What exactly puts Windows Phone so behind?

[KentState]

Spotify is on Windows Phone.

Where is the WP8 app? According to the spotify forum, it is not out yet.

 

[shortylickens]

I was quite happy with my HD7 for a year but when I finally jumped back on Android with the Note 2 I was pleasantly surprised at the massive leap forward. If we forget about Honeycomb then Google has done nothing but make big improvements in usability and reliability. Oodles of free apps that do everything I need and more. Much better selection of paid apps for those few functions I cant get free.

Only grievance is a few differences between platforms. Like on my Atrix 2 I can make categories for apps whereas on the Note 2 I have to make folders and drag stuff in. It seems minor but its actually a huge difference in how the phone operates. And we are at the point I really shouldnt NEED to install ROMS or launchers or whatever just to get my phone running the way I like.

On WP7 everything is standard, which means I just need to decide what hardware I like. Do I want a slide out keyboard, a top notch screen, a large screen, or exellent battery life? Right now theres one phone for each, and a couple phones that do multiple things well.

Of course all this is moot since WP8 is the next big thing and I didnt go in that direction. It could be I'm missing out on something awesome.

 

[darkewaffle]

The fact that people are app addicts and forget how to do something if there's not a dedicated app for it. The market will eventually adjust and mature but anyone who jumps in early who needs a program for everything obviously won't be able to find it all this shortly after launch.

Personally I plan to make a WP8 phone my next upgrade in the coming weeks. The only apps I have any interest in are a music player and emulators, and I'm sure I'll find some. IIRC there's at least a good Game Boy [Color] and Gamegear emu available already.

 

[Red Storm]

It's as locked down as iOS, but it doesn't have the app catalog to offset this.

Also, I want to cut down on my Windows devices, not increase that count.

 

[bigrash]

The Lumia 920 is a really nice phone. Unfortunately I have tons of apps on my iphone that I use, so it would be hard for me to switch over.

 

[dguy6789]

Use of single-core CPUs had no affect on Windows Phone 7. Throwing absurdly powerful hardware at an operating system that simply isn't demanding doesn't make any sense. Windows Phone 7 would've seen no performance benefits from dual-core or quad-core CPUs, aside from possibly loading some apps faster. The experience, however, would be identical.

If you apply this logic to the desktop segment saying there is no reason to use a faster CPU over a slower CPU on a Windows computer you will see why it is faulty

 

[Red Storm]

Until phones launch apps and do every task instantaneously, there will always be a need for more powerful specs.

My experience with WP7 wasn't very good. Sure it was smooth, but you had all these long animations every time I wanted to do something that got quite irritating. Smooth and slow does not win the race.

 

[darkewaffle]

If you apply this logic to the desktop segment saying there is no reason to use a faster CPU over a slower CPU on a Windows computer you will see why it is faulty

Phones and desktop computers hardly value power efficiency, thermal dissipation, size, and performance in the same way.

 

[CVSiN]

Until phones launch apps and do every task instantaneously, there will always be a need for more powerful specs.

My experience with WP7 wasn't very good. Sure it was smooth, but you had all these long animations every time I wanted to do something that got quite irritating. Smooth and slow does not win the race.

because windows phone 7 = 8?
not to mention the massive hardware jump they got this gen.
and are now getting fantastic reviews.

The apps will be coming I'm seeing over a 100 new per category every day it seems on my windows8 machine at the house. some of these have to be making their way down to the phone as well.

 

[Red Storm]

because windows phone 7 = 8?
not to mention the massive hardware jump they got this gen.
and are now getting fantastic reviews.

The apps will be coming I'm seeing over a 100 new per category every day it seems on my windows8 machine at the house. some of these have to be making their way down to the phone as well.

No I'm sure it's much improved from WP7, but back then you had people saying "it's so smooth!" as if that is what truly mattered, not the actual speed of the phone at accomplishing tasks.

I heard that WP8 and RT/Pro do not share the same app store? I think that's a big time missed opportunity from MS.

 

[notposting]

I mean Bing search engine "in general".
Oh and trust me, those Verizon phones with "Bing search" integrated sucked as well.

Is there an option in Windows Phone to have an integrated search box/bar that will search Google like exists on Android, or do you have to open an app or a web browser to do a search?

No option to remote wipe, track by text, track even if a thief changes the SIM, track even if the thief restores to factory default?
I can do those things with Cerebrus, even if the thief changes my SIM or attempts to restore to factory default/reset the phone.
The only way to remove Cerebrus from my phone is to flash a ROM on it using ODIN. Not many geeks no how to flash ROMs...Certainly not those homeless on the street.

WP7 comes stock with the ability to find, ring, lock or erase your phone remotely. Pretty handy when it is in the couch cushions.

Search IS integrated? Hit the search button and go. Or you could pin the Google Search app or Google Search homepage to the start screen. Bing Music search works great in the car. The Translate app is slick...and Bing Maps + Local Scout is sweet.

I use my Zune Pass which handles streaming and downloading music...because Pandora/Spotify/Rdio all suck. Opinions! Love em!

MUST HAVE APPS FOR EVERYTHING...or just watch the world change to mobile webpages as it already is. I love the hate on IE. The only site I have ever had problems with it is The Verge, and it blows on every device (iOS/Android/OSX/W7/WP7) I try it on.

Android is no bastion of well designed medical apps either as far as I could tell from researching online...it's why I ended up getting my wife an iPod Touch as her nursing school graduation gift.

