Related
y'all need to get birdsong for wp7. This is definitely the most complete twitter app to date.
1. Cache's your timeline so jumping back into twitter is quick.
2. Opens links in its own dedicated browser, so getting back into the app by pressing the back button is instant. The browser is nice, supports pinch to zoom, smooth scrolling, like IE without the address bar. You can open in IE as well but all links I have tested have worked very well.
3. Integrated twit pics, opens them right up in the app.
4. landscape support
5. threaded messaging, which can be useful if you carry on convo's on twitter.
6. Posting pics is as easy as starting a tweet then clicking on the camera soft button at the bottom. Pops it right in very quickly.
So far the only drawback I have heard of is that it doesn't geotag your pics/tweets, but I've never used that anyways. From what I've heard, great way for creeps to be able to know where you are (and where you aren't).
Great video here:
http://wpcentral.com/new-twitter-app-birdsong-first-look-video
I think beezz and seismic might be going away from my phone.
edit: found a little trick if you are towards the bottom of your timeline, tapping "home" at the top ("home" Mentions" "Messages"), brings you back to the top.
just downloaded this app, very nice,
I wish we had a twitter app for wp7 that would remember your place on the timeline, the good ones for iphone and android have that option
for example, if I don't check twitter for a day, when I check it I have 100+ new tweets, but the app starts at the top, with the newest tweet, and the only way to read them in order from oldest to newest is to guess where the spot is and scroll down down down
btw if you hit "home" it will take you to the top of the timeline
jmerrey said:
just downloaded this app, very nice,
I wish we had a twitter app for wp7 that would remember your place on the timeline, the good ones for iphone and android have that option
for example, if I don't check twitter for a day, when I check it I have 100+ new tweets, but the app starts at the top, with the newest tweet, and the only way to read them in order from oldest to newest is to guess where the spot is and scroll down down down
btw if you hit "home" it will take you to the top of the timeline
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, I just added that to my first post.
I've complained about the timeline thing for a while now. I don't think any of the winmo twitter apps did that as well. Now it just needs live tile integration.
I prefer original Twitter. Has everything needed and actually shows more on screen at once.
It's a nice twitter app and I bought it but list scrolling performance can get really bad at times but it's still better than the others I've tried so far.
doministry said:
I prefer original Twitter. Has everything needed and actually shows more on screen at once.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Prefer the original too, plus it's confirmed to be working very fast with the upcoming WP7 update.
Peew971 said:
Prefer the original too, plus it's confirmed to be working very fast with the upcoming WP7 update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice to know!
If you must get Birdsong, it got a temporary massive cut price (£0.79 in the UK). I got it as an alternative to the official app just because their next update will include notifications but Twitter remains my favourite so far.
PS: moTweets is out and rubbish. Too bad, that was my favourite twitter app on winmo.
jmerrey said:
I wish we had a twitter app for wp7 that would remember your place on the timeline, the good ones for iphone and android have that option
for example, if I don't check twitter for a day, when I check it I have 100+ new tweets, but the app starts at the top, with the newest tweet, and the only way to read them in order from oldest to newest is to guess where the spot is and scroll down down down
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rowi does that. Try rowi, it's an awesome, no-frills Twitter app that just gets straight to the point with a pure Metro UI.
Tried Birdsong, and while it certainly has potential, its very slow to load tweets into the timeline, performance can dive sometimes for no reason, and that timeline counter along the top of the screen just looks really out of place and doesn't match the interface or the Metro UI.
I really wish they'd fix the official Twitter application. It definitely has potential to be awesome as well. Till then, rowi is my Twitter application.
Peew971 said:
PS: moTweets is out and rubbish. Too bad, that was my favourite twitter app on winmo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I loved moTweets on WinMo. Just checked it out here, and its terrible and ugly. It's got some good ideas and potential, but my god it looks like they tried to bring the WinMo look to WP7, which means they have totally missed the point of WP7 and Metro.
It'll be Beezz for me until any of the other clients get push live tile updates. At that time, I'll rate the features and compare.
thesecondsfade said:
It'll be Beezz for me until any of the other clients get push live tile updates. At that time, I'll rate the features and compare.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Beezz's live tile updates don't work, nor does its toast notifications.
Jim Coleman said:
Beezz's live tile updates don't work, nor does its toast notifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works for me. It sometimes stops working, but if you just log out and log back in it starts working again.
The only good WP7 apps that exist are:
1. Games
2. Apps that do not require vertical list scrolling
List scrolling is so bad, that I think WP7 devices should come with Epilepsy warnings. That's how bad it is.
Lists stall, jump, you end up selecting items you never wanted to select, etc.
