Develop Bugs

Pandora/Major apps to support multitask

One of peoples biggest complaints is multitasking well here we go:
Scherotter said while a few major apps will be able to multitask, such as Pandora, the music streaming app that will play in the background while the user is doing something else, independent apps will not, for now. Scherotter said that eventually, independent apps will be multitask-capable, but he wouldn't say when that would be.
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source: wpcentral (I can't post links yet)

Great find. Here is the link -
http://wpcentral.com/multitasking-coming-wp7-pandora-can-multitask-now

I'm pretty sure that was in the initial WP7 reveal back in Feb? The policy seems to be that the big names will get access to multi-tasking (for the moment) and even then only if they can justify why they need it. So basically music apps and maybe IM clients will get it for now.

Well at least there is some multitasking and so its a start

Only thin new about this news is that major apps will gain multitasking, we have known for a while that WP7 will get multitasking
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Well that is definately a start, not being able to listen to music in the background while responding to a text or browsing the web would be pretty lame.

Updated: Say it ain't so! Looks like Network World got the quote wrong as Michael Scherotter ask them to make a correction noting: "Great article but with a slight correction; built-in software like Zune can play music in the background. Pandora cannot at this time."

I've heard that going forward they will open up multi-tasking to apps that require it (given a good reason for needing it)

The latest Engadget Show had a lengthy interview with Aaron Woodman who confirmed that multitasking will be on the device and that there are zero technical problems with multitasking on the OS.
Microsoft are working on a compelling user experience to manage the multitasking applications which I think is a good thing. Apple have a good system but it's not perfect and what's the point of just copying the design from a competitor.
As copy/paste is coming at the start of the year I would be surprised if multitasking is not released by end of Q3 next year.

If you look through the marketplace you can see that some apps is using a permission named "RunUnderLock", I guess that that one is true multitasking.
I'm also pretty sure that Spotify have confirmed that they're able to multitask.

Sir. Haxalot said:
If you look through the marketplace you can see that some apps is using a permission named "RunUnderLock", I guess that that one is true multitasking.
I'm also pretty sure that Spotify have confirmed that they're able to multitask.
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Last FM and the twitter app is reported to have multitask also actual user has reported it. here ->http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=823129

One thing I use a lot on my current device is Pocket IRC. I hope a form of it is made for WP7 and that it will multitask so you can do other stuff and come back to see if anyone is talking when the rooms get a bit quiet.

Apps so buggy

Ive had so many apps that suck so bad, they are so buggy and barely work. Such as Opentable, podcast, and several others. Makes me weary to even purchase full apps even though you can try them. Most apps available suck anyways.
I need:
Best buy app
Chipotle app
Panera bread app
Good podcast app
Good radio app
Good turn by turn navigation app
Opentable that actually works
and im sure there are several apps that I would like to use but not yet available, marketplace is full of bull crap. lets get some stuff people will actually use on a daily basis.

This whole market place concept is a bust.. just because it worked for iphone dosent necessarily mean it will work for wp7. They said marketing stuff like 'oh we have 6000 applications in marketplace!' Reality is its not even worth except for more than 1-2 of them to even download and waste time on.

937dytboi said:
Ive had so many apps that suck so bad, they are so buggy and barely work. Such as Opentable, podcast, and several others. Makes me weary to even purchase full apps even though you can try them. Most apps available suck anyways.
I need:
Best buy app
Chipotle app
Panera bread app
Good podcast app
Good radio app
Good turn by turn navigation app
Opentable that actually works
and im sure there are several apps that I would like to use but not yet available, marketplace is full of bull crap. lets get some stuff people will actually use on a daily basis.
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Zune is great for podcasts. What do you want a podcast app to do? The Maps app has great TBT nav - no voice, though.

937dytboi said:
Good radio app
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I'm going to guess you don't like the radio that's already in there.

This is the kind of thing that may suck on WP7 phones for a little while...but i expected that didnt you?
The iphone apps were all full of crap when they first came out....it took time for people to get used to making them, I think the promising thing is that big companies are starting to bother making apps, so it shows people are getting serious.
I read it in an article that MS is a software company and if theres anyone who is going to be able to make it work at this sort of 'late entry' into the market its them.
I have at least 12 APPS I really like and that I use all the time
I think we are just guna have to wait for a bit

The marketplace idea is not a bust.
Developers who want to earn money selling their apps and games have a better chance when all the customers are funneled to one place, as opposed to having to search obscure sites, to find their product.
At that point, it's up to the developer to try to make a compelling enough product for the customer to think it's worth purchasing.
For the customer, they could go to one place to look for anything that is currently available for their phone. They can try out any application without risk, and if they feel that the product is worthy, they can purchase it easily. The rules for purchasing each app/game will be universal. They don't have to go through different payment processes with different companies.

