Windows Phone 8.1 Features

beauf

The 620 and 520, even the 820 have quite small batteries. My 520 gets though one day but only because I'm a very light user. If I use it hard, I'll be charging during the day at some point.

I think the issue is in the states most people are on a bill pay. So it wouldn't be that common over their. Developers find it hard to think beyond their own usage.

O2 is prety scabby with their PAYG data. But I'm near wifi 90% of the time anyway.

long_b

awec wrote: »

Your phone should easily last morning to night with 3G on constantly

Depends where you live - if you're in a marginal 2G/3G reception area any phone will hunt for the 3G/4G bands and switch over between the two very often.
The battery takes a real hit while it's doing this - it's VERY noticeable where I live.

pleasant Co.

long_b wrote: »

Depends where you live - if you're in a marginal 2G/3G reception area any phone will hunt for the 3G/4G bands and switch over between the two very often.
The battery takes a real hit while it's doing this - it's VERY noticeable where I live.

Same as when I go home to the folks, they live in a bit of a black hole that swaps between no coverage, gprs, edge, 3g, H, H+. There's one particular area in the sitting room where your phone will die if you're there for more than 2hrs (ie sitting watching a movie on the telly) :pac:

GerardKeating

awec wrote: »

If you are having battery problems because of 3G being on then there's surely something wrong.

I don't know a single person who turns off 3G. Mobile data stays on 24/7, same as wifi.

Depends on what part of the country. Can make a difference if the 2G signal is a lot stronger that the 3G.

Czarcasm

LIGHTNING wrote: »

The music app that was part of the Win 8.1 update is really poor. It has a issue displaying album art and sometimes it will only see a few songs in an album. Not to mention that I erased all the music and it was still seeing 3 albums.

The 8.1 update broke a lot of file associations in an attempt to organize the "Others" folder. I had to use the Files app to delete all the music and PDFs I had stored on the phone, and then sync music again through the Windows Phone app on my laptop.

stevenmu

LIGHTNING wrote: »

The music app that was part of the Win 8.1 update is really poor. It has a issue displaying album art and sometimes it will only see a few songs in an album. Not to mention that I erased all the music and it was still seeing 3 albums.

It seems to take an age to scan and find files, and it only seems to do it when the music app is open. The first time I opened an album, a week after updating, it only had a few tracks. I went back a while later and it had them all then.

Fingleberries

stevenmu wrote: »

It seems to take an age to scan and find files, and it only seems to do it when the music app is open. The first time I opened an album, a week after updating, it only had a few tracks. I went back a while later and it had them all then.

And you can generally forget about playlists, unless you are syncing the playlists to the phone using iTunes and the WP App.
Mine copies the playlist across and all the files, but the Music app on the Phone doesn't recognise that the file that it just copied across to the phone is a local copy of the file on the playlist (so it wants to stream it from Xbox Music - with streaming only being available if you have paid for a Music Pass).

beauf

I was wondering about the music app on the phone. I was wonder had not figured it out. But this explains its weirdness.

I've kind given up on using phones, android or WP for music. its like they were designed by people who don't listen to music on a phone.

When I look back to my old SE W810i you could change radio station, track, volume, pause/play All with the phone locked and with two buttons. This kinda usabily is lost on touch screen phones. Apple is a little more consistent.

theothernt

If you're having issues with the Xbox Music app, it's updated regularly and the dev team are taking feedback...

https://xboxmusic.uservoice.com/forums/209733-xbox-music-suggestion-box

Czarcasm

Having just purchased a 16GB SDHC card, I would've liked a way to move apps to the SD card, and store a backup of contacts, text messages and archive e-mails on the card. Alas it seems this is not possible.

theothernt

Czarcasm wrote: »

Having just purchased a 16GB SDHC card, I would've liked a way to move apps to the SD card, and store a backup of contacts, text messages and archive e-mails on the card. Alas it seems this is not possible.

On 8.1 you can with apps. Everything else is backuped to the cloud.

Settings > Storage Sense > Phone > Apps + Games > Tap on an app name > Move to SD

JimsAlterEgo

any inside information as to to when we will get the official releases on the networks here?

theothernt

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

any inside information as to to when we will get the official releases on the networks here?

First, Microsoft will make an announcement that the rollout has started. Then, it'll be a matter of weeks for all devices to get the updates.

So far, the higher-end Lumia devices (1520, 1020, etc) get the updates first.

unkel

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

any inside information as to to when we will get the official releases on the networks here?

Why wait for that, could be many months yet before you'd get 8.1 that way. The upgrade is very stable, go for it

dr ro

unkel wrote: »

Why wait for that, could be many months yet before you'd get 8.1 that way. The upgrade is very stable, go for it

The only problem I have with the upgrade is the resuming screen and closed/reloading apps when returning/switching between apps.

beauf

dr ro wrote: »

The only problem I have with the upgrade is the resuming screen and closed/reloading apps when returning/switching between apps.