Also, the Horizontal scrollign needs a threshold to trigger pane switches. If you tap up to scroll up a bit in a list and your finger moves from side to side, it can trigger horizontal pane switches and in some applications that means you lose your place in a list. That's terrible.
I brought BirdSong because it was cheap (0.99). Seesmic's UI is terrible. I don't want to have to tab an icon to go to Twitter. I want an option to take me there automatically. The official Twitter app has terrible performance and poor reaction to taps. Sometimes you have to tap on a link 3-4 times to get it to register - that may just be the application lagging like hell, though...
I prefer the Official App to BirdSong, but at the moment BirdSong outperforms it and is alreasy talking about adding Live Tiles in the next release. Facebook and twitter seem to be extremely slow adding features to their Official Apps unless you're talking about the iOS version.
I've already uninstalled 90% of the third party apps on my phone due to performing issues (list scrolling, painfully slow resuming, Live Tiles that don't work, Ads at the top of the screen - destroying the Metra Look and Feel of the App [And adds on the top on one screen, and on the bottom on the other to try to make you misclick them... i.e. AlphaJax]).
The Marketplace app freezes and crashes all the time, making you have to reboot the entire phone for it to work correctly.
The stock apps perform well, but that probably has a lot to do with Microsoft using Native Code Interop to maximize performance. Third Party applications 85% of the time have performance issues.
Oh, and Board Express... The slowest app I've ever used on any mobile platform. Wish I hadn't paid for that piece of ****.
But on topic... Yes, Birdsong is a good Twitter client. I think the Official Twitter client looks better, but the performance gains using birdsong (Raw Speed, Cached Tweets, Integrated browser so no constant resuming when viewing links, integrated picture viewer) far outweight the deficit.
N8ter said:
The only good WP7 apps that exist are:
1. Games
2. Apps that do not require vertical list scrolling
List scrolling is so bad, that I think WP7 devices should come with Epilepsy warnings. That's how bad it is.
Lists stall, jump, you end up selecting items you never wanted to select, etc.
Also, the Horizontal scrollign needs a threshold to trigger pane switches. If you tap up to scroll up a bit in a list and your finger moves from side to side, it can trigger horizontal pane switches and in some applications that means you lose your place in a list. That's terrible.
I brought BirdSong because it was cheap (0.99). Seesmic's UI is terrible. I don't want to have to tab an icon to go to Twitter. I want an option to take me there automatically. The official Twitter app has terrible performance and poor reaction to taps. Sometimes you have to tap on a link 3-4 times to get it to register - that may just be the application lagging like hell, though...
I prefer the Official App to BirdSong, but at the moment BirdSong outperforms it and is alreasy talking about adding Live Tiles in the next release. Facebook and twitter seem to be extremely slow adding features to their Official Apps unless you're talking about the iOS version.
I've already uninstalled 90% of the third party apps on my phone due to performing issues (list scrolling, painfully slow resuming, Live Tiles that don't work, Ads at the top of the screen - destroying the Metra Look and Feel of the App [And adds on the top on one screen, and on the bottom on the other to try to make you misclick them... i.e. AlphaJax]).
The Marketplace app freezes and crashes all the time, making you have to reboot the entire phone for it to work correctly.
The stock apps perform well, but that probably has a lot to do with Microsoft using Native Code Interop to maximize performance. Third Party applications 85% of the time have performance issues.
Oh, and Board Express... The slowest app I've ever used on any mobile platform. Wish I hadn't paid for that piece of ****.
But on topic... Yes, Birdsong is a good Twitter client. I think the Official Twitter client looks better, but the performance gains using birdsong (Raw Speed, Cached Tweets, Integrated browser so no constant resuming when viewing links, integrated picture viewer) far outweight the deficit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why are you complaining about scrolling issues here on a Birdsong thread? I have a TMOUS HD7 and have not experienced 1 of the issues you're complaining about. Why don't you just sell your HD7 if you really believe there's nothing good about it other than games? iOS and Android have more games, much of the same games, etc.
Every time I see your username in a thread I'm prepared to read a bunch of complaining. How old are you?
I've bought the latest version from the market, enabled push & tile notification but nothing is working ... am I the only one ?
Read 'Hey Microsoft, what’s up with those Live Tiles?' here:
http://mobilitydigest.com/hey-microsoft-whats-up-with-those-live-tiles/
Sjuust said:
Read 'Hey Microsoft, what’s up with those Live Tiles?' here:
http://mobilitydigest.com/hey-microsoft-whats-up-with-those-live-tiles/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx but I've alread read that article.. endpoints it's not my problem, beacuse other apps tiles are working... birdsong doesn't...
Prefer Motweets pro,I bought it when the price is low.I think it is the twitter app with most features currently.
