[AngryNil]

New features are nice. They reel people in. I hear SmartGlass is nice, Lenses are awesome and Wallet could be game changing. But once the smell of fresh paint wears off, everyone will notice the tiny, nagging problems and imperfections. And they add up. You retain your users not only by adding new features to keep them engaged, but by improving existing ones to keep them happy.

Below is a compilation of suggestions for Windows Phone that have not been implemented in its latest iteration, as well as any flaws identified in the new operating system. You can directly contribute to this list by posting your own ideas, and rebutting points you do not agree with. I will keep the compilation updated the best I can by adding new suggestions and scratching off older ones addressed in OS updates or through an existing fix / workaround. However, you may have also run into problems during your time with Windows Phone - please post them here. An open discussion of a problem allows for the community to chime in on possible solutions or workarounds to your dilemma. If there is no logical fix for your problem, it will be added to the list.

Lastly, remember this is just a discussion on a community forum. The input here is fantastic and I appreciate it all, but do add your individual suggestions to the Windows Phone UserVoice site as well. That is a feature suggestion platform that Microsoft itself monitors, so you might even get your feature implemented.

Basics
More consistent landscape behaviour - only select screens seem to support the landscape orientation and many third party apps do not have an animation for screen rotation.
Roll out services globally - Xbox Music Pass, video rentals, voice recognition, Bing cards and Local Scout are not functional in some countries.
Swipe down for status bar - make all apps "full screen" and provide consistent access to the status bar through a downwards swipe from the top edge.
Wireless printing - implement ability to print from the device, particularly for documents.
Flexible app layout - guidelines for apps to handle when notifications and calls are on-screen. Apps should be squashed down rather than overlapped yet still usable.
System-wide tap to top - tap list headings to jump back to the top of the list.
Third party cloud storage integration - allow services such as DropBox, Box and Google Drive to integrate for upload of media and documents.
Roll out DataSense usage monitoring - while the data compression feature of DataSense may need individual carrier approval, there's no reason why the data usage monitoring did not ship on every WP8 device.
Fix problems causing "other" storage category to take up a lot of space - could be due to improper flushing of caches and installations.
USB tethering

Accounts+Settings
Add social services without linking - allow for Facebook and Twitter to be added to the phone without linking them to the primary Microsoft account.
Integrate with more services - integration with Facebook, Twitter, etc. should be fleshed out and should be expanded to more services.
System-wide orientation lock
Order settings page more logically - settings are not in any sort of order.
Expand brightness options - brightness is limited to three levels, and on AMOLED devices the "low" setting is still far too bright.
Add "never" option to screen time out - this can be useful for playing music.
Allow for primary Microsoft account to be renamed without requiring a hard reset
Optional permanent status bar - provide the option for the status bar to be stay visible at all times.
Battery status as a percentage - add option to show the battery percentage in the status bar rather than the icon.
Monday as start of the week - was in WP7.
ISO 8601 date format - YYYY-MM-DD, was in WP7.

Alarms+Stopwatches+Timers
Simple once-off alarm - add ability to quickly set a once-off alarm, rather than having to configure a preset through a multi-field entry screen.
Open up ringtone/alert sounds directory - allow for third party apps to add and use sounds from a common directory, particularly useful for timers and alarms.

Backup+Migration
Backup app data - provide universal method to back up app data, whether through the cloud (SkyDrive) or locally (sync software).
Batch app migration - simple process to install all apps that are on an existing device to a new one.
Better purchase history - provide more metadata, filtering and sorting for the purchase history. Provide installation information (how long an app has been installed, last installed date), filter by free/trial/paid and app/game, sort by last installed date.
Start screen sync

Calendar
Improve agenda (day) view - can be very confusing to navigate and is not always clear where you are at and where you will be navigating to.
Week view - a structured week view is not available.
Enhance month view - month view does not provide any useful information about scheduled tasks and appointments.
Simple appointment scheduler - scheduling an appointment is currently a multi-step procedure that requires swiping, tapping and keyboard input, especially when a custom timeframe has to be defined. It would be preferable if the process can be simplified.
Temp fix: Apollo's SaveAppointmentTask launcher could allow for a third party app with this functionality. Via Windows Phone Geek
More appointments on Live Tile - only displays one appointment on the Live Tile.
Fully fledged task implementation - tasks in Outlook are powerful, tasks in Windows Phone are minimal.

Camera
Quick adjustments - you have to wade through a menu to access settings such as ISO, provide an easier method to configure these adjustments.
On-screen camera button - this is already possible through registry tweaks in WP7. It allows for instant capture without shake.

