When I first reviewed Windows Phone back in January I found the platform to be full of promise and potential, but found the performance, missing features and poor app catalog selections to be a hindrance to adoption. Since the next major version of Windows Phone, Mango, was released I haven’t had another opportunity to try another Windows Phone, but I certainly would like to.
With the release of Nokia’s first Windows Phone offering, the Lumia 800, Microsoft’s smartphone platform is getting a second glance from technology enthusiasts and customers alike who haven’t paid much attention since the initial wave of release hype over a year ago.
Nokia’s re-entry into the mainstream smartphone race is certainly reason for excitement. A decade ago, Nokia was the mobile phone company. Then the iPhone happened and Nokia didn’t respond as well as we’d have liked. No one ever doubted the company’s ability to create gorgeous looking hardware, but the software that went along with it always left much to be desired. Symbian was a relic from the early 2000’s and the next-generation MeeGo never truly saw the light of day. Nokia’s partnering with Microsoft changes that dynamic by giving the company a first-class operating system to complement the hardware.
More than Nokia’s hardware, software tells the tale. The Windows Phone experience is a complete departure from what we’ve seen on the iPhone and Android since 2007. Instead of a grid of app icons, there is a dynamically updating set of tiles with useful information and delightful animations. The Metro UI paradigms used in the apps feel more futuristic and sexy than the cartoonish, leather-bound look of Apple’s latest applications.
Apple has continually improved the iOS software with each subsequent release, but at its core, the experience is the exact same as it was nearly five years ago. Even Android has changed its look and experience more than Apple’s platform if you compare the user experience of the original HTC G1 to that of an Ice Cream Sandwich powered Galaxy Nexus.
iOS is a great mobile operating system that is intuitive and faithful to its roots, but it’s also become boring with that faith. Yearly incremental updates to the iOS experience don’t have the same wow factor as they once had because the core experience doesn’t look much different on an iPhone 4S running iOS 5 to that of a 3GS with iOS 3. As useful as they are, there is nothing sexy about Notification Center or iMessage from a ‘WOW’ perspective.
That doesn’t mean that Windows Phone is a better platform than iOS because it does look different, but it does cause wandering eyes just like the pretty girl at the bar.
The Platform
In his review of Nokia’s Lumia 800, Matthew Panzarino of The Next Web said:
Unfortunately, when I said ‘would’ in the title of this article, I meant it very literally. I would switch from the iPhone to the Lumia 800, if only it wasn’t for the apps.
The sad fact is that Windows Phone 7 will not become a major contender in the OS space until it gains massive developer support.
iOS and Android have an insane amount of apps available for users. Granted, Android’s selection is riddled with crapware and poorly designed options, but it still offers a giant selection of stuff that is at least serviceable.
This is where the conflict lies. Whereas the core experience of Windows Phone Mango is more exciting than that of iOS 5, the apps on iOS are above and beyond what you’ll find on Windows Phone. Just look at the recently released Path and Stamped apps. Both are great applications that are made for the iPhone, but not Windows Phone leaving Mango users with serious app envy.
Quite the change to see Microsoft users complaining about not enough great software for their platform while Apple users are nearly overwhelmed by the amount of apps available.
The Fix
How does Microsoft combat this perception that Windows Phone’s app catalog isn’t up to par with the offerings in Apple’s App Store? Microsoft has thousands of developers with the technical knowledge to build Silverlight applications that run on the phone, but that technical knowledge doesn’t take into account taste.
Building beautiful software is ingrained in the culture of Apple platform developers. It doesn’t feel that way at Microsoft or Google right now. Microsoft should put more focus on improving the design and user experience of the apps coming from their seasoned platform developers so that apps downloaded in the Marketplace have the same polish and appeal as those that come straight from Redmond.
This is, of course, easier said than done. Changing culture is something that takes times and lots of persuasion. Perhaps the better solution is to court new developers to the platform. Developers that haven’t spent years building utilitarian apps for Windows or Windows Mobile.
Brandon Watson, one of main people in charge of Windows Phone at Microsoft, is prolific on Twitter and engaging with these sorts of developers. When HP pulled the cord on WebOS, Watson was quick to offer a safe landing place for WebOS developers looking for a new platform to build on. When Charlie Miller lost his Apple Developer account after exposing a vulnerability in the system through an app he published on the store, Watson was there to offer him safe harbor.
The next goal should be to convince those iOS developers and power users who have wandering eyes towards Windows Phone the tools and incentives to grow Microsoft’s mobile platform so that the platform experience is just as great as what the core OS offers. Get more hardware in the hands of developers. Put Microsoft employees in the office with the iOS or Android team and help them ship an awesome Windows Phone version of their flagship app. More than anything, get them so excited about Windows Phone that they begin using it rather than wishing they were.
Having great hardware and software is no longer enough. Customers now also expect a great platform.