However,got birdsong free trial in my device too,just seldom use it,because I can't see all the Nearby tweets or locating the people i following.
Furthermore,I found out that some major issues with all current twitter apps in the marketplace.
firstly,when exiting from the built-in browser will bring you into blank screen for at least 2 second.
second,it'll randomly crash, if you scroll through pages when it is loading app.
not sure why these problems occur,maybe it is due to the WP7 developer tool.
I use motweets, birdsong & tweetcaster.. but overall I prefer birdsong with motweets as #2
is there a fix already for birdsong crash when clicking links in mango b2?
So the subject says it all. I'm new to WP7 (not new to tech by any means)... Maybe I missed something obvious but I can't find it.
I had two notifications. But- my phone told me of neither of them by itself. I had to open the app to see them.
We're talking they were a good 45 minutes old, too.
TexUs said:
So the subject says it all. I'm new to WP7 (not new to tech by any means)... Maybe I missed something obvious but I can't find it.
I had two notifications. But- my phone told me of neither of them by itself. I had to open the app to see them.
We're talking they were a good 45 minutes old, too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The FB app does not support live tiles and push notifications and neither does the people hub, so yeah u need to open the FB app to check out updates.
You can turn on email notifications in your FB Account. Than you will get an email for New Messages or something Else.
Sent from my HD7 T9292 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Yeah its very lame. BB and Android have notifications.
Sent from my SGH-i917 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
goldenpipes said:
Yeah its very lame. BB and Android have notifications.
Sent from my SGH-i917 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
iPhone does as well but my experience with them has always been sporadic at best
thank a lot of
No .........................................
hjx .....................................
I note on the Facebook for Windows Phone Facebook page, they've promised a new version with "features that [we've] been asking for".
It seems it has gotten delayed, probably owing to the recent messages bug, but maybe - just maybe - this may support notifications through the OS or a live tile?
The notifications issue, along with support for FB chat, seems to be the biggest request on there, so we might be in luck.
Casey
Casey_boy said:
I note on the Facebook for Windows Phone Facebook page, they've promised a new version with "features that [we've] been asking for".
It seems it has gotten delayed, probably owing to the recent messages bug, but maybe - just maybe - this may support notifications through the OS or a live tile?
The notifications issue, along with support for FB chat, seems to be the biggest request on there, so we might be in luck.
Casey
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah the App is definitely gonna support chat, toast notifications and live tiles for sure. Its just a matter of when.
goldenpipes said:
Yeah its very lame. BB and Android have notifications.
Sent from my SGH-i917 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BB and Android OS have been around for longer than 5 months.
It should be supported natively with the rest of the Facebook features.
Sent using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
DatDereX1 said:
BB and Android OS have been around for longer than 5 months.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your point being?
Live tiles, or rather "at a glance" was the big selling point for WP7. Sure, you get "at a glance" information galore for the people pinned to start but not being notified about messages on FB is weak - should definitely have been in the app from day one. Not to mention they still need to sort out the scrolling issues.
emigrating said:
Your point being?
Live tiles, or rather "at a glance" was the big selling point for WP7. Sure, you get "at a glance" information galore for the people pinned to start but not being notified about messages on FB is weak - should definitely have been in the app from day one. Not to mention they still need to sort out the scrolling issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
need I remind you that fb push notifications didn't come till last august on android? Let's be real, android's FB before last summer was a piece of crap compared to the apple platform..and even then there were some bugs till fall of last year...and android's been around since 08...and it still doesn't go without bugs...with toasting or push notifications
I mean i admit the facebook xap is paltry and has a lot of issues in coding which should be corrected but I say give it time
I can't believe that the Microsoft-coded stuff (even Facebook app) wouldn't have Live Tiles or push support. That one surprises me more than anything on WP.
However- I never recall my iPhone not supporting Push and doing it well.
Android was certainly sketchy, even after running 2.3.
Right now my best "solution" seems to be as suggested and setting up email notifications.
emigrating said:
Your point being?
Live tiles, or rather "at a glance" was the big selling point for WP7. Sure, you get "at a glance" information galore for the people pinned to start but not being notified about messages on FB is weak - should definitely have been in the app from day one. Not to mention they still need to sort out the scrolling issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My point is that this is not a mature OS and I think (hope lol) MS will add that feature in the future. There's a lot of things that could have been added from day one, but MS wanted to focus on the most important features and making sure they work perfectly before implementing them.
TexUs said:
I can't believe that the Microsoft-coded stuff (even Facebook app) wouldn't have Live Tiles or push support. That one surprises me more than anything on WP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really suprising. They didn't even launch with Copy and Paste...