Connectivity
Accessible connectivity toggles - it is difficult to quickly toggle WiFi, mobile data, etc. This could be solved by a dropdown from the status bar or by allowing individual settings to be pinned as Live Tiles.
Persistent WiFi - WiFi disconnects when the device is off and not charging. Tests have already proven that WiFi does not significantly drain the battery if left on, so this is an arbitrary restriction.
10/12/12: Portico adds an option for persistent WiFi. Via WPCentral
VPN support
Native DLNA support
Support more Bluetooth profiles - for example HID (keyboards) and SPP (Pebble smartwatch).
CalDAV / CardDAV support
Future fix: software update before August 2013 will bring CalDAV and CardDAV support. Via Windows Phone Blog
Support WPA2 Enterprise encryption

Email
Select all - you cannot easily select all emails in any particular view / folder.
Improved Gmail support - generally poor support for Gmail's folder structure and labels.
"Always download images" option - images must be manually downloaded on a per-email basis, regardless of the sender. There can also be an option to only allow automatic image download on WiFi.
Consistent navigation hierarchy with folders - pressing back while in a custom folder will take the user back to the start screen instead of the email inbox.
Show next email after deleting - option to display the next email when one is deleted, rather than going back to the inbox / folder.
Outlook.com alias support - allow for email to be sent to and from aliases without needing them to be added separately.
Change sender option - let the user choose what email address to send from, especially in the cases of Outlook.com and aliases.
Temp fix: Outlook.com's web interface allows for the default sender address to be changed to any alias as a semi-fix. Via a5cent & Gorki247
Support for S/MIME standard
Fix tile counter - tile counter resets when an inbox is opened, even when the unread emails are not opened.

Hardware Buttons
Windows button light as notification LED - capacitive Windows buttons will strobe (flash on and off) or breathe (fade in and out) when there is a new (lock screen) notification.
Adjust hardware button lights
Disable hardware button lights during video playback
Adjust hardware button vibration

Internet Explorer
Easy desktop/mobile switching - annoying to switch between desktop and mobile views. This should preferably be offered on a per-site basis, which will help aid problems where particular sites incorrectly send mobile IE to a WAP version.
Speed dial - a blank new tab page is an incredible waste of space. It would be nice to have some favourites displayed, or addresses you navigate to often.
More visible controls - Microsoft insists that having only one bar of controls is an advantage. It isn't. Just about every other browser allows for quick access to a favourites list, tab switching, address bar and stop/reload in one tap or gesture. It's an unnecessary limitation and if Microsoft desires a more full-screen web, it should just add a full-screen mode.
Navigation controls - add buttons or swipe gestures to go forward and back in the browser. Hardware back button is inconsistent and is not preferable for a browser.
Text reflow - no option to reflow text based on the width of the screen, particularly helpful for sites with fixed content frames built for the desktop.
Remove blank tabs - there are often blank tabs left open, for example when the browser is used to open a YouTube link. They serve no purpose and should just be automatically closed when not active.
Open links in background tab
Folders in favourites
Resuming from tile should keep navigational history - after resuming from the IE tile, the back button should take you back within the browser instead of taking you to the start screen.
Support HLS protocol - streaming protocol necessary for services such as iPlayer.

Keyboard
Gesture typing - Swype is a great option to have.
Number row - no option to have a number row above the usual QWERTY layout.

Kids Corner
Fix locking bug - Kids Corner gets locked with the phone's pin code.

Live Tiles
Quick actions on Live Tiles - allow for some quick actions to be executed or accessed directly from the tile, such as replying to a new text message.
More layout options - Live Tiles are fairly restricted in terms of layout. Provide a wider range of animations (sliding and scrolling?) and layouts.
Groups and dividers - allow for grouping of tiles with the use of dividers and naming.

Lock Screen
Revert to media controls on the lock screen - WP8 (and 7.8) removed the media controls from the lock screen and changed it to an automatic drop-down when the screen is turned on. This interferes with toast notifications and is an inconvenience.

Mapping
Hands-free voice navigation - screen has to be tapped for the next direction to be spoken.
More map shown when navigating - default Maps app fills most of the screen with oversized directions.
Bing transit directions - already available for other platforms.

Messaging
Select all - allow for the user to select all message threads with a menu option.
10/12/12: Portico brings select all to messaging. Via WPCentral
Search - allow SMS and MMS to be searched, whether within the app or through a universal search implementation.
Drafts
10/12/12: Portico adds SMS drafts. Via WPCentral
Select text - allow for the usual text highlighting to select a portion of text within a message.
Fix tile counter - tile counter resets when the messaging app is opened, even when the unread messages are not opened.

Music+Videos
Scrubbing in audio playback view - allow for movement to a particular section in an audio file. This might not be a huge deal for music, but is annoying for podcasts.
Cancel audio playback - allow audio controls to be removed from the volume drop-down without the use of a third party app like Stop The Music!
Music library and playback should be one app - music playback is currently a separate app, which means you can't always press the back button to return to the library from it.
Clear history in Music hub
Gapless audio playback
FM radio
Better playlist management - allow for playlists to be created, edited and streamed easier.
Fix buggy podcast subscriptions - users syncing podcasts with iTunes are unable to subscribe to podcasts on the phone.
Temp fix: you can regain on-device subscription functionality by removing the synced podcasts or through a hard reset. Via thor_molecules
Lyrics support
Better rating system - allow for star ratings as opposed to the current like / dislike heart system.
Support for more media formats
Add podcasts through URL
Fix Xbox Music DRM issues
Add Xbox Video support

Multitasking
Resume apps instead of relaunching them - apps relaunch when opened from the application list or from a tile. They should resume per standard practice on smartphones.
29/10/12: Apollo allows developers to implement this optionally. Via Mystictrust
Mandate multitasking methods - fast app switching and fast app resume need to be automatically implemented during compilation. Developers should not be left to implement these features themselves.
Fast app resume from toast notifications
Improve task switcher efficiency - task switcher cannot even fit two apps on the screen at once, which limits its usefulness as a true multitasking tool.
Close apps from task switcher - add an app bar button or gesture to the task switcher so apps can be closed.
Gesture based app switching - allow for an edge or multi-finger gesture to switch between apps quickly, à la Windows 8.
Background download agent - create a background download agent that apps can utilise to complete downloads in the background. The agent can be triggered on a schedule (a podcatcher refreshing its feed once a day) or when an app is open (preloading a video on YouTube).

