Lets talk about Windows Phone 8 Restrictions !!!

Lets talk about Windows Phone 8 Restrictions !!! - Windows Phone 8 General

Hi all:
I'd like to open this thread to give an idea for those who want to know about Windows Phone 8 and how this OS looks from the other side.
I notice that if some one asked abut Windows Phone 8 mostly members here will mention the Advantages of the OS and will show the light side only !
For me I like to show the other Side of the OS name it as you wish.... disadvantages, restrictions or Windows Phone 8 philosophy.
I hope Microsoft will read what we will write in this thread as we will explain our point of view and our vision about Windows Phone 8.
So they can explain to us if we misunderstand this OS and the way it should work, so we can understand each other to take a better decisions about adopting Windows Phone 8 or leaving it to other OS.
Please notice that I like general idea about this OS and how it is looks, but it is important for me to know in which direction Windows Phone 8 is heading, is it going in my direction and what I think it will be or in the opposite direction .
Note: this thread is about restrictions, Windows Phone 8 defenders can open other thread about Windows Phone 8 advantages, and I will be pleased to mention many of WP8 advantages.

How I feel about Windows Phone 8 in General.
Security & Security again Security I feel like people behind Windows Phone 8 watching their phones screens all the night waiting for some malware or trojan to attack, but in fact all the malware and trojans are busy in other places and no one of it will attack Windows Phone 8, because still they don't even know what is Windows Phone 8 !
They made Windows Phone 8 full of restrictions ..................... and I feel it is just a keypad old Nokia Phone with touch screen and camera.
Microsoft you didn't go so far away from Nokia 3310 , do you remember it ?
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well done after all this years you just added a Lumia + touch screen + a camera.
Microsoft just removed the keypad and snack game (I'm sure guys in Nokia wasn't satisfied abut that but Mr.Stephen Elop was pushing them)
I downloaded one ringtone for my Lumia 920............ I was forced to connect my Lumia 920 to my Laptop to put the MP3 file inside the Lumia 920 ringtone folder so the Lumia 920 can feel what happened to it after this surgery ..........I was forced to do this surgery because Windows Phone 8 doesn't have a file manager, this word file manager in Microsoft is equal to terrorism, security ,,,,,,,,security ................security...........restrictions .....not allowed this is really disappointed.

Dude, if you want anybody either here or at Microsoft to take you seriously, write clearly and cut the hyperbole. All I got out of that was "there's no file manager on the phone, so I had to copy an MP3 to the Ringtones folder manually; Microsoft, why must you restrict me so!?!"
... and I say this as one of the people leading the WP8 hacking effort, most of which is aimed at removing those sorts of restrictions. If I were a Microsoft architect reading that and deciding whether to even bother filing the feedback, I'd probably discard it as "just another incoherent Microsoft-hater who doesn't even have a real problem, just a complaint about the workflow for an infrequent user experience". If that's not the bin you want your words tossed in, you need to sound like somebody to be taken seriously.
Talk about how their mis-steps will hurt their bottom line. Talk about competitive advantages and disadvantages. Talk about company loyalty - not in a "frothing at the mouth" or "bitter and snide comments" manner, but in terms of what gains (or loses) it in large groups - and point out ways that they are can help improve it. Don't tell them what to do - Microsoft has a *terrible* case of Not Invented Here when it comes to outside suggestions - but justify to them what they *should* do, in the same way you would, for example, try to justify to your boss that you deserve a raise, or something like that. If you can convince people there to want to make things better, you've already won; one person on the inside probably has more influence than a thousand voices out here. Be persuasive, not argumentative; diplomatic, not intimidating; charismatic, not petulant; thoughtful, not dogmatic. Being passionate is fine, even great, but you must channel it into mature and meaningful discussion, not outbursts.
Another point: think about the restrictions from their side. They didn't put them there to piss you off. Nobody trying to break into a market intentionally cripples their product to make it *less* popular. They have reasons. Those reasons may not be for your benefit, of course - Microsoft's real customers are OEMs and mobile operators, not users, and sometimes the desires of those customers override the desires of *their* customers, the users. Think about things like test and support costs, the dangers of bad press and reputations for malware and the like, and other problems they may have foreseen. Consider what it might cost them to do what you want, and make your case in terms of it being more valuable for them to do that than just in terms of what you want personally.
And seriously, can the hyperbole. I can't take anybody who claims that a device which didn't even have a decent approximation of a real web browser is basically the same, aside from some hardware features, as a WP8 device. That kind of talk will just get you dismissed out of hand.

Dear GoodDayToDie:
I respect you point of view but I can't go one with Microsoft the easy mom son way ..... some one should rise his hand against them and show a real image about Windows Phone 8.
because of what I said they banned my user name in Wpcentral forum ........... they don't want to see any opinion against them .......they are group of old dictator minds who they don't accept any opinion against them ............the republic of MicrosoftStan .
It is my right..........People who invested their money $$$$ in Windows Phone 7 handsets found their selves abounded without any more development for their Phones............. they make one mistake in believed in Microsoft and trusted this company and Microsoft replied back the way you know for Windows Phone 7 and this is the same reason why developers kept away from Windows Phone in general.
I now have the right to know how this OS will carry on and in which direction it is going.
Let Microsoft clear things out...........................in GDR3 they make a good progress ............... so we want the good work to keep on faster.
here I mentioned one restriction and there is alot more we will come through it.
Microsoft should come closer to people and they should start with removing the banned from my account in Wpcentral for example.
We need assurances from Microsoft that the OS will have most requested options and Windows Phone 8 users will not be abounded soon like Windows Phone 7.
So we want to know if Microsoft is a friend or enemy

one-option said:
Dear GoodDayToDie:
I respect you point of view but I can't go one with Microsoft the easy mom son way ..... some one should rise his hand against them and show a real image about Windows Phone 8.
because of what I said they banned my user name in Wpcentral forum ........... they don't want to see any opinion against them .......they are group of old dictator minds who they don't accept any opinion against them ............the republic of MicrosoftStan .
It is my right..........People who invested their money $$$$ in Windows Phone 7 handsets found their selves abounded without any more development for their Phones............. they make one mistake in believed in Microsoft and trusted this company and Microsoft replied back the way you know for Windows Phone 7 and this is the same reason why developers kept away from Windows Phone in general.
I now have the right to know how this OS will carry on and in which direction it is going.
Let Microsoft clear things out...........................in GDR3 they make a good progress ............... so we want the good work to keep on faster.
here I mentioned one restriction and there is alot more we will come through it.
Microsoft should come closer to people and they should start with removing the banned from my account in Wpcentral for example.
We need assurances from Microsoft that the OS will have most requested options and Windows Phone 8 users will not be abounded soon like Windows Phone 7.
So we want to know if Microsoft is a friend or enemy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is kinda funny how everybody argues with the "omg WP7 abandoned" card, when it isn't entirely true. Wp7 still has 1 full year of support left, and any bugs will be fixed if discovered. Did you know that all Wp7 got 2 updates (after 7.8) which fixed gmail sync?
Plus, you keep saying the WP7 "abandon" is something that only happens with Windows Phone, yet you keep forgetting that most android devices don't get a 18 month support life cycle at all, let alone 18 months renewed with each update (wp8 now has 36 months! of support for each new version iteration). Unless you pay a lot of money on hardware which is really waisted (cough, galaxy phones, cough) or on overpiced phones (cough iphone), you won't get technical support at all in most cases.
I understand you just want to bash on WP because you got banned from WPCentral, but you will be ignored here anyway. Plus, Microsoft employees can't see this forum due to its hacking nature.

mcosmin222 said:
It is kinda funny how everybody argues with the "omg WP7 abandoned" card, when it isn't entirely true. Wp7 still has 1 full year of support left, and any bugs will be fixed if discovered. Did you know that all Wp7 got 2 updates (after 7.8) which fixed gmail sync?
Plus, you keep saying the WP7 "abandon" is something that only happens with Windows Phone, yet you keep forgetting that most android devices don't get a 18 month support life cycle at all, let alone 18 months renewed with each update (wp8 now has 36 months! of support for each new version iteration). Unless you pay a lot of money on hardware which is really waisted (cough, galaxy phones, cough) or on overpiced phones (cough iphone), you won't get technical support at all in most cases.
I understand you just want to bash on WP because you got banned from WPCentral, but you will be ignored here anyway. Plus, Microsoft employees can't see this forum due to its hacking nature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good for you............ come on keep the good work on keep defending Microsoft
First of all I'm honest with my self as with others ................... if I said something so I mean it.
I want to show any one buying Windows Phone 8 a true image of what he will be facing in that OS...... I don't want people to make my mistake and buy a product don't meet their needs.
How could you even compare Android support with Microsoft ???!!!
for Android there is alot of alternatives available on software side and Android full of options so even if the 18 months of official support ended the users will not be worried that some essentials stuff will not be available in his phone like Windows Phone................. man still we are waiting GDR3 to get Auto rotation off
the Android updates bring additional new stuff compare to the essential basic options Windows Phone 8 updates brings to the OS where older Abounded OS like Symbian long back was having this options.
I DO NOT CARE about Microsoft employees and I'm sure that they are following & reading xda forums , how did I knew that ???
People like you here in the big forums always ready to cover Microsoft back, and If I will be ignored here that will not be because people don't care about what I say no..............but out of Wpcentral forums there is small interest about Windows Phone in general.
and people who want to see the truth of Windows Phone can follow this thread................ back their in Wpcentral they erased every word I wrote about Windows Phone 8 so that show that Microsoft really watching what I write close and they are interest about what I'm saying so wait me in facebook also, the world should know the clear truth about Windows Phone.
I will say no lies about Windows Phone 8, I will just show the truth a real image for Windows Phone 8, I'm writing to those who want to get Windows Phone 8 , and they will decide buying Windows Phone 8 or go with other OS.

