WP Update 8.1: Features/Apps/Fixes You Want The Most! (WP 8.1 MegaThread)

[Ian S.]

The requests are for people who have used/tried Windows Phone. App Requests can mean a better/updated app.

 

I also know the App Gap is closing, but for me (I use WP) there are a few missing apps.

 

BTW The 8.1 Features site is linked to from here :

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/features

To:

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/features/Top-features-Windows-Phone-81

 

So I'll start,

 

App Requests

1. QuizUp

2. Disney Apps

3. Updated Health Vault App (Integrate Bing and Match/Exceed HealthBook's features: http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/17/apple-healthbook-ios-8/)

4. Cut The Rope 2

5. Yahoo Weather (I know, I know)

6. Nook 

 

Apps That Are Coming

Photoshop Express

BBM

Amazon Prime Instant Video? http://www.wpcentral.com/amazon-rep-hints-instant-video-windows-phone

Fitbit?

Food Panda

 

 

Feature Requests

• Make your own vibrate sound
• voice recognition in Cortana (with the ability to Confirm phone shutdown)
• Better Search (not bing) the search button should NOT open a whole new screen
• More Colors for Tiles (Color Wheel)
• Even Thinner Fonts for High Res Screens
• AirDrop like feature

Fixes

• TellMe's sound should not play at 100% when the phone is on silent
• Better App designs (ios 7's uses of color within an app is nice, just not maybe the colors themselves)
• Faster Updates, no carrier approval
• Force check for app updates in the WP store

[Shaun N.]

a Mega thread with 1 post? geez!

[123456789A]

I just want Xbox One achievements to show up in the Xbox stuff on Windows Phone and Windows 8.

[theyarecomingforyou]

The poll should at least include an option for 'Indifferent', as a Yes/No poll is very restrictive.

[Ian S.]

The whole idea is to post what you want, the poll is just extra. Also I can't force anyone to post.

[Robbie Ride]

Any improvements and fixes are going to be better than what Windows Phone 8 has at the moment. Things like notification centre and separate volume controls would be welcome additions but until these are announced no one knows what will appear in the 8.1 update some features could be cut at the last minute, so lists and polls are pointless and ultimately won't make much of a difference and certainly won't make Microsoft take notice.

[George P Global Moderator]

We know what's in the SDK so far and we know what's not in it, like Cortana.  I think everything that's in the leaked SDK from last month is going to be in 8.1 for sure.   Those are things they're pretty much done with and that's why they had them in.   As far as Cortana, it looks like from leaks that hitting the search button will now bring up cortana, or maybe you have to press and hold it with a simple press just bringing up search, don't know yet.

 

My key change is for more multitasking options, I get why they did it the way they did in 7 and even in 8 with having limited background tasks that work every 30mins or w/e.  But the hardware on these 8.1 phones and going forward has no need for such limits anymore the way I see it.  When the lowest end WP8.1 device is a Lumia 530 with, probably 1GB of ram, then there should be no reason to hold back on multitasking.  Let me be able to set the apps I use the most on my phone to keep running in the background and not suspend, should be a choice in the background tasks options or as a user option in each app.   Have it be something users can only set afterwards, not something the app can default to so that those who really want it can do it.

 

Aside from that, reduce the background task time from the 30mins or w/e it is now down to something less.  Again, let the users set this if they want to, have it be as long as 1min (something the 8.1 SDK hints at IIRC), so that app updates can be more "real time".    Also allow things like network connections to be able to stay on, I'd like to have a chat app that doesn't disconnect if I move away from it for example.  Or any type of app that connects to something, again, if you're worried about performance and or battery life have these be options that only the user can set after and not something the app can do by default.

[pack34]

We know what's in the SDK so far and we know what's not in it, like Cortana.  I think everything that's in the leaked SDK from last month is going to be in 8.1 for sure.   Those are things they're pretty much done with and that's why they had them in.   As far as Cortana, it looks like from leaks that hitting the search button will now bring up cortana, or maybe you have to press and hold it with a simple press just bringing up search, don't know yet.

 

My key change is for more multitasking options, I get why they did it the way they did in 7 and even in 8 with having limited background tasks that work every 30mins or w/e.  But the hardware on these 8.1 phones and going forward has no need for such limits anymore the way I see it.  When the lowest end WP8.1 device is a Lumia 530 with, probably 1GB of ram, then there should be no reason to hold back on multitasking.  Let me be able to set the apps I use the most on my phone to keep running in the background and not suspend, should be a choice in the background tasks options or as a user option in each app.   Have it be something users can only set afterwards, not something the app can default to so that those who really want it can do it.