However- I never recall my iPhone not supporting Push and doing it well.
Android was certainly sketchy, even after running 2.3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android supports PUSH well. All of Google's services are pushed, and let's get real... Google didn't add C2DM (their PUSH service) until Android 2.2.
Facebook Chat is pushed on Android, and it's as fast as ever. I know because my Vibrant is going off everytime I'm having a Facebook Chat conversation in Widnows Live Messenger/Facebook.com . I also get all of my Facebook Notifications (Posts/Replies/Messages) really fast.
Flory on WP7 has fast Push/Toast/Live Tile notifications, but the application takes so long to load and/or resume that it's virtually useless. Since the first day I've installed it, I've never gotten it to load my contact list for GTalk or Facebook again... So I uninstalled...
I have my Facebook Background Sync interval (Both in the App, and in TouchWiz/SocialHub) set to 12 hours so I know it's not polling, BTW...
Right now my best "solution" seems to be as suggested and setting up email notifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The biggest issue I have is that it's clunky, waste data and battery life (downloading emails uses way more battery power than getting a Push Notification) and is simply impractical for people with busy Social Networks. Do you REALLY want 30+ Facebook emails a day? 1 Hour or more less battery life (these smartphones are already working overtime trying to provide decent battery life)? People with low data plans won't want to do that, either...
Also, on other platforms you get to set different Notification Ringtones for Different Applications, which let you know whether or not you need to even bother looking at the phone when something comes in.
Microsoft needs to implement this.
For me, personally, the Push Notifications isn't that big of an issue (Toast), but a Live Ticker on People Tile would be good.
The biggest issue is that People Hub is a gimmick. It's nothing but a glorified RSS feed for social networks. It doesn't support Facebook Messaging or any of that, only posting and replying... That's why if you are a Facebook user you still need the Facebook application installed on your phone. People Hub barely passes for an alternative, if it does at all... It is too functionally thin to be truly useful and the fact that it doesn't update its information in the background makes it not really worth using over the Facebook application which does much more and has a better user experience.
WP7 has really good voice recognition (at least for English) and Bing is good now, so there's hardly a need to open the People Hub when you can just "Call PersonX Mobile/Work/etc." and the phone gets it done faster than you could if you went through the contact list (if it is of factorable length/size). Hell, the other day I just said "Call Pizza Hut" and it got the city right and everything. One less number in my contact list
domineus said:
need I remind you that fb push notifications didn't come till last august on android? Let's be real, android's FB before last summer was a piece of crap compared to the apple platform..and even then there were some bugs till fall of last year...and android's been around since 08...and it still doesn't go without bugs...with toasting or push notifications
I mean i admit the facebook xap is paltry and has a lot of issues in coding which should be corrected but I say give it time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google didn't implement C2DM on Android until FroYo.
Facebook Getting Push on Android in August means they were very fast in implementing it after Google added C2DM, which destroys your argument/excuse/justification.
When you cut through the spin, Facebook was fast as hell at getting Push Notifications to Android, and Launched Facebook chat in that client as well.
I simply don't think they wanted to implement their own Push Solution, with 500+ million users... It't just too much. Better to use a native solution and and allow Android/iOS/WP7/BB users get their stuff pushed through Google/Apple/MS/RIM instead...
DatDereX1 said:
My point is that this is not a mature OS and I think (hope lol) MS will add that feature in the future. There's a lot of things that could have been added from day one, but MS wanted to focus on the most important features and making sure they work perfectly before implementing them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Facebook integration was, according to MS, a very important feature. Since the FB app is a MS commissioned app you would expect them to have taken full advantage of their, so called, killer features.
My point here isn't so much that it's a missing feature but rather that it's a missing feature which has all the necessary building blocks available for use - and they decided not to utilize them.
Maybe I'm wrong but I swear that WeatherBug Live Tile is updating itself. I'm going to consciously not open it and see if it updates again this morning. If this is true: why can't other apps do this?
As far as the people hub, I don't use it much. Alot of it is as I've already said... None of the apps cache data. That sucks. These apps should be able to poll and cache in the background, but they don't. The People Hub is one such app. I might as well use the Facebook app.
I can see the People Hub having some use but as you said, it seems more like a replacement to Facebook... And unless it has the full functionality of the Facebook app, why use it?
I also agree with your statements on Flory. It never loads my contact list. Maybe I'm not patient enough- but it doesn't even matter... If it takes more than 15 seconds to load it, it's useless.
I must say one thing I miss from Custom ROMs... Headphone amp. I listen to a podcast that, when I'm driving 75mph- you can't freaking hear it with the volume on the radio and phone all the way up. On a Custom ROM I had a headphone amp that I was able to crank it up and hear it with plenty of extra volume. I sorely miss this.
