I can't defend anymore.... The problem with Microsoft Mobile: Windows Phone

My investigation into Windows Phone started in 2011 when my company needed a replacement to the reliable yet ageing Blackberry handsets and (BES) service.

It started well, an alternative to Androids lack of direction and security (at the time) and the iPhone 4 price range. Microsoft offered promise with Windows Phone 7.0, a sleek tile screen flashing with application updates offered up on the ever reliable Nokia, Samsung and HTC hardware for around £150 -£300 per handset. Management of the phones was easy with the inbuilt workplace and company portal apps. The battery was (and may I add is still superb on Windows Phones), Microsoft drive is still the best sat-nav app I have used and the tile screen gives personalisation and ease for the user. My team have deployed hundreds of Windows Phone and we have only ever had to rebuild one due to user error and had zero malfunctions or faults with hardware or software, reliable has to be its biggest achievement regardless of the Windows handset you are using.

It was clear the handsets were working. In Europe Windows Phone 7 gained a healthy 17% market share and in some regions 20-25%.

And then the problems started....

Deployment

Windows Phone 8, the deployment was laggy, hope of windows phone 7.8 upgrades were messy and carrier dependent, most simply did not prioritise Windows Phone due to uptake. The promise of build on what you have achieved seemed to be somewhat missing in Microsoft's planning, everything felt the same. Windows 10 phone upgrades were supposed to be much easier and managed by Microsoft directly but here we are 9 months late of the supposed first upgrade date and the operating system still feels like it is very much in BETA only upgrading on Windows Phones in very few and very selective European countries. People have lost interest in waiting.

Apps and Market share

The applications came... sort of and then it all went quite, Microsoft seemed to lure some major apps and developers onto Windows Phone 8 through a bit of interest in the new operating system and asking developers to create apps for the store, this didn’t always work though, Snapchat has always found a reason never to create a Windows Phone app. Never-the-less this didn’t matter, Microsoft could now claim Instagram, Vine, twitter, WhatsApp and other major apps were on the operating system, yes this true but the experience and usability of the apps is by no way comparable to Android or IOS there is a feeling the apps have been left to die by the developers, Instagram stayed on BETA for over 2 years in the Windows Phone store and other apps have limited functions such as video, voice recording and sharing missing. It almost felt like users were being punished by developers for being on Windows Phone with what can only be described as “lite” versions of all the major apps, some genuine apps simply just load into the browser giving no user app user experience at all.

The biggest most infuriating issue is the lack of home grown Microsoft apps on the phone which are on Android and IOS, I have heard time and time again this is because the features will be “greater” and “worth the wait” in Windows 10 ...well where are they?!!! Delve, Intune browser, PDF, picture, video viewers, Sway a host of garage applications all missing on Windows Phone.

Within the last 5 years’ apps have taken prime place in selling any mobile handset, and with this fragmented, stagnant approach with new apps only coming from what seems to be middle east developers teaching medicine the market share in Windows Phone took a steep decline. Worldwide market share went down from 6% to 2%. European market shares have also fallen. This decline will never help bring developers to the Operating System.

New Features

Over the years to make up for the awful app selection Microsoft have made some pretty decent phone features. We have 41 MP cameras, software and hardware working in harmony to give the battery a long actual use time, wireless charging, Cortana, live tile menus, integration with Microsoft applications such as Office and OneDrive. Windows 10 phone tried to continue this by showcasing continuum, where your phone effectively turns into a PC scaling apps to full size on your monitor/ TV screen to give you a genuine Windows 10 experience... but I still fail to see the use, for this you need a docking station and it will only run windows 10 phone apps, effectively the new upscale windows RT and we all know how well that ended. I have heard Microsoft say this is designed for developing countries where consumers don’t have investment for a personal computing experience... right so by purchasing a phone which runs continuum that is more expensive than a cheap laptop needing a Microsoft dock to connect it up to a monitor (oh and you need a monitor, keyboard and mouse) running only RT based apps... who is this feature actually marketing to? This should have stayed in garage until a full desktop, third party based experience can run.

The future is bleak but it can change:

Microsoft need to get developers on board and to be fair they couldn’t have made it easier with Windows 10 application creation unified for both PC and Phone on 10. They also need to shake up the rather boring handsets and create fully-fledged premium device consumers will want to be using, like the Surface Pro range of hybrid computing, I like the idea of a Surface Phone, a premium device people will want to own and want to use.

Windows Phone surprisingly has a great market share in Italy at around 20-25% which is higher than even IOS, however in a typical fashion of intelligent response Apple have rather conveniently placed its first European IOS development office in Italy. I do wonder if this trend will continue for Windows Phone and how Microsoft will respond, once Apple’s excellent app uptake and marketing kicks in it’s been proven near impossible to stop.

As for me it's a shame, my team and I are back to Android testing with its low battery life, once every year rebuilds due to freezing or app response and ever-growing bloatware of apps, it feels like the wrong mid value Operating system and hardware has won.