Every list (album, artist, playlist, etc.) loads instantly for me now, and performance is improved everywhere else as well. The recent playback pane is definitely appreciated. All it's missing is a live tile and I'll be satisfied.
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Windows Phone 8.1 |OT| Update 1
- Thread starter brotkasten
- Start date
Every list (album, artist, playlist, etc.) loads instantly for me now, and performance is improved everywhere else as well. The recent playback pane is definitely appreciated. All it's missing is a live tile and I'll be satisfied.
MrGreencastle
Member
Live tile is supposedly next update in 2 weeks. Happy with the latest update, recent plays is nice. Slowly this app should get better (
by adding features that were there 4+ years ago
edit: still crashes when trying to shuffle local-only collection larger than 2000 songs. Can't pause or skip songs.
Holy mackerel. The lists are miles better.
Yeah they've finally got it to where the app is not immediately frustrating to use. I've barely hung on, still on the ledge of switching to Spotify. Now they need to begin to leverage using the service. Spotify among others are killing them with better social playlists and curated music lists. Right now, XBOX Music simply dumps the whole catalog, there's no easy access to specific lists of songs, centered around mood, genre, etc. And they still have no way to create smart playlists on the desktop app, or the mobile app. Still a ways off till they get the service to compelling land.
Everdred
Member
Anyone else still have bluetooth issues? I have a 1520 and my Subaru Impreza 2012 won't connect to music automatically. It does voice just fine but I have to disconnect and reconnect several times to get music. It's incredibly annoying. My wife's 1020 does not have this issue.
What is a smart playlist?
NeOak
Member
Bluetooth car systems are a mess in terms of compatibility.
lastflowers
Banned
I imagine the bulk is querying a service that doesn't need to be immediately responsive. Also, there's a large amount of logic going on that determines whether to give you an update or not. Build/Device/Hardware specifics probably go into it
In Zune's software, they were called autoplaylists, but Apple and other music management software often call them Smart playlists. Basically you create a playlist that will automatically generate given a certain criteria. So, lets say I create a smart playlist to automatically populate with music I just added to my library over the last month. Every time I go to that playlist, it automatically has all the new music I've downloaded over the last couple of weeks, making it very easy to listen my most recent music. There were a ton of different criteria you could choose, from music you've rated you liked (seriously, why the hell can't we rate our music in XBM? Who decided THAT?), to random music you haven't played for a while, to all your music from a certain decade etc. I had a cool 20 or so of them I created when I used a Zune, and since XBOX Music, they still haven't brought them back. It used to be so easy to pick something to listen to back in the Zune days, because I could just click on one of those dynamic playlists and I'd always have something new there automatically, but with XBM, I just have this big amorphous blob of a music library that isn't very easy to handle. They just still have a long way to get it to where it was.
Everdred
Member
Totally, but what makes me sad is that it worked on 8.0.
I've been subbed to Zune/XBM since almost the beginning and I never knew that existed, lol. I was only aware of Smart DJ, which I guess they are calling radio stations now. Sounds neat.
What's better, Brot? Value your opinion on it.
Smart Playists were great, especially combined with wireless sync. I'd setup playlists for like my least played favorites that would refresh every day :/
Too bad Xbox Music doesn't even have the concept of a favorite :/ Having Smart DJ without the ability to say you like or dislike a song is kinda stupid IMO
Pretty happy with this update though
Too bad Xbox Music doesn't even have the concept of a favorite :/ Having Smart DJ without the ability to say you like or dislike a song is kinda stupid IMO
Pretty happy with this update though
VanMardigan
has calmed down a bit.
Android is all about how much money you have when determining what you should get. In the US, if you are in contract, it doesn't matter, but if you're price conscious, then you have to think in levels. Moto G on the low end, n5 and one plus in the midrange, then S5, lg g3 or m8 (or maybe even an xperia) at the high end. All are flawed in some way. N5 has a garbage camera and battery, for example. S5 has the worst, ugliest software on a flagship phone. M8 is the perfect phone except for an unbelievably bad camera. Etc.
If Nokia doesn't release another flagship this year, the only true flagship to consider will be the new iPhone. Or the note 4 if you want a big phone and can stand a horrid ui.
I know you didn't ask me, but I've probably gone through and have used more phones than most folks here, so I thought I'd share.
Also, where is hwalker?
Fox Mulder
Member
Only thing that sucks is the app crashes, but maybe that's because I'm running ART.
Sadly, this is the thing keeping me from jumping back in. I miss the Bluetooth texting functionality of Windows phone daily (especially if you have Sync), and the Moto X is no substitute, but I need my music to be easy to get to. I ended up having to recreate all my auto playlists in MediaMonkey and use them on an SD card in the car. If Xbox Music ever gets back in the neighborhood of how awesome Zune was, they'll get me back.
