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Why Publishing on the Windows Phone is Like Walking Barefoot On Broken Glass

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Re: Why Publishing on the Windows Phone is Like Walking Barefoot On Broken Glass

#81

Post by gjulianm »

tluyben2 wrote: post #49
majormajor wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's fantastic. Either it'll eventually take off, or else either Apple or Google will copy all the good ideas and I'll switch back. Either way works for me, frankly. (Well, no, that's not entirely true. I'd prefer it take off next year and Nokia survives intact, because nobody else is making hardware that isn't hopelessly bland looking.)

What's fantastic about it? I have a new Lumia (I make apps) and it's really not very great. The hardware is nice, but the software... It looks nice at first but it happens to annoy me no end compared to iOS / Android after a while. I still cannot put my finger on it what that is. It's also massively instable for me; someone here told me that must be hardware issues so I had it replaced; same issues. 3 out of 5 times…

Funny thing. The only time my Lumia crashed it was because I really messed up with the app I was developing.

About space inefficience, with Metro I can see at a glance the most important things. You know, less information density -> more focus.

For me, the best features are fluidness (I still see last generation Android phones which are laggy), the live tiles are great to have all the information at a glance, and I really love the Metro design. Also, the deep integration with Twitter and Facebook makes it a really good system.

Re: Why Publishing on the Windows Phone is Like Walking Barefoot On Broken Glass

#82

Post by gjulianm »

ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #35

Windows might not be worth it for most developers. But it can be very worth while for a few. Some months ago we had someone post how well their app was doing on Windows Marketplace vs Android's and Apple's simply because there's so little competition. In Apple and Andriod's marketplaces their app was just one out of thousands but it was so much easier to find and advertise on Windows' Marketplace that the Windows pho…

Not the exact thing you're talking about:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/30/why-kik-loves-windows-phone...

From the post: Kik, a developer of cross-platform mobile communication apps, says something really strange happened when they launched their Windows Phone 7 application last June: user growth across the iOS and Android platform both accelerated significantly.

Re: Why Publishing on the Windows Phone is Like Walking Barefoot On Broken Glass

#83

Post by CWIZO »

the0x wrote: post #56
CWIZO wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you even read the article? Most of the problems they had was because Microsoft refuses to acknowledge my country. And there exists Microsoft Slovenia FFS! Also he clearly describes what's wrong with Silverlight and app submission form (can't use space, only works in Safari, etc). He also said that they didn't get any specific reasons as to why the app was rejected.

Maybe it was rejected because your 'quip' sounds like your scanning a users data for juice?

Umm I'm not part of the Toshl team. I only know some of the guys. And the give full disclosure: my company is working with Toshl's parent company on some totally unrelated projects.

Re: Why Publishing on the Windows Phone is Like Walking Barefoot On Broken Glass

#84

Post by majormajor »

tluyben2 wrote: post #49
majormajor wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's fantastic. Either it'll eventually take off, or else either Apple or Google will copy all the good ideas and I'll switch back. Either way works for me, frankly. (Well, no, that's not entirely true. I'd prefer it take off next year and Nokia survives intact, because nobody else is making hardware that isn't hopelessly bland looking.)

What's fantastic about it? I have a new Lumia (I make apps) and it's really not very great. The hardware is nice, but the software... It looks nice at first but it happens to annoy me no end compared to iOS / Android after a while. I still cannot put my finger on it what that is. It's also massively instable for me; someone here told me that must be hardware issues so I had it replaced; same issues. 3 out of 5 times…

Comparing my Lumia 900 to my old Evo (HTC):

I greatly prefer the look of the tiles to the widgets/apps mismatch on the home page. And the ability to be able to pin so many different things to the home page from inside of apps, instead of going to a separate "add widgets" section, is very useful... I don't have to think about "oh I should see if this app has a widget I can pin."

I've found the Skydrive Office integration to work much better than the Google Docs app Google provided for Android. Faster loading, better controls, and the ability to pin stuff to the start page with ease. OneNote is also the best note management app on a phone I've ever used.

I really like how they did the "people hub" thing of centralizing all the info/connections you have about someone in one place. (Though it's annoying that the messaging app doesn't support FB "messages", just FB "chat", so I also have the FB app installed in case someone sends me one of those.)

The overal design language is great. (For a good example of a third party app getting it, compare the Android Weatherbug app's UI with the WP7 version.)

I really prefer the use of vertical scrolling on the home page to swiping left/right to get to other home pages—I always forgot about stuff that wasn't on the home page with Android, and find a quick flick to scroll down my whole home page a much better way of seeing everything I want in front of me.

And in my case, it's been far more stable than my Evo ever was.

My biggest complaint is that the gmail client isn't as good.

Re: Why Publishing on the Windows Phone is Like Walking Barefoot On Broken Glass

#85

Post by ars »

jpxxx wrote: post #17
amishforkfight wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who would get offended by that? It's not even close to offensive.

No, it's not offensive at all. But software can cast a net across seven billion people and there are plenty who would be upset at the idea of even the slightest innuendo. It's irrational, it's not fun, and it's kind of a sad commentary on humanity, but these are the rules of the game.

> No, it's not offensive at all....and it's kind of a sad commentary on humanity,

So what you are saying is that if it's not offensive to you then clearly everyone else is wrong?

