[superdudeo]

and that is the Windows Marketplace apps.

I recently purchased a Nokia 710 and I'm mightily impressed with the stock apps but the available Marketplace apps and quality of them are really quite awful.

In fact the only app I use that is better than the iPhone app store is the Spotify app.

I wonder how long it will take for things to improve.

[Austinguy23]

and that is the Windows Marketplace apps.

I recently purchased a Nokia 710 and I'm mightily impressed with the stock apps but the available Marketplace apps and quality of them are really quite awful.

In fact the only app I use that is better than the iPhone app store is the Spotify app.

I wonder how long it will take for things to improve.

Agreed. The apps either don't exist or they're incredibly old, buggy, and lacking of features.

[GoodThings2Life]

Can you provide a list of apps that you consider important for your use? :)

[DontHate707]

Agreed most are usable tho, I wish developers would put more love in there apps but what can you do...

[rex.reyesiii]

I'm a .NET Developer and I will create a fart app for you.

*I kid, I'm kidding :)

[Austinguy23]

and that is the Windows Marketplace apps.

I recently purchased a Nokia 710 and I'm mightily impressed with the stock apps but the available Marketplace apps and quality of them are really quite awful.

In fact the only app I use that is better than the iPhone app store is the Spotify app.

I wonder how long it will take for things to improve.

Keep a close eye on your critical threads like this one. I posted a thread yesterday criticizing the poor quality of WP apps and it has since vanished.

LOL, I just re-posted my thread complaining about the state of Windows Phone apps in this same subforum and it WAS DELETED AGAIN!

Technically, it's listed as "Moved", but it doesn't show up in any other subforum.

It's disappointing that the mods/admins silence criticism here as it results in just a fanboy site.

There are plenty of fanboys on Macrumors, too, but at least they don't delete threads/posts just because they criticize iOS and iPhone (which I've done plenty of).

Here's my post in its entirety. It's relevant to the topic of the subforum and doesn't use profanity or anything so you be the judge as to why it keeps vanishing.

************************************************

I merged your threads because they were an identical copy/paste post, just like the thread you posted here that I just erased.

[jimski]

Nothing personal. But for users who complain that WP doesn't have this or that app, what did you do "before" those apps became available on your preferred platform. I mean was the world still in the stone age then. Did we have fire and the wheel yet.

Point is, before you stumbled on said app, I assume you still managed to get by every day. You found an app, and got to like it. That's all good. No problem. Today, its not available on WP. So your choices are to stick with what you have, and what you have grown comfortable with. Or, find alternatives and move on.

Believe me, it will be fun to watch all these big names stumbling over each other to release apps when WP reaches critical mass (more than 10-15% market share). But until then, don't be held hostage by these misinformed bozos.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express Pro

[1jaxstate1]

I'm pretty sure life was going on before any of the phone or apps. That's not the point people are making. Maybe the apps were there when they went to the platform and they are use to having them.

[downhillrider]

I think maybe the OP was trying to say that after 3 years the marketplace should have been alot more robust than it is. In iOS you can spend alot of time going through the app store because of the quantity and the quality apps it has. Although you will end up deleting most of them after a week. But they are there. For the Marketplace you have to really dig to find something worth the download and ignore the really bad apps that you see all over, especially if you sort by new.

[superdudeo]

Nothing personal. But for users who complain that WP doesn't have this or that app, what did you do "before" those apps became available on your preferred platform. I mean was the world still in the stone age then. Did we have fire and the wheel yet.

Point is, before you stumbled on said app, I assume you still managed to get by every day. You found an app, and got to like it. That's all good. No problem. Today, its not available on WP. So your choices are to stick with what you have, and what you have grown comfortable with. Or, find alternatives and move on.

Believe me, it will be fun to watch all these big names stumbling over each other to release apps when WP reaches critical mass (more than 10-15% market share). But until then, don't be held hostage by these misinformed bozos.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express Pro

That post just smacks of bitterness. Indeed, after 3 yrs, the Marketplace is woefully under developed and without a decent ecosystem, WP will never reach critical mass. They desperately need to step their game up and quickly.