Purple11 said:
Reality is its not even worth except for more than 1-2 of them to even download and waste time on.
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Really? So which one or two out of the following do you feel is worth downloading?
Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Microsoft Tag Reader
Adobe Reader
Shazam
IGN
IMDb
eBay
Flixter
These are just some of the apps I couldn't live without - however, if you manage to witter it down to 1 or 2 I'll post an updated list of all my "important" apps. Although, IMO, 99% of people would have maxed their 2 apps from the top 5 in the list above.

emigrating said:
Really? So which one or two out of the following do you feel is worth downloading?
Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Microsoft Tag Reader
Adobe Reader
Shazam
IGN
IMDb
eBay
Flixter
These are just some of the apps I couldn't live without - however, if you manage to witter it down to 1 or 2 I'll post an updated list of all my "important" apps. Although, IMO, 99% of people would have maxed their 2 apps from the top 5 in the list above.
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This and more and more and more.
OP and hater beneath him, you're just being a little narrow minded tbh.

given that A LOT of the applications are data based, how is your network coverage? is it quite patchy? if so, this would explain why a lot of applications appear very bad constantly not responding/loading data.
as for the market place, i think it's a bit of a good and bad thing. the iPhone model is good for itself, but WP can't copy it completely because of the differences it has. for example, WP offers in app trial mode. this needs to be made more promonent and needs to encourage the end user that these apps work as a trial. with this, then more people who list their apps as a paid app would get better usage as people don't instantly think they have to pay anything to use it.
i personally don't buy any app unless i get a bit of a play with the app first. but the problem is, i have to go to each app to see if it has trial available. the market place needs to adjust to this variable in greater force because it's actually what makes the WP market place a great prospect and cancels out the duplicates which you see in the iOS market place (the free and paid version of apps).

emigrating said:
Really? So which one or two out of the following do you feel is worth downloading?
Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Microsoft Tag Reader
Adobe Reader
Shazam
IGN
IMDb
eBay
Flixter
These are just some of the apps I couldn't live without - however, if you manage to witter it down to 1 or 2 I'll post an updated list of all my "important" apps. Although, IMO, 99% of people would have maxed their 2 apps from the top 5 in the list above.
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Other than Adobe Reader all other software you mentioned are useless to me. I am a smartphone user, not an Iphone user.

Oookayyy... so what do you want then?

zukа said:
Oookayyy... so what do you want then?
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Better: Calendar, Appointments, Time Management, Alarm, Wallet, Book Keeping, Expense Records, Maps, Navigation, SMS/Mail Organizing, Dialer, Auto-Call Record, Call Management, Data Management etc etc you should get an idea ..

Purple11 said:
Better: Calendar, Appointments, Time Management, Alarm, Wallet, Book Keeping, Expense Records, Maps, Navigation, SMS/Mail Organizing, Dialer, Auto-Call Record, Call Management, Data Management etc etc you should get an idea ..
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Most of which is part of the core OS - now if all you want are better implementations of the above, feel free to discuss what, specifically, needs fixing in the core experience.
If you ask me, the calendar, appointments, time management, alarms and email are all working fine out of the box - sure, we need better exchange support (server search etc), but it does what it's supposed to for now.
As for Book Keeping / Expense Records (why are you listing both?) - there are apps for this.
Bing Maps is included out of the box. Navigation may be poor, but there are apps for this that help somewhat.
In any case - if you need enterprise features like what you've listed above you're really not part of the target audience for WP7 at the moment. Something which has been very clear ever since the February unveiling of WP7 last year.

emigrating said:
Really? So which one or two out of the following do you feel is worth downloading?
Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Microsoft Tag Reader
Adobe Reader
Shazam
IGN
IMDb
eBay
Flixter
These are just some of the apps I couldn't live without - however, if you manage to witter it down to 1 or 2 I'll post an updated list of all my "important" apps. Although, IMO, 99% of people would have maxed their 2 apps from the top 5 in the list above.
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See we are just two different people, KI dont have a twitter or Facebook account. So thats useless to me, Shazam I wont really use. But everything on your list is fine. My problem is that some apps that ive downloaded seem not to work like advertised and they crap out by running slow or not working at all. But I think im jumping the gun here, I just think we should have a better marketplace selection but I have to realize that the marketplace has just really opened to be honest. Just felt I needed to gripe about my experience

What's also a problem (for now) is that development for Windows Phone is so similar to developing for regular Windows environments: same tools, same programming languages, etc. A lot of "normal" Windows / .NET developers are early adopters of the platform and are having their go at developing a Windows Phone app. Unfortunately they don't always consider the limitations that the platforms has. They'll use a lot of heavy animation, request huge amounts of data, use imagery not optimized for mobile use. Thus: crappy apps.
I think over time this will all settle and the apps will become better.
That said, Microsoft does need to increase the overall app performance on the phone. There's a noticable difference between the built-in (native) apps and the managed apps.