Notifications
Toast notification aggregation - once toasts are missed, they are gone forever. Toasts should be collected in a notification centre of sorts.
Improve toast notification reliability
Enhance social notification list - the social notifications screen in the Me tile can be brought to the left of the tiles on the start screen. It can be enhanced with in-line manipulation and integration with third party apps.
Allow more notifications on lock screen - there is currently a maximum of five quick status apps and one detailed status app. This could be made scrollable.

Office
Optional OneNote syncing - OneNote will hold up other tasks by insisting on syncing notes when you exit them, which can be extremely slow in areas of poor coverage.
Local syncing - Office files cannot be synced between PC and phone, only through SkyDrive.
29/10/12: Apollo brings drag and drop file management for documents, music, pictures, ringtones and video. Via WinSuperSite
Undo in applications
Expand Word feature set - Word is nothing more than a glorified notepad on Windows Phone. Add more functionality.
People
Deeper Skype integration - add Skype as a system account and allow for calls to be made through the People hub.

Phone
Speed dial - quickly dial favourite contacts using speed dial.
Predictive dialing - dialer should display possible matches stored in contacts.
Grouped history - allow call history to be grouped by contact.
Single gesture accept / decline - accept or decline phone calls in one gesture, even from the lock screen.
Show call length in history
Reject calls with SMS
10/12/12: Portico provides SMS Call Reject. Via WPCentral
Support voicemails in WAVE format (.wav)

Search
Universal search - search is limited to web searches and searching other content requires you to jump into individual apps with inconsistent placement of the search button.
Google via search button - allow for the search app launched through the search button to direct web searches to Google.

Sounds
Remove custom ringtone restrictions - custom ringtones must be tagged as a ringtone, cut to a certain length and compressed to a certain size.
29/10/12: Apollo allows for audio files to be added to the device as a ringtone through the Windows Phone app without such restrictions. Via Mystictrust
Per-app toast sounds - allow apps to add custom sounds for their toast notifications.
Provide on-device ringtone management - existing music files on the device cannot be set to be used as a ringtone if not synced across as so.
Separate volume controls - there is only one volume setting for music playback, app volume and ringer volume. At the very least, there should be an option to separate the ringer volume.
Option for fewer volume levels - 30 volume levels takes perhaps unnecessary time to move through, fewer levels could work. (I've personally been using just 10 with a registry hack and it works great.)
Custom alert sounds - add ability to use custom audio files for alerts and other sound producing system events.
Sound profiles - provide a few basic sound profiles that can be configured, and perhaps even change based on time and geolocation.
More toggles in volume drop-down - pressing on the round icon will present a list that will allow you to quickly switch between ring, ring+vibrate, vibrate and silent.
Custom SMS message tones - assign custom tones to contacts for SMS.

Storage
Expand SD card capabilities - allow for the SD card to store email attachments, documents and podcasts.
Apps on SD card - if possible without major compromises, allow for apps to be installed on the SD card. (Else, ban the 8S from sale. Seriously.)

Store
Easily identified incompatibilities - users currently have to select an app to see if it is compatible with their device. Incompatible apps should be flagged as such in all views (featured apps, lists within categories and search, etc).

Syncing
WiFi sync
Podcast support in Xbox Music
Auto-playlists
Sync companion app for Windows 7
Bundle MTP drivers in Mac client - Media Transfer Protocol allows the native file explorer to access the device, similar to mass storage.

TellMe
Voice dictation for text boxes system-wide
Natural language parsing

[AliNSiddiqui]

How can you be so sure that WP8 doesn't support Persistent Wi-Fi? I have been googling all day in hopes to find some information on this, so how do you know for sure?

[AngryNil]

How can you be so sure that WP8 doesn't support Persistent Wi-Fi? I have been googling all day in hopes to find some information on this, so how do you know for sure?

I don't know for sure. But I've been following Windows Phone since February 2010 and I'm betting against it, and your presumably fruitless search probably lends credence to that. WP Central have these WP8 devices already, and since this site has covered the WiFi problem in past, I'd expect they would have picked up on this if anything had changed.

Basically, it's almost futile to hope a little problem you have with the OS is going to be fixed. That just seems to be the way the Windows Phone team works, and I'm wondering how many negative points will have to be brought up in reviews until they open their eyes. Of course, if I'm wrong I'll gladly update the post.