Re: Why Publishing on the Windows Phone is Like Walking Barefoot On Broken Glass

#86

Post by bringking »

ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #35

Windows might not be worth it for most developers. But it can be very worth while for a few. Some months ago we had someone post how well their app was doing on Windows Marketplace vs Android's and Apple's simply because there's so little competition. In Apple and Andriod's marketplaces their app was just one out of thousands but it was so much easier to find and advertise on Windows' Marketplace that the Windows pho…

I have to agree. I have published 12 apps on Windows Phone and ported 2 to Android and 1 to iOS, and my experience has been exactly that. There is less competition for small developers. My apps are not earth shattering or new in any way, I was just learning how to code and thought it would be cool to try and earn a few extra dollars doing it. The one app I have that is available on all three platforms did substantially better on Windows Phone. In numbers, I got about 1500 to 2000 ad impressions a day for 6-7 months on wp7 which has settled down to about 500 a day after 1.2 years. Android has been consistent at around 1000 a day for 4 months, however the pay out from ad mob vs microsoft pubcenter has been dramatically less. As for iOS, it hit about 2000 impressions the first day and has dive bombed since then. Now steady at about 300 a day. Interestingly it pays the most and the clicks on the ads are massively higher than Android. Like 50 clicks per 300 impressions. I think on iOS the user as so many more options, why would they open my app? If I was a large shop, I would take that into consideration. For reference, the app is called Critter Cards- Toddler if anyone is interested.

Re: Why Publishing on the Windows Phone is Like Walking Barefoot On Broken Glass

#87

Post by the0x »

DejanPelzel wrote: post #67
the0x wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it was rejected because your 'quip' sounds like your scanning a users data for juice?

https://toshl.com/privacy/

I know you have a privacy policy; but I'm just saying someone in certification could take it the wrong way.

Re: Why Publishing on the Windows Phone is Like Walking Barefoot On Broken Glass

#88

Post by ralfn »

graue wrote: post #30
amishforkfight wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who would get offended by that? It's not even close to offensive.

If I heard a joke about naughty toys in a movie? Or some good friends made fun of me while out drinking and said something like that? Sure, no problem. But in a finance app? Not okay. If I'm trusting this company's app to manage my finances, they should show a professional level of distance and respect, and not have some robot joking about my sex life. It's personal, it's potentially insulting, and it's in a context…

> If you want to market a product in those countries you should respect that.

They should. But here's the problem: the subset of things that offend any country in the world, is the superset.

And the cultural and moral values applied, are not 'international'. They are extremely American. And some of the things it outlaws, may be a crucial part of the identity of another culture.

There are cultures that consider females not wearing a headscarf, to be offensive. There are cultures that treat blood (even in cartoon form) like the US would treat a nipple, like Germany. There are cultures, that will be offended, just because the store is open on Sunday.

I live in Holland. We consider Apple's App Store to represent Christian fundamentalism. That's how we call that set of moral values.

Apple risks getting sued for discimination and 'promoting hate', by publishing those guidelines. I wonder what they'll do, when they see that reaction.

Re: Why Publishing on the Windows Phone is Like Walking Barefoot On Broken Glass

#89

Post by tluyben2 »

gjulianm wrote: post #81
tluyben2 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's fantastic about it? I have a new Lumia (I make apps) and it's really not very great. The hardware is nice, but the software... It looks nice at first but it happens to annoy me no end compared to iOS / Android after a while. I still cannot put my finger on it what that is. It's also massively instable for me; someone here told me that must be hardware issues so I had it replaced; same issues. 3 out of 5 times…

Funny thing. The only time my Lumia crashed it was because I really messed up with the app I was developing. About space inefficience, with Metro I can see at a glance the most important things. You know, less information density -> more focus. For me, the best features are fluidness (I still see last generation Android phones which are laggy), the live tiles are great to have all the information at a glance, and I r…

Yes, I have heard that (stability), but when I invite people over to demonstrate said stability I am able to crash the thing every single time. There are apps in the Windows Market which just crash the entire phone when you start them. That shouldn't even be possible? But yeah this is all blahblah and bullshit unless I can show it; I just have a feeling people are not using there phone. When I have a smartphone I LIVE that thing; I use it for work fulltime instead of a laptop; my android or iphone 4 crashed 0 times (at least I cannot remember it as it has been at least 4-5 years since it happened) doing that while the lumia simply crashes 4-5 times per day. And like I said; we develop apps; we have a lot of Windows, Android and iOS devices in the office; the WP ones are by far (with such an annoying stretch and no-one using them that most clients tell us to forget about devving for them) the most instable to work with and develop on.

Re: Why Publishing on the Windows Phone is Like Walking Barefoot On Broken Glass

#90

Post by tluyben2 »

majormajor wrote: post #84
tluyben2 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's fantastic about it? I have a new Lumia (I make apps) and it's really not very great. The hardware is nice, but the software... It looks nice at first but it happens to annoy me no end compared to iOS / Android after a while. I still cannot put my finger on it what that is. It's also massively instable for me; someone here told me that must be hardware issues so I had it replaced; same issues. 3 out of 5 times…

Comparing my Lumia 900 to my old Evo (HTC): I greatly prefer the look of the tiles to the widgets/apps mismatch on the home page. And the ability to be able to pin so many different things to the home page from inside of apps, instead of going to a separate "add widgets" section, is very useful... I don't have to think about "oh I should see if this app has a widget I can pin." I've found the Skydrive Office integrat…

I agree about OneNote; I always liked that. I'll check out weatherbug. Vertical scrolling versus swiping I guess is taste; I find it very annoying to do that quick flick for some reason. But that's just taste.

The email client (the native one; i'm not sure if you mean another one?) is horrible. And that's one of the things I cannot wrap my head around; this is the company who makes the most sold email client/server software in the world right? The native email client is simply buggy and when used as gmail highly instable (I have over 100.000 mails in my inbox; it just crashes randomly). I drank the gmail koolaid and i'm used to it now; I never throw away and I don't use folders. The WP email client really doesn't like that...

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