Category: Opinion

The news over the weekend that Apple’s flagship OS’ where more vulnerable to security threats should not come as a surprise to anyone. As one who formerly used OS X and iOS, I knew it was just a matter of time before the two platforms were targeted and it appears in 2014 that happened.  Why it shouldn’t come as a surprise is simple and comes down to simple target size for hackers.  The key however my fellow Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 users is not to gloat to much.  We have been here and know the pain.

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

Dear Microsoft,

It’s Clinton, that former MVP that has returned to Windows Phone after three years in the iOS wilderness.  I’m happy to be back thanks.  I’ve enjoyed connected with old friends and being back on a platform that I love.  It’s great to see how much it has grown up in the last three years and the amount of productivity I have now with my phone compared to a few years ago is in stark contrast.

There is one area though that the difference between iOS and Windows Phone remains and it is painful.  That is Office for Windows Phone.  My Microsoft friends, it is horrific.  Not to the scale of Office for Mac horrific but pretty close.  It is so limiting – so ultimately useless many times – that it is the single set of apps that I miss on my iPad.  As I put in my Windows Phone app gap article a few days ago, generally I can find anything I need for Windows Phone these days and in fact Office for Windows Phone comes built into my Lumia 1320.  But it is such a painful experience that even when I want do a quick edit to a Word document or PowerPoint, I end up lugging out the laptop.  It shouldn’t be this way.

It is a rainy Sunday morning here in London today.  Well, to be fair, it’s pretty much raining everywhere in England today.  So as I sat in my office, catching up on news and other bits-and-bobs, I read an article over at Computing UK where Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore outlines how developers are coming to Windows Phone in larger numbers as the platform starts to gain momentum.  In it he states:

“If you’re a super high-end early adopter of apps, it’s probably not the best platform choice for you, but if you’re not … we see tons of people who are highly satisfied with it.

“As Windows 8.1 in general increases its volume, we see more and more software developers getting engaged on that platform, and that addresses the app gap,” he added.

That’s a pretty powerful statement.  It is a bit of an admission but also a bit of forward thought on how Windows Phone apps are gaining momentum as the platform itself gains momentum.

After reading the article, it got me thinking about my own change from iOS to Windows Phone.  What apps am I missing in my day-to-day life?  I somewhat expected myself to come up with a laundry list.  That was, after all, why I left Windows Phone three years ago.  The app gap was more like an app canyon at that point.  The result was surprising.  I ended up with only two apps out of my daily life that I really do miss from my iOS days.  The number of apps I have installed on my Windows Phone?  61.

Effectively I proved in my own world-centered-on-Clinton that the Windows Phone app gap is shrinking.  Fast.

Microsoft’s announcement yesterday of offering unlimited OneDrive storage for Office 365 users is, as it should be, a very big deal.  In effect, they have gone to the market and told everyone that not only can they offer a cloud storage solution, they can do it at a cost that nobody can compete with the possible exception of Apple or Google.  I say this not as a fanboy but as a realist.  Only a company with the experience and shear size of Microsoft could put into play such an audacious plan.  And if you are an executive at Dropbox or Box, I would be waking up this morning worried.

The challenge all cloud storage solutions have had to this point is that it is, effectively, a one-trick pony.  It does what it says on the tin in that it stores your files and photos in some way or another to the cloud.  But that is fundamentally the problem.  You are paying a monthly or yearly premium to simply store your content online so you can access it from anywhere.  Functional, yes.  Great value, no.

Today was a busy day for San Francisco based Fitbit.  The company announced three new fitness activity trackers – the Charge, Charge HR and Surge – all of which will be their next generation of activity trackers.  All three look really impressive and will offer different levels of tracking based on your needs as a user and all three have multiple days of activity between charges which, particularly in the case of the Smartwatch-esque Surge, is important.

Along with this was the announcement from Fitbit and Microsoft of the new Windows Phone app which I highlighted earlier in a post.  That update brings a lot of improvements and enhancements, particularly around SensorCore and Cortana support.  It is the first one of those that is interesting in light of the recent decisions that Fitbit has made around iOS.  It also makes me think that Fitbit is making a bet that Windows Phone, as a platform, is going to take off.

Let me lay a little bit of foundation for those who haven’t kept up with the state of affairs in iOS from Apple.  With the release of iOS 8, Apple introduced Health Kit, an aggregation app if you will that allows you to pull information from the M7/8 motion processor built into the iPhone 5s/6/6 Plus.  It also allows for integration of information from 3rd party apps such as MyFitnessPal and Jawbone’s Up.  It’s this last part that is interesting as Fitbit stated multiple times in their user forums that they have no plans to integrate into Health Kit.  Why is that interesting?  Because during the keynote introducing Health Kit, Fitbit was the first shown.  It seemed, by association, that Fitbit would be tied to Health Kit.  In fact, the link to the user forums above were updated on October 8th with additional confirmation Health Kit integration, for now, won’t be happening.

So that makes the integration with Windows Phone and SensorCore very interesting because it effectively is saying no to iOS and yes to Windows Phone.