Here are some retractions to those who intend to buy a new Windows Phone 8 device.
1- No File Manager in Windows Phone 8
The file manager is an important tool to get control over your device, Well here is the idea
Windows Phone 8 is more like application dependent platform, it is organized in strict way so if you want to watch video you will have to check in (Music + Video section/Hub) where you will find your videos and Music.
Same thing is true for images you have to watch your images in photo section/Hub....for other kind of Documents like word or excel you will have to check in Microsoft Office..... there is no ability to check this files inside the folders from the phone........... in general you can't see the folders unless you connect your phone to a computer......... every thing should be kept in its place images in Photo folder, ringtones should be in ringtone folder and so on.
So If you want to create another folders for special images other than photo folder Windows Phone 8 will not be able to see them !!!!
This is not smart at all
So what about non supported files or files there is no application to open them ?
There is no way to open such files in your phone or view them weather this file was image, video or what ever else.
In general people long time back requested Microsoft for file manager, but Microsoft simply not responding and ignoring that requests.
2- Control ringtone and media volume separately
This is another big problem.......... for example at night if you turned the phone ringer silent and you want to listen to some music you will not be able to do so in Windows Phone 8 smart phone .........cause if you turn phone ringer silent ....every thing will turned silent music , video ....every thing......Good thinking Microsoft.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3- Web Browser: Windows Phone 8 use Internet explorer 10 as default web browser and in general there is very few web browsers available in the market.
back to internet explorer there is only refresh button available in the browser no stop or going forward or back....... it is really bad experience to browse the web with Internet explorer.
More than that try to visit a web site with drop down list and select any thing , you will find the drop down list and you will be able to select what ever you want but that will make no different and the system will not respond to what you have selected...really disappointing .
4- Phone dailer: In general Phone book and Phone dailer one of the things I like about this OS it is really unique but it is missing some features like smart dailing & call duration in call History, long press on a contact name will offer two options delete the item from call history or block that name, no other options to send a message or MMS you have to dig inside to get this options.
5- Install XAP Files without SD Card: In Android for example you can install APK files in any Android phone (you can download any Application from any non google markets and install it offline without the need for internet connection by downloading APK files) but the equivalent of APK file in Windows Phone 8 is XAP file and it can be installed only in a handset with SD card support !!!!
Devices like Nokia Lumia 1020 or 920 is not able to install XAP files where in low end device like Nokia Lumia 520 you can do that !!!!
What a nice thing.
To be continue

The member in Wpcentral forums N_LaRUE writes about Windows Phone 8 and make clear statement about Windows Phone 8........ he really show a clear image about that OS.
********************************************
The phone (Windows Phone 8) was set up for the average consumer, which has been pointed out several times already. Average consumer is -> Music, photos, text, calls, social, email, web, games and apps. Most users will rarely use Office and less would even want a file manager. There's enough studies to back this trend.
Mobile Office is a review/general edit software, not a full-blown suite. It's not meant to replace Office on tablet or PC. The average size of most documents (Word/Excel) are typically well under 1MB.
The large quantity of memory is to compete with other platforms. The average consumer doesn't require large memory. Statistics have shown that most people have few apps and games on their mobile. Most memory is used for photos and music.
Keep in mind, we're talking about where MS has targeted it's product which is 'first world' consumer and this is the general statistics that they have used in thinking about their product. They have also copied some aspects from Apple and their primary concern is security and ecosystem.
The WP platform is not meant to be a replacement for a computer. It was not meant to replace Symbian or Android. In it's current state it is mostly a consumer device with some productive elements. This is the best way to think of WP.
***************************************
a link for the thread
Frankly speaking I misunderstand the Windows Phone 8 OS and according to what N_LaRUE said ....this OS is not what I'm looking for, but I will keep at least one of my two Windows Phone 8 devices with me as a back up phone in case I need it for sometime.
I will not mention any more restrictions, I think that the idea behind the OS Windows Phone 8 is clear .... the OS developed for that propose for specified needs for special kind of customers and I will name them as non advanced customers with minimum needs of control over the device to give a basic and easy experience for smartphone users.

1) File manager: not really needed on the user side, if applications integrate themselves properly.
2) separate volume for notifications/alaram/whatever: god no. Just no. That was soo broken in android. I remember the days when a collage wold snatch my phone and accidentaly press the play button on whatever music widget I had an the loud music would pump in the room. No, just no. I like it the way it is. If i set my volume to 0, it means i want the phone to be quiet!
3) browser? why would you need a different browser if the one present just works? I see you're coming from android, where the system just sucks and needs 3rd party apps to do even the most basic jobs. Sorry, ain't happening on WP.
4) install XAP: nope, no piracy. As i developer, I freeking love it.

Bleh... I'm just going to respond to both of you in one message. It already kind of feels like I'm feeding trolls.
First of all, Microsoft is well aware of this site and at least some of their employees do read it and link to it at work (I work in the Seattle tech industry, so of course I know some Microsofties). It's probably not the best place to try and get a personal response, or even widespread change of opinion, but it's not something that nobody ever visits. Part of the reason XDA has such strong anti-piracy rules is to avoid being flagged as a warez site and blocked.
Second, while some of your points are good, one-option, your writing (except in your last post, thankfully) is so unpleasant to read that I find myself disregarding what you have to say even when I agree with it. Professionalism is not the only key to being taken seriously, but it's an important one. Long chains of periods (full stops) and exclamation marks, inconsistent capitalization and punctuation, difficult-to-follow sentence structure, interjections and tangents (like "Good thinking Microsoft" and "should start with removing the banned from my account in Wpcentral for example"), and so on all make it really hard for anybody (Microsoft employee or XDA member) to take your writing seriously. If you aren't going to write in a way that other people will bother to read, why write at all?
Third, Microsoft doesn't control WPCentral. There are two pretty trivial ways to tell: first, look at the domain registration information (registered through GoDaddy for "Smartphone Experts" of "Axel Ltd. Co" out of Florida); second, read their articles (including the ones they post about interop-unlocks and free dev unlocks and so on) and realize that a lot of that is stuff that MS employees would never spread externally (not that you've shown any sign of understanding how businesspeople think, but trust me, that's not something they would do). Getting all pissy about your banned account there - almost certainly because you were making a general nuisance of yourself, much like you are here, regardless of the validity of your complaints - is completely off-topic for XDA anyhow.
Fourth, if you've concluded that WP8 is not for you, that's fine and dandy. If you love other smartphone OSes so much, why do you have WP devices anyhow? They certainly aren't the cheapest option (although some of them have a great price-to-hardware value). Just have fun with your other devices. The rest of us will have fun with ours.
Fifth, the file management thing is actually a good point. mcosmin222, contrary to what you say, there are serious limitations on how much you can integrate an app with the OS. For example, lets say my music is in Ogg Vorbis format. Re-encoding it would greatly reduce the quality (and Vorbis is a good codec anyhow) but if I just put those Ogg files on my phone via USB in the normal way, I won't be able to open them from an Ogg player app, or manage them (much less play them) through the built-in media software. I can't replace that media software either, which is another kind of restriction but another genuinely problematic one; apps aren't allowed to set themselves as the default handler for anything which the OS has a built-in handler for, and the built-in media app has capabilities no third-party app is allowed to have.
Sixth, the volume control on WP8 is very poorly designed. Leaving aside the fact that even dumbphones have long been perfectly capable of supporting different media and ringtone (and call, which WP8 *does* support, and alarms, which it doesn't really) volume levels, there are other issues like keeping the same value between headphones and "loud"speaker. As for the counterpoint about blaring music when you don't want to, that's a non-issue; nobody is *forcing* you to set the volumes differently, and if you choose to do so, it's presumably because you feel the benefits outweigh the problems. However, that's not really a "restriction". It's a poor design of the OS, but it's not something that you are prevented from doing (in the same sense that producing a usable file manager is prohibited, because of the prohibition on developers adding the required capabilities to their apps). In any case, it's a long-requested and well-known item, and quite popular on the Uservoice site (which already exists as a feedback mechanism to Microsoft).
Seventh, you can actually change what buttons are on the IE app bar in WP8 (it's in settings). You can of course install third-party apps that provide their own UI around a WebView as well, just like on iOS. In fact, this is mostly *not* a restriction problem, and there are several browser apps in the store (adding more isn't hard either). The place where restrictions on the users do become a problem is in *changing* the default browser. Currently, that's not possible without pretty extensive hacks. With that said, though calling the current browser one that "just works" is an ignorant and disingenuous thing to say. It may work for many people, but it certainly doesn't work for all people. For example, the inconvenience of needing to create browser shortcuts for Forward/Back/View Source, the limitation of 6 tabs, the restriction to only "desktop" or "mobile" user-agent string options, the inability to go full-screen, and more... those are all problems with the built-in browser app that a third-party one can fix, to say nothing of the many other problems that one can't (not practically, at least).
Eighth, to send a message to a contact from the dialer interface, it's really easy: tap the contact (name or phone number) to open the contact card, then tap "text" (or whatever you want to do). That's the same number of taps, and without the hold, that it would take to do what you (one-option) are suggesting.
Ninth, you are *both* wrong about XAPs.
mcosmin222, there is absolutely no reason that you shouldn't be able to install Store apps by opening a link to the XAP in the browser or an attached one in an email; it would work the same way as installation from SD card (requires a quic connection to the store in order to get license info). In fact, this *is* how you install "company apps"; the code to handle opening files with .XAP extension is already present. It just (for no discernible reason at all) only works for XAPs with company app signatures. Logically, it *should* process DRMed-and-store-signed apps the same way that installing from SD does, and unsigned apps by offering to install them directly (assuming your phone is developer-unlocked). It just doesn't work that way, for some reason. Note that there is absolutely no increase in piracy through this approach; it is *merely* a way to make legitimately installing apps less inconvenient for the user. That's it.
For one-option, as I've already mentioned, you can open XAPs in the browser or email; they just won't install that way if they are either store apps or development/homebrew apps. To install store apps, use the store on the phone, the store web site on a PC, or a SD card. To install homebrew/development apps, use the Application Deployment tool (xapdeploy.exe) that is part of the (free) WP8 SDK installation with a phone connected via USB. This is a bad user experience, undeniably; to have so many ways to install apps is good, to have them all mutually incompatible with each other is terrible. For example, why not let xapdeploy (or some other USB-based tool) install store-signed apps, anyhow? It would serve *exactly* the same use case as doing it via SD card, but would be more convenient for those people who have the dev tools installed and would be usable by people who don't have microSD slots.
Once again, though, this isn't really a "restriction" thing except for the limits on what sideloaded apps can do, and how many can be sideloaded. It's a poorly-designed user experience which causes frustration, confusion, and misconceptions about the product line, all of which are detrimental to gaining market share and positive marketplace reputation. That's more than bad enough, but don't confuse it with "restrictions". Those exist too, but you missed them entirely.

Hi,
The worst drawback is the calendar, doesn't anyone use it nowday's? As a working tool it's unusable. Thanks to Week View I can use WP 8 but even Week View is limited due to the lack edit function in the program. I know Microsoft "consider" this issue, consider!? Take a look of the calender in WP 6.5 that one had all the functions needed for Daily use.
Second worse is the dialer that doesn't look up phone numbers. Ok I use Another dialer for Calling and the built in when calling missed phone calls. Somehow we are back in the stoneage in some areas.
I choose WP 8 because of the strong Connection with Exchange which the other phone OS lacks.
Still WP 8 it's fast and works well in other areas but as mention earlier in the threads, it's not made as a working tool, it's made as a toy!
Just my 2 cent!

@GoodDayToDie:
I said the file manager is not really needed on the user side. I want the apps to have more powers when handling the user folders however. Trust me, I know the ogg vorbis problem better than anyone on this forum.

