Category: Microsoft Windows

Windows Phone market share increased in some markets globally in Q4 of 2014 according to the research firm Kantar.  The numbers, which make up the last three months of 2014 and are based on phone activations, saw the share go up France, Germany and Australia while the United States, United Kingdom, Italy and Spain all saw Windows Phone share drop.  Overall, the global market share of Windows Phone is at about 2.28% globally according to Net Market Share, which is pretty dismal no matter how you try to spin it.

Windows 10 can’t come fast enough.

The Windows 8.1 Start Screen has a lot of customization that you can do to arrange your icons into logical groups to find things quicker on your PC or tablet.  Did you know however that you can name these groups as well?  While it isn’t required, it is another way that you can personalize your Start Screen a little bit more to your liking.  In this How To I will show you just how to do this and it is literally a single click.

Let’s start first with the basics to make sure everyone is up to speed.  To add an app to your Start Screen, go to your Apps list and the right click it (or tap and pull down) to highlight it.  You will then see the menu at the bottom of the page where one option is to Pin it to your Start screen.  Once on your Start screen you can drag and drop the apps into logical groups to your liking.

In a post on their website, Qualcomm has announced their continued partnership with Microsoft and that future Windows Phones will be powered by the Snapdragon 810 processor.  This is good news for Windows Phone users as a new flagship phone is expected later this year along with the release of Windows 10 for Phone.  The performance and power of the Snapdragon 810 should make these a powerful option in the marketplace in 2015.

Could we be looking at the future of the Windows Store?  Microsoft has updated a link to the Windows Store that points to a completely redesigned, modern app style look and feel that could be the precursor to what we can expect to see in the Windows universal store under Windows 10.  While there is no way to know this for sure – only time will tell – it is certainly an exciting and much different look to the Windows Store and Windows Phone Store that you see online and in their respective apps today.

The Lumia Storyteller app for Windows Phone has received a minor update overnight, bringing expanded stories in your timeline among other small updates.  The new build, version 4.1.0.19 for those keeping score at home, builds on the major 4.0 update that came out in December and is more-or-less a tweaking of some of the features that that releases brought to the exclusively Lumia only app.

Lumia Storyteller – Free (Lumia Devices Only) – Download Now

Dear Windows Phone Developers,

I’m writing you today in an open forum to ask for one thing.  It is something that I know is a difficult ask.  Your livelihoods are at stake in some cases.  Your company’s growth is at stake.  I know what I’m asking for has big impact but it something that I must ask for in light of recent events.

That ask is patience.  I know when it comes to Windows Phone development that patience has often lead to frustration.  Frustration from a lack of support.  Frustration with mixed messages from Microsoft.  Frustration from a community that was equally frustrated and left.  I know, I was one of them for a while wandering the iOS wilderness.

But brighter days are ahead.

Those brighter days come with Windows 10, the next version of Windows that will be on every device that runs Windows today.  But more importantly, it brings universal apps to the market.  That means you as a developer, with a few tweaks for UIs and other device specific elements, can have your apps on everything from a Xbox One to a tablet to a Windows powered phone.  Code once, it is everywhere.  This, undoubtedly, will make your lives easier from both a coding perspective and a support perspective.

The recent announcements by Chase and Bank of America to discontinue their Windows Phone app support was frustrating to see.  It was another blow to the platform.  But it was short sighted.  They gave up when brighter days are ahead.  They gave up because of too few users.  Windows 10 will change this.  I predict this time next year there will be a new and improved Chase and BofA app in the Windows universal Store.  That is because Windows 10 is a game changer for developers.  Even Microsoft, who is throwing out updates and new apps for iOS and Android on a seemingly weekly basis, know that brighter days are ahead.  They are already showing off new universal apps for Windows 10 in the Windows Insider preview.  This is the future of Windows and it is as bright as it has ever been.

But it will require patience.  It is my ask of you as a former MVP, as one who is passionate about this platform and one who writes about it every day on this site.

Keep the Faith.  In the end, it will pay.

Regards,

Clinton