[HeyCori]

Nov. 2010 - Nov. 2011 (1 year)
Nov. 2011 - Nov. 2012 (1 year)

Considering it's not Nov. 2012 I'm failing to see how Windows Phone has been on the market for 3 years.

[pavvento]

Nothing personal. But for users who complain that WP doesn't have this or that app, what did you do "before" those apps became available on your preferred platform. I mean was the world still in the stone age then. Did we have fire and the wheel yet.

Point is, before you stumbled on said app, I assume you still managed to get by every day. You found an app, and got to like it. That's all good. No problem. Today, its not available on WP. So your choices are to stick with what you have, and what you have grown comfortable with. Or, find alternatives and move on.

Believe me, it will be fun to watch all these big names stumbling over each other to release apps when WP reaches critical mass (more than 10-15% market share). But until then, don't be held hostage by these misinformed bozos.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express Pro

Technological improvements are supposed to make our lives easier/more efficient and more enjoyable. I didn't have a sweet video camera on my phone years ago, does that mean I shouldn't expect one on my 2012 phone?

The OP raises a valid concern. If he/she listed the apps they are waiting for perhaps the community could help (novel idea, I know) as opposed to trying to defy logic to justify a well documented shortcoming of Wp7.

[mmacleodbrown]

Nothing personal. But for users who complain that WP doesn't have this or that app, what did you do "before" those apps became available on your preferred platform. I mean was the world still in the stone age then. Did we have fire and the wheel yet.

Point is, before you stumbled on said app, I assume you still managed to get by every day. You found an app, and got to like it. That's all good. No problem. Today, its not available on WP. So your choices are to stick with what you have, and what you have grown comfortable with. Or, find alternatives and move on.

Believe me, it will be fun to watch all these big names stumbling over each other to release apps when WP reaches critical mass (more than 10-15% market share). But until then, don't be held hostage by these misinformed bozos.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express Pro

Good post.

The problem with apps is that once you discover one you use everyday, it is hard to imagine life before it as it has filled a need.
I have a couple of apps that I use multiple times a day that Im thinking will be hard to manage without, but then I console myself with the new features of WP8 which mean I can do things that I want to that I cant do now

It's a trade off...

[JayTBennett]

Can you provide a list of apps that you consider important for your use? :)

I second this request. For the most part I find the apps available on the marketplace to be of excellent quality, there are only really a few examples where official apps are poor.

It seems to me that whenever people make this complaint they're really complaining about the lack of fad apps/games (such as Instagram, DrawSomething). This is where the real problem with Windows Phone 7 lies, in that it's currently difficult for big developers to simply port their games over due to the use of XNA.
It's also one of Windows Phone 8's most exciting prospective features, to finally have the right tools available in the form of C++ native code access. When tools such as the Havok engine, Unity, and hopefully Unreal engine are working fully on Windows Phone 8, then the problem should be solved.

[AngryNil]

iOS remains the platform for top tier apps. There's no denying it. Even if you think the design language is dated, you must acknowledge that a huge proportion of Windows Phone apps absolutely butcher Metro. It's far more polarising, and I see far more decently designed iOS apps than Windows Phone apps. Of course, the good ones definitely stand out ahead of iOS.

I guess my major complaint with the apps is related to the performance, which is partially the fault of underpowered hardware. I expect much faster launch times and general third-party app smoothness with the WP8 hardware. Local apps and trending services are also sore points.

[1jaxstate1]

Man, hardly anyone makes local apps for WP7. I agree that it's a big sore spot.

Also, its been almost three years. And it is strange that some of the big name apps are missing. I remember when every was saying "when mango releases, we'll start getting the big name apps". I guess it's wait for Apollo now.


And for the OP I wouldn't post the list of apps you are referencing. People here would just belittle you and say those apps aren't important, just because they may not use them. Some of these homers really don't get the point.

[anotherhawkeye]

I'm leaving windows phone to go to iPhone because of the same issue. I need *official* apps for google voice, yahoo fantasy football, yahoo messenger and decent apps for waze and tapatalk (be is a joke).