stringray said:
What's also a problem (for now) is that development for Windows Phone is so similar to developing for regular Windows environments: same tools, same programming languages, etc. A lot of "normal" Windows / .NET developers are early adopters of the platform and are having their go at developing a Windows Phone app. Unfortunately they don't always consider the limitations that the platforms has. They'll use a lot of heavy animation, request huge amounts of data, use imagery not optimized for mobile use. Thus: crappy apps.
I think over time this will all settle and the apps will become better.
That said, Microsoft does need to increase the overall app performance on the phone. There's a noticable difference between the built-in (native) apps and the managed apps.
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this is blatantly false. First of all unless you're doing game programming you can only make Silverlight apps. Most regular windows applications do not use silverlight! You would think the web designers who use that stuff can create better apps, guess not.
Secondly the reason for crappy apps is entirely microsoft's fault. To get your app published, you need to pay 99$ a year for a developers license and get your identity verified by some thirdparty. After that when you submit an app, it is supposed to get reviewed by a team at microsoft to verify that your app meets many of the app guideliness set (like not crashing!).
I remember going to Tech Days (microsoft developer conference) and hearing them bragging about how their app reviews ensured that only quality apps were released but lately the amount of **** apps that have been appearing on the app marketplace makes me think they are just auto approving anything without even checking to see if it works.

pillsburydoughman said:
this is blatantly false. First of all unless you're doing game programming you can only make Silverlight apps. Most regular windows applications do not use silverlight! You would think the web designers who use that stuff can create better apps, guess not.
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Zero windows applications use Silverlight. WPF maybe, but Silverlight is a web-only subset. What stringray actually said was:
Windows Phone is so similar to developing for regular Windows environments: same tools, same programming languages, etc.
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Which is correct. Visual Studio is the primary development tool for desktop and C# is very popular development language for desktop.
The rest of what you said is probably true. But you can never test an app and say that it will never crash. Do you remember WM6.5 when you downloaded an app to find it didn't even launch on your device? Well at least it's filtering out all that crap

Silverlight is not only for web development. I believe since Silverlight 3.0 you can use them as desktop applications as well.
pillsburydoughman said:
Secondly the reason for crappy apps is entirely microsoft's fault. To get your app published, you need to pay 99$ a year for a developers license and get your identity verified by some thirdparty. After that when you submit an app, it is supposed to get reviewed by a team at microsoft to verify that your app meets many of the app guideliness set (like not crashing!).
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How is the way you pay and get verified the reason why the apps are MS' fault?
Yea, they check them but rarely have I seen an app crash (actually I haven't yet but I'm not going to state that all of them have).

I just want to quickly point something to the ones you have hated apps.
Why don't you give feedback to developers? I have given serveral and emailed several feedback and have gotten a response each time. And each time, they take my feedback into consideration and either plan to implement them in the future.
As the end-user don't we want the best product? To get the best, we have to critique and help evolve the marketplace/apps. Only this way do developers know how to improve and what needs to be improved.
Otherwise they believe everything is dandy.

pillsburydoughman said:
this is blatantly false. First of all unless you're doing game programming you can only make Silverlight apps. Most regular windows applications do not use silverlight!
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Well, Silverlight development does resemble WPF programming a lot (afterall, it is a subset of WPF). And we've been doing WPF programming for years now, haven't we? Actually, if you stick to simply placing controls on a page and adding event code it resembles WinForms very much. And that last thing is what I see happening a lot. Many developers create some spaghetti app, which totally messes up tombstoning or page navigation.
Once developers get more comfortable with Windows Phone (Silverlight) programming, they'll see that things like the MVVM pattern, async processing , etc. actually do make sense and can be very helpful. And that's when the good apps are starting to get made.
Secondly the reason for crappy apps is entirely microsoft's fault. To get your app published, you need to pay 99$ a year for a developers license and get your identity verified by some thirdparty. After that when you submit an app, it is supposed to get reviewed by a team at microsoft to verify that your app meets many of the app guideliness set (like not crashing!).
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In general I think they do a really good job. Of course they had to learn in the beginning and a lot of faults were made. But the test department is getting better and better. The reports you get when an app fails certification are often very detailed.
Don't forget they check apps against the Guidelines. I agree there are a lot of stupid apps (Peace Sign app, anyone?). But those apps do follow the Guidelines.
Crashes are hard to predict and it's not that easy to test for them. Personally, I haven't experienced much app crashing on my device. In fact, I've seen more apps crash on my iOS devices than on my WP7.
Microsoft has said they collect crash dumps from all apps on the phone (at least, if you've opted in for that). I hope that someday they'll give us developers access to those dumps, so we can do post-mortem analysis of our app's crashes.
But lately the amount of **** apps that have been appearing on the app marketplace makes me think they are just auto approving anything without even checking to see if it works.
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Totally disagree. The apps may be not to your liking, but most of them do work according to the Guidelines. And did you give feedback to the developers of those apps? They often actually listen!

