 user and a fan of the operating system in general, I hope the Surface Phone (or whatever it ends up being—the full Windows 10 computer I can fit in my pocket) ends up being quite good. More importantly, I hope the OS team steps up their game and invests seriously in quality control. Today, the 950 is a decent device, but it's not something that is going to ever win converts to the platform outside of the rare person who thinks Continuum is the coolest thing in town.
This is the most sad part of the Windows Phone, the consumers constantly hoping for better times to arrive. Spoiler alert : if they didn't manage to do it in the last 5 years ...
Significantly, I've looked at iOS and Android devices during the same time and saw no appeal. Android seems about the same as it was when I stopped using it, even though it's been through several major updates.
So yes, I do hope they improve Windows 10 mobile, and dramatically so. But I've only had this particular device for a couple months. For me personally, this is the first time I feel partly disappointed with a Windows phone. So I feel it is reasonable to be cautiously optimistic that they can improve matters and restore my happiness with the platform.
Your correction is like saying "don't call it iOS, call it iOS 9.3.1!!!" or "It isn't Android anymore, it is Lollipop!"
Sure, the latest incarnation is Windows 10 mobile, but realistically it is going to be called Windows Phone as an ecosystem because versions come and go, a platform name is forever.
Microsoft MIGHT be able to convince people to call it "Windows Mobile" (instead of "Windows Phone") but they have a lot of marketing to do.
Sales are falling off of a cliff (declining 50% YoY). Developers are not building (or updating) apps for these devices. No matter what brand name they use, it isn't clear that anything is going to change these facts. Which should concern you if you are a happy user.
The app situation doesn't really concern me as a happy user, and I realize I'm in a bit of a minority opinion there. First of all, there is not a single "killer app" I feel I need and/or am missing out on. Mobile websites are largely reliable for most of the "app" things people need, and most of the major apps exist. Sure, some of these aren't seeing the updates they should be, and it does amuse me that Windows 10 Mobile is the last bastion of fave stars in an official Twitter app, but the UWP should help straighten out a lot of that sooner or later [1]. People are using the apps on Windows 10 Surfaces, laptops, and desktops, and devs should soon get better at realizing that getting a mobile app "for free" from the UWP is a good idea.
[1] I assume Twitter, as the continued example, hasn't unified its Windows apps yet because some of the things like the People app integration haven't yet entirely made their way back into the larger UWP ecosystem. Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later. (As a WP fan, I want the social integration for People working on my Surface again.)
Unless they can do something remarkable and turn around the trajectory, your device will go the way of the Zune.
You said I should be concerned about apps, but I'm not concerned about apps because developers unlike myself that don't care about Windows phones still likely care about PC users, Xbox users, and eventually HoloLens users, et al.
If I have concerns it would be with hardware, but the 950 is still new and exciting and I likely have a few years before I start to worry about replacing it, if history repeats itself similarly to my 920.
As for "morale disaster", the problem with percentage statistics (as with most statistics) is that it is a kind of lie. Sure, 1% (or more accurately 2-3%) of the smart phone market sounds small and scary, but keep in mind that 1% is still millions of devices, presumably used by millions of people. I don't know about you, but as an engineer I would be ecstatic to know my product was used by millions of people (many daily, many happy) I would certainly still feel that way even knowing that product was in a distant third place. It's a good old fashioned scrappy underdog story, with a chance to make millions of people happy, sign me up.
As for the Zune, the "ancient Microsoft adage" is "Top 3 or Bust". Zune never quite hit the Top 3 in what became clear was a dying product category, so bust. Phone is in the Top 3, and barring some weird dark horse appearing from nowhere or a hard Android fork accidentally splitting the market (which seems perhaps more likely), it's likely to remain in the Top 3.
I do hope they do something remarkable (and I'm kind of betting they will) to turn around sales on the 950 or bring in sales to new, potentially exotic hardware, but unlike you I don't think that Windows phones go by way of the Zune even if they fumble the ball a bit and don't do something truly remarkable in the near term.
How about how it didn't have copy/paste functionality for about a year- I believe they stole this feature from the first iPhone.
Then their apps used advanced controls like the carousel/panorama but the plebes had to wait?
Then they wouldn't tell even the people who'd paid for beta access what apps would ship, so if you developed one that was similar by coincidence, boy were you screwed.