[1jaxstate1]

I'm not leaving, but those apps would be wonderful. No fantasy football app from yahoo is pissing me off.

I think BE is the most hated app in the world. LOL, and the dev don't give AF.

[anotherhawkeye]

I had the focus s for the last 6 months. I love the OS, email, metro. Hate bing maps (unable to connect to bing maps error over 3g) and IE, but can live with it. The lack of apps is finally getting to me. I bought a used iPhone 4s, to use for the next 6 months to a year. If WP8 brings more apps, I would come back to the WP fold with a lumia phone.

[JayTBennett]

I'm leaving windows phone to go to iPhone because of the same issue. I need *official* apps for google voice, yahoo fantasy football, yahoo messenger and decent apps for waze and tapatalk (be is a joke).

Don't leave just because of Board Express, there are always developers working on things...

[HeyCori]

Also, its been almost three years.

No, no it hasn't. It hasn't even been a full two years.

[mindfrost82]

Lack of apps is the biggest argument anyone gives me over WP when I talk about it. Lack of banking apps (like Chase) is a big one. Yeah, I know, Chase is coming soon, but when? We've heard that for months now and still nothing. Will it be WP8-only, or will it work on WP7?

That's probably the one biggest app that I'm missing right now. I can use their crappy mobile site to view my balance and transactions, but I could really use Mobile Check Deposit.

For games, lots of them are becoming cross-platform, with the exception of WP. I'm not a big phone gamer and I'm happy with the games that I have on WP, but for it to sell mainstream, people are going to want games that their friends are playing, like Words With Friends, DrawSomething, etc.

The other thing that needs to be fixed is Facebook notifications. The Me tile plays no sounds when it has a new notification and the app sucks, with delays of up to 30 minutes. The Twitter app works fine, so its only Facebook, and Facebook is instant on other platforms. Once again, that doesn't really bother me and I can live with it, but when people start comparing it to Android and iOS, that's one thing they'll notice.

I can't wait for WP8 and I hope all of these mainstream apps are available at launch or before the end of the year. I love the MS ecosystem they're creating and I've grown to love SkyDrive, Outlook.com, the integration with XBox Live, Live Messenger, the integration with Facebook, and eventually Skype.

[cp2_4eva]

Why is it that when a person criticizes the quality of apps on WP7 or lack thereof then they get flamed for it? You guys are really starting to polarize the outsiders by that attitude. I see the OPs claim as legit. There are tons of apps, but a great deal of garbage ones on the marketplace. Don't jump on the OP, he actually has a WP7 device. He is not just an outsider, so take his comment into consideration as a person who was willing to try out our favorite platform. If he thinks of the marketplace like that, then you can only imagine how many others think like that or will think like that as well.

And the comment about what did you do before those apps existed is a bit ignorant in this age of technology. Just because one user uses his device minimally doesn't make it the right way or wrong way to use it. Thoughts like that will keep WP from growing. You should really be thinking "how can we be more robust in the app market"

WPcentral users, please don't be sensitive to criticism. It can help in the long run. Just get the OP to justify the claim and then work from there. The only problem I see with the post is that maybe it should be aimed more at the app developers rather than the everyday poweruser.

[1jaxstate1]

I have my dates wrong, I gave it a year.

[superdudeo]

Hi,

The op here again. Whether it has been 2 or 3 years, I still think that they should be ahead of where they are now. These Lumias are perhaps their last chance to make a major impact.

As to what apps I use, I don't game. The list is endless suffice to say that I could spend hours on the app store and still be busy. Having bought my 710, all the decent apps took 20 mins to find.

The marketplace facebook app is lacking basic, basic features. The one app that should be solid. Apart from this, news apps are lacking. The UK Guardian app for example is just a version of their website. Flipboard, one of my favourite iOS apps, steals the metro interface and isn't even in the marketplace.

It's just a massive shame because these new Lumias and WP8 will surpass iPhone in quality but decent apps are a massive part of that success.