A question... How do I voice dial/search? I realize if I go into the search- I can hit the mic button and do it from there. However from the main screen, holding search does nothing. ????????????
Also... On large contact lists, how do I scroll to say, the M's? I cannot figure this out at all. On Android/iPhone you have a alphabet on the right and you slide your finger down it to the letter you want.
So.... Just putting the "Teaser" out there to gather some interest.
Devs that are interested send me a PM!
Oh, and seeing as I don't have a WP7 device (yet), what are the current Facebook frustrations so I know where to attack?
The one issue with the current Microsoft supplied Facebook app is that when you click on a youtube video is sends you to the regular youtube page and not the mobile version...so without flash it won't work. The only other thing would be a live tile that shows number of new notifications.
66stang351 said:
The one issue with the current Microsoft supplied Facebook app is that when you click on a youtube video is sends you to the regular youtube page and not the mobile version...so without flash it won't work. The only other thing would be a live tile that shows number of new notifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The last update introduced live tiles and push notifications..
66stang351 said:
The one issue with the current Microsoft supplied Facebook app is that when you click on a youtube video is sends you to the regular youtube page and not the mobile version...so without flash it won't work. The only other thing would be a live tile that shows number of new notifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MS could of made it open an installed Youtube App as they have native code access. Not sure there are API's for this to a Marketplace Developer. Just a thought anyway, I could be wrong.
As for the Live tile, I would love to see a double wide live tile with more than just a number of notifications. I'd love to see more app actually have a true live tile with some of the notification text in the tile. Is this possible with the new Mango API's for a Marketplace Developer though?
drkfngthdragnlrd said:
As for the Live tile, I would love to see a double wide live tile with more than just a number of notifications. I'd love to see more app actually have a true live tile with some of the notification text in the tile. Is this possible with the new Mango API's for a Marketplace Developer though?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe double-wide live tiles are still not available to 3rd parties, but certainly much more informational live tiles are available with the use of the back and front of the tile now.
prjkthack said:
I believe double-wide live tiles are still not available to 3rd parties, but certainly much more informational live tiles are available with the use of the back and front of the tile now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I though so, thanks for the information.
drkfngthdragnlrd said:
I though so, thanks for the information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem.
Getting back to this app, while its nice to see someone trying to get a better Facebook app up and running, I hope that it doesn't end up looking like the Android or iOS Facebook app (as pictured in the screenshot).
Metro is a very capable design ethic, and the general design of Windows Phone 7 and it's apps lend themselves very well to presenting information in both an organized and beautiful fashion. Please make sure to take advantage of that. That being said, I of course only have this one screenshot to judge off of, so don't shoot me. XD
I agree with prjkthack, stay with the Metro UI look. The picture above does not look good for a WP7 app.
Things missing in the current Facebook app...
Can't see who liked status-update/picture, (you can see a few in notification area but not when looking at the actual update/picture)
Can't like Comments to updates/pictures
Annoying...
When looking at a picture you have to press comment button to see/add comments (it switches to a comment view where you don't see the picture anymore), why not show comments directly below the picture?
Everything just loads so slow
Does the current Facebook app from Microsoft have the Places or Check-In feature?
Honestly, since I put Mango on my phone, there's no need for a dedicated Facebook app. Notifications are on the "Me" tile, Status Updates in the People's Hub, and chat is in the Messaging hub...
Well the most annoying thing is not having a seperate fb messaging client.
And i think its better for you not wasting your time on doing a full fb app, but rather make a messaging only app which is quick with push, so people can actually use is since this is missing from the os integration.
However with Mango we can probably pin the fb inbox to our startscreen so this will cancel out the need for a facebook messenger client. And deep linking will add the desired speed to it.
Good luck anyway thank you for the effort, i hope it will come out nice.
nizzon said:
Everything just loads so slow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Soooo true ... I use m.facebook.com ..
Between the Mango integration and the FB app, we have 90% of what we need covered. I'm not sure its worth the effort to create a new FB app honestly.
One of my biggest annoyances with the Microsoft Facebook app and alot of the apps that have been released is there smoothness and scrolling speed. We have this wonderful smooth and efficient operating system which is plagued by i suppose poorly coded apps that are trying to bite of more then they can chew.
The Facebook as is very sluggish to Navigate which really annoys the **** out of me. Another problem i have noticed is with the tile notifications, when you have a notification it displays on the tile as a number then you click on the facebook and and navigate to notifications, click on the notifications then exit and the counter has not updated. I disabled the push notifications and it still has a stupid number. When you open the app it should assume you have read all the notifications like on fb when click on the notifications button. So if you can manage to fix the notifications and the scrolling speed id be a very happy man.