[Q] Google+ for WP7 - any news?

I just installed Google+ on iPhone, but what I am truly wanting is G+ for my WP7. Anyone with news?

Seeing as the mobile webpage says "Also available on the Android Market and coming soon to the iTunes App Store" I wouldn't get my hopes up for a WP7 app anytime soon.

Is it out for iPhone?

vetvito said:
Is it out for iPhone?
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Yeah, just came out today...or late yesterday. As soon as I read it I installed it on my iPhone.

MartyLK said:
I just installed Google+ on iPhone, but what I am truly wanting is G+ for my WP7. Anyone with news?
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it will never happen, my opinion is based on the fact that they list windows mobile as supported, and wp7 is not listed, they have not released google maps, and they have impeded Microsoft from releasing a better youtube app

revrak said:
it will never happen, my opinion is based on the fact that they list windows mobile as supported, and wp7 is not listed, they have not released google maps, and they have impeded Microsoft from releasing a better youtube app
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Yeah, seems Google dislikes MS more than Apple. Considering MS is making Google pay royalties, maybe that is why.

My guess is, that the iOS market is simply too big not to support, whereas the minor userbase of WP7 is "neglectable" for google.

revrak said:
it will never happen, my opinion is based on the fact that they list windows mobile as supported, and wp7 is not listed, they have not released google maps, and they have impeded Microsoft from releasing a better youtube app
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Well...that's one reason I say Google will have its competitors by the 'nads because of G+ becoming the dominant social site. People will want and need it on their phones and if their phones don't have it or will get it, people will adopt a new phone system.
MS needs to be really, really nice to Google so they can get G+. It is important. MS doesn't have the infrastructure enough to make their own social site like Google has.

Once G+ is "live", they'll probably have APIs available that allow third party developers to code G+ apps, though.

Doesn't Microsoft own or partner with FB?
Anywho my thoughts. I think Google and Apple have been secretly working together for a long time. Minus the lawsuits, I think competitively they work together. Or is it that Apple uses Google as it search engine? Anywho, I'm rambling.

Woo hoo let's spout completely uninformed rubbish about google hating wp7 because they put priority on the two most used smartphone platforms first!
From the horse's mouth: https://plus.google.com/10624605617...b9Pdh#106246056177889976095/posts/i528uHb9Pdh
Look at point 6

vetvito said:
Doesn't Microsoft own or partner with FB?
Anywho my thoughts. I think Google and Apple have been secretly working together for a long time. Minus the lawsuits, I think competitively they work together. Or is it that Apple uses Google as it search engine? Anywho, I'm rambling.
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From my experience Apple uses Yahoo as the default or main search engine in iOS. You can select Google or Bing as well. I switch mine to Google.

quactaur said:
Woo hoo let's spout completely uninformed rubbish about google hating wp7 because they put priority on the two most used smartphone platforms first!
From the horse's mouth: https://plus.google.com/10624605617...b9Pdh#106246056177889976095/posts/i528uHb9Pdh
Look at point 6
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What's your major malfunction, pal. Nobody is spouting anything except you. I never said Google hated WP7. From *history* and from many reports Google gives MS a hard time and hinders them.
This is all I will say to you because I just have no room in life any more for people who want to start trouble and cause problems. From this point on you will be permanently ignored.

quactaur said:
Woo hoo let's spout completely uninformed rubbish about google hating wp7 because they put priority on the two most used smartphone platforms first!
From the horse's mouth: https://plus.google.com/10624605617...b9Pdh#106246056177889976095/posts/i528uHb9Pdh
Look at point 6
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That's an unofficial blog. That list was in the news last week or so, and its not a list compiled by Google to say they are working on those items. A Google developer posted something on his blog about Google+, and a bunch of people commented on it and left him suggestions, and so the developer simply compiled the most popular suggestions (which is that list). No one said those things would ever be worked on.
Nothing official, and considering Google has not shown any interest in Windows Phone 7, I don't see anything in the near future.

G+ does work on the current IE version but in a basic mobile format
you need to go to https://m.google.com/app/plus

DJRedLine said:
G+ does work on the current IE version but in a basic mobile format
you need to go to https://m.google.com/app/plus
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Ohh...sweet! That'll do, till WP7 gets an app.
Thanks much

DJRedLine said:
G+ does work on the current IE version but in a basic mobile format
you need to go to https://m.google.com/app/plus
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The mobile page is too limited, you could also use the full page. It works perfectly fine.

revrak said:
it will never happen, my opinion is based on the fact that they list windows mobile as supported, and wp7 is not listed, they have not released google maps, and they have impeded Microsoft from releasing a better youtube app
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They will eventually release one because a social network has to have broad platform support to succeed, and with the App-Centric nature of modern smartphone OSes they cannot depend on a browser. People are starting to demand stuff like PUSH notifications and in-app chat functionality and a Browser is clearly inferior to an app when it comes to delivering that type of functionality.