Hi.
I have done a small amount of cleaning. OP if you insist on having a thread about why you do not like WP8 (Presonally I have never tried it so I don't care one way or the other), then I expect you to do so in a civilized and respectful manner. This goes for everyone that feels the need to reply to this thread. There is nothing wrong with a discussion about personal preference or likes and dislikes as long as it is done with thoughtful and mature conversation.
Cheers,
-DSB

diestarbucks said:
Hi.
I have done a small amount of cleaning. OP if you insist on having a thread about why you do not like WP8 (Presonally I have never tried it so I don't care one way or the other), then I expect you to do so in a civilized and respectful manner. This goes for everyone that feels the need to reply to this thread. There is nothing wrong with a discussion about personal preference or likes and dislikes as long as it is done with thoughtful and mature conversation.
Cheers,
-DSB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The matter is that I opened this thread to collect the WP8 restrictions, in fact it wasn't restrictions but this is the way the system works.
So I pointed out that and I mentioned that I will not talk about any more restrictions in Windows Phone 8 cause it is working that way.
but WP8 people insisted to attack me & I replied back.
I tried to provide clear image and experience about Windows Phone 8, but some people just don't like that.

one-option said:
The matter is that I opened this thread to collect the WP8 restrictions, in fact it wasn't restrictions but this is the way the system works.
So I pointed out that and I mentioned that I will not talk about any more restrictions in Windows Phone 8 cause it is working that way.
but WP8 people insisted to attack me & I replied back.
I tried to provide clear image and experience about Windows Phone 8, but some people just don't like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you, or anyone, feels they are being attacked, then the correct course of action is to report the post and let a mod come in and handle it. Replying back is just going to drag on the issue and in most all cases will make things worse.

Light side is often spoken of because the "dark" side is covered just about everywhere. The OS is the dark horse in this race, it has flaws just like the rest ...but there easily found in detail elsewhere.
Sent from my RM-878_nam_usa_100 using Tapatalk

one-option said:
Here are some retractions to those who intend to buy a new Windows Phone 8 device.
1- No File Manager in Windows Phone 8
The file manager is an important tool to get control over your device, Well here is the idea
Windows Phone 8 is more like application dependent platform, it is organized in strict way so if you want to watch video you will have to check in (Music + Video section/Hub) where you will find your videos and Music.
Same thing is true for images you have to watch your images in photo section/Hub....for other kind of Documents like word or excel you will have to check in Microsoft Office..... there is no ability to check this files inside the folders from the phone........... in general you can't see the folders unless you connect your phone to a computer......... every thing should be kept in its place images in Photo folder, ringtones should be in ringtone folder and so on.
So If you want to create another folders for special images other than photo folder Windows Phone 8 will not be able to see them !!!!
This is not smart at all
So what about non supported files or files there is no application to open them ?
There is no way to open such files in your phone or view them weather this file was image, video or what ever else.
In general people long time back requested Microsoft for file manager, but Microsoft simply not responding and ignoring that requests.
2- Control ringtone and media volume separately
This is another big problem.......... for example at night if you turned the phone ringer silent and you want to listen to some music you will not be able to do so in Windows Phone 8 smart phone .........cause if you turn phone ringer silent ....every thing will turned silent music , video ....every thing......Good thinking Microsoft.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3- Web Browser: Windows Phone 8 use Internet explorer 10 as default web browser and in general there is very few web browsers available in the market.
back to internet explorer there is only refresh button available in the browser no stop or going forward or back....... it is really bad experience to browse the web with Internet explorer.
More than that try to visit a web site with drop down list and select any thing , you will find the drop down list and you will be able to select what ever you want but that will make no different and the system will not respond to what you have selected...really disappointing .
4- Phone dailer: In general Phone book and Phone dailer one of the things I like about this OS it is really unique but it is missing some features like smart dailing & call duration in call History, long press on a contact name will offer two options delete the item from call history or block that name, no other options to send a message or MMS you have to dig inside to get this options.
5- Install XAP Files without SD Card: In Android for example you can install APK files in any Android phone (you can download any Application from any non google markets and install it offline without the need for internet connection by downloading APK files) but the equivalent of APK file in Windows Phone 8 is XAP file and it can be installed only in a handset with SD card support !!!!
Devices like Nokia Lumia 1020 or 920 is not able to install XAP files where in low end device like Nokia Lumia 520 you can do that !!!!
What a nice thing.
To be continue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seeing as you complain about the file manager and not being able to install XAPs directly but can do that on Android, why don't you try doing that on iOS? Should be easy right? Microsoft hates you after all. They don't want you to do anything on your Nokia 3310 with a touchscreen and a camera.

1- No File Manager in Windows Phone 8
The file manager is an important tool to get control over your device, Well here is the idea
Windows Phone 8 is more like application dependent platform, it is organized in strict way so if you want to watch video you will have to check in (Music + Video section/Hub) where you will find your videos and Music.
Same thing is true for images you have to watch your images in photo section/Hub....for other kind of Documents like word or excel you will have to check in Microsoft Office..... there is no ability to check this files inside the folders from the phone........... in general you can't see the folders unless you connect your phone to a computer......... every thing should be kept in its place images in Photo folder, ringtones should be in ringtone folder and so on.
So If you want to create another folders for special images other than photo folder Windows Phone 8 will not be able to see them !!!!
This is not smart at all
So what about non supported files or files there is no application to open them ?
There is no way to open such files in your phone or view them weather this file was image, video or what ever else.
In general people long time back requested Microsoft for file manager, but Microsoft simply not responding and ignoring that requests.
2- Control ringtone and media volume separately
This is another big problem.......... for example at night if you turned the phone ringer silent and you want to listen to some music you will not be able to do so in Windows Phone 8 smart phone .........cause if you turn phone ringer silent ....every thing will turned silent music , video ....every thing......Good thinking Microsoft.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!
3- Web Browser: Windows Phone 8 use Internet explorer 10 as default web browser and in general there is very few web browsers available in the market.
back to internet explorer there is only refresh button available in the browser no stop or going forward or back....... it is really bad experience to browse the web with Internet explorer.
More than that try to visit a web site with drop down list and select any thing , you will find the drop down list and you will be able to select what ever you want but that will make no different and the system will not respond to what you have selected...really disappointing .
4- Phone dailer: In general Phone book and Phone dailer one of the things I like about this OS it is really unique but it is missing some features like smart dailing & call duration in call History, long press on a contact name will offer two options delete the item from call history or block that name, no other options to send a message or MMS you have to dig inside to get this options.
5- Install XAP Files without SD Card: In Android for example you can install APK files in any Android phone (you can download any Application from any non google markets and install it offline without the need for internet connection by downloading APK files) but the equivalent of APK file in Windows Phone 8 is XAP file and it can be installed only in a handset with SD card support !!!!
Devices like Nokia Lumia 1020 or 920 is not able to install XAP files where in low end device like Nokia Lumia 520 you can do that !!!!
What a nice thing.
To be continue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i totally agree...
iOS have Jailbrake,Android have Root...what have WP ?

To end all discussion about the negative points of Windows Phone 8, I'm going to invalidate the issues some people (including me for some time) were having with the WP8 OS (WARNING SOME CRITICS ARE STILL IN EFFECT IF YOU DON'T HAVE AN INTEROP UNLOCKED ATIV S):
- No decent free YouTube App : Not anymore, the official YouTube app has been revived, download here
- No File Manager : Not anymore (interop unlocked phones only) : download here
- No MKV support : there are apps out there (mostly paid apps like YxPlayer WP8, Moliplayer Pro and Best Player) which do support MKV. You might argue that these apps are not free and so the critic is still in effect, but VLC for WP8 (see Kickstarter : news update 10, all the way down the article) is coming, so no your argument is invalid.
- Manufacturer exclusive apps : one word proxy
- no customization whatsoever 20 tile colors and one lockscreen picture : SamWP8 (interop unlocked phones only) of -W_O_L_F- allows custom tile colors and there are lockscreen apps which allow to display weather information on the lockscreen (free ones like Bing Weather and MoWeather HD (which I can't install in English, keeps on installing in Chinese) and also paid apps like Weather Flow, Amazing Weather HD and WeatherSense. You might argue that you can't have widgets on your lockscreen like in Android : Lockmix, your argument is invalid.
- No Task manager : Close button in multitask menu since GDR3
- No Live Tile clock because of refresh frequency limitations by Microsoft : Sideloading TimeMe works perfectly, updates each minute (store version updates each 40 minutes).
- Windows Phone 8 SDK only for Windows 8 : Not anymore, Tutorial: Install Windows Phone 8 SDK on Windows 7 the Easy Way by compu829
- Lack of official apps, mostly web links (eg YouTube) : Vine has been released, Instagram will probably follow (it's from the same company), Facebook beta is becoming pretty decent, Twitter has an official app, YouTube has been revived (see first point), Foursquare has an official app and there are pretty decent free third party apps out there for apps who don't have an official version yet (like 9gag, instagram and others, most great apps were made by Rudy Huyn)
There are some critics which I admit are bothering even me and I can't invalidate them at the moment, these are :
- Windows Marketplace isn't as great as the other marketplaces (like Apple Store and Google Play), but it's growing (Rome wasn't build in a day, you know ) : many paid apps which should be free because they are too insignificant to ask money for (eg a Wallpaper app) but there are still some great store deals and even paid apps become free for a day (to keep you updated with these deals, install these three apps)
- Update rollout takes too long time to complete in some places, despite the name GDR (General Distribution Release). I still didn't received the GDR2 update here in Belgium/Western Europe (except for Germany and the UK) through the Phone Updates on my Ativ S itself, I had to flash it manually.
- No competition on hardware specs, all is specified by Microsoft. I hope the introduction of quad-core CPU's (like the Snapdragon 800 in the Lumia 1520) will bring change on this aspect.
- Even small adjustments (like turning captive buttons off and changing the phones language and/or region) requires a reboot, where on other OS's they don't.
- Keyboard language suggestions pack downloads itself in the Phone Updates, won't start automatic, requires reboot + requires migration of settings/data (takes about 15 minutes). On other OS's this is a simple download.
- Nokia has too big of a market share to attract other manufacturers, Nokia is also a privileged manufacturer (definitely after the Microsoft-Nokia deal took place) making fair competition almost impossible.
- Windows Phone and Microsoft have a problem recognizing minorities, Spotlight in Flanders (Dutch speaking part of Belgium) is French, how dare they .

aSpirit81 said:
i totally agree...
iOS have Jailbrake,Android have Root...what have WP ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I respect everyone's opinions. I used to be an iphone user from 2g to 4. Went to android, now I have a lumia 1020.
I had jailbrake on my iphones because I wanted my phones to do more useless things. I gained root on my android devices and flashed the heck out of them to make them cleaner and faster( who wants to wait 0.3 of a second more time to open a browser)
Personally I don't miss anything about my previous devices. The only thing missing (in my opinion) is making folders and putting games in one, apps in other e.t.c. and the ability of someone sending me an app via mail or bluetooth, and manually installing it. Either way , I am very happy with my lumia 1020..... camera.

Related

WP8: 2 steps foward, half a step backward

My Titan (WP7) was stolen, so I updated to WP8 earlier than I was planning to.
Aside from about a third of my apps not being available for WP8 yet, I'm enjoying what the new system has to offer.
However, WP8 lost some functionality which is really annoying the hell out of me.
Gifs. In WP7, you couldn't save them, but you could "share" them and email them to yourself. When I try to do this in WP8, it takes one frame from the gif and shares a single frame jpg file. What the ****. Now there is no way to save gif files at all, which is problematic when sites like 4chan don't host them for long.
Unable to uninstall the Help and Tips app. ........ Just... why?
"Remove location data on uploaded images" is no longer an option. As a privacy nut, I loved this. Well, great, now I have to turn off location in pictures all together.
There are a few other things that are missing I'm not remembering, and granted these are all small problems, but now that they've been arbitrarily removed, they're never going to be re-implemented. I'll submit a "feature request" and it'll sit at the bottom, never to be seen...
I got the 820 over the 920 because a non-removable battery is a deal breaker for me. Funny thing is, when the titan first came out everyone was complaining about how hard it is to press the buttons... Well now I can't pick up the damn lumia without accidentally hitting one of the buttons.