NoWorthWhile said:
Honestly, since I put Mango on my phone, there's no need for a dedicated Facebook app. Notifications are on the "Me" tile, Status Updates in the People's Hub, and chat is in the Messaging hub...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about Facebook Mail/Messages (not chat, the other ones)?
There is still enough feature disparity to warrant the need of a real App.
Also, does the new "integration" update in the background? For Twitter especially, since the lack of background updates would make that useless for me.
Thank you for all of your feedback!
prjkthack said:
No problem.
Getting back to this app, while its nice to see someone trying to get a better Facebook app up and running, I hope that it doesn't end up looking like the Android or iOS Facebook app (as pictured in the screenshot).
Metro is a very capable design ethic, and the general design of Windows Phone 7 and it's apps lend themselves very well to presenting information in both an organized and beautiful fashion. Please make sure to take advantage of that. That being said, I of course only have this one screenshot to judge off of, so don't shoot me. XD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually don't have much experience with WP7 and the Metro UI (other than the emulator). I will be upgrading my WinMo 6.5 to WP7 once my contract runs up, and so hopefully by then I will have more knowledge of what metro looks/feels like.
One thought I had was instead of making the 3x3 grid of pictures, making a 2xN set of Live Tiles for each of the different areas. Then do a pivot for "Pinned" friends, etc. Thoughts?
NoWorthWhile said:
Honestly, since I put Mango on my phone, there's no need for a dedicated Facebook app. Notifications are on the "Me" tile, Status Updates in the People's Hub, and chat is in the Messaging hub...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PG2G said:
Between the Mango integration and the FB app, we have 90% of what we need covered. I'm not sure its worth the effort to create a new FB app honestly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmmm.... I'm curious about this. I would much rather spend my time developing something useful rather than copying integrated features.
Now, I know that on the HD2, HTC added a "Facebook Tab" that did basic stuff, but clicking into any of the different messages launched the m.facebook.com. Is this the same as with Mango?
Also, I know that some people like a consolidated feel when it comes to things like facebook. The integrated features sound great in terms of "Glance and Go", but how are they in regards to general Facebook Browsing? Do you get the full Facebook experience?
I would really like some more information about these comments. If there is no need for a dedicated app, then I won't make it.
Also, I know that Facebook limits what 3rd party devs can do, where as 1st party apps (Like the iOS and Android app) don't have those limits. Examples of this are adding places, sending messages to Inbox, Poking, etc (these CANNOT be done on 3rd party apps!) If the integrated app can do all of those, then there might not be any need to have a limited stand-alone app.
Any feedback about this would be excellent!
N8ter said:
What about Facebook Mail/Messages (not chat, the other ones)?
There is still enough feature disparity to warrant the need of a real App.
Also, does the new "integration" update in the background? For Twitter especially, since the lack of background updates would make that useless for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mail/Messages cannot be sent by 3rd party apps... It is a terrible terrible thing I know. They had enabled it in 2009, but it got abused so they took it away. I've seen apps that work around the limitation, but I haven't found out how.
As for background apps, there is support for background threading in Mango so that should be possible!
Thank you again for all the feedback!
joe_coolish said:
One thought I had was instead of making the 3x3 grid of pictures, making a 2xN set of Live Tiles for each of the different areas. Then do a pivot for "Pinned" friends, etc. Thoughts?
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That makes sense, sounds like a good place to start.
So the "home" pivot would feature Facebook's main features (like feeds, photos, etc.), and then a "favorites" pivot would be custom pinned features like friends, groups, etc.?
Makes sense. Sounds good.
prjkthack said:
That makes sense, sounds like a good place to start.
So the "home" pivot would feature Facebook's main features (like feeds, photos, etc.), and then a "favorites" pivot would be custom pinned features like friends, groups, etc.?
Makes sense. Sounds good.
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Thanks!
So, any thoughts about the usefulness of the app?
I wouldn't personally use it, the FB App itself and Mango has all I need. But competition is good and it'll be nice having more than 1 facebook app in the market.
I think it sounds like a great idea I actually use the FB app when I need to check something. If I need to post something then the integrated is awesome as it posts to twitter to
Here's the thing...I am planning on making my next phone either the new Nokia or the Focus S pretty much whichever releases first. I came from a 3gs and now have a Captivate and I want WP7 users to tell me the top things they miss from their previous OS...whether it be Android or IPhone. I am pretty much trying to figure out what I am going to be giving up in the switch to WP7. Thanks for any replies and no trolls please lol.
I think in general you'll be gaining a very trouble free, polished, and well integrated experience, while giving up more customization and a giant marketplace. i think coming from ios and android the biggest things you'll miss are your apps, if you were a big app user.