[alpinestars1z]

I don't know for sure. But I've been following Windows Phone since February 2010 and I'm betting against it, and your presumably fruitless search probably lends credence to that. WP Central have these WP8 devices already, and since this site has covered the WiFi problem in past, I'd expect they would have picked up on this if anything had changed.

Basically, it's almost futile to hope a little problem you have with the OS is going to be fixed. That just seems to be the way the Windows Phone team works, and I'm wondering how many negative points will have to be brought up in reviews until they open their eyes. Of course, if I'm wrong I'll gladly update the post.

Yeah it seems like they're too busy working on new features and switching from the CE kernel to NT that they don't have time for these minor "problems."

About the new kernel, the pocketnow review says that a lot of the work that went into WP8 was to implement the new kernel and core, and that is going to simplify development of newer versions.

So I hope that means that for future versions, because they're not busy trying to port a new kernel, they'll have time to fix things that we find minor (major to some people) annoyances.

[AliNSiddiqui]

I don't know for sure. But I've been following Windows Phone since February 2010 and I'm betting against it, and your presumably fruitless search probably lends credence to that. WP Central have these WP8 devices already, and since this site has covered the WiFi problem in past, I'd expect they would have picked up on this if anything had changed.

Basically, it's almost futile to hope a little problem you have with the OS is going to be fixed. That just seems to be the way the Windows Phone team works, and I'm wondering how many negative points will have to be brought up in reviews until they open their eyes. Of course, if I'm wrong I'll gladly update the post.

What about orientation lock? Does WP8 have that? Oh and I think you should add the fact that battery and WiFi don't show up all the time and you almost always have to press the start button to view them.

[Squachy]

i still think they should just put the "notification center" in the Me tile.
Its got "profile", "notifications" and "whats new" categories.

"Notifications" currently hold all the social updates
"whats new" seems to be nothing more than all the status updates YOU made.
"Profile" well..its just the section you can post your updates and check ins and all that useless stuff.

They just need to move the current "notifications" into the "whats new" section, and then turn the "notifications" section into a true notification center, with all the toast updates, missing or not.

The drop down status bar (with the wifi and battery life icons and whatnot) could just be a toggle between 'dropdown' and 'always' on in the settings somewhere.

[nizzon]

Great thread!

- Orientation lock
- More than one appointment on lockscreen and calendar-tile (I missed a meeting today because of this, no bs) Maybe the new "live wallpaper" will solve this, but I doubt it, I have lost faith.
- Improved Music Player, If entering Music Player from audio control I cant get back to "all albums/artist" without going back to start and going through the Music Hub. Why is there no direct link?
- Settings page not in alphabetic order, I hate this chaotic page, still scrolling up and down like a mad man after two years of use.
- True Dark Theme for email - this setting should come from the global theme setting and an exception should be available for white, not the other way around. The implementation of this in WP8 might be the most retarded thing I have seen. We get an exception to add dark theme and if we choose that the only thing thats dark is the inbox, messages ARE STILL WHITE?!
So wait.. We get a separate setting to change the color OF ONE PAGE in the OS? Fire the person who came up with this solution!
- Improved integration. One thing that conveinced me about WP before it was released was the hubs and the integration of facebook and twitter etc. But I have to say I never use these hubs anymore because they lack so many features they have become gimmicks.

[AngryNil]

What about orientation lock? Does WP8 have that? Oh and I think you should add the fact that battery and WiFi don't show up all the time and you almost always have to press the start button to view them.

Orientation lock is not there, thanks for reminding me. The second one is a "feature" - you're supposed to tap the clock to display the other status icons.

About the new kernel, the pocketnow review says that a lot of the work that went into WP8 was to implement the new kernel and core, and that is going to simplify development of newer versions.

I guess there's the possibility of a bright future. It's really hard to see it, though, because though it may have been due to a tonne of behind-the-scenes work that had to be done, it doesn't really feel like Microsoft is listening to complaints. I hope this changes - I've said it before, I think Windows Phone has the best foundation on which to build the most compelling smartphone experience. Android is too hit-and-miss, and in a way, its mass market adoption is in fact a detriment to the user experience. iOS just feels antiquated, though we'll see if Forstall's departure changes that.

I'm really torn at the moment. The Lumia 920 in Australia is a carrier exclusive to Telstra - the best network in coverage and speeds, but grossly overpriced. That's a non-starter, but so is its unlocked price - around $800.

I'm tempted by the $400 Nexus 4, which has the superior chipset. I'm sure I'll enjoy many of the features of Android and the app ecosystem, but there seriously are some great things about Windows Phone which I'm not sure I want to lose. The way music is handled, for example. I cannot stress how much I use the audio controls from the lockscreen and volume dropdown. The live tiles - as much as I complain about the lack of a notification centre, those operating systems with one actually lack a good home screen. It's incredibly easy to create a great looking home screen on Windows Phone with almost any half-decent app - how would I get that kind of design continuity if I want a similar experience through Android widgets?

Ah, decisions. I also want to develop for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8, not really interested in Android (possibly a later port). I might go with the Nexus and try to pick up a cheap WP8 device to test on next year.

[lonbraj]

Thank you for compiling all these minor problems that together bring Windows Phone down.
These details make the experience subpar.