 

Aside from that, reduce the background task time from the 30mins or w/e it is now down to something less.  Again, let the users set this if they want to, have it be as long as 1min (something the 8.1 SDK hints at IIRC), so that app updates can be more "real time".    Also allow things like network connections to be able to stay on, I'd like to have a chat app that doesn't disconnect if I move away from it for example.  Or any type of app that connects to something, again, if you're worried about performance and or battery life have these be options that only the user can set after and not something the app can do by default.

 

Limiting the activity of background tasks should have impacts on battery life. The hardware might be there for everything to run full bore 24/7 but with a portable device like a phone you need to use every trick in the book to eek out as much battery life as possible. 

[George P Global Moderator]

Limiting the activity of background tasks should have impacts on battery life. The hardware might be there for everything to run full bore 24/7 but with a portable device like a phone you need to use every trick in the book to eek out as much battery life as possible. 

 

Yes, and I agree, which is why it should be something the user sets and not something the app can do on it's own.  Once you have a list of apps like you do now that run background tasks you should be able to pick which ones you want to keep running fully and not suspend.  For me it would just be 2-3 apps, not everything.    Then have things like battery saver/battery sense, kick in when you're level goes to a set % it can stop them and switch back to defaults.  Or only have them run between specific times, or only when on Wifi and so on.

 

I just think there's room to improve the multitasking, if anything I hope they speed it up so when apps do resume when you go back to them they do so quick.  They made that better in WP8 but developers had to update their apps to take advantage of the changes, I wonder how many actually did?

[trip21]

I'd like a LogMeIn app (for Win8 as well). Since Team Viewer have apps for both their doesn't seem to be a problem developing such apps. However LogMeIn are pretty money hungry and the cost would probably be excessive.

[Ian S.]

The poll should at least include an option for 'Indifferent', as a Yes/No poll is very restrictive.

 

I fixed it.

 

Any improvements and fixes are going to be better than what Windows Phone 8 has at the moment. Things like notification centre and separate volume controls would be welcome additions but until these are announced no one knows what will appear in the 8.1 update some features could be cut at the last minute, so lists and polls are pointless and ultimately won't make much of a difference and certainly won't make Microsoft take notice.

Wow... You're negative, I'm just trying to create some community talk. Most tech forums have TECH related megathreads.

[Invizibleyez]

I believe any app that is on the top 10 lists of android or iOS has little to no reason to not release a WP app. That being said, I would like to see Candy Crush Saga, Minecraft, and all child themed apps come to WP. There really is no reason for exclusive crap these days. Just release it everywhere and make more money. Maybe that only makes sense to me.

[George P Global Moderator]

I believe any app that is on the top 10 lists of android or iOS has little to no reason to not release a WP app. That being said, I would like to see Candy Crush Saga, Minecraft, and all child themed apps come to WP. There really is no reason for exclusive crap these days. Just release it everywhere and make more money. Maybe that only makes sense to me.

 

It makes perfect sense but I don't know why some take longer than others to, they might be content with only supporting iOS and Android since that's 90% of the market at this point.  But market percentages aside, WP has millions of users, why not target those?   As it's market share grows the apps will come quicker though, that's all you can hope for really.

[LimeMaster]

If it's like the tile background concept, then yes I would want start screen background support: :)

[+LogicalApex MVC]

It makes perfect sense but I don't know why some take longer than others to, they might be content with only supporting iOS and Android since that's 90% of the market at this point.  But market percentages aside, WP has millions of users, why not target those?   As it's market share grows the apps will come quicker though, that's all you can hope for really.

It boils down to costs... The more platforms you have to target the more developers you have to hire and developers cost a fair bit of money.

[George P Global Moderator]

It boils down to costs... The more platforms you have to target the more developers you have to hire and developers cost a fair bit of money.

 

Most apps are done by one or a few people at best, we're not talking something huge here like a big name AAA video game for example.  Sure mobile games probably have more people but lots of times we're talking simple, yet official, apps.    Add to the fact MS makes it easy and cheap to code for WP, and also target Windows in the process.   I really question what the costs could be.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

Most apps are done by one or a few people at best, we're not talking something huge here like a big name AAA video game for example.  Sure mobile games probably have more people but lots of times we're talking simple, yet official, apps.    Add to the fact MS makes it easy and cheap to code for WP, and also target Windows in the process.   I really question what the costs could be.

Well... The average mobile developer (at least here) makes around $120K/y... You still need to factor in auxiliary benefits (healthcare, vacation time, etc.) and lets say you're easily looking at $150K/y per developer... A "simple" "2 developer" application and you're looking at ~$300K/y in expenses... That doesn't count hiring designers to give it a clean UI or marketing people to ensure it is branded well...