I am not sure what your talking about. I recommend that you go to wpcentral forums because they can answer your question. Everyone has left xda in terms of windows phone, all the action here is android.

lovenokia said:
I am not sure what your talking about. I recommend that you go to wpcentral forums because they can answer your question. Everyone has left xda in terms of windows phone, all the action here is android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I've noticed that the portal features nothing about anything related to Microsoft, even when every other site was having a field day with all the WP8 related announcements...
Sent from my Windows 8 device using Board Express Pro

Side note: you could alternatively turn off the photo uploading, and leave the geotagging enabled. Then, sync your images to your PC and upload the images to wherever after running them through a de-geotagging program.
Not suggesting this is a *good* option; I hate feature regressions at least as much as anybody. Just a possible way for you to get around the problem.

Keeping WP8 Samsung Ativ

after 3 months with the Ativ WP8 I start thinking to change to android (eventually Galaxy4) for good reasons
1. Incomplete BT stack - no keyboard to connect or certain consoles
2. Miserable sync with Outlook and One-Notes
3. Limited camera functions - e.g. where to save and to transfer to a PC)
4. Cannot use DropBox
5. Useless letters in apps
6. Want not and cannot allow certain info an the cloud (SkyDrive)
7. Calendar - no weekly, daily and to-do app
8. No basic info like battery status, signal strength, Wi-Fi visible as a top bar
9. Better organization for apps, e.g. based on importance and not just one long list to scroll, why not at least two
I am aware that WP8 is a great improvement and with good tools, but I have to decide what serves my daily needs the best. Is there any major update in the next few months to expect. Any suggestions

Not sure if trolling or just ...

Sell it to me.
Sent from rehab using XDA Windows Phone 8 App

mcosmin222 said:
Not sure if trolling or just ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not trolling mate, this isn't windowsphonecentral. You're not going to get an army of windows phone enthusiasts trying to go against this guy.

Lol trolls.
Sent from Lumia 810 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

theguitarman94 said:
Not trolling mate, this isn't windowsphonecentral. You're not going to get an army of windows phone enthusiasts trying to go against this guy.[/QUOT]
Given his reasons, I am 100% convinced he is either a troll or too stupid to use a smartphone, in which case, Android/WP/IOS won't make much of a difference.
So I think he is a troll.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I mean it is very difficult to find the signal strength

If you're not happy with how the phone handles things and if it can't do certain things you need it to do the best way to go is to sell the phone and get one that does. Given that you already tried to find solutions for some of those things and found out that they could not be done differently on WP you are left with only two options:
- live with how things are done/can be done (e.g. Jump Lists in the App List, pinning important Apps to the Start Screen)
- get rid of the phone and use something else in the hopes of it doing things the way you want them done

You can be sure not a troll nor stupid. I use mobile phones from the beginning and can very well distinguish pros and cons. We can and do build out own servers and use the phone as a business tool. Just see what MS did with the BT stack, incomplete, you cannot connect a simple keyboard which is needed when taking notes in conferences, Using the cloud for confidential information is a nono, DropBox does not work with WP8.... Me or someone else calling stupid shows where your standard is.

When I make a final decision to sell the phone you will be the first for an offer. It will come with a nice black leather case open front and 32 GB SD card. I need some additional research to find the right solution.

[email protected] said:
after 3 months with the Ativ WP8 I start thinking to change to android (eventually Galaxy4) for good reasons
1. Incomplete BT stack - no keyboard to connect or certain consoles
2. Miserable sync with Outlook and One-Notes
3. Limited camera functions - e.g. where to save and to transfer to a PC)
4. Cannot use DropBox
5. Useless letters in apps
6. Want not and cannot allow certain info an the cloud (SkyDrive)
7. Calendar - no weekly, daily and to-do app
8. No basic info like battery status, signal strength, Wi-Fi visible as a top bar
9. Better organization for apps, e.g. based on importance and not just one long list to scroll, why not at least two
I am aware that WP8 is a great improvement and with good tools, but I have to decide what serves my daily needs the best. Is there any major update in the next few months to expect. Any suggestions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So to avoid wasting more thread space criticizing OP:
1. Yes, the BT stack is limited, but what's there works well (other phones have all sorts of issues with BT freezing on connect, etc.)
2. If by "Outlook," you mean Outlook.com or an Exchange server, nothing syncs better with those than WP; same with OneNote; the only thing that would make sense is if you mean data stored in a local PST on the desktop Outlook app, which WP doesn't directly sync to-- valid point, but other platforms don't do native sync at all (or very well) either, so the only real comparison point is Windows Mobile 6.x lol; if you do want to do local Outlook syncing, try Akruto Sync
3. What's limited? Plug in a USB cable, or open your SkyDrive folder, and it's all there
4. Actually you can-- see the "Boxfiles" app
5. Don't know what you mean
6. Don't know what you mean
7. The Calendar app has daily, agenda, and month views, along with to-dos- what more are you looking for?
8. All of that is in the top bar- just tap it
9. That's what start screen pinning is for; the list itself has alphabetical and search functions

Good answer, but please see that DropBox (will try Boxfiles App)or Team Viewer or Dragon and other do not work, As an attorney- (working with very sensitive data) I cannot have data from clients in a cloud, I could loose my shirt. I need a weekly calendar which also shows to do and notes like in Outlook.. OneNote on the PC is not fully compatible with OneNote in WP8. I made it work, but it is a work around. In the list of Apps I have at least 10 single letters and when you click on it, it opens the full alphabet, nothing else. SkyDrive is for me only of limit use, A BT Keyboard is a deal breaker, I use the phone in meetings to take notes which later will be part of a client electronic file. Samsung Ativ is a nice phone, basically I like it, but it has to assist and function in my daily work. I do not care to store a lot of music or videos. Miss a good file manager. You mention the top bar, not on the Samsung above the tiles. It shows only the time. Imagine you have a fight with the IRS for hundred of thousand of $$ and I would as your attorney leave documents in your case on SkyDrive.
Thanks and have a great day with your coffee.
By the way, I am for over 10 years a MS Partner.

[email protected] said:
Good answer, but please see that DropBox (will try Boxfiles App)or Team Viewer or Dragon and other do not work, As an attorney- (working with very sensitive data) I cannot have data from clients in a cloud, I could loose my shirt. I need a weekly calendar which also shows to do and notes like in Outlook.. OneNote on the PC is not fully compatible with OneNote in WP8. I made it work, but it is a work around. In the list of Apps I have at least 10 single letters and when you click on it, it opens the full alphabet, nothing else. SkyDrive is for me only of limit use, A BT Keyboard is a deal breaker, I use the phone in meetings to take notes which later will be part of a client electronic file. Samsung Ativ is a nice phone, basically I like it, but it has to assist and function in my daily work. I do not care to store a lot of music or videos. Miss a good file manager. You mention the top bar, not on the Samsung above the tiles. It shows only the time. Imagine you have a fight with the IRS for hundred of thousand of $$ and I would as your attorney leave documents in your case on SkyDrive.
Thanks and have a great day with your coffee.
By the way, I am for over 10 years a MS Partner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
On the top bar, if you tap anywhere in the bar (on the time or anywhere to the left of it), the cell + Wifi + BT + battery status show up. They disappear after a few seconds in the interest of clean design (then show up only when there's a problem, like no signal or low battery). On the app list, in addition to the alphabetical jump-list, there's also a search button at the top-left.
The Calendar app has to-dos (see the "to-do" tab to the right of "agenda"). Week view is indeed missing-- MS should prob implement it in landscape view, as Apple did when it added week view in iOS 5. You can sort of approximate it by tapping month view -> day for each day of the week. Something weird about the month view is that if you look at it carefully on a 720p device in landscape, you'll notice the number of items matches how many you have scheduled for that day, but the actual text is gibberish (lorem ipsum) instead of your actual items, since it's not meant to be visible haha.
I've been a pretty heavy OneNote user- the WP8 app is not the full desktop app by any means, but it's better than what you get on Android or iOS. The local file manager issue is valid-- WP8 does not expose the file system in the interest of simplicity, which does make things less flexible than, say, Windows Mobile. I use SkyDrive as a sort of local drive, since everything in WP8 can save there-- but if you have concerns with consumer cloud services (SkyDrive, Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, etc.) being subpoenable, etc., that's a valid concern.
There is some motion in that space, though-- I know of many law firms that have switched to Office 365 for Exchange/Sharepoint/etc. (which is a lot more data than just files in SkyDrive), since the uptime and security is actually better than what they had in-house (http://www.microsoftbusinesshub.com/Industries/Legal). That includes "SkyDrive Pro," the Sharepoint file store.
If I can suggest something, take a look at the Surface RT, with the Type Cover. You'll get a full-blown Windows experience, with local files, full-blown Office 2013 (minus x86 macros) with desktop OneNote, etc., and a great keyboard, but 10-hour battery life, in a 1.5 lb form factor. There's a TeamViewer app for WinRT, and you can access almost anything a full PC can (here on XDA, people have even ported x86 desktop apps and an x86 emulator). I generally carry the Surface + WP8 everywhere now-- phone for quick stuff and Surface for longer content.

[email protected] said:
You can be sure not a troll nor stupid. I use mobile phones from the beginning and can very well distinguish pros and cons. We can and do build out own servers and use the phone as a business tool. Just see what MS did with the BT stack, incomplete, you cannot connect a simple keyboard which is needed when taking notes in conferences, Using the cloud for confidential information is a nono, DropBox does not work with WP8.... Me or someone else calling stupid shows where your standard is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Androids bt stack is also incomplete. Most of the other things you mention are there. If its trully business usage you want then buy a WM device, not even your beloved android comes close to wm. The only thing wm doesn't do better is games and video playback and most of that is down to crap drivers from the oems
Sent from my Arc using xda app-developers app

Thanks for your answer but you should not imply like "not even your beloved android comes close to wm" never used it. You asked "And what exactly isnt working with One Note on PC and ur Phone?" On the PC I have in One Note a personal and office section. The office section can only be seen with Sky Drive.Why not having both section direct in the Phones One Note without Sky Drive. Any suggestion? I guess it is possible but do not know to get it done. It seems Logitech will bring a compatible Keyboard for the Ativ,
Calendar, I use Week View 8 what does the most I need, but you cannot change there appointments or to dos, you have to go through agenda.. We have Office 365 and have until today nit made a final decision.A replacement for Team Viewer not found except you run it through Internet Explorer.I will always listen and learn and keep things in an appropriate way.