Edit:
Could you add this to Email problems:
- Hitting back in a folder brings you back to home scream instead of Email start screen.

[AliNSiddiqui]

Guys, Adam just confirmed that WP8 doesn't have persistent Wi-Fi. You can check my comment on his review here:

Windows Phone 8 Review | Pocketnow

This is what I asked and what he said:

Q. Does the phone have system wide orientation lock?

A. No, and it's still weird how some apps rotate orientation and some don't.

Q. Does the WiFi stay on when the screen goes to sleep?

A. Not on my device, but it sounds like the ones with Data Sense enabled may have a different story.

[aubreyq]

..it seems like they're too busy working on new features and switching from the CE kernel to NT that they don't have time for these minor "problems."

I think that's exactly what we're dealing with, here. The brunt of the work went towards switching kernels, developing Kids Corner, Rooms, etc. The day-to-day features appear to have taken a back seat.

[rockstarzzz]

This list isn't a list of flaws identified in the system. This list is the list of your personal choices that MSFT did not address even after you wrote numerous post cards to them.

Bad alarm management - far too many apps now force presets on a user. Life isn't strictly routine. Sometimes an alarm is needed once-off, and the user shouldn't have to go through a multi-field input screen to do this.

Personal taste? - I want my alarm to wake me up. I don't want to have customisation in it. Do you get that on your desktop alarm?! It's

No persistent WiFi - WiFi disconnects when the device is off and not charging. Tests have already proven that WiFi does not significantly drain the battery if left on, so this is an arbitrary restriction.

There is an app for that for users who prefer to kill their battery this way.

Inconsistent landscape behaviour - only select screens seem to support the landscape orientation and many third party apps do not have an animation for the screen rotation.
No orientation lock

Both of the above are free to be controlled by 3rd party apps. Probably start writing post cards to developers who don't implement it? e.g. WPC app has implemented it very well.


CALENDAR
Awful appointment scheduler - scheduling an appointment is a horrible multi-step procedure that requires swiping, tapping and keyboard input, especially when a custom timeframe has to be defined. It would be preferable if the process can be done entirely through keyboard input.

Stop trying to make this an Android phone? Swiping and tapping is the way the whole UI on this OS lives. If that's not how you like it, probably it's a wrong design philosophy for you after all?


CAMERA
Most options hard to access - you have to wade through a menu to access settings such as ISO. An advanced mode would be welcome here so those who know what they are doing can fiddle with settings on-the-go.

Again a personal choice? Once I save my settings I never ever ever want to see them again. That's the point of clean UI. You don't get a dozen icons on your screen when you are trying to focus on the details of your photo. If you need them, they are a tap and scroll away. Persona preferences? Nice how you don't really want to address that some of the WP devices are superior with what camera phones can do!

EMAIL
So-so Gmail support - generally poor support for Gmail's folder structure and labels. - moan at Google!

Cannot "always download images" - images must be manually downloaded on a per-email basis, regardless of the sender.

- personal choice? Those with limited data, don't always want all images to be thrown at their face!

INTERNET EXPLORER
Buried desktop/mobile switching - annoying to switch between desktop and mobile views. This should preferably be offered on a per-site basis, which will help aid problems where particular sites incorrectly send mobile IE to a WAP version.

What other phone gives this per site option? I am really interested to know how that list is compiled.


OFFICE
Insistent OneNote syncing - OneNote will hold up other tasks by insisting on syncing notes when you exit them, which can be extremely slow in areas of poor coverage.

This will be true with all apps on all platforms. Don't see a point!

No local syncing - Office files cannot be synced between PC and phone, only through SkyDrive.

This is no bluetooth arguement all over again. Why would I want to plug in wires and drag and drop when I can just exit my document and in a second it is available to me on my PC!


MESSAGING
No multiselect - cannot select multiple threads or messages.

There is multiselect!


MULTITASKING
Cannot force instant resume - Windows Phone has the ability to force all apps to resume instantly, even if the developer didn't implement the feature. However, it is not a user option and should be made an option, much like how Android allows for advanced options such as forced hardware acceleration.

Is forced hardware acceleration available out of the box? Or you need to root? You can unlock your phones and get instant resume using dehydration hack which has been around for about a year now!


Apps relaunch instead of resuming - apps relaunch when opened from the application list or from a tile. They should resume per standard practice on smartphones.
Design language. There is a dedicated back button with a task to perform. This renders it useless.

Task switcher is inefficient - task switcher cannot even fit two apps on the screen at once, which limits its usefulness as a true multitasking tool.
Personal preference? Don't like the design language? I much prefer the zoomed out card. It doesn't have to look like android. It looks classy this way and I know what the last state was as it essentially shows me the screenshot.

NOTIFICATIONS
No toast notification aggregator - once toasts are missed, they are gone forever. If a notification centre is out of the question, toasts should at least be collected in one place.
Toasts are collected on your tiles. You can have 24 small tiles at least on one glance page and 5 notifications on your lock screen. If you have more than 29 apps that give you persistent notifications, you are a super phone user!

PHONE
No speed dial - cannot quickly dial favourite contacts using speed dial.