Remember how they didn't bother to encrypt anything so pirating was as easy as rolling off a log?
Then remember when their upgrade story was RSN for months because they couldn't get the carriers to allow them to upgrade it like they wanted?
Then ultimately, you can GFY if you want to upgrade because they didn't bother with backwards compatibility on the phones as they upgraded the OS' major versions.
OMG- I almost forgot the hw buttons that you couldn't disable so if, in the middle of a game, your thumb accidentally brushed up against it, you were dumped from that app. In theory you could have saved your game state for later, but come on.
Ah-- good times.
I better not get a forced invitation to update my Android phone to Windows 10.
They had a great shot. After seeing so many bugs in Lollipop, and really slow updates coming in from Google, I considered MS ecosystem. First time in 7 years of being Linux on desktop/server + Android for phone.
Finally, I switched to Apple products instead. Got a Mac and developing stuff for iOS now.
I recently lost my Windows 8.1 phone battery, and getting a Windows 10 phone wasn't much more than ordering a battery and having it shipped to the US within the week, plus I needed a phone to communicate.
It's awful. Swipe text behavior is worse: doesn't automatically add spaces it used to (especially near other text), no longer works at all in the browser's URL bar, aggressively gives up on words even after displaying them, and deletes things one character at a time even though the errors with swipe typing are never spelling but instead the wrong word being selected. There are other issues (live tiles are unnecessarily animated without giving information in return, for instance), but I think the way they destroyed typing is the worst impediment.
Windows Phone 8 already made the camera worse by removing the ability to quickly focus and take a photo, but at least swipe text was one improvement over Windows Phone 7's tapping only text behavior.
I'm going to just order the battery and return this phone. Not sure what they were thinking. Maybe they want it to be more like Android, but that's not the point of having a different platform. I'll try to keep WP8 running indefinitely I suppose.
Edit: Swipe text is not as bad in text messaging, but that means there are at least three typing mechanisms (no swipe, bad swipe, good swipe). Very disorienting.
It's unfortunate, because I thought WP8 was awesome. Definitely my favorite experience of any mobile OS.
But in today's market you have to have the apps to succeed. They never really got the apps. It's really disappointing in my opinion.
Cool maybe, but what would be the use case for this? If people think they'll need full Office on the go, chances are they'll take a laptop or Surface-like device with them. Right now they will need their Windows phone as well as a MS display dock, keyboard and mouse, and it will still all be useless unless they are able to find a monitor to plug into. Every workplace or airport lounge I've been to with a PC monitor has VGA/HDMI cables locked in place, and unremovable without a key or without cutting plastic ties.
Less stuff to carry around. Since it's brand new there isn't a lot of utility there just yet. Honestly, even though Windows Phone may be dead, I really think this is the future of computing. I mean why bother having a desktop or laptop if you can use your personal device, plug it into different things and get the full experience as if you had a laptop or desktop?
You could go to an airport, plug your phone in and use it like a desktop at one of their tables. Get on the plane and plug it into a screen.
Ultimately I could even see the phone part disappearing and it's a small object you keep on your person that can then connect to various types of devices maybe even wirelessly. This is a great use-case for, in 80 years or however long it takes, when we have computing devices embedded into our bodies. Then we simply touch a screen and we can visualize the data we're carrying.
I stay awake a night thinking about how cool this could be :) (seriously, I even started sketching how to create this type of universality myself but it's such an undertaking and difficult to succeed that I never actually wrote code for this idea but it's certainly one of my favorites)
You have to hope that those different things are always there to be plugged in to. If not, you have to carry them with you, at which point I'd rather have one bigger device ~~and~~ (correction: ) THAN two pieces to assemble into a smaller device.
And even if it did, in my experience, working on a machine with remote storage and computation resources in the cloud is anywhere from annoying to nightmarish depending on local latency and bandwidth. Good luck getting the HW/OS/Cloud vendors to come up with a mutually agreeable standard for this.
So I achieve my approximation of that future for myself by carrying around a beefy linux GPU laptop, a trac-ball, and keyboard wherever I go. I'd love to just use my desktop sitting at home as my cloud storage and computation server, but I gave up on that some time ago.
Ultimately I don't know if it'll be the phone that powers this or if it just simply takes so long that it'll be something else but I would be shocked and supremely disappointed if, by the time I pass, there isn't a way to quickly and easily view your digital information on any screen with or without keyboards in multiple layouts that best fit the screen and purpose.