[email protected] said:
Thanks for your answer but you should not imply like "not even your beloved android comes close to wm" never used it. You asked "And what exactly isnt working with One Note on PC and ur Phone?" On the PC I have in One Note a personal and office section. The office section can only be seen with Sky Drive.Why not having both section direct in the Phones One Note without Sky Drive. Any suggestion? I guess it is possible but do not know to get it done. It seems Logitech will bring a compatible Keyboard for the Ativ,
Calendar, I use Week View 8 what does the most I need, but you cannot change there appointments or to dos, you have to go through agenda.. We have Office 365 and have until today nit made a final decision.A replacement for Team Viewer not found except you run it through Internet Explorer.I will always listen and learn and keep things in an appropriate way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like vnc better then teamviewer personally. Ive never had as problem with one note or outlook syncing. I also enjoy the android os on my tablet. Perhaps that might be a solution for you. I use my Aviv s to provide internet to my android tablet.
Sent from my A100 using xda app-developers app

mcosmin222 said:
If there is one thing that WP does infinitely better than Android, that is protecting your privacy.
Hell, on android you can even get spyware and trojan downloaded from the marketplace, and you will never even know it. If you want privacy, go for WP and stick with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL.......it seems that 95% of WP apps require access to your location, and they send this also to Microsoft. Having access to my location is fine, as long as it makes sense.

Darkjamzi said:
LOL.......it seems that 95% of WP apps require access to your location, and they send this also to Microsoft. Having access to my location is fine, as long as it makes sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cause yeh LOL google maps location process doesn't run like 100% if time in the background on ANY android phone.

Cobwebs growing on Windows phone 8 blogs and forums

At least with windows 7.x you could switch ROMs and side load useful apps, with this safeboot thing and Microsoft's lame attitude to give us more of the features and apps that we want it's no wonder why Windows Phone 8 fourms and blogs are so boring. Way to go Microsoft.

Agreed. I used to come here every day but, now it's once a week (kind of how it was on PPCgeeks.com). No roms, No interop unlocks, no unlocks period.
If you want more discussion about WP8, I suggest going to WPcentral.com...It's pretty active over there...
I really wish a hack of some type would hit, this is getting old. I just want my custom colors back (like I have with WP7).... Advanced Config I miss you !!!

Nobody has been able to find an exploit yet , but I don't really mind lack of activity in forms though as long as cobwebs don't settle upon the entire ecosystem itself we'll be fine

DavidinCT said:
Agreed. I used to come here every day but, now it's once a week (kind of how it was on PPCgeeks.com). No roms, No interop unlocks, no unlocks period.
If you want more discussion about WP8, I suggest going to WPcentral.com...It's pretty active over there...
I really wish a hack of some type would hit, this is getting old. I just want my custom colors back (like I have with WP7).... Advanced Config I miss you !!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I agree that WP Central has lost more action going on but it's all the same stuff; I mean how many reviews of itsdagram, Facebook, Angry Birds and Skype can one handle before they get bored.
I always use to wonder why XDA turned into Android forum almost over night; now I know why its thanks to Microsoft. I feel sorry for Nokia though they took a big risk and now MS is being stubborn.

sinister1 said:
Yea I agree that WP Central has lost more action going on but it's all the same stuff; I mean how many reviews of itsdagram, Facebook, Angry Birds and Skype can one handle before they get bored.
I always use to wonder why XDA turned into Android forum almost over night; now I know why its thanks to Microsoft. I feel sorry for Nokia though they took a big risk and now MS is being stubborn.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, it's the same *****ing over there sometimes. Don't get me wrong, it's a good site if you want new and useful Windows Phone news. This site used to be a WM haven, just like PPCgeeks was. As that is all there was at the time, we had WM and BB...they were all mainly used by business people or hackers like ourselves.
WP7.x was pretty hackable after a while (with custom roms for most phones and interop unlock for about 90% of the models) so it was pretty active but, now with everyone moving to WP8 (ex WP7 users and converts) and No hacks yet, it's slowed down to almost nothing.
Android is mostly hackable and most phones have or NEED a custom rom, so this became a haven for Android users. And for now, as long as they are not going in this area and trolling, there is no issue with it or at least, I don't have an issue with it.
I do think it's a matter of time, they will find a exploit in WP8. I know why MS locked it down, once WP7 was hacked, it opened the doors for the pirates and some people took advantage if it. Sure there was some cool underground apps but, it just opened the system for the pirates. They wanted to lock down WP8 to make the higher end DEVs come and create the apps and games people want, to grow the system.
Nokia was paid pretty well to make a change to WP and over all they are doing very well with it...and their market is growing.
I'm stil deciding if I am going to pick up the Lumia 928 or stick with my HTC 8X(full price, Not giving up my unlimited data)....Hmmmmm... I just wish I could use Advanced Config to get my custom tile colors back

^stick with 8x at least till Nokia world sometime in September because surprises are on its way

Personally I like the very secure nature of my windows phone, I have rimmed more than my share of devices over the years, so its kind of refreshing to k ow this nuts hard to crack. Nokia did take a big risk but I think its been good for both companies. Nokia has done well with exclusive apps in a starved market and there devices are aimed well at a growing group of android overloaded users. With apps like tumble, netflix, Hulu and others coming over the devices are getting more main stream support and with time that will pay good dividends too. All in all I have found little reason to "root" this device other than for the hell of it. They come pretty lean on apps out of box. The biggest thing people seem to be trying to do is get tethering to work without paying out to a carrier for it. Personally if that's basically the reason your wanting to rom so bad, go back to android its far easier get going. I ramble now though, to sum up phone runs great unrommed, clean eco system and very secure setup makes for an all around pleasant device. I think special rimming is more or less unneeded for these devices. Been running unrommed windows mobile 7 and 8 now for about two years collectively. Have android tablets all rommed and a s3 rommed as a backup device.
Sent from my RM-878_nam_usa_100 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

Meh... I considered WP7 without hacks to be nigh-unusable, even though I stuck with a stock ROM. No way to have apps open files automatically, for example (but I could manually add the registry entries, and could write apps that knew how to handle them). No way to access the filesystem (but I could sideload Kindle ebooks using homebrew file managers). No way back up app data or messages (except with homebrew). Minimal control of theming (as a class, this was one of the biggest homebrew categories). No real control over multitasking (I like that the default behavior is so conserving of battery life, but sometimes I don't *want* Puzzle Quest 2 or Fruit Ninja to have to go through its entire launch process just because I switched tasks or let the phone sleep for a bit!). Severe limit on sideloaded apps (I have over 30 of them, counting small utilities that that I developed, and not counting outdated versions, redundent apps, or anything else I removed). No listener sockets (though this didn't require a very fancy hack). No C++ code reuse (same as the server sockets). No way to tell how much space each app was using (but there's a homebrew for that).
WP8 fixes many of the worst problems. We can now register filetype handlers (though Kindle still doesn't register .MOBI or .PRC, so no more sideloading my ebooks for now...), use native code (with restrictions, but it's better than the default on WP7), and theme our phones (well, a litttttle bit more than before; still not enough). They added some much-requested features (SMS backup, variable text size, ability to control the browser app bar at least a bit, WiFi on while sleeping, Skype integration) and of course the change in OS brought many other improvements (multi-core, removable SD cards, higher resolutions, etc.). However, it still has some big problems of its own. True multitasking is still very limited. Data backup is still iffy. Still no filesystem access (or ability to do anything outside an app sandbox except the official Settings tools). Still very limited sideloading.
I promise you, though, people are working on it. I'm one of them, and several of the other names you know from WP7 hacking are as well.

People like GoodDayToDie & netham45 make the windows forums so much fun to follow

nikufellow said:
^stick with 8x at least till Nokia world sometime in September because surprises are on its way
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea but, I am on Verizon....After a release of a model it will take 6 months for Verizon to get a phone that is almost outdated on release.
The 8X is so limited on space that it's driving me nuts, If I find app or game I want to try, I have to uninstall a Paid app to install it. It's getting too old. 8X on format is 11.5gb and the Lumia 928 is 23.5gb, a little over double the space might be worth it, depending on what I can get it for, of course.

The blogs are dead because places like XDA that centralize around modding your phone to improve performance isn't necessary when WP8 software already performs flawlessly. Go to blogs like WPCentral and the Windows Phone community is alive and well swapping out our black Lumia shells for yellow and talking about games and apps. Pretty much doing what we should be doing on a phone, not repairing phones that came broken.

Flawlessly? Ahahahahaha
Still no app data backup machanism.
Still no custom themes.
Still no way to sideload XAP files (unless they are "company apps") without a PC.
Still no filesystem access.
Still no way to control the permissions an app has (what if I want to use the app, but don't want to give it access to my camera?)
Still no way remove "Settings" apps.
Still no way to do true multitasking (not the restricted and often crippled things that the official APIs call multitasking).
Still no way to overwrite file associations (you can choose them when opening a file that multiple apps claim to support, but that's it).
Still no way to change the default browser or email client or dialer.
Still no way to install apps to the SD card.
Still have only limited access to Bluetooth.
Still no way to browse, much less edit, the registry.
Still no way to sideload large numbers of (non-"company") apps.
...
Seriously, go look at the list of things that are possible with WP7 homebrew (never mind WinMo or Android or iOS), and then see how many of them are possible with WP8 right now. It's a joke. MS added some (much needed) features, but also took away some things that I think are vitally important, and took away our ability to re-create them for the new OS... unless and until we break it as we have broken OSes in the past.
You imply that WP8 didn't come "broken" and therefore doesn't need modding? Bull.

I've been wanting to root/unlock my Lumia for one purpose only, sideloading my own developed apps. It's gruesome to try an app in the emulator all the time, but in a month that will be fixed with an AppHub account. And after that my real purpose for rooting/unlocking is gone.
Always fun to see what's possible on the unlocked device though, code-wise.
Sent from my Lumia 920 using Board Express

GoodDayToDie said:
Flawlessly? Ahahahahaha
Still no app data backup machanism.
Still no custom themes.
Still no way to sideload XAP files (unless they are "company apps") without a PC.
Still no filesystem access.
Still no way to control the permissions an app has (what if I want to use the app, but don't want to give it access to my camera?)
Still no way remove "Settings" apps.
Still no way to do true multitasking (not the restricted and often crippled things that the official APIs call multitasking).
Still no way to overwrite file associations (you can choose them when opening a file that multiple apps claim to support, but that's it).
Still no way to change the default browser or email client or dialer.
Still no way to install apps to the SD card.
Still have only limited access to Bluetooth.
Still no way to browse, much less edit, the registry.
Still no way to sideload large numbers of (non-"company") apps.
...
Seriously, go look at the list of things that are possible with WP7 homebrew (never mind WinMo or Android or iOS), and then see how many of them are possible with WP8 right now. It's a joke. MS added some (much needed) features, but also took away some things that I think are vitally important, and took away our ability to re-create them for the new OS... unless and until we break it as we have broken OSes in the past.
You imply that WP8 didn't come "broken" and therefore doesn't need modding? Bull.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If there is one thing I do not understand about the new SDK APIs, is why on earth an app can not register itself to open file formats reserved by the system. IMO thats the most retarded idea ever implemented in the history of computing. And to make the retarded thing completely retarded, they made it so most common files are handled by system apps, so you can not override the file association.
I am really wondering what is microsoft going to do about these things. If they really want a marketplace full of games, facebook, youtube and instagram apps, then they should stick to their current plan. WP will never get useful in a broad sense.
I hope the update this fall brings new stuff, otherwise the platform will die soon.