N8ter said:
They will eventually release one because a social network has to have broad platform support to succeed, and with the App-Centric nature of modern smartphone OSes they cannot depend on a browser. People are starting to demand stuff like PUSH notifications and in-app chat functionality and a Browser is clearly inferior to an app when it comes to delivering that type of functionality.
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Fortunately for right now, saving the page as a favorite and then pinning it to the start screen almost satisfies. The thing lacking, as you say, is push notes.

another thread about this useless wannabe Facebook, google only did this to get back at FB for rejecting them and of course to try to gain this ridiculous monopoly over the world. what's worse? they don't even give a **** about peoples privacy and safety.

What frustrates you about an app?

So I'm working on a post for my site. It's going to be a list about things a developer does with an application that frustrates us as users. The goal is to highlight common complains from the community about practices devs use in their apps and to hopefully encourage them with feedback to improve.
This is the list I've got so far. Please feel free to chime in if you agree or disagree and ADD any things that bug you as a USER.
--Lack of a live tile: One of the biggest differences on our platforms and others is the inclusion of live tiles. If it makes sense for the application, a live tile is a must. I'm hard pressed to find a large category of apps where a live tile wouldn't make sense at some basic level.
--No fast app switching: No explanation needed, devs get with it.
--Not playing nice with Metro: You make an app for iOS or Android and now you want to port it Windows Phone as fast as possible...so fast you don't think about the design. Great apps on Windows Phone are those that capitalize on the principles of the design language.
--Have both a paid and free version of an app: Do a search for an app in the Market or App Store and you'll get two versions for a lot of popular apps: the free and paid version. There is NO reason why you would need to do that with Windows Phone. Devs have the ability to implement a 'trial' state of an application where they can do everything and more a 'free' version of an app could. Stop cluttering the Marketplace.
--Redirecting to a website: I once downloaded a sports app that had potential. I opened the app and played around. There was a pivot page that had a section for news. Clicked it...and bam. IE is opening up. Nope, no thank you. I want to use your app now your website.
These are some of the big themes that I've encountered more than I should when playing around with apps. This is not a major problem, but it's there and it really shouldn't be.
Also I'm not trying to put developers down, I know it's hard work and I myself am trying to learn as well. But we should strive for something better.
Alright, sound off with some feedback guys. Any other 'sins against users' I've missed that you encounter? I'd like to see what you think before I write the post on my site.
ALSOOOO.... How about you list some apps that contain these 'sins against users'. That way we can politely invite the developer to hear our thoughts and implement changes that benefit everyone. Happy users = $, $= happy dev.

All these are minor.. My biggest complaint is when push notification is either delayed or doesnt come at all. I've missed some important whatsapp messages cause it was delayed 10 mins.
Sent from my T8788 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

samsabri said:
[...]
--Have both a paid and free version of an app: Do a search for an app in the Market or App Store and you'll get two versions for a lot of popular apps: the free and paid version. There is NO reason why you would need to do that with Windows Phone. Devs have the ability to implement a 'trial' state of an application where they can do everything and more a 'free' version of an app could. Stop cluttering the Marketplace.
[...]
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As I agree with what you are posting, I think you missed the point on this one.
It's true that this is cluttering the marketplace, but people like to hand out a "FREE" version from a marketing persepective. There is a seperate column with "free" apps, hence it will be easier to stand out with both a free and paid app...
Also if you have a fully functional free trial (with only an add) it is still being noted as paid app, so you miss everybody who has no credit card, they will automatically overlook a paid app, even if it has a free unlimited trial (well there are always exceptions of course, but those account mostly for "high profile" apps/games).
This is the main reason, that without uploading 2 apps, there is an unfair disadvantage for the dev.
But I agree it is annoying but from a developer perspective it makes a lot of sense why people do this.

Marvin_S said:
As I agree with what you are posting, I think you missed the point on this one.
It's true that this is cluttering the marketplace, but people like to hand out a "FREE" version from a marketing persepective. There is a seperate column with "free" apps, hence it will be easier to stand out with both a free and paid app...
Also if you have a fully functional free trial (with only an add) it is still being noted as paid app, so you miss everybody who has no credit card, they will automatically overlook a paid app, even if it has a free unlimited trial (well there are always exceptions of course, but those account mostly for "high profile" apps/games).
This is the main reason, that without uploading 2 apps, there is an unfair disadvantage for the dev.
But I agree it is annoying but from a developer perspective it makes a lot of sense why people do this.
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I agree. Some devs don't mention what the trial offers(time-limited or function-limited) and hence I stay away from such paid apps. Sometimes the trial is fully functional with ads. Agreed that the devs were lazy to not include it in the description, but some users are lazy too. That would be the reason for two versions of the app.

it not being available at all.
or how about it's free on android or ios, but $3 on wp7... wtf?

