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[VanMardigan]

Giving MS a hard time on twitter because they won't allow me to use the wallet app to add my card even though I have a US credit card from a US bank and I live in the US and Apple allows me to add that same card to US Apple pay. Frustrating how they are so big that little things that Apple did years ago, like opening up their processes in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands by simply adding the option under "state".

Crazy as it sounds that's literally all they have to do, add in those two options (PR and VI) under the "states" drop down and I can use my card. But it won't happen because the company is too large and there is no one person that can just make the obvious change.

 

[StudioTan]

What's even the reason to get Groove over Spotify? The only thing I can think of is OneDrive access, which is neat. But other than that? Spotify is cross platform, offers exclusive content in some countries, ties in beautifully with the PS4 (which might come to Xbox down the line, but Groove most likely won't come to the PS4).

The Groove app being better than Spotify on Windows Phone is a good reason (no Spotify Connect support is buklshit), but I wouldn't want to be locked down to a service of a platform holder.

Because the Spotify app on PC is terrible.

 

[brotkasten]

I just love using it for local files on Win.

It takes forever to scrape my library and then gets the meta data of some artists wrong. With Zune it was possible to edit pretty much everything, even marking 2 disc albums.

Well, there's no reason to not use both (possibly not subbed to both though).

I'm on my free promo (thanks Virgin Mobile) until the end of 2017 so I'm still using Groove as my main music app with Spotify (free) as an alternative when I just want to use their curated playlists.

That's why I said getting Groove over Spotify, in the sense of subscribing to one over the other.

You said it yourself: If you have your music on onedrive, if you have an xbox instead of PlayStation, and/or if you have windows phone. Plus you get better discounts on long term Groove music subscriptions when they have their sales. Also Groove works on laptops and desktops running Windows 10. I mean, Spotify is the market leader, but there are definitely reasons to pick Groove.

But when you subscribe to Groove, you're pretty much locked to one platform (Windows in this case), because the other clients are so shit. You can also use Spotify on laptops, desktops and Windows tablets with the Win32 program.

Because the Spotify app on PC is terrible.

What are the problems with the Windows version? It works well on my desktop and even works well with touch on my Surface. The only thing that sucks for me is the radio function, but maybe I need to use it more.

 

[BeforeU]

Giving MS a hard time on twitter because they won't allow me to use the wallet app to add my card even though I have a US credit card from a US bank and I live in the US and Apple allows me to add that same card to US Apple pay. Frustrating how they are so big that little things that Apple did years ago, like opening up their processes in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands by simply adding the option under "state".

Crazy as it sounds that's literally all they have to do, add in those two options (PR and VI) under the "states" drop down and I can use my card. But it won't happen because the company is too large and there is no one person that can just make the obvious change.

Fascinating.

 

[derFeef]

Lol, Amazon discontinuing their app. At least they sent a nice email.

 

[brotkasten]

Lol, Amazon discontinuing their app. At least they sent a nice email.

It's so weird. Is the Windows RT app dead as well? Even if they're working on a UWP version, why aren't they making it a smooth transition and kill the old app once the new one is done?

 

[VanMardigan]

It's so weird. Is the Windows RT app dead as well? Even if they're working on a UWP version, why aren't they making it a smooth transition and kill the old app once the new one is done?

This has happened more than once, and it doesn't make sense. Company kills WP app, stories are run in enthusiast press regarding it, then some short time later the UWP app shows up. I just don't get it.


In other news, the panorama camera feature works great. Its set up like the Apple one and seems just as accurate.

 

[Steelyuhas]

It's so weird. Is the Windows RT app dead as well? Even if they're working on a UWP version, why aren't they making it a smooth transition and kill the old app once the new one is done?

Still in the store and they haven't mentioned anything about it to my knowledge. Strange

 

[SCHUEY F1]

Considering going back to the fast ring even though Anniversary will be out soon.

 

[kharma45]

Michael Fisher did a quick vid on McLaren

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=200bl3A6sAw

 

[dLMN8R]

But when you subscribe to Groove, you're pretty much locked to one platform (Windows in this case), because the other clients are so shit. You can also use Spotify on laptops, desktops and Windows tablets with the Win32 program.

I like the native integration of all of my music + online streaming of entire albums + purchases I can make using my Microsoft Account credit + curated radio stations + recommended playlists based on my playback habits, all in one place. Also, I purchased my Groove subscription during Black Friday which was super cheap for a year ($50 I think?)

I've used the iPhone Groove app for ~6 months. It's wasn't great, but it's not "shit". It works. It streams the music I want it to stream, when I want to stream it, and outputs to whatever speakers I happen to be using just like anything else. It effortlessly gives me access to my entire OneDrive library, which neither iTunes nor the OneDrive app itself does on my iPhone. And now the update yesterday made the app even better.

I also use Groove on my HTPC since it's nicely tied into Windows 10, and I've used it quite a bit on my Xbox too. Again in both cases it gives me instant access to my entire personal music collection thanks to OneDrive integration. And soon I'll be able to do the same thing with background audio too.


