[thinkdan]

I've used WP7 since it was released, but am still going nuts over the unreliable live tiles, even after a hard reset and in all phones I have used (LG Quantum, Dell Venue Pro and currently Samsung Focus Flash). I really don't get why they can't make them work properly. The built in apps' tiles work perfectly, but I have yet to see a third party live tile that doesn't "break" after some use.
Can any one tell if they have improved the reliability of the tiles and notifications in WP8? I'm already due for a phone upgrade, and even though I like the MS ecosystem very much, I'm not sure I can continue living with the hit or miss performance. I'm this close to switching to a different OS.

[failed1234]

So far so good for me. Third party weather app works well for me.
Sent from my HTC 8x using Board Express

[philpeeps]

They still stop working randomly.

[bradbamford]

But overall yes, there is a confirmed limitation in 7.5 where the tiles could stop working for a few different reason. Among others, I remember one is, if you haven't opened the app in x amount of time.

But Microsoft said this has been changed to work better in WP8.

I've noticed it being much improved in 8 personally.

[Blkacesvf41]

All tiles on my start screen work flawlessly.

[odin09]

I guess that I'm lucky. My tiles on wp7 work fine.

[manicottiK]

Bugs notwithstanding, tiles are updated in any of three ways: 1) by the app while you have it running, 2) by the app using a "periodic task", or 3) by a server pushing new tiles to you. #1 doesn't need further explanation.

#2 is what you can enable/disable from Background Tasks in Settings. Although it's called "background" in the UI, it's really "periodic" and allows a small part of the app to run for up to 15 seconds every half hour. It is not full multitasking. The apps that show up on the Background Tasks page are the ones that include periodic tasks functionality.

#3 has a limit of two weeks. That is, apps are supposed to "renew" their push subscriptions every time that they start up and those subscriptions are good for two weeks. If you pin an app that has a live tile and then just look at the tile without running the app, the tile will stop updating in two weeks. A lot of developers don't use this method because they need to use a server to push the tiles whereas #2 is really a "pull" tile update.

Is it possible that the people who are having tile updating issues are running into the two-week subscription limit of #3? If so, does the problem appear to fix itself after the app is used?

[MrSean490]

Is it possible that the people who are having tile updating issues are running into the two-week subscription limit of #3? If so, does the problem appear to fix itself after the app is used?

For me ... not exactly. Tiles stop working for me randomly within 2~3 days but relaunching it can but not always fix it. Sometimes tiles will just simply be frozen for ages until randomly they'll revive. No real logic.

Using WP7.

[thinkdan]

For me ... not exactly. Tiles stop working for me randomly within 2~3 days but relaunching it can but not always fix it. Sometimes tiles will just simply be frozen for ages until randomly they'll revive. No real logic.

Using WP7.

Same here. These are not apps that I haven't used in 2 weeks, but ones that I use on a regular basis like Kik. Most of the time I do get the toast notification but the tile doesn't update. I did a factory reset a few days ago and installed nothing but Kik. It started working well, but the tile broke again in 2 or 3 days, with no other apps installed at all.
Same with Whatsapp, say I get 3 new messages, sometimes the tile shows the number "3", then I open the app, read those "3" messages, go back and I get 2 new more messages. Now the tile shows "5" even though I already opened it and read the first 3 messages. So frustrating. I might switch to a different OS if those little quirks haven't been addressed in WP8.

[erasure25]

I've used WP7 since it was released, but am still going nuts over the unreliable live tiles, even after a hard reset and in all phones I have used (LG Quantum, Dell Venue Pro and currently Samsung Focus Flash). I really don't get why they can't make them work properly. The built in apps' tiles work perfectly, but I have yet to see a third party live tile that doesn't "break" after some use.
Can any one tell if they have improved the reliability of the tiles and notifications in WP8? I'm already due for a phone upgrade, and even though I like the MS ecosystem very much, I'm not sure I can continue living with the hit or miss performance. I'm this close to switching to a different OS.

Much more reliable for me. My Weather Flow app is always in sync... have not notice a single error. Some apps do stop syncing after a few days of not opening up. For example, the APODViewer app, which shows a NASA picture of the day, has to be opened up every few days to get to start syncing again. The app has not been updated to WP8, so that could be the reason. But it is not a random occurrence - every X number of days it just stops syncing, and you have to tap it open and then close it again to re-start the syncing.