And when you need to make or receive a call? Pull out the bluetooth earpiece (yet another fiddly thing to carry around)? I'd rather just have a tablet and a phone and I think most people would agree.
Bluetooth or just pick up the phone? Especially if it's wireless then you could do it however you wanted. Video chat on a large screen, move the phone to your ear to talk and listen discretely, etc.
You're still going to have to carry around a keyboard, mouse, cables, and probably a screen. It's going to be far, far easier to do that with a laptop/surface, or even a tablet, than with their setup.
"I mean why bother having a desktop or laptop if you can use your personal device, plug it into different things and get the full experience as if you had a laptop or desktop?"
A desktop is going to have more power, a laptop is going to have a form factor that's much more convenient to carry around, and more battery.
Um, what? Why would you carry around all that stuff? I clearly described scenarios in which places would already have that setup for you. You just dock and go. Just like today you don't carry a router around with you or anything else.
> A desktop is going to have more power, a laptop is going to have a form factor that's much more convenient to carry around, and more battery.
"More power" doesn't mean anything without context. If you're just writing papers, code, even playing some types of games you likely have plenty of power for this already in your phone. If you want to play FarCry then obviously yes you're not going to do that from a phone.
A phone is more convenient to carry around than a laptop. If someone can supply you a laptop that your phone simply docks with you wouldn't need to carry it around which is precisely my point: the phone (or possibly another, smaller device) could be your personal computing platform and everything else around you simply visualizes the data contained within.
Reason? From the situation you describe, it is just a small step to "store everything in the cloud; authenticate with your phone" (most locations with a keyboard, mouse, and monitor that people who can afford a fast phone will visit will have fast internet connections, and will easily have the 10W power budget needed to beat your phone, performance-wise)
You would have to trust the hardware you use, but you have to, anyways, the moment you plug a modern keyboard or monitor into your phone.
Yes, you would be ensured that the software you use on your phone is compatible with the software you use on your 'desktop' because it is the same software, but you also run the risk that it is suboptimal for either (the fonts may be too big for power desktop use, or you might need a pen for manipulating some not-too-often-used controls), and in the 'use phone to authenticate' scenario, you run less risk of running your phone's battery dry.
Ultimately I think the final outcome, which may take many decades to get here, is a device embedded inside of people that give them access to everything they need and if they need another way to interact with the information they'll use some sort of dumb terminal (because if everything is embedded in you and can be accessed easily via some wireless protocol, why would you go through the hassle of a separate authentication step where all your data could be exposed).
Whether there is a market for this today or not I don't really know. I'd love to find out but this is the type of thing that would require quite a bit of start-up capital and an MVP might be difficult to do.
Right now, tablet + laptop often replaces what I would do a couple decades ago with books (or notepads) + desktop. Sure, a single (powerful enough) CPU with all the various interface form factors being wirelessly-connected dumb systems could work instead, but then, it seems that basic CPU and storage are fairly cheap, and the interface bits -- particular the high resolution touch screens -- are the expensive bits, so there's no real good reason not to put enough brains in the individual devices to let them be standalone rather than relying on a common external brain.
With fairly ubiquitous syncing technology, you get much of the advantage of having a single "brain" device with greater flexibility and resilience against a single-device failure.
So: great interface, but no traction as a platform.
(I've never used it myself. I went from a Blackberry to a Samsung S3mini and now S4mini, and I'm still in "this is so much better than Blackberry" mode.)
As a former iPhone and Windows Lumia owner, the Passport is a huge upgrade. Great to read on. It's like using a Kindle or Kobo.
I have a Nokia Icon, and that is indeed my only complaint. The rest of the phone is great.
It's hit or miss. There's a ton of apps out there, even apps you wouldn't think would be out there. I was surprised that Plex and Teamviewer had Windows Phone apps.
Where it falls apart is apps you would think would have a Windows Phone app, but don't. For example, Snapchat or Yik-Yak. Or any Google-made Google apps. In the former cases, the story is even worse than it has to be: for example, there were third-party Snapchat apps, but Snapchat demanded they be removed from the store and still has never made a Windows Phone app. That kind of behavior almost makes me think there's a conspiracy among major app developers to kill Windows Phone. :)
Another area of weakness, of course, is the really small/local apps. My credit union has an Android and an iPhone app, but no Windows Phone app. Same deal with my vet.