GoodDayToDie said:
Flawlessly? ... You imply that WP8 didn't come "broken" and therefore doesn't need modding? Bull.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although I don't agree with much of his bill-of-particulars, I have to agree with GDTD's sentiment.
Probably, modders need to correct deficiencies. I'm down with MS or anybody else who steps up. I'm in no hurry to crack my OS open right now, though.
I am especially offended at Microsoft's pitiful PDF reader attempt. And some of the apps in the store make me squint. I want to see the author "Google" emblazoned on my YouTube app, not a third party dev. I sure hope MS is putting these apps under a microscope.

The joy of homebrew (and of a developer forum, like this one) is, even if your goals are different from mine, it's possible for you to make your own changes to the device. It's yours; you control it. That's what security *means*, or at least what it's supposed to mean: you (the owner) are in control of what happens.
Ever since the iPhone, though, the trend has been twoards more and more lockdown, taking control away from the device owner and branding this as "security". I don't like it, so I aim to break it. Ideally, we break it in ways that only work with a local attack; I don't want somebody else able to control my device (that really would be the opposite of security)... but I do want to control it myself!

Part of the problem is that there have been no updates in recent months. Portico came out, Nokia dropped some new firmwares last month. But largely, nothing has changed in WP8 since launch. Personally, I find that boring. Maybe I should have an Android phone on the side to keep me entertained with updates, but I find Windows Phone much more usable day-to-day.
It has been more than 6 months since the WP8 launch, and GDR1 didn't really add much. Microsoft should have planned to have GDR2 out by now, even if it meant postponing some features for GDR3. I think most of us would rather have small quarterly updates to WP8, rather than a massive upgrade once a year. It's starting to feel like WP7 and the Mango anticipation all over again, now that it sounds like WP8.1 might be delayed into 2014. Hopefully they come through with their vaporware enthusiast program to keep our attention in the meantime.

I agree with the OP. Cobwebs on this side of the section totally. A thread in a week may be? But there is something I often read on many forums. People who are happy (I know it's a very wide term) with their devices, I.e don't run into problems with their devices, see no need to lurk around. So actually, it is a good sign. It shows how well-thought after a WP device is.
And GoodDayToDie, even though I agree with everything u've noted down, I don't quite believe WP needs all of that.
Still no app data backup machanism. - Umm...Data Sense?
Still no custom themes. - Fair Enough, but again, WP IS NOT meant to be themed to the T
Still no way to sideload XAP files (unless they are "company apps") without a PC. - I believe this is for security reasons.
Still no filesystem access. - Why do you even want that when the system is running flawless, (yes the same word u scorned at.)
Still no way to control the permissions an app has (what if I want to use the app, but don't want to give it access to my camera?) - LOL! You gotta be kidding me right?
Android has the worst permission management I have ever seen in my adult life. Android gives wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy more information out than any OS out there.
Still no way remove "Settings" apps. Umm..u sure u want that?
Still no way to do true multitasking (not the restricted and often crippled things that the official APIs call multitasking). Multi-tasking is really good with WP8.
Still no way to overwrite file associations (you can choose them when opening a file that multiple apps claim to support, but that's it). - Fair enough, but not a deal breaker either.
Still no way to change the default browser or email client or dialer. - I believe you are again entering the territory of themeing, already replied above. Every OS comes with it's own email client. I don't see the point here.
Still no way to install apps to the SD card. - Fair enough. By far the best point in your list.
Still have only limited access to Bluetooth. - In what way?
Still no way to browse, much less edit, the registry. - Again, WHY? WHy mend it when it's not broken.
Still no way to sideload large numbers of (non-"company") apps - U can download the app(paid or otherwise) from the App store on your computer, put it on the SD card and say install from the Store App on the phone. Simple?

DataSense has nothing even remotely to do with backing up (and restoring) app data; where'd you get that idea? Vital feature that homebrew eventually made avaialble in WP7 but is missing in WP8.
"IS NOT meant" nothing! Somewhere under all that sandboxing and locked-down UI is a general-purpose OS running on top of highly capable hardware. It's "meant" to be whatever the owner fo the device *wants* it to be, including (in the case of many, many people if the popularity of WP7 homebrew apps is any sign) theming. Stop being an apologist for Microsoft; it's one thing to say "extensive theming wasn't implemented because other features were higher priority" but when you start trying to tell me that I'm not supposed to theme it, you seriously need to put down the Kool-Ade. Besides, the very claim is ludicrous to the point of disingenious; have you *seen* the WP8 ads? They all stress the customizability of the Start screen. To the point of suggesting you can "meet" a person simply through how they have their phone set up... those ads freaking scream "customize me!" Then you discover there's only a handful of pre-set colors, two background styles, and the ability to mess with the tiles; nothing else.
No, it is quite absolutely *not* for "security" reasons. Security means the owner of the device controlling the device's behavior. If somebody else (like, for example, the manufacturer of the device) is controlling its behavior, that is not security; it's lockdown. The sideloading restriction can only be called security if it's not your device but actually belongs to Microsft. Screw that. Besides, that argument makes no sense anyhow; if I can pay my $99 and sideload with a PC, why can't I sideload without one (or without paying)? The marketplace has DRM to mitigate piracy and that's a darn weak excuse to cripple a device anyhow.
When I can load my Puzzle Quest 2 savegames and other game progress and high scores, copy my PGP keychain, sideload my Kindle ebooks into the Kindle app (yes, this is possible on WP7), extract or replace the built-in audio files, and delete the junk which accumulates in the OS and uses up storage space (without hard resetting the device), then I will stop considering the level of filesystem access a problem. Until then, "running flawless" is quite worthy of scorn indeed.
Wow, I seriously question your reading comprehension. I never mentioned Android in this point, or anywhere else (except to point out that it has a lot of homebrew). But, for your information, the default permissions / capabilities handling in Android is just as broken as in WP8. The difference is that with Android, it is possible (CyanogenMOD did this, for example) to install apps without actually granting them all the permissions they ask for. On WP7, this wasn't properly possible yet, but I was working on a system to do it that hooked the app install process and allowed people to uncheck app capabilities they didn't want to permit.
Um yes, I'd like to remove the non-functioning Samsung apps (until they are fixed) that are taking up space on my phone's storage and making the Settings list longer. I can always re-install them if needed. Every other carrier or OEM app is removable; why should these get special treatment just because they have a field in their app manifest that says "install me in the Settings hub"?
Multitasking - true multitasking, where multiple apps can run at once - is nigh-nonexistent on WP8. Aside from things like audio background agents and once-every-30-minutes-you-get-a-few-seconds-of-CPU-time scheduled tasks, there basically isn't any multitasking (of third-party apps) at all. Fast app switching is *not* multitasking; every app aside from the main one is suspended, unable to do amything until brought into the foreground.
Changing file associations obviusly isn't a deal-breaker, or I wouldn't be using the phone... but definitely a problem. Windows has offered the ability to control file associations since at least Win95, and I think it was possible in 3.1 as well...
Changing the default browser and email client and calendar and dialer aren't "theming" by any conventional definition, but the point made above about theming stands anyhow: it's a matter of personalization. It can also be a matter of functionality (for example, the built-in email client can't handle S/MIME encrypted email at all and has no PGP integration). Or a matter of usability (I use folders a lot; it's a pain needing to expand a menu to get to them)! Or something else... the important point is that it should be possible. Every OS comes with an email client, but every OS except iOS (and WP) allows you to change the default email client, too. This isn't even hard to implement (the relevant registry keys were present on WP7, at least; carrying over the API to control them wouldn't have been hard at all); it's once again a case of Microsoft intentionally restricting what you can do with your phone. If I wanted a mobile OS designed by a control freak, I'd buy an iPhone...
Nothing more really needs to be said here, except that with filesystem access (create a symlink or junction in the apps folder, for example) this would be possible...
Many BT profiles, such as HID devices (for mice and keyboards), are missing from WP8. So far as I know, apps can't use the Headset profile either; the pseudo-turn-by-turn navigation on WP7 would give its instructions via the car's BT if possible, but Nokia/Here Drive must use the phone's speakerphone speaker instead.
When I can change default browser and text editor, create my own themes, enable features that a ROM shipped disabled (have you seen the thread by the guy who can't get visual voicemail?), sideload high-privilege apps (without paying for the privilege), and remove root certificates of CAs that I don't trust (in WP7, these were stored in the registry), then I will stop considering the level of registry access to be a problem.
If they're from the store, they aren't really sideloaded, just downloaded on a different machine. I'm talking homebrew, stuff that the isn't yet, or never will be, or *can't* be (because it breaks some policy of Microsoft's, or requires high privileges to work) put in the store. Besides, many of the most popular WP8 models don't have an SD card slot at all.

GoodDayToDie said:
Flawlessly? Ahahahahaha
Still no app data backup machanism.
Still no custom themes.
Still no way to sideload XAP files (unless they are "company apps") without a PC.
Still no filesystem access.
Still no way to control the permissions an app has (what if I want to use the app, but don't want to give it access to my camera?)
Still no way remove "Settings" apps.
Still no way to do true multitasking (not the restricted and often crippled things that the official APIs call multitasking).
Still no way to overwrite file associations (you can choose them when opening a file that multiple apps claim to support, but that's it).
Still no way to change the default browser or email client or dialer.
Still no way to install apps to the SD card.
Still have only limited access to Bluetooth.
Still no way to browse, much less edit, the registry.
Still no way to sideload large numbers of (non-"company") apps.
...
Seriously, go look at the list of things that are possible with WP7 homebrew (never mind WinMo or Android or iOS), and then see how many of them are possible with WP8 right now. It's a joke. MS added some (much needed) features, but also took away some things that I think are vitally important, and took away our ability to re-create them for the new OS... unless and until we break it as we have broken OSes in the past.
You imply that WP8 didn't come "broken" and therefore doesn't need modding? Bull.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only thing I can agree with you on is the file system, bluetooth, and not being able to override the default apps associations (seriously, the default apps is the most retarded idea ever).

What I am hoping to see on the NEXT major update for WP8

.... It doesn't matter what models you have... but when you tilt your phone to landscape (either way), i'm hoping to see the tiles rotate and be able to scroll either left or right. Now, that would be a great addition as far as feature-wise. Also would like to see a freedom to change or customized accent colors of each tiles to your liking - this would be suhhhweet! Additionally, it would also be nice if we could add or customize wallpapers in the background besides having them Black or White but i think that could compromise a bit of battery life but shouldn't be a major deal. Also wouldn't mind seeing different apps for Lock Screen aside of having to swipe up...
Anything else or ideas that you guys would love/like/hope to see!?.... Take a crack at it!

Yeah, that's not gonna happen; well at least anytime soon. MS just doesn't care what we want, all the care about is about what they want.

I would simply like to see Windows RT instead of Windops phone. Same hardware, why not same OS and apps?

It's not the same hardware.