Marvin_S said:
As I agree with what you are posting, I think you missed the point on this one.
It's true that this is cluttering the marketplace, but people like to hand out a "FREE" version from a marketing persepective. There is a seperate column with "free" apps, hence it will be easier to stand out with both a free and paid app...
Also if you have a fully functional free trial (with only an add) it is still being noted as paid app, so you miss everybody who has no credit card, they will automatically overlook a paid app, even if it has a free unlimited trial (well there are always exceptions of course, but those account mostly for "high profile" apps/games).
This is the main reason, that without uploading 2 apps, there is an unfair disadvantage for the dev.
But I agree it is annoying but from a developer perspective it makes a lot of sense why people do this.
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Yeah, I understand the marketing angle. I guess I live in some fantasy land in my head where the world is clean and organized. Hopefully with the Windows 8 Marketplace offering devs simliliar options in how they can implement trials we'll see less "free" apps because users may come expect every paid app to come with a trial.

svtfmook said:
it not being available at all.
or how about it's free on android or ios, but $3 on wp7... wtf?
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That is something I missed, I how they determine the price difference between platforms?
Off the top of your head, do any apps come to mind where there is a big price difference in platforms? Exclude Xbox Live enabled games for a moment, the reason being I can see the inclusion of achievements, leaderboards, etc to be the cause of the price bump.

I'm in need of a map/location/gps app, that supports offline map caching . while I found couple of them on marketplace, ones that had nice design an functionality, all of them where online only and ones that had offline map caching had terrible design an absolutely no functionality. thats sad
design and functionality should be put first IMO

Inconsistent Resuming and Lack of Tombstoning
Once an app leaves the foreground you have two methods of returning to it: use the app switcher or hitting the tile on your Start screen. Going from the app switcher resumes as expected, but going from the Start screen restarts the app, even if it's already sitting in the background. Now this is probably something Microsoft has to fix, but I feel that if more apps tombstoned, then it could make things more consistent.

samsabri said:
That is something I missed, I how they determine the price difference between platforms?
Off the top of your head, do any apps come to mind where there is a big price difference in platforms? Exclude Xbox Live enabled games for a moment, the reason being I can see the inclusion of achievements, leaderboards, etc to be the cause of the price bump.
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Yes if they would note next to the price tag of each app wheter it contains a Trial version, it is less needed for devs to release a seperate "Lite" version. However the problem is now you have to click the app first than wait until the buttons show up in order to find out wheter an app has a free trial.
This should be there on the big scroll list so a user will see at first glance wheter he/she can try the app for free. At the moment I can't blame dev's for introducing their own workarounds.
But what is more annoying to me is that if devs follow metro design and don't use the margins correctly. Hence the app looks odd in comparison to the native apps, i.e. a lot of chat apps mimick the messaging app but don't pay attention to the margins, the bubble sizes and the bubble alignments, which will make them look very unprofessional. This is sad because they did take the effort to stylize the app like Metro, but they ruined the experience because of not "understanding" the fundamentals of the design language. Which is not just typography but also clever and precise use of margins, shapes and spacings. And since there is not much chrome, every tiny offset or error stands out to a trained eye instantly.

Marvin_S said:
Yes if they would note next to the price tag of each app wheter it contains a Trial version, it is less needed for devs to release a seperate "Lite" version. However the problem is now you have to click the app first than wait until the buttons show up in order to find out wheter an app has a free trial.
This should be there on the big scroll list so a user will see at first glance wheter he/she can try the app for free. At the moment I can't blame dev's for introducing their own workarounds.
But what is more annoying to me is that if devs follow metro design and don't use the margins correctly. Hence the app looks odd in comparison to the native apps, i.e. a lot of chat apps mimick the messaging app but don't pay attention to the margins, the bubble sizes and the bubble alignments, which will make them look very unprofessional. This is sad because they did take the effort to stylize the app like Metro, but they ruined the experience because of not "understanding" the fundamentals of the design language. Which is not just typography but also clever and precise use of margins, shapes and spacings. And since there is not much chrome, every tiny offset or error stands out to a trained eye instantly.
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Click to collapse
I think going forward an ideal scenario would be a user expects to have a trial mode for any app that a dev is asking money for. It's a win-win for both consumers and developers. Check out this post from Paul Laberge explaining some of the benefits of a trial mode.
Seems like your second paragraph is echoing the statement to follow metro design language/principles and aim for higher quality control in regards to the design.
It's interesting, I feel like 5 years ago software was all about being functional with no regard to design. Now we not only demand, but expect applications to function well and look beautiful. Exciting times

karan1203 said:
All these are minor.. My biggest complaint is when push notification is either delayed or doesnt come at all. I've missed some important whatsapp messages cause it was delayed 10 mins.
Sent from my T8788 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
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Are those faults of the developer or the platform itself? I ask because I don't know a lot of the technical workings behind the push notification system. My limited knowledge tells me it might be a mix of both parties to blame.
Can anyone clarify?