[JerseySal]

Haven't had live tile issues on WP8.

[BCH]

WP8 is waaaay better than WP7 as far as tile updates go. In three months, I have only had one issue: Weather Flow stopped working for a day; I re-pinned the tile and it works fine now. Facebook still doesn't update properly, but I think that's a F/B issue.

[willied]

I have problems with GasBuddy not updating a specific gas station's live tile properly sometimes. Right now it seems to be working alright.

[thekonger]

Yes, much better than competitors
From my experience, WP delivers so much more than Android and ios.

[thinkdan]

So, judging by the responses to this thread, it seems that there's still some people having issues. I wonder if they are caused by buggy apps or there's still something not quite perfect on Microsoft's end.

[JerseySal]

There no such thing as a perfect app or device

[mandartd]

Hi,

I am facing this same unusual problem of the Background Tasks / apps suddenly ceasing to work on my unlocked Lumia 920. This in turn prevents the Live Tiles from getting updated periodically and automatically as well!

Both the Live tiles as well as the Lockscreen related to most of my commonly used apps namely, Photostream, Weatherflow, Battery, CNN, BBC, WP Central etc. dont seem to update at all. none of these apps have been blocked!

Also, when this issue started happening, the battery power was more than 50%.

I seriously am concerned since the essence of WP8 is the live tiles!

I did soft reset my lumia 920, but in vain. Problem still persists
Honestly, don't intend to hard reset, which will not only result in loss of data, but also is an absolute waste of time!

Any thoughts or suggestions on this?

Thanks.

Mandar
Mumbai, India

[DiscoPiglet]

None of my live tiles update. None. Not the Me tile, not my two group tiles. None. It's been a few weeks now, and no reinstalling, repinning, IE history clearing, soft reseting has solved any of the issues.

I love to blame Apple/iOS as much as anyone, but the iPhone and Apple products' reliability is something many take for granted. Periodic freezing/crashing, and ineffective live tiles are really making me question my WP8 conversion last month.

[rockstarzzz]

Native live tiles work flawlessly. Third party apps not so much. Some developers are hard working and some are fruity and robotic.

[DiscoPiglet]

Native live tiles work flawlessly. Third party apps not so much. Some developers are hard working and some are fruity and robotic.

Post Portico: How to get live tiles working again

I'm not the only one having this problem.

[thinkdan]

This all sounds like bad news. I'm still currently on WP7 and my tiles work fine as long as I don't install more than say 2 o 3 apps. Kik never worked well even after resetting my phone to factory state, so I dumped it for Talkbox which has been working fine, tile included. Yet, I'm afraid to install more apps cause everytime I did that in the past it meant trouble.

[spaulagain]

None of my live tiles update. None. Not the Me tile, not my two group tiles. None. It's been a few weeks now, and no reinstalling, repinning, IE history clearing, soft reseting has solved any of the issues.

I love to blame Apple/iOS as much as anyone, but the iPhone and Apple products' reliability is something many take for granted. Periodic freezing/crashing, and ineffective live tiles are really making me question my WP8 conversion last month.

There is something wrong with your phone. This is not a common issue. iPhone has had plenty of reliability issues too. Antenna gate? Apple Maps? And other bugs occur on iOS as well. Just sitting here *****ing about it won't do you any good. Talk to your carrier, the phone manufacturer, Microsoft, any one of them. Have you reset your phone?

Ive had no issue with live tiles other than occasional 3rd party apps breaking their own code with an update.

[Kinalyx]

I constantly have live tile issues. I dont use a ton of live tiles, only 3 really matter, but they never work. Ill do all of the things suggested, and sometimes they start working fine, and 2 days later theyre frozen again. I understand that 1 of the main ways to fix things is to fully uninstall and reinstall, but i dont want to lose all of the info i have in TvShow so i dont uninstall that 1. Battery sense and weather programs have to be uninstalled/reinstalled every few days, internet history has to be wiped, soft resets......the amount of crap i have to do just to make the phone/apps work the way theyre supposed to is driving me insane.

Shawn

[vinnyvin]

My live tiles don't work at all either, so I don't bother anymore

[typhon62_1]

Only the built in MS live tiles work all the time for me. The 3rd party live tiles never work for long if at all.
Not a big fan of live tiles anyways so the 3rd party lives tiles not working reliably doesn't bug me too much.