And for anyone wondering why I don't still use the Zune software/ZuneHD, Ford broke Sync's ability to read its database with their latest version of the car software. This is my first piece of dead technology that I've ever wanted to hold on to, and the world just isn't letting me.
Cute Dragon Here
Member
So I finally got to play with a Nokia Lumia 930 for a while.
Why does everything load instantly? Is it the quad-core 2.2 GHz+ Krait? That's like over 8x the CPU on my Nokia Lumia 525.
Or are they using faster NAND?
Why does everything load instantly? Is it the quad-core 2.2 GHz+ Krait? That's like over 8x the CPU on my Nokia Lumia 525.
Or are they using faster NAND?
It's likely the jump in CPU grunt.
I'm fairly certain you're correct about the background audio. Its the reason I turned off voice in nokia drive.
Nokia Drive a pale comparison to Google maps/drive.... Are you in the US?
Man, I can finally turn cloud collection back on 
Now I am going to spend all morning cleaning it up a bit
I would do it in a heartbeat, especially since we're unlikely to get another flagship phone this year
Now I am going to spend all morning cleaning it up a bitI would do it in a heartbeat, especially since we're unlikely to get another flagship phone this year
LukasTaves
Member
I didn't have performance issues before, so I didn't noticed any difference on that regard... But it still sometimes tries to stream a music that is downloaded.
There's now a link from within the app (at least just noticed it now) that allows you to see found musics on bing search. You can't directly add the songs from there, instead it goes to the store page of the album where then you have to scroll until the song and add it there, but it's a start!
LukasTaves
Member
True, but there's something done on that regard on 8.1 side too. My 1020 used to work flawlessly with my car, after 8.1 it's got very wonky (it's gotten better with some updates, but still far from the flawless experience it used to be).
brotkasten
Member
I really just needed some change, because for me it's all about the design. I still like Metro, but I prefer Google's take on flat design these days, as Metro got a bit stale (it's been 4 years after all). I've been saying it since I had my Galaxy Nexus 2 years ago. With every OS update since 4.1, Google's design got better and better (with the exception of the terrible lock screen in 4.3). It started with Google Now and it's slowly getting everywhere. They got rid of the ugly Tron Holo theme, have little animations with great detail, it's bright, colorful and fast and fluid. What they've shown with Android L just confirms it for me and I'm really pumped to get 5.0 on my phone, when it's out.
On a system level it's nice to have little things like actionable notifications (replying right from the lock screen is sweet) and it's good to know that WhatApp and its notifications works reliable 99% of the time. The overall quality of the apps might be better, but I can't really comment on that. All I do is browsing GAF, using WhatsApp and listening to music (and even on Android, TuneIn Radio occasionally drops the connection out of nowhere, so it's not a WP thing).
All that, and the bright neon red Nexus 5 is beautiful.
What's good is that Microsoft is going to mix up Metro for next year, so I might as well be rocking a WP next year again, after I getting bored of Android.
I'm running ART as well and the only thing that has crashed on me so far was the Google Search app. But as I mentioned, I don't really use apps.
Steelyuhas
Member
Okay, makes sense.
---------------
All set up with the 1520. The screen in incredible, performance is a pretty huge upgrade over my 920, bye resume screens! The battery looks like it's going to be a pretty massive upgrade over my 920 as well.
On the slightly negative side, few apps outside of MS's core OS apps use the 1080/6" use the extra space well.
This is probably going to be a stupid question, but here it goes anyway.
I have a Nokia Lumia 820, and even though I checked for updates on my phone I still have Windows Phone 8.0. Is this because I have a Dutch version of the OS installed? Or does everyone here have a developer version installed?
I have a Nokia Lumia 820, and even though I checked for updates on my phone I still have Windows Phone 8.0. Is this because I have a Dutch version of the OS installed? Or does everyone here have a developer version installed?
Most are on dp. It's a gradual rollout. Very gradual unfortunately.
Most of us have the Developer Preview version installed. Cyan is not out yet on many, many carriers, so you can either wait for Cyan or install the Dev Preview.
Not a single downside. You get the latest software updates directly from Microsoft all the time, doesn't matter which carrier are you on.
Be aware that some features will be Beta, so the performance won't be optimal. That's the only downside, but it's not really a big thing.
lastflowers
Banned
In a way it's like testing out Dota 2 for the year before it became officially released. There will be some fixes, some things aren't absolutely perfect. In general, it's done.
frontieruk
Member
the same people who forgot Zune existed...