Notifications. WP doesn't show your notifications in one place like Android or even a popup like ios. You have to have the app pinned the home screen. If you have a lot of apps this could get annoying
Sent from my T8788 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Oh and no google apps on WP. No Gmail no maps no voice. Not official ones anyway
Sent from my T8788 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
I know I lose words with friends but i'm sure there is a replacement of some kind in the app store plus xbox live integration will even that our for me (hopefully). Missed calls and messages are really the only important notifications I need. I do use gmail as my main email tho so will that cause any problems? Also how does bing maps compare to google maps? Nokia drive looks really nice if I go that route. What about any kind if visual voicemail? Any alternatives to google voice?
Gurgs said:
I know I lose words with friends but i'm sure there is a replacement of some kind in the app store plus xbox live integration will even that our for me (hopefully). Missed calls and messages are really the only important notifications I need. I do use gmail as my main email tho so will that cause any problems? Also how does bing maps compare to google maps? Nokia drive looks really nice if I go that route. What about any kind if visual voicemail? Any alternatives to google voice?
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You see icons/numbers for missed calls, messages, emails on the lock screen and on the live tiles and there are notifications for all of them.
You can use GMail with the mail client (IMAP), also Google Calendar works fine. I am not sure about Bing Maps in the US but here in Austria it's useless. But there is a good (free) unofficial Google Maps app. Visual voicemail is only supported by some carriers.
Gurgs said:
Here's the thing...I am planning on making my next phone either the new Nokia or the Focus S pretty much whichever releases first. I came from a 3gs and now have a Captivate and I want WP7 users to tell me the top things they miss from their previous OS...whether it be Android or IPhone. I am pretty much trying to figure out what I am going to be giving up in the switch to WP7. Thanks for any replies and no trolls please lol.
Click to expand...
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abysmal support for instant messaging apps. That's my only gripe.
Words by post is the alternate. Its superior to words with friends imo
Sent from my T8788 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
I came from WM6.5. I miss the bluetooth support. WP7 does not have SPP, so no external bluetooth devices will work, only bluetooth headsets etc. I can't use my bluetooth external GPS. Since my LG has a really poor GPS, this really bites.
Other than that, I really like the WP7 experience now that Mango is out.
Big issues for me compared to IOS.
- Lack of apps. The big ones like Facebook have been ported, but little ones (like language learning apps and dictionaries) - forget it.
- Lack of games. Always playing with my ipod touch, never play with my WP7 phone. Not enough good titles.
- No audio scrubbing in music player. Can't fast forward properly or jump around in tracks - makes it useless to for playing podcasts/audiobooks. Still have to use my ipod for listening to language CDs.
- Poor support for podcasts imported from Itunes. They appear in random order, also much prefer itunes to zune.
- No way to backup a WP7 phone. If you lose your phone or have to upgrade your firmware, wave goodbye to all your save data, settings and sms messages. You'll also have to manually re-install all of your apps.
karan1203 said:
Words by post is the alternate. Its superior to words with friends imo
Sent from my T8788 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
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Is words by post cross platform? WP7 -> iPhone? My wife has the 4s and that would be great...
Notifications, Swype (I like typing with one hand), screen orientation lock and LED flash light app.
Other than that, there are little limitations here and there that will probably be addressed in the future updates.
topkop said:
Notifications, Swype (I like typing with one hand), screen orientation lock and LED flash light app.
Other than that, there are little limitations here and there that will probably be addressed in the future updates.
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Is there only one choice for keyboard in WP7? If so how does it compare to stock keyboards on other platforms?
Gurgs said:
Is there only one choice for keyboard in WP7? If so how does it compare to stock keyboards on other platforms?
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There is just 1 keyboard with Windows Phone 7.
I used to use Swype with Windows Mobile.
The keyboard for Windows phone 7 does have autmatic corrections and word suggestions. It ends up being just as fast as swype.
I have a quantum, which also has a real physical keyboard, which is nice when typing a long email.
No issues with the on screen keyboard. It works very well.
Aphasaic2002 said:
- Poor support for podcasts imported from Itunes. They appear in random order, also much prefer itunes to zune.
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Actually, podcast handling is one of the things I like in Windows Phone! I used to download podcasts using ITunes and using Zune to sync to the phone. There is an easier way.
Now I have the phone automatically download and manage the podcasts itself (without using a PC). The phone downloads podcasts automatically when it is plugged into power and connected to Wifi. I've set it to keep the last 5 episodes of each podcast - works great so far and less hassle than launching iTunes every day!