Yes you can. You can pin down 24 small tiles and if you have more than 24 favourite contacts, you might be fairly popular. Also there is a magnifying glass at the bottom on People i.e. list of contacts. Hit that start typing either their first name, last name, nick name, email address or company they work for and it populates the list automatically. Speedy dial. Please don't tell me you remember people's numbers and that's how you find them!

No predictive dialing - dialer does not display possible matches stored in contacts.
Again same as above. It does for everything other than number.

[nizzon]

This list isn't a list of flaws identified in the system. This list is the list of your personal choices that MSFT did not address even after you wrote numerous post cards to them.

What is the purpose of your and other post that keep defending MS in these matters?
Would you suffer if we got improvments and more choises in the day to day features or why exactly do you defend these shortcomings?
Are you expecting som other big feature that you think will be delayed if they took the time to improve halfassed or missing features?

[rockstarzzz]

What is the purpose of your and other post that keep defending MS in these matters?
Would you suffer if we got improvments and more choises in the day to day features or why exactly do you defend these shortcomings?
Are you expecting som other big feature that you think will be delayed if they took the time to improve halfassed or missing features?

This isn't defending MS. This is stopping FUD.

I have only pointed out the so called "bugs" that aren't bugs but a list of stuff I want on my phone. I want my phone to add 2 sugars to my coffee - it doesn't do it. I want my phone to use infrared file transfer, it doesn't do it.

We had this after WP7 launch. We had this after WP7.5 launch. We had this after WP7.5.1 launch.

At the end of the day, if these features are so penultimate, use uservoice service and get votes going. They've listened to it and they've done it right.

But users expecting WP to become Android or iPhone, seriously? No that won't kill me, but that is not what WP is all about.

Features that are actually missing like voice control or editing email before forward, may be are key day to day stuff. But "I don't want to swipe on an OS, who soul is swipping to go to more content" - is just FUD-related.

[XENOPHOS]

Haters WILL hate. Might I dare ask what do you like about Windows Phone?

I'm just trying to understand your whole reasoning.

The only point I might remotely agree would be multitasking. But since I haven't seen WP8 device yet (in real), I wouldn't pull the trigger on that so quick.


Sent from my RaZr HD.

[nizzon]

This isn't defending MS. This is stopping FUD.

I have only pointed out the so called "bugs" that aren't bugs but a list of stuff I want on my phone. I want my phone to add 2 sugars to my coffee - it doesn't do it. I want my phone to use infrared file transfer, it doesn't do it.

We had this after WP7 launch. We had this after WP7.5 launch. We had this after WP7.5.1 launch.

At the end of the day, if these features are so penultimate, use uservoice service and get votes going. They've listened to it and they've done it right.

But users expecting WP to become Android or iPhone, seriously? No that won't kill me, but that is not what WP is all about.

Features that are actually missing like voice control or editing email before forward, may be are key day to day stuff. But "I don't want to swipe on an OS, who soul is swipping to go to more content" - is just FUD-related.

Missing orientation lock is FUD? Devs should not have to think about adding orientation lock, its totally backwards to leave this to app-devs, it should be the other way around. If the app support landscape then they add it. And more importantly its usually not the apps that is the problem, its the OS menues that we dont want in landscape. Setting alarmclock in bed shouldnt require you to sit up or start positioning the phone right. Annoying is an understatement.

Not have the option to go from album and back to artists when you come from the volume/audio player, that is FUD?

Most of the features mentioned wont make this platform any more Android. Function should not be the equivalence to Android and iPhone like you imply.

Haters WILL hate. Might I dare ask what do you like about Windows Phone?

I'm just trying to understand your whole reasoning.

The only point I might remotely agree would be multitasking. But since I haven't seen WP8 device yet (in real), I wouldn't pull the trigger on that so quick.


Sent from my RaZr HD.

I like the look and feel, I like the Live Tiles. I like the integration of facebook etc allthough I was expecting it to go much further that it has since the release. I like OneNote and Skydrive even tho SD has bugs when it comes to sharing files.
It has huge potential but I dont like all the missing things that frankly breaks the entire experience. I have never had a phone that I needed to interact with so much to keep up with all the apps and notifications. Sometimes an app alerts me and I dont even know what it was and I cant find anything. Is that a productive platform? No, its a broken platform.

The whole "glance and move on" pitch that MS is going with is so far from the truth its kind of embarrasing.
Im really glad they improved the lockscreen so finally we might get more efficient in this department from now on.



Calling me a hater is ignorance. The truth is that I have been a believer in the WP platform since start. I have pushed this platform to collegues on my company and sadly I have had to answere to alot of disappointments from them, many mentioned in this thread. I have had hopes that updates will fix all that is missing to bring it all together and I have been waiting for two years now, but the lack of fixes in WP8 frankly makes me lose faith in this. If I didnt get the Lumia 920 for free through my work I would jump ship to iPhone, but since I will get one im sticking it out another year.

[rockstarzzz]

Missing orientation lock is FUD? 1% of the devs have added orientation lock to their apps since its ****ing backwards to leave this to app-devs, they shouldnt have to think about it, it should be the other way around. Does the app work in landscape then they add it. And more importantly its not the apps that is the problem, its the OS menues that we dont want in landscape. Setting alarmclock in bed shouldnt require you to sit up or start positioning the phone right. Annoying is an understatement.