I haven't upgraded to Windows 10, because I understand some of the great things about WP 8.1 are now gone. But I think it's really sad WP hasn't done better than it has: it's a fantastic platform devoid of apps. MS really fell down on the job doing whatever they had to do to get major developers on board, which, I think, has mostly been a social issue. From what I've looked at it seems like a great platform to develop for, though I've never made anything but toy apps.
I'm not sure how true this is. You need some apps, to be sure. But I own an Android phone had have installed less than half-a-dozen apps that it did not come with out of the box.
I use gmail, maps, messenger, calendar, contacts, and web browser (chrome). That's 95% of my phone usage.
I wonder how many users there are that don't play games or use a lot of social media apps. I'd guess a fair number in the 30+ age group. But maybe most of them have stayed with feature phones.
Good integration always provides the best user experience and you need an app to best integrate into someone's phone to provide push notifications, use quick reply type, etc; really to make sure of a phone in the most efficient way possible right now it just has to be an app and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
But look at the apps you mention that you do use: "gmail, maps, messenger, calendar, contacts, and web browser (chrome)"
Windows Phone doesn't have Google Maps so the navigation and overall map experience isn't as good. It doesn't have Chrome so you can't share your bookmarks between all your devices. Without dedicated Google apps it's harder to take full advantage of Google services.
[1] http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2015/so-many-apps...
It's so liberating; what phones used to be and have become nothing but.
Er, what? If my iPhone makes a noise, it's only due to:
a) a reminder that I've explicitly set, or
b) a phone call or text message from someone
I'm not aware of any attention-grabbers that aren't from third party apps and can't be disabled. Could you elaborate?
I have a unified OS across all my devices: Linux. Granted, I don't have a unified UI across all my devices…
I'd love to be able to plug my phone into a keyboard, mouse & monitor and have something like stumpwm available (i.e., something which actually takes advantage of having more than tap, three buttons, volume and power inputs).
If you have an MHL compatible device, you can also plug in an HDMI cable and use a bigger screen.
Something like http://amzn.to/1SgkguB will do the job. Of course, you might need to VNC into something to get the UI you want!
They're doing everything correct with 10. Sideloading is possible for free now. Universal apps are truly universal (XAML / C++ compiles into ARM, x86, and x64 simultaneously. C# and Javascript apps run on a VM).
They needed to hit that reset button for 10. It was a mistake to hit the reset button on 7 and 8 however.
The OS (WP8) itself was actually quite delightful. I really enjoyed using it for those few days. The home screen is different, fun, and incredibly useful. It was buttery-smooth too. The built-in apps - messaging, people hub, cortana, camera (maybe more Nokia than Microsoft), were all great and seemed to have that extra bit of polish that many of my favorite Android apps lack.
However, not all built-in apps were great (no landscape mode for music) and lack of third party apps, or at least good third party apps reminded me why I left it for Android in the first place.
I have a Sony Xperia Z5 now, if anyone's interested. It's the closest thing IMO to a Nokia Android phone, which is what I really want.
Edit: fixed a word
The problem was and is third party apps. The HW and OS were well wedded, but they were barren.
But it never got great hardware (the 640XL was the best of the crop, considering price), the app situation was disappointing, though acceptable, and Microsoft never seemed to fully commit to and push it (just like Microsoft Band).
[1] http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/01/microsoft-band-review.htm...
To begin, from a 24×7 standpoint, the HR values presented are generally accurate when you open the page to view them from within the band. When it does this, it notes that the HR is ‘locked’. I see no issues when standing/sitting/casual walking/etc in this area, it matches other measurement devices here when viewing it at a moment in time. However, when looking at HR data over the course of the day, it’s largely useless (just like the Vivosmart HR), due to the low update rate.
It's got an amazing number of features, and as a casual user, that's not one that I was particularly interested in. The accepted wisdom seems to be that if you really want HR readings for fitness training, you want a chest strap....
Another friend really liked WinPhone 6.5 back then. And I have nice memories with WinMobile 2004 too. But that was the WinCE branch.
Then, they have massive issues with their store. This is not acceptable as it's a piece of diligent work which a company like Microsoft just have to get done.