Could you elaborate?

g0g

dr ro wrote: »

The only problem I have with the upgrade is the resuming screen and closed/reloading apps when returning/switching between apps.

beauf wrote: »

Could you elaborate?

Yeah I'd agree on both.

I do find sometimes apps like Whatsapp and others are now taking a little longer to come back on screen and you're left with it saying "resuming.." or whatever it is!

It's also a bit annoying that some apps do close when you "back" out of them but others don't. Examples include facebook and the calendar. Don't know if they continue to use up processing power / battery in the background, but it also makes it a bit "cluttered" when you hold the back button only to discover 10 things still open. Maybe that's just the new model for the system and I need to get used to it!

beauf

I don't think any of that is specific to 8.1 though. 8.0 does the same thing.

That apps close is one of the things than makes WP fast, but its really annoying for some apps. You only have limited control of it in the background tasks option.

The alternative is Android running everything all the time. Which is better in some cases but can really slow down a phone. Especially if its a lot of spam apps baked in the firmware. Which update all the time, when you don't ever use them. Someone on the phone show mentioned that if you take an older android phone and let it do all its updates it may fill its memory and become unusable.

I don't know why some apps can be set in WP8 but not other ones.

But none of this is a good reason not to get the developer 8.1 preview is it?

_Kaiser_

Reports over on WPC that the Cyan Update is available on 925 and 625 devices this evening - looks like the wait is (almost) over.

This is worth keeping an eye on: http://www.nokia.com/global/support/software-update/wp8-software-update/availability-in-europe/

Tinie

Yeah just got the update for my 625.

_Puma_

Came to the 925, fingers crossed for the 920 later(Vodafone)

Tinie

is there any changes of note between developer preview 8.1 and cyan?

I cant see any.

_Kaiser_

Tinie wrote: »

is there any changes of note between developer preview 8.1 and cyan?

I cant see any.

Cyan is a firmware update as well - not just the OS - so should include bug fixes and compatibility updates to make 8.1 work better with the phone hardware itself.

Functionally I don't think there's many (if any) real changes from 8.1 DP

JimsAlterEgo

only available on vodafone so far

_Kaiser_

Be warned guys... if you're using your company email on your phone, you may want to check if Bitlocker is enabled by group policy first!

http://www.wpcentral.com/bitlocker-cyan-update-problems-windows-phones

Czarcasm

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Be warned guys... if you're using your company email on your phone, you may want to check if Bitlocker is enabled by group policy first!

http://www.wpcentral.com/bitlocker-cyan-update-problems-windows-phones

I'd be happy enough if I could get my company VPN working properly on the Dev Preview!

I have it working on Windows 8.1 on the laptop, but the extra configuration options aren't available on my Lumia 625. VPN works alright as I've tested it with free VPN services, but even Checkpoint VPN doesn't give me the options I need.

_Kaiser_

Cyan/8.1 final update programme suspended for now in light of the Bitlocker problems:
http://www.wpcentral.com/microsoft-users-windows-phone-81-preview-developer-should-return-normal-software-getting-lumia-cyan

Note that they're recommending downgrading to 8.0 (wiping/reflashing the phone in the process) before updating to Cyan/8.1 (whenever they start deploying it again).. lovely! :mad:

mark_m360

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Cyan/8.1 final update programme suspended for now in light of the Bitlocker problems:
http://www.wpcentral.com/microsoft-users-windows-phone-81-preview-developer-should-return-normal-software-getting-lumia-cyan

Note that they're recommending downgrading to 8.0 (wiping/reflashing the phone in the process) before updating to Cyan/8.1 (whenever they start deploying it again).. lovely! :mad:

You only wipe your device if you have updated and have had the bit locker issue.

Otherwise, if you didn't update your device prior to the removal of said update, stay put and wait for them to re-release the new update which should resolve the bit locker issue.

beauf

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

...Note that they're recommending downgrading to 8.0 (wiping/reflashing the phone in the process) before updating to Cyan/8.1 (whenever they start deploying it again).. lovely! :mad:

Is there a way of doing that. The operator did it to mine when it was repaired. But I didn't think there was a way for the average joe to do that.

_Kaiser_

beauf wrote: »

Is there a way of doing that. The operator did it to mine when it was repaired. But I didn't think there was a way for the average joe to do that.

There's information on the link I pasted about that but as mark says, unless your phone is bitlockered then it should be ok to upgrade from Dev Preview whenever they start rolling out the updates again. (Me though I'll have to wipe one of the 2 phones I have because I use my corporate mail on it and it IS encrypted )

From what I'm reading this lunchtime, MS aren't having the best day anyway!