Not have the option to go from album and back to artists when you come from the volume/audio player, that is FUD?

Most of the features mentioned wont make this platform any more Android. Function should not be the equivalence to Android and iPhone like you imply.

I like the look and feel, I like the Live Tiles. I like the integration of facebook etc allthough I was expecting it to go much further that it has since the release. I like OneNote and Skydrive even tho SD has bugs when it comes to sharing files.
It has huge potential but I dont like all the missing things that frankly breaks the entire experience. I have never had a phone that I needed to interact with so much to keep up with all the apps and notifications. The whole "glance and move on" pitch that MS is going with is so far from the truth its kind of embarrasing.
Im really glad they improved the lockscreen so finally we might get more efficient in this department from now on.

Yes missing orientation is surely a FUD. 1% developer did it like you said, because they know that probably most of their audience like to have a screen rotate and orientate the way the end user moves its phone. Also NOT all apps run in landscape. So of course if I develop an app with that function it only takes me a line or two of code to add an orientation lock to my app. I don't see why this is a big deal from OS point of view. If you are in bed and the screen rotates, you can hold it either way. You don't even need to sit up for the phone to switch modes!!

Going to music hub from your volume/artist menu was given out as a feature to skip songs from albums you are listening to. Most people either have their favourite artists pinned to home screen (like me!) or have their favourite albums pinned to their screen. That is the whole point of WP design - WHATEVER is important to you, PIN IT! Same applies for notifications of apps. If that app is so important to you that you need to know its notification all the time, PIN IT! If you don't pin it, obviously it ain't all that important. Now, of course people who think pinning Xbox Music tile to the home screen is waste of space, don't really listen to music that often. What difference does it make if the volume menu let you change album or not when you aren't even bothered to PIN what you like! If you've pinned it, just access different albums from there. That is the design philosophy. Metro was all about keeping it simple and clear so that even my granny can use it. All she has to do is, pin, pin, pin and tap when she wants it!

How will it not be an Android by craving for what Android does? You want your files on PC, so MSFT gave you that. But in a MUCH better way, where you don't have to use cables, dont have to look for USBs, a laptop, a tablet or anything. Make your document, save it, close office. When you go to your PC, that file is waiting for you! They did it. They did it better than Android. But, nope. We need to sit here and moan how we can't sync stuff "locally". Really? Why? Because Android can do it. Come, on! Android can't do Office Docs, Android can't sync it and have it ready for your laptop - this is better and we don't want to see it? Same as "I want bluetooth, I want bluetooh, not NFC" argument, again!

OS is as glance and go as you want. For notifications you don't need to scroll down a menu and dismiss each of them, every time. You just get them on tiles, unlock phone and read what you like. If only by having lock screen notifications make you feel that NOW you have true glance and go, sorry, but to me that is lazy. MSFT has made this OS on par and in many areas much better than what others are doing it. No, it isn't doing anything extra ordinary that other platforms won't do by additional apps. But, it is about how you do it, not what you do. This is again a de javu to me. I am sure I had this after Mango and Tango update too.

[alpinestars1z]

If you are in bed and the screen rotates, you can hold it either way. You don't even need to sit up for the phone to switch modes!!

Wait, so you mean my phone should decide for me which way I hold it? Sounds very Apple-like.

[rockstarzzz]

Wait, so you mean my phone should decide for me which way I hold it? Sounds very Apple-like.

No common sense should decide. If you can't see a movie because of sun behind you, you must close curtain behind it. You need TV to make new screens!

[alpinestars1z]

No common sense should decide. If you can't see a movie because of sun behind you, you must close curtain behind it. You need TV to make new screens!

And if I'm lying down on my side but still want the screen to stay in portrait mode?

Really, I don't think it's that difficult to add an orientation lock.

[rockstarzzz]

And if I'm lying down on my side but still want the screen to stay in portrait mode?

Really, I don't think it's that difficult to add an orientation lock.

I'm not saying it's hard at all. I totally agree that orientation lock addition is totally an easy job. Look at the WPCentral app. It has that!

You can be in any position, all you need to do is rotate your phone in desired mode. I did it before I type. I laid down, and looked at my WPCentral news in portrait mode (without orientation lock) just by turning the device to give me the correct orientation!

[alpinestars1z]

I'm not saying it's hard at all. I totally agree that orientation lock addition is totally an easy job. Look at the WPCentral app. It has that!

You can be in any position, all you need to do is rotate your phone in desired mode. I did it before I type. I laid down, and looked at my WPCentral news in portrait mode (without orientation lock) just by turning the device to give me the correct orientation!

But why can't I have a global orientation lock? What about IE?

Yes, I can rotate my phone 90 degrees but then the text will be sideways in relation to my head.

[AliNSiddiqui]

I heavily agree on this one! I use my smartphone every night in bed and use the browser to read all the news. Orientation lock is critical and I wouldn't be able to do this on WP8 which would be **** bent on rotating the other way around making this experience a chaotic one.

