Apps and Marketplace on Windows Phone – A short look over Windows Marketplace:
Before Smartphone\Superfone era, there was hardly any concept of app market for Smartphones, but today somehow the success of an ecosystem get measured by the number of downloads the official app market gets going on daily basis or the number of apps registered into it. Windows Marketplace doesn’t boosts on these stats as of now, but its not something that one can just write off in its early age.
I was able to see Official Twitter/Facebook/FourSquare apps available right there which was something even Symbian craving for till date. And also the way, big titles are growing inside Windows Marketplace, the picture soon gonna change.
You will say that you kept on hearing similar about Qt apps on Symbian, but it didn’t happened that way, then what makes me say that the story would be different this time?
There are multiple reasons.
First issue with apps on Symbian was tedious development, while the development on Android\iOS was comparatively easier. I see a competitive edge for Windows Phone here considering the well established IDE like Microsoft Visual Studio being in their hands for the development of Windows Phone apps. Almost all the developers around the globe would have started their work without Visual Studio itself or would have gone through it one point of time or other. Not only that but you can find extensive material on coding and other things via the same IDE that may help even a newbie to start the development for Windows Phone.
Second issue with Apps on Symbian or Android was piracy part. We still see best of apps on iOS rather than their Android counterpart as its easy to install pirated apps on Android/Symbian in comparison to closed Apple ecosystem. In case of Windows Phone, I myself couldn’t find a way to install .xap files unless one does a dev unlock that is also not available for free as of now. Not only that but Microsoft itself being big of Stop Piracy has already established measures to check such pirated apps and this part could sure lure developers as Microsoft letting them get the right price for their apps (somewhat higher than any other platforms as even crap apps are selling at higher price than). Though end users will be annoyed by this, but in the long run that will result into higher number of apps on the platform and that is already happening at a good pace.
Third issue with Apps/development on almost all platforms other than iOS is the fragmentation. In Symbian, @janole needs to develop for S60 and S^3 separately and then he also have to think of changed styles in Symbian Belle, in Android, almost each app is trying to cope up with the UI changes coming with ICS though App developers themselves don’t know that how many Handsets will be on ICS by end of the year. Obviously, a fragmented platform would never be an easy choice for developers as it causes them to cope up with the OS changes more than demands of their customer base and bugs. Like Apple iOS, Microsoft Windows Phone also trying to keep the fragmentation minimal or almost eliminated by keeping the hardware specs capable since the start and rolling out the updates to all the devices most of the time. Sure would help Microsoft in bringing more developers on board.
Apart from the above reasons, there are multiple competitions and promotional offers being run from Microsoft End to bring as many as developers on board (like thousands of Lumia devices being sent for free to developers around the globe) and I am sure that this initiatives not gonna in vein.
Now about the Marketplace itself,
The first thing you notice when you open the Marketplace is that aside from apps, you’ve got music and games as available categories, which is a quite better approach than Android or iTunes Store might have taken about such content. Swiping to the left takes you to the Featured page of the Marketplace, which brings up selected titles on daily basis.
In the actual store, you get the typical views like featured, categories, new, top etc. Categories divide the apps further into all, Apps from Nokia*, entertainment, music + video, tools + productivity, lifestyle, children + family, news + weather, travel + navigation, heath + fitness, photos, games, social, sports, personal finance, business, books + reference, education and government + politics (I think these categories will keep on updating also). And all the time, UI will keep on following Metro UI guidelines.
*Look like Nokia missed to put their category name in small caps as Windows Phone platform usually doing with its headings and subheadings intentionally.
Once you’ve selected a category, the list view shows you the typical icon, app name, and rating on a five-star scale and also shows you a short description of the app directly below the name. Tapping on an app takes you to its information page, where you get the price, a full description, screen shots, reviews, version number, supported languages, and a list of phone services that the app needs access to (similar to what you find on Android when you start installing an app).
Interesting is to see two options try and buy. Yes! almost all the apps in Windows Marketplace are free for trial (with limited features or ads or a small timeframe to use them), so no matter you are pissed off from the high price of a game, you can sure give it a try. For free apps, the two options will be install and share.
Once you’ve decided to /install buy, the process happens somewhat like as it happens on iOS or some Android ROMs means app will be shown in your app list and progress of the installation will be shown to you by a small bar under the app icon (text here), and after a few moments, you’ll find the app has been added to your applications list.
I found searching part not at par with other platforms and it was very strange to see that it doesn’t give you a suggestion in case you typed the spelling wrong, but till I know what I am going to search, I have no major issues with the Marketplace app at least.
Nitish Kumar's Blog 
Holy shit! 24 pages? :-O Sorry man, I give it a pass.. I am too busy, like you 😦
Nice post. How about an option to display the post in one page? May make it simpler to read
You are just awesome dude… how the hell can u review soooooo much!! hats offff! even i own nokia lumia 800!! feels like reading n reading… (now in page 1)
Will consider to put a PDF file for whole post.
One hell of a review Nitish.