Custom Notifications

Custom sounds for messages, for different senders, for notifications, and would like to see live apps popping out if there is a change.

sinister1 said:
Yeah, that's not gonna happen; well at least anytime soon. MS just doesn't care what we want, all the care about is about what they want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel like I already heard that from Iphone owners. :3
Maybe they don't add -yet- more features to make what is already there as stable and efficient as possible ?
Sent from my LG-P970 using Tapatalk 2

I still prefer MS over Apple, but I'm not going to give them a pass on this kind of lockdown crap. WP8 is a good utility / tool OS, but there's no reason it couldn't be a general-purpose OS, and yet MS actively fights against that possibility.

Xbox Music Pass in Poland, led light notification, App instalation from SD card, root XD

Install To SD Card
Update App from SD Card
Seperate volume levels for notifications and music
Import bookmarks to IE
More stable FB chat
Skype integration to Message & Phone Hub
Mobile data monitoring (for every device, not just some carriers)
Toast notification logger
Remove "Help & Tips" possible
Select where to "save contact" (Microsoft Account only atm)
Less store restrictions (same app available everywhere on iOS or Droid, but not WP8)
Auto-upload photos to 3rd party (Box.net)
Edit ascii emoticons
End "Nokia Only" non-nokia apps - eg Mass Effect Infiltrator
SD Card & USB Storage Explorer App
Enable and "encourage" global purchase - buy app on WP8, use it on WP8, RT or Win8
Force re-check for apk files on SD Card (so no eject or reboot req)

As for auto-uploading to other Services than SkyDrive. Microsoft won't implement Providers for other Services but WP8 is already able to be Extended in that regard using Apps. So if you have a Box.net App it could Register as an Auto-Upload Provider and you could then configure it to be used instead of SkyDrive.
So basically: the OS supports this right now, it's up to developers to implement it.

CruciasNZ said:
Less store restrictions (same app available everywhere on iOS or Droid, but not WP8)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't say about iOS, but Android does have regional restrictions - Google Currents was limited to certain countries for quite some time. And there are device restrictions which prevent installation of some phone-based apps on a tablet (buy the HD version for an extra $$$), the target Android version is also restricted (hello Samsung and HTC who almost never upgrade devices to the latest Android version).
CruciasNZ said:
Enable and "encourage" global purchase - buy app on WP8, use it on WP8, RT or Win8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows RT/W8 apps are different from WP8 because of a huge difference in screen sizes. It's pretty easy to port apps between WP8 and WinRT, but requires some effort from developers who probably won't give you a free product for the other OS. That's how it's currently with Android apps. When the first iPad was first announced people were making fun of its 2x scaling of iPhone apps or running apps in 1:1 resolution in a tiny box in the center of the screen. So even is MS allow this the results won't be pretty. Syncing between phone and desktop/table would make sense though - IE on Win8 syncs favorites, but IE in WP8 doesn't.

zlogic42 said:
Can't say about iOS, but Android does have regional restrictions - Google Currents was limited to certain countries for quite some time. And there are device restrictions which prevent installation of some phone-based apps on a tablet (buy the HD version for an extra $$$), the target Android version is also restricted (hello Samsung and HTC who almost never upgrade devices to the latest Android version).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
O yeah, there are tons of apps my Nexus 7 cannot get in New Zealand; but it can get textPlus and heyWire, but my WP8 cannot because they are region locked. I want MS to encourage people to make equivalent apps with equivalent region restrictions, right now the markets a bit of a joke from New Zealand
zlogic42 said:
Windows RT/W8 apps are different from WP8 because of a huge difference in screen sizes. It's pretty easy to port apps between WP8 and WinRT, but requires some effort from developers who probably won't give you a free product for the other OS. That's how it's currently with Android apps. When the first iPad was first announced people were making fun of its 2x scaling of iPhone apps or running apps in 1:1 resolution in a tiny box in the center of the screen. So even is MS allow this the results won't be pretty. Syncing between phone and desktop/table would make sense though - IE on Win8 syncs favorites, but IE in WP8 doesn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I am aware of such limitations having had a go at making WP7 apps. I said enable and encourage, not force - if a developer wants to offer it then they can.

sinister1 said:
Yeah, that's not gonna happen; well at least anytime soon. MS just doesn't care what we want, all the care about is about what they want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Almost, its the carriers and OEMS at have ms bent over backwards, ms will do as they told, just not from us
Sent from my Arc using xda app-developers app

I would love them to allow more control over background tasks, the ability to attach any code you want to that task, the ability for processes to properly run in the background (over resume) or lock screen, and the ability to access the music library on demand with more control!

Separate volume controls for media and ringer.
Custom live tile update intervals.
Custom notification sounds.
Landscape mode(won't happen).
Use of entire screen for tiles. Wp8 leaves narrow bars on lumia 920 now.
Jail breaking support for Cydia like apps.
Widgets. Better than live tiles for music apps.

My single biggest gripe is AUDIO PROFILES!!! When I plug in a set of headphones, I expect the OS to remeber what settings I had them on when I last plugged them in...Conversely, When I unplug them, I expect the system-wide audio to auto-magically rever to what I had it set to BEFORE I PLUGGED THEM IN!!!

sinister1 said:
Yeah, that's not gonna happen; well at least anytime soon. MS just doesn't care what we want, all the care about is about what they want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If they added every feature that any old idiot came along and requested, you'd end up with a big old mess.
You'd end up with Android.

"Ending up" with the most popular mobile OS in the world, which is well on its way to being the most popular consumer OS for any form factor, isn't a terrible thing... they should be trying to make a better Android, not trying to make a better iOS. The ways in which WP8 is better than Android right now are almost completely compatible with adding in more features (or, often enough, not locking out so many features that would otherwise already be present)!

MikeyMike01 said:
If they added every feature that any old idiot came along and requested, you'd end up with a big old mess.
You'd end up with Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said.
My only one hang up was no custom text tones. I know it's pretty inane to get upset over, but considering I could make a text tone for phones made 6 years ago, I don't see why this wasn't a feature for all smartphone OS's from the start.

Windows Phone 8.1

So I've been inactive for a little while (partially because there wasn't really much happening that affected me). But I thought now would be a good time to talk about Windows Phone 8.1 and what it will bring (even though we're mostly speculating). The particularly interesting part to me is what will happen to phones such as mine (Ativ S Neo) now that Microsoft is buying out Nokia.
So here are my predictions (some of them are totally random):
1. Microsoft will make launching the camera faster by modeling it after Windows 8.1 (swipe down on lockscreen) however this could be replaced with a notification center, but either way, it will be used.
2. The notification icons can be touched as you're swiping the lockscreen away to launch the respective app. This is a more dubious prediction, but would be nice.
3. Nokia apps could be brought into the fold (integrated fully into Windows Phone). This is more likely to come with a GDR2 update or such since 8.1 is coming out right after the deal closes. It's also a hopeful prediction, but Microsoft had better make it happen.
4. Bigger square tiles. This is something I'm pretty confident about, and would love to see for things like Pictures and People apps, and would be awesome to see what developers do with them.
5. Group messaging. If they don't do this, I swear....
6. Notification center. This is of course going to happen, but what I'd love to see is not swiping down from the top, but perhaps swiping in from the left-hand side, and when you're on the Start screen, it would work beautifully with having the app drawer on the right (left notifications, middle Start, right apps).
7. Also, I'm guessing they'll integrate new app APIs in an effort to get ready for the move to one Windows store. This would also include APIs for Cortana integration, which I'll discuss in a minute.
8. Internet Explorer 11/sync with Windows 8.1. IE 11 is sorta given, but sync is one of those things they'd better do, because it would make my Windows experience even more seamless, and I love the way it happens on Windows 8.1 with multiple computers.
9. Cortana. This is something I can't wait for, and I just hope she integrates REALLY deeply into the Windows ecosystem, and eventually Xbox and Windows 8. First off, I realize Cortana is a codename, but I hope they let you name him/her. This way I can keep Cortana. It would also be sweet if you could make an avatar for her! For this section I'll be making sub-points.
I. However, here's what Cortana should be able to do: cue up music based on what she knows you want to listen to. This way when I'm biking to work, she can cue up some great Imagine Dragons radio for me. Or when I'm biking back I can just ask her to play music and she'll cue up some rap for me.
II. I should be able to talk to her in a natural way, instead of using keywords ("let my girlfriend know where I'm at" and Cortana says "I'm leaving work" or sends a map of where I am).
III. I also really hope the voice sounds natural and works offline. Working offline is probably the number one thing besides accuracy that I want. IV. Cortana shouldn't just be there when I ask her though, she should be ready before I ask. When my girlfriend texts and asks where I am, Cortana should say "your girlfriend wants to know where you are, should I tell her you're leaving work?". Or if I'm looking for a place to eat, Cortana should know from my texts that I'm going out with my girlfriend for a nice evening in San Diego and recommend somewhere based on the kind of food I like and the budget I work with, before I ask her. She should turn herself on before I go out the door and say "here's a place to eat at tonight".
V. Of course this wouldn't be an instant thing. She'd learn you over time, and change as your preferences change.
VI. She should also be situation-aware. For example, if someone from work sends me an email and I ask Cortana to reply, she should draft it in appropriate business language. When I send a Facebook message, it should include appropriate smileys and lingo.
VII. Cortana should be part of the camera experience. If I pull out my phone to take a picture on the beach with my girlfriend, it should already be on the camera app before I unlock (I don't press the camera button, just turn the screen on.) and be able to take pictures when I give my phone to someone else on the beach without them pressing a button. It would be even crazier if I could prop my phone up and Cortana can tell someone to move left or right to get better in the picture.
VIII. She should recognize me. When I speak, she should know by my voice that it's me, or even discretely use the camera now and then to make sure it's me and if not lock someone out.
Anyways, those are my insane Cortana expectations, and they also include many other system features.
10. All-in-one Windows integration, not just sync. Obviously this would be later in the year, with GDR2 or 3 and another Windows 8 update. However, this is when I'm playing music on my phone and open my computer, then the computer automatically starts playing it. I move into my living room and my Xbox turns on and starts playing the music. This wouldn't be just music, but that's an example of what I want to see.
So yeah, my expectations are insane, but I'm guessing I've hit a couple things right.(especially with Cortana, though she's the thing that I set my expectations most ridiculously high on ha). But what do you think? How much of this will be a reality? Is there something I've missed?
And Microsoft, if you're reading this, just do it. Make Cortana blow everything out of the water. :good:

Group messaging has been built into Windows Phone since WP7 (maybe it was Mango, but I think it was actually a release feature...). If your phone doesn't "support" it, that's a problem with your carrier, not the OS or the hardware. (I'm not entirely clear why anybody would use Sprint, honestly; at least AT&T and Verizon have the advantage of network coverage).
I like the notification center ideas. Swipe (pivot) from left could be useful on both the Start screen (opposite of the app list) and on the lock screen (opposite of Kid's Corner), quite possibly.
IE11 is already part of GDR3, I believe... probably IE12 by the time WP8.1 comes out.
New APIs are much needed. I reallllly hope they move towards less lockdown (make it more RT-like, at a minimum, with file pickers and whatnot). Well, or let us bypass this lockdown BS altogether...
Your "Windows integration" thing is kind of weird, for a few reasons. First of all, your phone can already do this (again, this applies all the way back to WP7) by using Bluetooth. I can play music through my laptop, control it through my laptop, etc. automatically; if my desktop had BT it could do the same. Second, the thing that I really want to see with regard to Windows integration is the ability to work like a Windows machine instead of some special second-class-citizen "device". Things like Homegroup support, ideally domain-joining support (not likely, but it would be really nice to be able to sign my phone into the work network and access internal resources seamlessly; this *may* come as part of the VPN functionality), printing support (not sure if WP8 currently supports printing at all, although it can "see" BT printers), Favorites/documents/settings (where applicable) sync (some of this is coming via Skydrive integration, but it *should* be at least as good as Win8.0 managed), solid built-in Remote Desktop support, and that kind of stuff.