[George P Global Moderator]

Well... The average mobile developer (at least here) makes around $120K/y... You still need to factor in auxiliary benefits (healthcare, vacation time, etc.) and lets say you're easily looking at $150K/y per developer... A "simple" "2 developer" application and you're looking at ~$300K/y in expenses... That doesn't count hiring designers to give it a clean UI or marketing people to ensure it is branded well...

 

That's if you need to hire new people,  at the least you can use the same UI like they tend to do between the iOS and Android versions already.   I think in most cases the same people who made those versions can port it over to WP.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

That's if you need to hire new people,  at the least you can use the same UI like they tend to do between the iOS and Android versions already.   I think in most cases the same people who made those versions can port it over to WP.

Possibly, but keep in mind that iOS developers are using Objective-C on MacOS and Android developers may also be using MacOS as their development environment with Java as the language of choice. To target Windows Phone these users will need to use C# and Windows...

 

It is much easier to get a WP developer to support iOS and Android by using one of the many C# to iOS,Android development options.

 

Android developers could target WP a lot easier as they could, in theory, be using Windows as their environment. C# and Java are almost more similar than they aren't. But the hate Java developers have for C# wouldn't help at all...

 

The company I work for now decided to migrate a bunch of their development work from Java to C# and as a result they lost more than half their programmers (and we're not a small company... We have over 15K employees and a very large developer staff).

[Guest]

The company I work for now decided to migrate a bunch of their development work from Java to C# and as a result they lost more than half their programmers (and we're not a small company... We have over 15K employees and a very large developer staff).

 

That is bad. :( Wouldn't it have been possible to give those devs a bit time to adjust to C# and be equally, if not more productive? Or did they left because they didn't want to work with C#?

[+LogicalApex MVC]

That is bad. :( Wouldn't it have been possible to give those devs a bit time to adjust to C# and be equally, if not more productive? Or did they left because they didn't want to work with C#?

The company didn't fire the developers. The developers left because they didn't want to work with C#. Java developers seem to really hate C#...

[MorganX]

The company didn't fire the developers. The developers left because they didn't want to work with C#. Java developers seem to really hate C#...

 

Right now good devs are in such demand they don't have to stay in a place they don't want to be.

[George P Global Moderator]

Though I'm no expert I think C# shares much of it's syntax with Java, I don't know why Java developers would hate it, unless those are just the ones you know of.   Regardless, growing WP market and a maturing OS will bring in the developers, specially when MS makes it as painless as they can.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

Though I'm no expert I think C# shares much of it's syntax with Java, I don't know why Java developers would hate it, unless those are just the ones you know of.   Regardless, growing WP market and a maturing OS will bring in the developers, specially when MS makes it as painless as they can.

It has a lot to do with the history of C#... C# was created as a rip off of Java in response to Sun suing MS for including its own non-standard Java VM in Windows. There is also the hate for Visual Studio and other issues...

 

C# has now matured into something on its own, but the historical tension between Java and C# still plays strongly.

 

The problem for Microsoft really is that they have lost developers in a deep way. There are legions of C# developers supporting enterprise applications who seem to be completely uninterested in working with MS technologies in mobile. I remember when I did Windows Phone development in the WP7.x days and even going to c# focused events netted me questions of why when I mentioned developing for the platform. Of course, the new developers focused primarily on mobile don't even consider C#/.NET when they start.

 

In my case, MS lost me completely with the WP7-WP8 split. I know, no one cares so I won't delve into that.

 

I think the core problem MS has is they have to convince the developer community that MS matters. This problem is deeper than their raw user numbers... It is also very complicated as you won't get satisfied users without the developers supporting the platform.

[SierraSonic]

- Remove the hard limit on downloads that forces you to use wifi.

- Remove the hard limit on background apps that limits the amount of apps. Enable user limits with a battery drain message (such as the volume warning message which still lets you "destroy your ears")

- Remove the hard limit on background apps that limits how often background apps can update data and "live" tiles. Enable user limits with a battery drain message (such as the volume warning message which still lets you "destroy your ears")

- Remove the hard limits.... period, make everything an option. Enable user limits with a warning message (such as the volume warning message which still lets you "destroy your ears")

- Bing search ala Windows 8.1.

- Enable the ability to set more default apps, such as one for music, video players, photo apps, and navigation apps, more like you can choose what the default camera is.* Allow flashlight to be set as camera button with 5 second hold as an option.

- Option to not sync for set amount of minutes after turning the screen off, tired of getting a new notification after I manage to finally put my phone down.

 

 

Pretty much I'm asking to remove artifical limits, and allow more options, make the experience truly live if I want it, or make it as battery conservative as possible. These limits made sense during the windows phone 7 saga, they are just in the way now.

 

What is the point of having datasense if you wont let me use my data the way I have it setup anyway "Unlimited should mean unlimited, not limited to wifi."