Thanks mate. Went out a little early than scheduled but hope I covered most of things
Looks like you can now publish a book on Lumia Review 🙂 Great Review..
Nice review , by the way about OTA , it’s a wp7 limitation and not lumia , soon wp in market currently supports OTA same is true about other few features.
Yup! The review is mostly about Windows Phone as a whole rather than Lumia only
Good post , though I must say I couldn’t read it in one go 🙂
Even though I havent used or tried any WP device for more than half an hour, I just hated UI and how it looks. I don’t think that perception of ugly,over simplified UI will change.
As expected and read all over for me 3 things stand out for WP. These can make it success.
1) People Hub
2) Brilliant Office Suite ( and its FREE)
3) Email
But sadly I feel Nokia is going away from their soul and going Apple way.
This may be good for company(I really doubt) but not good for industry as whole.
Suyog,
I had similar sentiments about WP UI before trying it myself. Even I mentioned once that I felt those uneven fonts as ugly. But trust me, views are bound to change once you allow it grow over you. Not all the praises going around are dummy.
Agree with Nitish, once I got my hands on Lumia 800, I didn’t like UI for few hours or a day and missed home screens. But later, started loving the UI and now I am a fan of UI. 🙂
People hub is exceptional as just like Meego it brings all social activities at one place and like WebOS it brings all the photos (even twitter ones).
So in all, people hub will effectively help people managing their social needs without going behind any apps that is a great thing for n00bs or even people coming from Symbian/Meego.
Second great thing is speed of UI that literally no offers either be Symbian or Android
Suyog, I’ll agree with Nitish.. in just two words…. you will see my views about it changing too… it’s actually a good UI. there are however some features that really were needed but if talking about UI, seriously I think if I was given more time with it I would been liking this UI. and I’ll not say like many out there that “Windows Phone 7.5” is not that good to be used.
But still I’ll say that MeeGo on N9 (for its given time) has been the most *Mature* smartphone OS (in most of the aspects) among all of them.
And Nitish; that really is great post above, I’ll try to read it completely 😛
Review is great for people want to know about the History, comparison , apps functionality , dimensions but drawback is too massive detail..
Very interesting article, Nitish. I’m very exited with Windows phone on Nokia, but lack of BT and file transfer worries me. Nokia has been great among other things because of its flexibility and versatility. Does is support USB on the go, like my N8? What about something small but GREAT in functionality, notification light? Man, I think Nokia should never get rid of this. It helps the user so much to see through a notification light, that you have a missed event.
Quite a thorough article on the Lumia 800(& upcoming 900)windows phone. The most important things for me are:i’m not going to sell a Rolls Royce to ride a better handlind motorcycle-ie,my Nokia E7-00 vs any Lumia! No storage! No tethering! No bluetooth! No sale!
One of the most comprehensive review of Lumia 800 I have read. sheer Brilliant.
Are u still using this device? How is the battery life holding up for you?
Any word on Lumia 900 launch date in india?
Thanks,
-Pankaj
The best review of WP that I have seen , kudos to u Mr. Kumar ! U r right , the Lumia 800 is beautiful ; it should be since it`s a copy of the N9 ! But that same design is also a problem in certain areas of the world ( more about this in a bit . ) .
i`ve always said that WP has potential but it`s still immature ( Takes 3 years to work out enough of the bus and work enough features in , to make the OS useful . ) , seriously late to the party and there r too many other OEMs trying to get a piece of the pie . In all fairness to Nokia , they haven`t had a chance to make an impact on WP yet , maybe WP8 will change this . Nor have the Lumias been out too long , though this is changing . So it`s still a bit early to say for sure .
That said , WP hasn`t exactly taken off yet , marketshare is still single digits . Nor do I like the Metro UI , though my issue with it is more function than form ( but I do think it`s ugly !) . I firmly believe that a homescreen should convey enough info to keep u current at a glance , and the Metro UI doesn`t do this . Even Windows Mobile could do this !
WP`s biggest problem , IMHO , is it`s requirements for a constant connection and Skydrive . Not so much a problem in developed countries , but in emerging markets with their infrastructure issues and the need to watch data usage, it`s a different thing entirely . I don`t think WP will do well in emerging markets ( It seems to not be … ) , though it also doesn`t seem to be doing well in many developed countries either , with the USA , Finland and Russia as notable exceptions .
Nor will do well in countries where the N9 was a success, most notably China , due to the problem that WP is functionally inferior to Meego , and Symbian , for that matter . even the new 311 is better from what I can tell !
For these reasons , I don`t see WP as more than moderately successful , assuming it takes off , of course ! Maybe WP8 will change this , ir really needs too ! cheers !
Mofo awesome! Never believed there existed a greater Lumia 800 fan than me! :p
Hmmm , no replies , can`t say I`m surprised lol !
On second thought , looks like the 10/19/2012 post MIGHT have a reply so I take back the previous remark , t least to an extent lol…
Every thing about Windows Phone OS is covered very well.