However, it's not over yet. I'm at a 600'000 employees cooperation and they strive to Windows Phone and Win 10 tablets.
The Lumias did have a superior camera to the other phones and my current phone. That is one thing I miss.
Most reviews I've read of Windows Phones admit they're one of the better phone experiences they've ever had, but the primary mention, is the lack of Google's apps prevents them from switching to it. (Example review: http://techaeris.com/2016/01/23/microsoft-lumia-950-review-s... )
The fact that a service monopoly like Google can also have a mobile platform monopoly in Android is terrifying. Other platforms can't grow unless Google lets them. And since Google has their own platform, they have no incentive to do so.
Unfortunately, the platform monopoly will continue until Google loses the various investigations against them for antitrust across the globe. It's a work in progress, and governments are slow at this kinda thing, but it's moving forward.
The part of Microsoft that runs the desktop side of things knows that people use their OS to run apps. That is it's primary purpose and they do everything they can to move forward while ensuring as many apps run as possible.
With Windows Phone/Mobile/Whatever they've done everything possible to make app existence and development as low priority as possible. And as such, their platform is mostly empty.
Apps are fundamental to the smartphone experience -- the lack of them is not an absurd reason to avoid the platform. Ironically Microsoft makes some great smartphone applications but even the best mobile versions of those are on other platforms.
ps: you're right about the platform thing, it's the same story, Windows was, other were before. Put yourself between two needs and profit.
Every one has different and unique needs. I sell software to personal trainers who run their entire business on the phones. Perhaps your needs are small are boring and that's fine. But most people have more needs and wants than what just comes built in.
I don't have many apps on my phone but the ones I end up using are surprising. My transit app ensures I don't miss my bus to work in the morning (vital). My health insurances phone app is much better than their website. I have a Pebble smartwatch so installed software actually makes that possible. Not to mention time wasters like games, reddit, etc. So many applications are available for every possible need it's fantastic.
Too many other people actually use their tiny pocket computers to the fullest -- they are the majority. Microsoft has not made en ecosystem that appeals to this majority.
But I tried many and most of them are shallow, slow, and badly integrated. My point about 'non openness' was more about more cohesion by coming from one place. Kinda like languages designed by committee vs a BDFL.
Given there are literally millions of applications I'm pretty sure you've only tried literally 0.01% of all of them. Not exactly the best way to judge an entire platform.
WP 10 on low end phones is very laggy and horrible, which is also not good.
http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-windows-phone-7-ads...
One of the more painful product placement attempts was trying to get actors to use the expression "Bing it", as if that was ever going to catch on. (I use Bing, it's not bad, but seriously, I'm never going to say that.)
The Windows Phone right now is a great way to buy a high-quality camera with WiFi... a super-iPod for a few bucks (amazing how much difference a microSD card slot makes!). For example, the Nokia Lumia 521 with a 5MP flashless camera on sale for $46: http://amzn.com/B00COYOAYW (this one isn't a good camera, just extra cheap). Even the 8MP Lumia 925 regularly sells for $200!
The only problem I see is the low quantity of applications, like for example the lack of Snapchat.
Of course not. It would need a 133% increase to get back to the old quarter's numbers. :>
I'm sticking with Android for now since it offends me the least and I'll never, ever, ever use iOS (ever) since Apple is such an asshole to their customers and developers that I hate them with a passion. As a matter of fact, I hope Apple spends and loses all of their money on their car project. (Fingers crossed!)
Give me a phone where I have complete control please and stop trying to "protect" me. Until that time comes, I'll continue using only the most basic features of my so-called "smart" phone.
I need to look at Nine though, the big downside of TouchDown is it only lets you have one Exchange account on it per phone, and I have two different domains I need to connect to.
If you want a license to implement ActiveSync, enforcing Exchange policies is a mandatory part. Some licensees sidestep that by giving you option of enforcing Exchange policies at the app level, instead of device level, but they have to enforce it nonetheless.
Developers want stability. They had a good thing going with .NET which they could have simply used as the platform for making Windows Mobile apps as soon as the iPhone took off.
Instead they chose to introduce a whole new platform (Windows Phone 7), then kill it off to make way for Windows RT (Windows Phone 8), then kill it off for Universal Apps (Windows 10 Mobile). You can't expect to build a good ecosystem when you establish a pattern like that.