More details here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1286101
Gurgs said:
Is words by post cross platform? WP7 -> iPhone? My wife has the 4s and that would be great...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Words by Post is on WP, Android & iOS so yes.
Audio and Video Scrubbing. How this was missing in 2010 let alone 2011 just doesn't make sense.
Gurgs said:
I know I lose words with friends but i'm sure there is a replacement of some kind in the app store plus xbox live integration will even that our for me (hopefully). Missed calls and messages are really the only important notifications I need. I do use gmail as my main email tho so will that cause any problems? Also how does bing maps compare to google maps? Nokia drive looks really nice if I go that route. What about any kind if visual voicemail? Any alternatives to google voice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YouMail has an app called Magikmail that work as a Visual VM replacement unless AT&T gets its act together.
Bing Maps works very well for everything except a decent driving GPS, but a $5 app called Turn-by-Turn directions fixes that for me.
Missed calls and Messages- you'll have no problem at all with the very good notifications on the tiles for those, as well as the notifications on the lockscreen.
There are a few GV apps in the marketplace that work decently well.
Words with Friends alternatives- Alphajax and Words by Post
Other than that, I miss the LED notifications and being able to have a lastpass plugin for my browser. Overall, not really much that I miss from the other 2 options and a lot to like in WP7 over them.
---------- Post added at 11:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:49 PM ----------
Aphasaic2002 said:
Big issues for me compared to IOS.
- Lack of apps. The big ones like Facebook have been ported, but little ones (like language learning apps and dictionaries) - forget it.
- Lack of games. Always playing with my ipod touch, never play with my WP7 phone. Not enough good titles.
- No audio scrubbing in music player. Can't fast forward properly or jump around in tracks - makes it useless to for playing podcasts/audiobooks. Still have to use my ipod for listening to language CDs.
- Poor support for podcasts imported from Itunes. They appear in random order, also much prefer itunes to zune.
- No way to backup a WP7 phone. If you lose your phone or have to upgrade your firmware, wave goodbye to all your save data, settings and sms messages. You'll also have to manually re-install all of your apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some good points here. I have only found 1-2 apps that I miss, but won't argue there are some things I'd like to have.
Haven't been upset by the audio issue- FF and REW work just fine for me. What am I missing that's so amazing?
Podcasts? No way- iTunes is horrible. Zune isn't that much better. Why use either? Just have the phone do it without needing to sync to either? Way past the iOS paradigm here.
Somewhat agree on the backup. Zune does do a backup when you do upgrades, but I think there's no way to do it otherwise. Annoying. And yes, until the Skydrive API is really more available, there aren't good methods for saving app data... but when it is, it'll be better than the other 2, assuming MS doesn't screw it up massively.
Well the Focus S coming out in two weeks pretty much answers which phone i'm getting. And this thread makes me realize i'm not giving up much of anything to leave Android, not to mention not having to flash a new ROM on my phone every week to keep up with the times lol
I think that the only things i miss from Android are...
•Tethering (new phones have it though, and possibly my HD7 via an update)
•TV Listings for Android (how is it that there is not a single app that can display all my US/Puerto Rico channel listings with shows and times? no... not a show tracker, i mean a full TV Guide)
•Adobe Flash (slow, buggy, laggy... but i could watch anything on the web )
•USB Mass storage (although i wonder why? come to think of it, i dont use it that much)
Still, the good FAR exceeds the bad here and my next phone will still be WP7 for sure!!! Titan or Focus S maybe (why TMO gets the crappy one???)
Am I blind, or did they actually leave out contact specific notification tones option they've always had? Took the Oreo update last night and noticed the one person I want a different tone on changed to the default tone and there's no option under edit contact page. Kinda bummed about that and definitely feel like the phone isn't as snappy as it was on 7.1.
Same thing here.. I looked around on a few sites and notice a few threads.. the idiots have seemed to removed the option. There are a few other chat programs that do it... I also am very pissed at this moved.. Reluctantly I moved to the Verizon Messenger + app. It does allow you to assign specific tones. I hated the interface but once you customize it ..it is ok... I was just so use to the stock android messenger.. and now this bulls**T. Maybe they will bring it back in the next update...
u71n4444 said:
Same thing here.. I looked around on a few sites and notice a few threads.. the idiots have seemed to removed the option. There are a few other chat programs that do it... I also am very pissed at this moved.. Reluctantly I moved to the Verizon Messenger + app. It does allow you to assign specific tones. I hated the interface but once you customize it ..it is ok... I was just so use to the stock android messenger.. and now this bulls**T. Maybe they will bring it back in the next update...
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I hope so too. Is your phone noticably slower? Many of my apps take 3-4 times longer to open and a few like my adt app and Chase app take 5-10 seconds to load the login screen.