GoodDayToDie said:
Group messaging has been built into Windows Phone since WP7 (maybe it was Mango, but I think it was actually a release feature...). If your phone doesn't "support" it, that's a problem with your carrier, not the OS or the hardware. (I'm not entirely clear why anybody would use Sprint, honestly; at least AT&T and Verizon have the advantage of network coverage).
I like the notification center ideas. Swipe (pivot) from left could be useful on both the Start screen (opposite of the app list) and on the lock screen (opposite of Kid's Corner), quite possibly.
IE11 is already part of GDR3, I believe... probably IE12 by the time WP8.1 comes out.
New APIs are much needed. I reallllly hope they move towards less lockdown (make it more RT-like, at a minimum, with file pickers and whatnot). Well, or let us bypass this lockdown BS altogether...
Your "Windows integration" thing is kind of weird, for a few reasons. First of all, your phone can already do this (again, this applies all the way back to WP7) by using Bluetooth. I can play music through my laptop, control it through my laptop, etc. automatically; if my desktop had BT it could do the same. Second, the thing that I really want to see with regard to Windows integration is the ability to work like a Windows machine instead of some special second-class-citizen "device". Things like Homegroup support, ideally domain-joining support (not likely, but it would be really nice to be able to sign my phone into the work network and access internal resources seamlessly; this *may* come as part of the VPN functionality), printing support (not sure if WP8 currently supports printing at all, although it can "see" BT printers), Favorites/documents/settings (where applicable) sync (some of this is coming via Skydrive integration, but it *should* be at least as good as Win8.0 managed), solid built-in Remote Desktop support, and that kind of stuff.
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Unfortunately Group messaging got dropped from Windows Phone on Verizon and Sprint from 7 to 8... I have no idea why.And with the music, I have desktop speakers hooked up to my laptop most of the time, but yeah, that was more a want than a prediction. And I have GDR3 and I don't believe it is an updated IE (I never saw something about that... But I could be wrong. Never noticed any improvements though) and yeah, I think you're very right on the VPN and domain stuff, they'll want to get businesses to want these for employees, and advertising it as working with existing infrastructure would be HUGE.

C-Lang said:
Unfortunately Group messaging got dropped from Windows Phone on Verizon and Sprint from 7 to 8... I have no idea why.And with the music, I have desktop speakers hooked up to my laptop most of the time, but yeah, that was more a want than a prediction. And I have GDR3 and I don't believe it is an updated IE (I never saw something about that... But I could be wrong. Never noticed any improvements though) and yeah, I think you're very right on the VPN and domain stuff, they'll want to get businesses to want these for employees, and advertising it as working with existing infrastructure would be HUGE.
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group messaging was added again on the 928 since gdr2 launched a while ago. I'm not sure if its been corrected with any of the others yet.
On top of that, I'm not all sure what MS has done between GDR3 preview and GDR3 RTM. (NOTE: it auto suggests the word preview after typing GDR3.)
I don't think that way can bet on anything yet for the 8.1 update... MS still is battling uphill, when it comes to a seamless integration with the "one windows experience".
My beef still:
Why wasn't Xbox video integrated at launch and why is MS touting finally as "coming soon" by word from Nokia, not MS announcing the news?
Why isn't MS leaving an option to "unlock" our phones beyond pushing development apps? There is still a quite a large amount of functionality that's missing from WP that's in your good old WM6. I can understand that started from scratch after seeing that the T-Mobile Sidekick UI worked well, while the Kin and the kin 2 for that matter was a flop.
I also have to agree wit @GoodDayToDie about some of the Domain features,, but I'd one up by adding DirectAccess support, after all MS hates being limited to VPNs.
I also recall seeing drivers inside the registry for printing while thinking,
What would I want to print directly from my phone? Photos?
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I'm just not quite sure what Windows Phone's future is yet...
Essentially, I didn't find anything interesting coming out of Abu Dhabi.
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Just another wishlist, that wont happend.
You should be more realistic and read more infos about, what microsoft is going to do with there OS. A wishlist, what u would like to have and how they should done it, is just a wishlist that never will be happend.

dergutehirte said:
Just another wishlist, that wont happend.
You should be more realistic and read more infos about, what microsoft is going to do with there OS. A wishlist, what u would like to have and how they should done it, is just a wishlist that never will be happend.
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Trust me, I've read everything there is to read and included it in my list. I included many realistic expectations, but all threw in a bunch of random stuff that could happen, whether its in the next update or not. Have you even read about Cortana? She's kind of what I described, albeit probably not THAT smart, but that's Microsoft's goal sort of from what we currently know. Now go do some reading before you speak up next time.
According to what has leaked so far, I still see 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, some of 9, and something like 10 as extremely realistic. Sure not everything will happen that way, but from Microsoft's goals and my extensive use of Windows 8/8.1 on multiple laptops/Surface and Surface 2 and my use of WP from WP 7.1 on and my Xbox and what I've seen of the Xbox One (which I've preordered, and watched every video there is to watch) this all could very well happen, although some of it will no doubt be an update or so away.
And as for my Cortana predictions, here's a great article to sum up what I've said and how it lines up with facts as we know them (Microsoft's goals and statements, leaks etc.) and it lines up PRETTY DARN WELL. And I quote Steve Ballmer "deeply personalized, based on the advanced, almost magical, intelligence in our cloud that learns more and more over time about people and the world". I don't know about you, but my predictions sound pretty reasonable to me.

This is not a "preview" in the sense of a "beta". It is, in fact, the RTM build... but in the proper sense of RTM (Release To Manufacturing) where "Manufacturing" here means the phone OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers). The OEMs may further customize things at this point, adding additional packages to the update. It then goes to the mobile operators, why may make yet more tweaks (usually, in my experience, this involves removing some stuff, like the ability to lock the phone to 3G only on AT&T, for example, but they also add their own ringtones and boot screens and similar cruft).
However, the bits from Microsoft are final and released. Those are not changing. I'm sure MS runs pre-release programs (betas) internally, and they had a public beta program for Mango (WP7.5), but it appears that no part of WP8 had any such external program.

1. Microsoft will make launching the camera faster by modeling it after Windows 8.1 (swipe down on lockscreen) however this could be replaced with a notification center, but either way, it will be used.
No yet. Only as second option.
2. The notification icons can be touched as you're swiping the lockscreen away to launch the respective app. This is a more dubious prediction, but would be nice.
Already has this since GDR2 as I know. You can tap on it to open that app from lock screen, swipe notification message in top from left to right side, to hide it.
3. Nokia apps could be brought into the fold (integrated fully into Windows Phone). This is more likely to come with a GDR2 update or such since 8.1 is coming out right after the deal closes. It's also a hopeful prediction, but Microsoft had better make it happen.
No. Nokia wants to be independent and leader. So if all OEM apps will be available for all other WP devices, than Nokia gonna lost part of market share.
4. Bigger square tiles. This is something I'm pretty confident about, and would love to see for things like Pictures and People apps, and would be awesome to see what developers do with them.
Developers, developers, developers only can do with own apps to make similar as People, Pictures. Go ahead.
5. Group messaging. If they don't do this, I swear....
What you mean Group Messaging? SMS or Social Messaging (Twitter/Facebook/Lync/Outlook?) Will be.
6. Notification center. This is of course going to happen, but what I'd love to see is not swiping down from the top, but perhaps swiping in from the left-hand side, and when you're on the Start screen, it would work beautifully with having the app drawer on the right (left notifications, middle Start, right apps).
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7. Also, I'm guessing they'll integrate new app APIs in an effort to get ready for the move to one Windows store. This would also include APIs for Cortana integration, which I'll discuss in a minute.
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8. Internet Explorer 11/sync with Windows 8.1. IE 11 is sorta given, but sync is one of those things they'd better do, because it would make my Windows experience even more seamless, and I love the way it happens on Windows 8.1 with multiple computers.
Will be. This calling ecosystem.
9. Cortana. This is something I can't wait for, and I just hope she integrates REALLY deeply into the Windows ecosystem, and eventually Xbox and Windows 8. First off, I realize Cortana is a codename, but I hope they let you name him/her. This way I can keep Cortana. It would also be sweet if you could make an avatar for her! For this section I'll be making sub-points.
I. However, here's what Cortana should be able to do: cue up music based on what she knows you want to listen to. This way when I'm biking to work, she can cue up some great Imagine Dragons radio for me. Or when I'm biking back I can just ask her to play music and she'll cue up some rap for me.
II. I should be able to talk to her in a natural way, instead of using keywords ("let my girlfriend know where I'm at" and Cortana says "I'm leaving work" or sends a map of where I am).
III. I also really hope the voice sounds natural and works offline. Working offline is probably the number one thing besides accuracy that I want. IV. Cortana shouldn't just be there when I ask her though, she should be ready before I ask. When my girlfriend texts and asks where I am, Cortana should say "your girlfriend wants to know where you are, should I tell her you're leaving work?". Or if I'm looking for a place to eat, Cortana should know from my texts that I'm going out with my girlfriend for a nice evening in San Diego and recommend somewhere based on the kind of food I like and the budget I work with, before I ask her. She should turn herself on before I go out the door and say "here's a place to eat at tonight".
V. Of course this wouldn't be an instant thing. She'd learn you over time, and change as your preferences change.
VI. She should also be situation-aware. For example, if someone from work sends me an email and I ask Cortana to reply, she should draft it in appropriate business language. When I send a Facebook message, it should include appropriate smileys and lingo.
VII. Cortana should be part of the camera experience. If I pull out my phone to take a picture on the beach with my girlfriend, it should already be on the camera app before I unlock (I don't press the camera button, just turn the screen on.) and be able to take pictures when I give my phone to someone else on the beach without them pressing a button. It would be even crazier if I could prop my phone up and Cortana can tell someone to move left or right to get better in the picture.
VIII. She should recognize me. When I speak, she should know by my voice that it's me, or even discretely use the camera now and then to make sure it's me and if not lock someone out.
Too much.................
Anyways, those are my insane Cortana expectations, and they also include many other system features.
10. All-in-one Windows integration, not just sync. Obviously this would be later in the year, with GDR2 or 3 and another Windows 8 update. However, this is when I'm playing music on my phone and open my computer, then the computer automatically starts playing it. I move into my living room and my Xbox turns on and starts playing the music. This wouldn't be just music, but that's an example of what I want to see.
Read my answer of question 8.

Notification icons != notification toasts. The ability to tap on Toasts to open the app has existed since well before WP8.

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