Personally, I am just waiting for something like the 920 to hit Verizon and I will buy one outright at that point.

 

[CVSiN]

No I'm sure it's much improved from WP7, but back then you had people saying "it's so smooth!" as if that is what truly mattered, not the actual speed of the phone at accomplishing tasks.

I heard that WP8 and RT/Pro do not share the same app store? I think that's a big time missed opportunity from MS.

I can't confirm that Since I do not have the devices to compare the apps in each market.
but the W8 one ( at least the x86 store) is growing bigger and bigger every day.

 

[Yuriman]

MUST HAVE APPS FOR EVERYTHING...or just watch the world change to mobile webpages as it already is. I love the hate on IE. The only site I have ever had problems with it is The Verge, and it blows on every device (iOS/Android/OSX/W7/WP7) I try it on.

Out of curiosity I tried this on Chrome in Jelly Bean on my S2 and it's perfectly fluid.

It's as locked down as iOS, but it doesn't have the app catalog to offset this.

This hits it on the head for me. I'll be honest, I haven't used a Windows Phone more than just playing with one for a few minutes at an AT&T store, but I'm not fond of the idea of a locked down OS and there are few compelling reasons to choose WP8 over iOS for me. Screen size being the only one I can think of off the top of my head, but in the past WP7 phones have used older SoCs and have suffered in app performance (think loading web pages like The Verge) and battery life because of it.

Scenario: driving from Florida to Arkansas to visit some family, my wife comments that there's a new episode of an Anime she likes coming out today. She opens uTorrent on my phone and downloads the .mkv and then watches the video. I've set the default download location to the SD card because I have a very extensive library of media on my phone for the trip and onboard storage just won't cut it since I don't have unlimited data (or a good enough signal) to stream stuff the entire way.

I'm not sure what kind of multitasking WP8 has, but later on this trip I minimize turn by turn navigation and open up my audiobook app. My wife then minimizes this and browses the web. Navigation runs in the background, pausing my book temporarily whenever it needs to tell me directions (connected via bluetooth to my headunit) while my wife reads tubmlr and has AIM open using multi-window.

In Arkansas I share some files with some visiting family. I connect their flash drive to my phone via a USB dongle and I move the files over directly while we watch TV, with no need of a desktop computer.

Additionally, tethering is free on rooted Android devices.

______

Having not used Windows Phone extensively, which of these situations would've been a problem?

 

[tornadog]

I had a choice between HTC 8X and Iphone 5. And despite being a windows application developer, I had to throw my hat in to the Iphone. Its just such a refined product, the 8X is good as far as hardware and UI is concerned, but it definitely lacks in the apps area. Also despite claiming a phone that is simple, I think the IOS is just too intuitive to the average user.

 

[Red Storm]

Out of curiosity I tried this on Chrome in Jelly Bean on my S2 and it's perfectly fluid.

Same on my Nexus 4, using Chrome.

 

[s44]

Same on my Nexus 4, using Chrome.

Yeah, they recoded their site to improve performance a lot. The Verge used to lock up my *desktop* Chrome sometimes.

Not sure whether the reported issues with WP were recent or old.

 

[Trader05]

I think the WP8 OS itself is great, just needs the apps to pull through. I recently got an iPhone5 on launch and I've been wanting to switch to the Lumia, but its hard to switch when I use so many apps that aren't available. Instagram, Nest, and Pandora are all apps day to day.

 

[Red Storm]

Yeah, they recoded their site to improve performance a lot. The Verge used to lock up my *desktop* Chrome sometimes.

Not sure whether the reported issues with WP were recent or old.

I personally can't stand their desktop site. Horrendous layout that's annoying to read and follow. Thankfully their mobile site is nothing at all like the desktop one, and so I only go to The Verge from my phone, never from my laptop/desktop.

 

[shortylickens]

Until phones launch apps and do every task instantaneously, there will always be a need for more powerful specs.

You need to use a Playbook so you can see why your logic is not quite correct.

 

[Red Storm]

You need to use a Playbook so you can see why your logic is not quite correct.

Don't have one and definitely not going to have one in the future, so care to explain?

 

[zerocool84]

Does it have multitasking yet?

 

[pantsaregood]

The argument isn't faulty because, for typical use, faster CPUs don't equate to better performance on desktops. Based on my use, any possible upgrade I could make to my i5-2500K at 4.4 GHz would be completely pointless.

Spotify has been out on Windows Phone since 11/7/2011. The WP8 version hasn't been released yet, but the WP7 version should work on any WP8 devices. Otherwise, you have Xbox Music to fall back on, which is honestly pretty nice.

As for multitasking: where have you been? Native code has always been capable of multitasking. Since Mango, multitasking has existed in various forms. WP8 introduced the ability to write native code, which further increases the ability to multitask.

That said, I doubt Microsoft will approve some video encoding app that supports running in the background for use in the marketplace.

 

[shortylickens]

Don't have one and definitely not going to have one in the future, so care to explain?

You dont NEED more powerful specs. An efficient OS can do so much more for the user experience.

 

[Red Storm]

You dont NEED more powerful specs. An efficient OS can do so much more for the user experience.

I'm talking about raw performance though. I already have the efficient UI, what I want is instantaneous loading of whatever it is I'm trying to do. Until that time, we will continue to need performance improvements.

 

[WelshBloke]

You dont NEED more powerful specs. An efficient OS can do so much more for the user experience.

Only if you are just dicking around in the OS. As soon as you launch any app that needs some horsepower things are going to bog down horribly.