[socialcarpet]

I do have to agree about the orientation lock. I wish they would just make a hardware orientation lock switch part of the spec for Windows phone, or make it a control panel in the OS.

It's not a deal breaker for me though. No single feature (or lack thereof). Overall Windows Phone is just so much more enjoyable to use for me than iOS or Android. But I'd still love to be able to move around in bed while reading/using the phone and not have the screen keep flipping all over. :lol:

[nizzon]

I don't see why this is a big deal from OS point of view. If you are in bed and the screen rotates, you can hold it either way. You don't even need to sit up for the phone to switch modes!!!

Quote continues in black below since for some reason I cant break up the quote without getting errors.

If you lie on the side and go into a OS menue at first the menue will be horizontal so you scroll but suddenly it goes landscape since it has a 1 sec delay, in settings this will accidently send you to the application page for example. It results in numerious missed clicks and swipes and its just a pain in the ***. Sure I can hold it horizontally but then I have to hold it with two hands, and usually I lie on my back slightly to the side so this happens randomly. If you cant see that MANY users would love to lock the screen for this then there is no reason for us to keep talking anymore. But obviously this is an Android or Iphone thing, WP users should not use the phones in bed, right? Or maybe we should plan on how we are laying or holding it? We are doing it wrong, Im sure.



Going to music hub from your volume/artist menu was given out as a feature to skip songs from albums you are listening to. Most people either have their favourite artists pinned to home screen (like me!) or have their favourite albums pinned to their screen. That is the whole point of WP design - WHATEVER is important to you, PIN IT!

Why we got the feature is irrelevant! Since we have it and since we sometimes end upp in the music library that way why do we have to exit and make a reroute back to come to artists? It makes no sense what so ever! Add a freakin link to artists in the now playing page, how hard can it be? This is not by design, its just a sign that MS dont follow through. Why you even defend such a thing just shows that you just dont want to admit that MS can improve things, you just puts the head in the sand like everything is perfect.
Music is a big hobby for me and I listen to alot of music and switch alot from day to day, all my albums are important to me, I cant have 20 albums pinned to my allready too long startscreen.




Same applies for notifications of apps. If that app is so important to you that you need to know its notification all the time, PIN IT! If you don't pin it, obviously it ain't all that important.

I have 2 friends who use WhatsApp, it can go a week or two, even three, between our chat-sessions, im forced to have this on the startscreen otherwise I probably just miss incoming messages. Same for Viber, I have 2 people using that. How the crap am I going to handle this? I dont want them on my Startscreen since I use them like twice a month but there is no other way, I have no choise really. But you are probably going to tell me that this is not important enough, right?




Now, of course people who think pinning Xbox Music tile to the home screen is waste of space, don't really listen to music that often. What difference does it make if the volume menu let you change album or not when you aren't even bothered to PIN what you like! If you've pinned it, just access different albums from there. That is the design philosophy. Metro was all about keeping it simple and clear so that even my granny can use it. All she has to do is, pin, pin, pin and tap when she wants it!

Its probably great if you are the casual user, if you have just a few albums on your phone, listen to whats available on the streaming services and dont care if the service are missing 2 albums from an artist, if you arent really messaging that often or use communities that heavily, then its probably great. But for the powerusers its not, obviously you and your granny are casual users. But it WOULD NOT make it any harder for the casual users if the powerusers got the missing stuff fixed or added as choises. But obviously you think it will magicly change the entire OS drasticly into some Android clone. Mindboggling conclusion.




How will it not be an Android by craving for what Android does? You want your files on PC, so MSFT gave you that. But in a MUCH better way, where you don't have to use cables, dont have to look for USBs, a laptop, a tablet or anything. Make your document, save it, close office. When you go to your PC, that file is waiting for you! They did it. They did it better than Android. But, nope. We need to sit here and moan how we can't sync stuff "locally". Really? Why? Because Android can do it. Come, on! Android can't do Office Docs, Android can't sync it and have it ready for your laptop - this is better and we don't want to see it? Same as "I want bluetooth, I want bluetooh, not NFC" argument, again!

Well Im ot going to argue for this as I never mentioned it, I never really cared for filemanaging ala WM, but I wont keep MS from doing it if others want it, and Im sure as h3ll not going to convince people who want it that they are wrong. Why would I do that?




OS is as glance and go as you want. For notifications you don't need to scroll down a menu and dismiss each of them, every time. You just get them on tiles, unlock phone and read what you like. If only by having lock screen notifications make you feel that NOW you have true glance and go, sorry, but to me that is lazy. MSFT has made this OS on par and in many areas much better than what others are doing it. No, it isn't doing anything extra ordinary that other platforms won't do by additional apps. But, it is about how you do it, not what you do. This is again a de javu to me. I am sure I had this after Mango and Tango update too.

Compared to Android and iOS its harder to find every notification, so the contention that its more glanse and go is just wrong. Androids and IOS just look at one place for everything, we have to scroll and look at every Tile (now this will improve with the new startscreen, thats a great move by MS) but if the app isnt even pinned then we have to enter the app. How is that faster/better than the competition, as they are advertising it? It isnt. And I wont see any missed toast on any Tile.