Code:
Lumia 920 Country variant 3051.40000.1349.0007 Available Available Under testing
Lumia 920 3 UK 3051.40000.1349.0004 Available Available Under testing
Lumia 920 Everything Everywhere 3051.40000.1349.0025 Available Available Under testing
Lumia 920 O2 3051.50009.1424.0005 Available Available Available
Lumia 920 Vodafone 3051.50009.1424.0011 Available Available AvailableGetting there \o/ I hope the Country variant gets released soon! I don't get why CV phones aren't updated first, they're unlocked/unbranded.
frontieruk
Member
they have to be tested against all networks, you dont want to update a handset to turn it into a paperweight as it has no network access
I'm on vacation visiting my family in France, my mom and my grandparents are all on Windows Phones. I recently gave my mom a 720 for her birthday, and it was the first time that either it or my 820 had been at my grandparents apartment, so I got to finally use WiFi Sense for the first time (without even realizing it), it's awesome! Getting my girlfriend's iPhone on the network was a pain in the ass in comparison.
VanMardigan
has calmed down a bit.
My mom's 925 was updated with 8.1, and she mostly used the built in Facebook integration and the music player to handle offline files that I synced for her. Let's just say she is not very happy right now.
Not for my Verizon Icon
YesNOnoNOYes
Member
Just got mine updated last night :>
Everything is working well
Sad that Cortana is US only. BOOOOOO
I love the Action Centre thing and the keyboard thing and the Own Picture as Live Tiles thing.
verily pleased.
Everything is working well
Sad that Cortana is US only. BOOOOOO
I love the Action Centre thing and the keyboard thing and the Own Picture as Live Tiles thing.
verily pleased.
antiquegamer
Member
I can't comment on the current pure Google as I am using the Cyanogen Mod but overall the OS is definitely much more fluid than when I was using the HTC One X or even the Nexus 7 (G1). I really prefer the Cyanogen icons as it is more closely resemble the flat of Windows Phone metro. The un-uniform apps icons really bug me coming from Windows Phone all uniform square flat design.
I am not a big app users either but the apps on Androids are just better overall. The design might look like ass but they are much more functional from my banking apps, to Mint to Spotify.
I probably will go back to Windows Phone if and when the 1020 get the Cyan update. The camera on the One Plus while serviceable is far below the 1020. The camera unit on the One Plus and the Nexus 5 is not bad (I think they both use Sony lens), but the issue is Google camera software just plain suck. Cyanogen Camera app make it better than the Nexus 5 but it still pretty terrible. (I do like that I can snap picture quickly compare to the 1020).
And I agree with you about the notification center, while the 8.1 is big improvement it still really lag behind Android. The multitasking is also far superior and one area Windows Phone really need to improve.
As for grass is greener, well I don't know that it's all green. I am experiencing headphone glitch, sometimes the music or podcast app don't show up on my lock screen (I love that feature where you can pause skip from lock screen). And while the apps are great they are pretty ugly and incoherent design from one app to the next. I am also miss my wireless charging (yes I know should have gone with Nexus 5 but for the same price, One Plus is more bang for my bucks). The battery is good but that's partly because One Plus One has a giant battery.
Whatsapp has been 99% reliable for me on WP too since they updated it months ago.
I just spent 2 weeks in the mountains with shitty network and I used Whatsapp a lot. There wasn't a single late notification, there wasn't a single issue with sending or receiving pictures, it just worked.
On the other hand, a friend with a Xperia 2 had issues sending pictures for a day. He had to transfer them to me via bluetooth so I could send them on to people.
Actionable notifications would be nice, but I suspect that we'll have those in the next update, considering it was a feature that should have made 8.1 and we saw video and pictures of it.
Considering none of you actually use apps, I'm not sure how the grass is greener on Android. It's different and different is nice sometimes.
WP is missing a true new flagship phone and it's time for a bit of a visual refresh, but from a functionality and OS level, it's there. Yes Android has some things that are very nice, but then so does WP. Not that there's any reason to stand still and stop adding features, obviously.
I just spent 2 weeks in the mountains with shitty network and I used Whatsapp a lot. There wasn't a single late notification, there wasn't a single issue with sending or receiving pictures, it just worked.
On the other hand, a friend with a Xperia 2 had issues sending pictures for a day. He had to transfer them to me via bluetooth so I could send them on to people.
Actionable notifications would be nice, but I suspect that we'll have those in the next update, considering it was a feature that should have made 8.1 and we saw video and pictures of it.
Considering none of you actually use apps, I'm not sure how the grass is greener on Android. It's different and different is nice sometimes.
WP is missing a true new flagship phone and it's time for a bit of a visual refresh, but from a functionality and OS level, it's there. Yes Android has some things that are very nice, but then so does WP. Not that there's any reason to stand still and stop adding features, obviously.