I was always in the Android camp because it was more FOSS then, more AOSP. Being said that, another competitor was and is desperately needed. When Windows Phones were in the wild, I had hope. But take a look at Windows 11, if Windows Phone had been a success, by now it would be utter shit.
Comment on That time when Microsoft bought and killed Nokia phone unit
Ugurcan@lemmy.world 1 month ago
To be honest, Windows Phone OS was a marvel in terms of user experience and design language. Calling it ‘Bad Software’ is not fair at all.
Too bad MS picked every possible bad decision to cripple it, starting with not putting it’s weight at all.
I really, really miss the feeling of being in control of my whole digital existence with just a single glance.
selokichtli@lemmy.ml 1 month ago
mindlight@lemm.ee 1 month ago
I’d argue that Windows 11 is a result of what Google has been getting away with Android.
Google has shown Microsoft that the users happily pay money for giving up the control of their device. While Android was open 10 years ago, Google has worked hard to lock it down for 99% of the end users. The amount of personal data they get from each device is staggering.
selokichtli@lemmy.ml 1 month ago
They all find their way to shit when profit, not user satisfaction, is the ultimate goal. In the end, we are talking Microsoft here, we already know them.
mindlight@lemm.ee 1 month ago
Well, at least when you used to buy windows you were the user and the customer.
With Google you’re just the product.
pycorax@lemmy.world 1 month ago
When they compromised on their UI design to make it more like Android and iOS in WP10, it was already over. It was also such a buggy mess compared to WP8.1.
What a shame.
circuscritic@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
It was a better UI and user experience then Android by the time it launched…but by the time it launched the smartphone market had already exploded and the app developer marketplace had already matured into a profitable sector. There was no incentive to attract enough developers to build out a similar ecosystem on the late to the party Windows Phone
Ugurcan@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yeah, I agree.
The main incentive twirled around UWP mentality, “Write one app that works on Windows, WP and Xbox automagically”.
I think it was a fucking-a-star idea that could gather fresh developers to a big potential userbase. And surprisingly, it worked for a time as well.
But MS again cold-feeted the platform themselves in a short span and scared everyone.
I actually witnessed many brilliant developers wrote their very first C# code with UWP, only to spin out to other platforms later as WinPhone’s apparent neglect. PocketCasts and Flipboard are two that went very successful on other platforms.
mihies@kbin.social 1 month ago
Not to mention that MS completely changed their development tools and libraries more than once if I remember properly.
drmoose@lemmy.world 1 month ago
That’s just nostalgia speaking. It was closed source OS that objectively sucked and had zero app support.
Evilcoleslaw@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I’ve been running Launcher 10 on Android for a long while now. Replicates the tile interface and app list/drawer. I think it has ads with an IAP to disable them and another IAP for Live Tiles support.
Ugurcan@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yeah, visually there are alternatives on Android, but there were a few features built into WP that Android doesn’t fundamentally support.
Like having your SO’s all accounts merged under a single node, and seeing everything related to her, be it from WhatsApp, Mail, SMS, Photo Shares etc inside a single tile was awesome. Can Android do that in 2024?
Evilcoleslaw@lemmy.world 1 month ago
HTC had Blinkfeed for a while which was kind of similar to People Hub. It probably wouldn’t even be feasible these days as so many services have put their APIs behind paywalls.
Bebo@literature.cafe 1 month ago
I’ve been enjoying the launcher 10 launcher on my phone for more than two years now. Whenever I change my launcher, I keep going back to it. I find it to be so productive for my use. And the windows 10 live tiles ui is also great.
Wahots@pawb.social 1 month ago
Not to mention google and apple deliberately C&Ding stuff like the awesome first party youtube apps and stuff like project islandwood. They deliberately tried to stopp their apps from working because they knew what would happen if WP succeeded.
rottingleaf@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
Compared to Nokia stuff it was bad software.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
I used one and I am happy to no longer use one
Wooki@lemmy.world 1 month ago
t was over simplified and limited creating massive wasted realestate.
If it wasn’t for the mole they could have gone droid a whole lot earlier and i suspect, flourished as a result.
Such a waste.
Zoldyck@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Exacty. The Lumia 925 was so fucking good, and streets ahead of competitors, especially for the price. The camera on that phone made pics that is still better than some phone cameras today, from models that cost double or more!
EvilBit@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Stop trying to coin the phrase “streets ahead”.
018118055@sopuli.xyz 1 month ago
Uh, it’s been coined for decades now.
EvilBit@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I actually know that. It’s a reference to Community, which either inadvertently or otherwise acted like it’s not a real saying.
pycorax@lemmy.world 1 month ago
That phone still has the best image stabilisation I’ve used. I could take pictures while walking and the pictures it took were never blur.