apps?
For sure about Notifications part.
Push Notification can be useful "ONLY" when you have the phone right in front of your face. Because right after that, they are gone forever.
Second, Push Notification usually have a delay , about a half to 2 mins, from the actual event.
Like my friend can post a thing on my Facebook Wall, and the phone took about 2 mins to update it to the ME title. Same with all other Applications.
I used to try hacking the ROM and Registry of the Phone to reduce the delay of the Title Update. But failed so hard because Microsoft really locked it up hard.

I think most of the annoyances are captured already in the initial post but I'll also add
-That some apps are still being released without mango capability.
-Some apps are just the mobile site (for example the tagged app wtf?)

prohibido_por_la_ley said:
I think most of the annoyances are captured already in the initial post but I'll also add
-That some apps are still being released without mango capability.
-Some apps are just the mobile site (for example the tagged app wtf?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was hoping I'd cover the most obvious complaints, but wanted to reach out and see if anything was missing. Also venting is good for us
And regarding Tagged...? Wow... I just looked at it on the web Marketplace and I won't let something that hideous touch my phone. It's just lazy and doesn't add any value to users or devs. Users get nothing out of it and as a dev what have you accomplished?
Apps like that should not pass certification. It seems draconian, but it's ok for us to demand and expect quality work.

wixostrix said:
...but going from the Start screen restarts the app, even if it's already sitting in the background.
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Click to collapse
This is (or was pre-Mango) a requirement to have your app certified. The rules say/said that a user returning to a task via the Back button is trying to complete an interupted task; a user launching the app from Start is starting a new task and shouldn't be presented with abandoned work from earlier.
I have a calculator app that maintains full state across invocations. I was worried that MS would reject the app because it preserved state even upon restarting. They did accept it, though.

Worst thing for me is wasted screen space.
A good example is the official WP7 Facebook app. Go to the "wall" screen, and you have "FACEBOOK" then "Most Recent" then "What's on your mind?" all permanently stuck at the top. Space is also wasted at both sides, meaning that only 50-60% of the screen is actually available to display your friends wall posts.
I thought the idea of Metro is to "put information first", so this is ridiculous. I have a phone with a 3.7" screen, yet the facebook app is more readable on my friends 3" non-widescreen Blackberry.

Aphasaic2002 said:
Worst thing for me is wasted screen space.
A good example is the official WP7 Facebook app. Go to the "wall" screen, and you have "FACEBOOK" then "Most Recent" then "What's on your mind?" all permanently stuck at the top. Space is also wasted at both sides, meaning that only 50-60% of the screen is actually available to display your friends wall posts.
I thought the idea of Metro is to "put information first", so this is ridiculous. I have a phone with a 3.7" screen, yet the facebook app is more readable on my friends 3" non-widescreen Blackberry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear you on that Facebook app. Thankfully the integration with Windows Phone makes it so that I haven't opened it in months. I check FB once a day on the browser at home before bed, but that's about it.
But I'll chalk this complaint under the 'design abuse' category.
Anyone have any other apps that violate some of our sins in the original post in this thread?

I'd like to see improvements with the sound handeling. Most games have a 'music volume' and a 'FX volume' it seems the volume % is boolean, 0% is silent, 10%-100% is full volume. I'd like to listen to my music while gaming without the Pew Pew causing my ears to bleed

Plume Premium??

Is it worth it?? Why or why not? Trying to decide whether or not to get it.
Sent from my Kangdemned vivow

tylerlawhon said:
Is it worth it?? Why or why not? Trying to decide whether or not to get it.
Sent from my Kangdemned vivow
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i dont remember how the free version was compared to premium? ads i guess? idk
but plume is all i use for twitter and the last few updates have made me love it again
there was awhile back in the late winter/spring i was down on it, but its my favorite again

tylerlawhon said:
Is it worth it?? Why or why not? Trying to decide whether or not to get it.
Sent from my Kangdemned vivow
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Click to collapse
I would hold off for a little bit. I was reading on another site that twitter is trying to ban all 3rd party twitter clients.
Also, I hear there was a new free app called tweetlanes that is supposed to blow any twitter app out of the water.
Just my thoughts on buying a premium 3rd party twitter app...

tylerlawhon said:
Is it worth it?? Why or why not? Trying to decide whether or not to get it.
Sent from my Kangdemned vivow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've used Plume Premium for a very long time and I love it! Highly recommend it.

