Windows mobile and where it's headed
At the time of this writing, I represent 1% of global mobile users. Now if that’s a privilege to be rare or a sad thing to be the minority - I don’t know.
2015-2016 has been my year of experiments. I tried out things I could do but never would. To know other worlds and how it feels like, to everyone else. Using a Windows phone and relying on it solely was among things like writing a diary for a whole year, and trying out power naps.
The transition from Android was really hard.
The ‘WHY’ question taunted me for long.
But guess what? I survived!
Some things are certain, you don’t need a future-telling machine to know about Windows’ impending doom if it continues in its present state.
Windows 10 is long overdue and the hopes of it reviving Windows phones are also dwindling. It’s not yet time for a ’ T he best of Windows 8.1 post’ but I’d like to show where Windows 8.1 falls short. (All comparisons made with Android in mind and clearly not iOS)
To start off, the total lack of Google apps is a major hit. Goodbye to Inbox, Drive, Now…
The UI might (is) be clean and minimalistic, but it’s not the best.
The next thing that troubled me was the total lack of customizability. However, this feeling might be as a result of me reaching developer-level customizations on my Android with Xposed modules.
I find it very difficult to share movies, music with other users as there is no app, I repeat No app that does the job right. Either it’s failed downloads or they’re frozen, like FOREVER. The only solution left? Bluetooth. No, never I rather not watch the movie than have to wait at least twice its duration.
These are the top three critical problems.
Update: 21/12/17
This phone is no longer my primary phone as the call microphone and camera flash stopped working. Even though this old device supports 4G it is also pretty much useless without LTE.
But I still use this phone as an alarm, time-lapse shooter and to play games when I’m bored. I don’t have to worry about updates nor apps becoming obsolete.
Update: 15/5/18
Many popular apps have started discontinuing their support for Windows mobile. Apps that were already installed stopped working and many of them vanished from the app store. I was left stuck with the few available apps.
My extensive search for a solution led me to this post :
My LUMIA 925 was an unsupported phone and I was a bit hesitant at trying out unofficial hacks thanks to an earlier failed attempt which almost soft-bricked the phone. Thankfully, I was able to bring things back then with WDRT.
Nonetheless, frustrated at the lack of new things in Windows 8, I decided to give this a shot. It was a huge risk actually and at worst I’d end up hard-bricking the phone.
After meticulously following each and every step and finally adding another important update to the package, I was able to finally get it to run Win10. This has in effect extended the life of the device again. There are more supported apps on the Windows 10 store. Microsoft Edge has replaced the old and clumsy browser. There are significant UI improvements. I think the camera has become slower though. Other than such minor glitches the device works great for secondary purposes like alarms, browsing, watching movies, and best of all reading ebooks (thanks to the AMOLED display).
Update: 28/6/19
One year has passed and it’s still going strong. :)
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