There's actually a revised version 2.1 that works great on phones coming out before too long, its interesting that you mention this because Trev just recently bought a Win8 phone and has been messing with it.

 

Yep, sorry about that guys.

I didn't catch this one because I was focusing all of my testing on ΩF2.1, Which currently renders like this on WP8:






I'll revert the changes shortly, so it's back like it was a day ago.

Cheers


Edit: should be back to normal for you guys if you refresh and/or clear your cache.

 

Tapatalk on WP8 is ok, but visually it could definitely be improved. Since WP is so minimal and focused around typography, when developers get the basics wrong (spacing, colours, etc), apps end up looking awful.

 

BTW I believe WP8 should be back where it was now

 

Probably, our hatred of tapa runs pretty deep, its a necessary evil until OF2.1 is released but their quality of code is so abysmal that they make working with it a nightmare.

 

Overall, pretty good so far. I picked up the Samsung ATIV S specifically for ΩF testing and checking out the platform. I primarily work within the realm of interaction and user-interface design, so wanted to take a hands-on approach.

WP is quite fast and efficient. IE10 mobile is solid, and supports a wide array of modern web technologies. This is almost tough to come to terms with given the history of IE6/7/8 and the web industry.

Even though WP8 feels young and unfinished in places, it's still more refined and cohesive than Android in many respects. Given that the ATIV S is just a Galaxy SIII booting WP8, it's also fairly obvious that the OS is more energy efficient than Android too.

Once Microsoft adds missing features like orientation-lock, it will really bring it to a similar level as iOS in terms of overall user experience.

I do wish you could change the default search provider, since Bing is pretty useless for most technical searches. I don't think forcing the search provider on people is a good strategy for MSFT

 

It's already the leader IMO in terms of design - functionality and more importantly app base - have to catch up.

 

I'm not sure if I'd take it that far. I see it more as an underdog with potential. There's still a lot of basic functionality that's been overlooked or is simply not finished.

I find the scrolling physics are excellent at low speeds (much more natural feeling easing settings than Android, for example). WP8 is just lacking a method for returning to the top of a page. In iOS you can tap the clock or rapidly flick, which quickly increases the acceleration response.

If I was looking for a basic phone for family members who aren't interested in technology/gadgets, I would definitely recommend WP8. It runs fast even on low-end hardware, staying fluid and responsive. For the basics like managing calls, texts, emails, contacts, maps, it does everything very well.

My biggest nags are definitely:
- Bing. Maps are decent, but let us change the default search provider to Google. Bing web search is awful, and IMO only brings down the entire experience by making it a forced option. As a generalisation from working in the web industry, nobody ever uses or wants Bing. It only has marketshare from the people who have know idea what's going on with software on their computer.
- Scrolling acceleration physics and adding a method or gesture for "go to top"
- No orientation lock... really? Even third party developers are trying to hack this in to their apps.
- Live tiles need to be more reliable. They seem inconsistent in updates or even being active. However, much of this is probably due to half-assed 3rd party apps.

I bought this phone purely for website testing, but I'm still using it for every day functions. That says something for me. Usually I'd go straight back to iOS, despite it starting to feel stale and the iPhone screen being a bit too small.

Next up, I'll grab a next-gen Nexus device for the same purpose. Far easier than running the Android emulator constantly.

 

Pros
- Generally clean user interface and interactions.
- A fairly fast OS, very well suited to lower-end and/or smaller phones (much better than Android in this regard, IMO).
- Bing maps are accurate and very fast (unlike Apple maps in Australia)
- Bing maps can be downloaded and cached locally, even an entire region. This is very useful.
- Microsoft system apps are very fast and fairly efficient to use
- Email client is lacking, but also very quick for skimming and replying to messages
- IE10 is a fast and respectable mobile browser. Good support for modern web standards.
- IE10 has a highly refined "double tap" method for zooming in to web page text. Beats all others, Google and Apple should take note.


Cons
- No option for locking screen orientation.
- Two touch actions are required to answer an incoming call (swipe to unlock + click to answer). This is really poor design. I can't believe they've overlooked such a basic interaction (which unfortunately seems to be a common trend, to some extent)
- There's no method for scrolling to the top of a page in IE10, or most apps.
- Scrolling physics do not account for rapid flicking and build up momentum (it can take forever to reach the top of a page).
- Screen does not momentarily turn on to show an email or message was received.
- Volume rocker control is universal. It controls everything from your morning alarm to video playback all as one.
- Bing search is the only search provider, it can't be changed, and it's fucking awful for anything beyond very basic searches.
- WP8 has no standard notifications system, app developers are forced to hack together crummy solutions.
- Keyboard is poorly implemented and inaccurate. Other platforms do better corrections (though WP8 seems to provide much more accurate word suggestions)
- Live tiles are a nice idea, but they don't receive updates very often. My tiles completely stopped updating for a few days and a hard reset (OS wipe) was required to resolve the issue.
- IE10 mobile has no "forward" button, anywhere.
- IE10 mobile only supports having 6 tabs open
- IE10 only has ONE button on the toolbar, so if you decide this should be a "tabs" button then you're then missing stop/refresh + favorites.
- App store has fake software with identical names to popular apps. There's actually multiple apps called "Facebook". Other App stores have crap, but they don't share the same titles and icons as big-name apps.
- WP8 UI is nice, but feels too sparse on a 4.7" phone sometimes. A few apps have excessively large typography, vastly reducing the usable space left on the display (Microsoft's People app is a good example).
- It seems like the platform doesn't see many updates for features or bug-fixes.



It's obvious there's some talented designers and develops working on Windows Phone. However, it still feels more like a "me too" effort rather than a viable competitor to Android and iOS. I don't think the platform will last unless Microsoft seriously picks up their development pace and makes it evident they actually care about the product (and people using it). I hope the do succeed, because having only two options for mobile devices doesn't foster a competitive environment in this space.



I'll keep this phone around for IE10 mobile testing, but I could never replace iOS/Android with it for actual daily usage.