I like apps with no ads so for that to me it's worth it. Now if you have a tablet, it's hands down the best twitter app.
Sent from my Incredible 2 using Tapatalk 2

kubes069 said:
I would hold off for a little bit. I was reading on another site that twitter is trying to ban all 3rd party twitter clients.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is 100% wrong
Plume is my go-to client. I find it to be the least offensive design wise and have the right features that suit my needs. I also think the developers do a really good job with their other apps (Beautiful Widgets) so I don't mind supporting them all around. I've tried offical, Seesmic, Tweetcaster, Tweetlanes, Boid, Twicca, Peep, TweetDeck, TweakDeck and Slices but always always come back to Plume.
Tweetlanes is certainly one to watch and see how it grows. There is a lot to like about it and the developer has a lot of right things in mind so it might be worth to follow him. Carbon is the twitter app every person is waiting for but it's a closed Beta. From what I've read it's the smoothest one out there but there is no ETA on release.
One thing to remember is no twitter client has push updates except for the official twitter client. Any client that offers notifications is done so by polling. If you want some form of push via a 3rd-party client you can use IFTTT + Pushover.

frankspin said:
This is 100% wrong
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Click to collapse
100% wrong? Really? Obviously, you haven't read anything about it then, because it's not as wrong as you think it is.
Why don't you read this:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/08/16/twitters-new-api-v1-1-seeks-to-end-3rd-party-twitter-clients-for-good-by-making-them-useless/
Or if you think that one is not good enough, try this one:
http://thenextweb.com/twitter/2012/08/17/twitter-4/

kubes069 said:
100% wrong? Really? Obviously, you haven't read anything about it then, because it's not as wrong as you think it is.
Why don't you read this:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/08/16/twitters-new-api-v1-1-seeks-to-end-3rd-party-twitter-clients-for-good-by-making-them-useless/
Or if you think that one is not good enough, try this one:
http://thenextweb.com/twitter/2012/08/17/twitter-4/
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Click to collapse
Changing API requirements and banning use of API are two completely different things, that is what my 100% wrong referred to. If you had said "Twitter just changed their API requirements which may mean some Twitter apps to become obsolete" than yes that is correct but that isn't what you said. Twitter will work with 3rd party developers who are at or above the 100K limit already and allow that to grow to 200% of the API limit. The rules are tight and strict but it does not mean they're being banned.

frankspin said:
Changing API requirements and banning use of API are two completely different things, that is what my 100% wrong referred to. If you had said "Twitter just changed their API requirements which may mean some Twitter apps to become obsolete" than yes that is correct but that isn't what you said. Twitter will work with 3rd party developers who are at or above the 100K limit already and allow that to grow to 200% of the API limit. The rules are tight and strict but it does not mean they're being banned.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you agree that this is Twitters way of slowly weeding out all 3rd party apps though? Or am I completely misunderstanding what is going on with this thing here?

kubes069 said:
Would you agree that this is Twitters way of slowly weeding out all 3rd party apps though? Or am I completely misunderstanding what is going on with this thing here?
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Click to collapse
They're not trying to weed people out, if they were they wouldn't have put in there that they are willing to work with developers. If anything I'd say this is there way of trying to tighten everything up experience wise. I guess with the end game making sure the people who are putting out Twitter apps are doing so with Twitter's best intentions in mind. The irony there is Twitter is different on every platform (android, ios, web) and they bought Tweetdeck which functions completely differently from Twitter.

Plume is definitely the best go-to app. Premium gets the nifty widget.
But I want better list management, notification control per account, and individual account views.
Time to checkout Tweetlanes I guess.

Plume Premium just remove the ads, no extra feature.
Plume ads doesn't hurt much, they're related to the content you follow and appear as regular tweets.
I'm also looking for a Twitter client to replace Tweetdeck.
Plume is the best so far, but needs better support on columns caching, to not reload columns all the time.
It's true the Twitter API limit is killing a lot of 3rd party clients...
I've tried all these:
Official Twitter App - needs more features
Tweetdeck - still the best if you can live with the limitations, Twitter bought and killed development on it
Tweakdeck - modded Tweetdeck, very good, but also can't get big new features due dev sunset
Plume - the best modern client
Tweet lanes - started great, but then never got updated again
Boid - great app, now open source, devs gave up because of Twitter API limits
Falcon Pro - I don't understand the hype on this, so many other clients much better
Tweedle - keep an eye on this, may get good
Echofon - keep an eye on this, may get good
Janetter - supports lists as columns, needs some more features
Seesmic - I never liked it, also doesn't support lists as columns
Twicca - clean UI, I like other clients better
TweetCaster - lots of users, lots of features, but doen't support lists as columns
HootSuite - good features, but columns reload slow and too many times

Damn you really dug through these posts to get to this one and awaken this dead thread

nitsua98 said:
Damn you really dug through these posts to get to this one and awaken this dead thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, found some good info here...

Had the same problem....I've been using Scope for a while now.
Sent from my HTC Droid Incredible 2 using xda premium