LyriumLove posted:

I have the Lumia 920 and bloody hell do I hate it. I've always hated Windows 8 and the tiles. This phone is one of the worst I have ever had. The way it coordinates with Spotify is probably the worst. That could be the new Spotify app but I think it's the way it works on the Windows phones. I don't have a problem with battery life. But I can't wait to get rid of this thing and find something I can use and enjoy. I've essentially quit using social media, so I may go back to a drat flip phone.

For someone who is technology mad, this is probably a good phone. It's just overkill for me.

OldPueblo posted:

Forgive me for asking this question, but I figured it would be answered better here than in the Android thread. My SIL has a 925 with a cracked screen (still useable) and she is considering trying Android again after not having used it since gingerbread. If she stayed with windows phone she is tempted to just pick up a budget phone like Lumia 520/Blu Win Jr type stuff. She just wants small/light form factor and is tired of shattering higher end phones with her petite butter fingers. What she/I am wondering is what would be the equivalent on the Android side, and when I say equivalent I mean like $100 or less but still runs fully updated OS (kitkat), no major compromises, etc. I wanted to ask here because I'm not sure the other thread would know about the value WP has in the sub $100 segment. So far it looks like a Moto E maybe, or a used Moto G? (AT&T)

Ev posted:

Port Cortana to Android? I can't imagine them doing that, it's a major selling point for Windows Phone. Why give it to the competition?

Maneki Neko posted:

Wow, kinda that this is news and not just a normal occurrence though.

Kindle app, I guess it's your turn?

http://www.windowscentral.com/netflix-40-windows-phone-gets-cortana-integration-new-user-experience

Drastic Actions posted:

Here's the thing. It's probably not poorly coded nor their fault. I had the exactly same thing happen with my PSN app, and to this day have no idea why it broke like that. That had zero background tasks, used very little memory (my first thought was maybe it was a memory leak, but the powertools did not indicate that was happening, and it would have crashed if it was.) and I basically ripped it apart trying to figure it out, only to give up and just pull the app. Every time I thought it was X issue, I would release a new version only to see other people still affected by it.

I'm not saying my app, nor theirs is not poorly coded, but my blame would probably go first to the platform itself.

Drastic Actions posted:

Misc posted:

I've used Windows phones exclusively since Mobile 5 and currently have a 920 which has lost considerable battery life after a little over 2 years of use.

It's about time for me to upgrade but I'm completely unimpressed with the current flagship hardware being offered. None of it feels like an upgrade from my 920 since the OS still runs smoothly as it is. I'm not a fan of gigantic phones becoming popular, either.

8.1 also seemed to take a step back in terms of social media integration for me. I appreciated in 7-8 how I could read and reply to all social posts directly in the "People" tile, but the OS now forces you to go to a respective app do anything. The same applies to Facebook chat in the messaging tile now being forced to use the messenger app.

I'm considering giving Android a shot just because there is new hardware there, but I was hoping maybe this thread can convince me there's something worth sticking around for?

Factor Mystic posted:

Definitely a silver lining. I guess they really are waiting for Windows 10 for the new flagships.

Thurrott posted:

This is a big deal, if you’re a Windows Phone user and really care about music. To date, I’ve always recommended Xbox Music to those who stick largely with Microsoft’s most modern platforms, because it is updated so frequently on Windows and Windows Phone and works well.

Happy_Misanthrope posted:

Has he actually been "complaining" about the Music app though? I haven't seen it, rather he eventually just reports what people are saying in general around the web and in his comments, usually after he praises/promotes said product. Basically like his Windows 8 coverage - early on, dismissing the complaints as "whiners" and people just "resistant to change" (you know, like the Win8 thread in SH/SC), then promoting himself as a truth-teller from the start when the failure of it was so laughably obvious and impossible to ignore.

It's really amazing how little actual analysis the guy does, especially in terms of actually reviewing MS products in light of the competition. It's usually just throwaway lines in the middle of an article, such as when he lamented Spotify's march to dominance, despite Xbox Music being a "great" (or some such accolade) service. When the comments filled up with "WTF are you talking about? Xbox Music is awful!", his defense was "Well the Windows Phone Xbox Music app is better than Spotify!". Yeah, got that 2% marketshare segment locked up.

tl/dr: Thurrott is really, really dumb and serves no point in existing

Edit: Hah, he just posted an article on how to use Xbox music to manage your local music, of course not mentioning how absolutely awful it is for this express purpose.

BonoMan posted:

Not even just office... they're doing a whole Dark Theme for Windows as a whole I believe.

Combat Pretzel posted:

Given Windows 10 running both desktops and phones, what one can do (at least UI wise), the other can very likely, too.

Thurrott posted:

I'm excited by something I can use. I don't care if something like this was somewhere else, nor do I know about that.

xylo posted:

Deep breaths before the freakout starts. Other phone models coming. We just needed a small subset of devices to start in case something goes wrong and we need to vet the new partitioning code so the older 8.0 phones are good to go.

No we didn't say that. There are some things we just can't bring to older phones (think some of the new software that required hardware like sensor core). That's pretty much what was meant.

xylo posted:

You know I can't answer that. Ask Gabe.

Butt Soup Barnes posted:

Also, what's the app situation like nowadays?

wookieepelt posted:

Anyone else get the impression that the WP team is like 6 guys that work on it in their spare time? Also, MS is making too many phones that don't appeal to me as a middle class American. We need an Icon 2!

loquacius posted:

(I still maintain that Mango was the best release, and not only because that's what I did most of my work on )

radiatinglines posted:

I tried the other SA app that is just called "Awful." and it loads a lot faster and looks good, but throws up errors like "out of memory at line 1," which mean nothing to me.

radiatinglines posted:

why can't I find a single app that works for this piece of poo poo?

Factor Mystic posted:

Put your music in OneDrive, then stream it. Don't waste your time trying to sync it to 1 bad device. Also I am very sorry, but you have selected the mobile platform which is the worst at music

WorldWarWonderful posted:

Okay. Good, it's not just me. Everyone I know uses Android and I thought I was missing out on something. Then again I was a Symbian user; you'd figure I'd be familiar with the concept of Stockholm syndrome by now.

xylo posted:

FYI, I'll be turning off the Rooms service tomorrow morning (probably some time around 10am?). If you want to do anything rooms related please do it before then.

Cybernetic Vermin posted:

Because Android widgets are universally awful poo poo that is impossible to interact with, kill performance and guzzle battery.

So because they are better p. much. Add them as you please, no need to think or care, and it is the app shortcut and sometimes some slightly neat information wrapped into one.

xylo posted:

If the carrier doesn't order the phone, it's very hard to sell it on their network (doubly so when the carrier and the network locked from BYOD).

Unless you're say Apple, it's not like phone makers just go and make the devices and tell the MOs to sell them. They go to the MO, ask them if they would carry the device, the MO says "okay give me phone type X, make it special for my network, don't give it to anyone else and we'll order Y of them to sell." Deal happens, phones make it to the stores. Then people on forums go "god drat Phone Maker Z you're so loving dumb making phone X exclusve to that MO! You'd sell a ton on other MO also."