(While I'm a Microsoft employee, there aren't any employee discounts on Groove, so my impressions are entirely my own and I'm just as much financially interested in the progress of the platform as any customer)

 

[MCD]

It is no longer shit on iOS and Android. Just lacks basic stuff like local player. Right now it's Onedrive, Pay or gtfo.

 

[dLMN8R]

I just use iTunes if I want to play local stuff

 

[brotkasten]

I like the native integration of all of my music + online streaming of entire albums + purchases I can make using my Microsoft Account credit + curated radio stations + recommended playlists based on my playback habits, all in one place. Also, I purchased my Groove subscription during Black Friday which was super cheap for a year ($50 I think?)

I've used the iPhone Groove app for ~6 months. It's wasn't great, but it's not "shit". It works. It streams the music I want it to stream, when I want to stream it, and outputs to whatever speakers I happen to be using just like anything else. It effortlessly gives me access to my entire OneDrive library, which neither iTunes nor the OneDrive app itself does on my iPhone. And now the update yesterday made the app even better.

I also use Groove on my HTPC since it's nicely tied into Windows 10, and I've used it quite a bit on my Xbox too. Again in both cases it gives me instant access to my entire personal music collection thanks to OneDrive integration. And soon I'll be able to do the same thing with background audio too.


(While I'm a Microsoft employee, there aren't any employee discounts on Groove, so my impressions are entirely my own and I'm just as much financially interested in the progress of the platform as any customer)

You obviously get online streaming of full albums, curated radio stations and recommend playlists based on your listening habits on Spotify. It should absolutely be expected from a music streaming service in 2016. Complete checkbox features for me, especially when Zune did all that before. Smart DJ was a thing before Xbox Music even existed, but it's cool that Groove has it back now. Streaming your own music library is really cool, there's nothing like that on Spotify, so it's a clear win. But at least you can download and save any playlist locally (to phone, tablet and PC) with Spotify and if you really want to, even sync your own music/mp3s to your devices (via WiFi, too, just like Zune <3). e3: I just saw that most of the features you're talking about just hit the service in the latest app update. That's hilarious.

The last time I used Groove on iOS, the app didn't have a scrubber. That's right, a music app with no way to control the music that being played, other than skip/back and pause. To me, that's gutter trash tier. Definitely shit.

When I switched from my free Music pass back to a paid Spotify subscription (I still have a couple of codes, not sure if they're still valid, though), the app didn't even have an iPad version. But you made me curious, so I checked the app store. And lo and behold, there's still no iPad version. It's still a blown up phone app on a big screen. I don't see how that's acceptable in a cross-platform environment and it definitely pushed me from my free pass to a paid plan on Spotify. Win32 Spotify with touch is a better experience than this.

While OneDrive access is a fantastic option, it should be mentioned that you have to pay two subscriptions, if you want to access your library via OneDrive. It doesn't really matter if you get the storage through Office 356, it's still two subscriptions. It's awesome for people who have it anyway (much like using it on Xbox), but it shouldn't be taken for granted.

I like the tip for the HTPC, though. I'll definitely test this later. Hopefully it works well with a remote. I really miss the absolutely fantastic visualization from Zune.

e: The Zune Pass codes still work, lmao

e2: In other news, Skype is dropping support for Windows Phone 8.1.

 

[NeOak]

e2: In other news, Skype is dropping support for Windows Phone 8.1.

WTF MICROSOFT

 

[brotkasten]

WTF MICROSOFT

"Our commitment to deliver the best possible cross-platform experiences requires that we continually assess when it&#8217;s time to increase our focus on the platforms of the future. Sometimes this means that we must end support for some devices and operating systems.

These decisions are hard to make, but they are necessary as Skype moves forward so we can deliver new experiences on devices that have the capability to support them. As such, we will begin to implement these changes over the coming months. You can check our support site to find out which devices and operating systems Skype will support in the future, but as an example we will continue to support Windows 7, 8, XP and Vista, Yosemite on Mac, iOS 8 and Android 4.03 operating systems.

&#8230;

By focusing our efforts on the devices and operating systems where the majority of our users are, we can concentrate our efforts on what&#8217;s most important such as call quality and new features. Our focus will be on the newly released lighter, faster and more responsive UWP app for Windows 10, Skype for iPhone, iPad and Android as well as a web-based native version of Skype for other supported platforms like previous Windows operating Systems, Mac and Linux, which will benefit from the latest ORTC or WebRTC technology that we&#8217;ve been working on for the last year."

http://blogs.skype.com/2016/07/20/skype-the-journey-weve-been-on/

 

[NeOak]

"Our commitment to deliver the best possible cross-platform experiences requires that we continually assess when it&#8217;s time to increase our focus on the platforms of the future. Sometimes this means that we must end support for some devices and operating systems.

These decisions are hard to make, but they are necessary as Skype moves forward so we can deliver new experiences on devices that have the capability to support them. As such, we will begin to implement these changes over the coming months. You can check our support site to find out which devices and operating systems Skype will support in the future, but as an example we will continue to support Windows 7, 8, XP and Vista, Yosemite on Mac, iOS 8 and Android 4.03 operating systems.

&#8230;

By focusing our efforts on the devices and operating systems where the majority of our users are, we can concentrate our efforts on what&#8217;s most important such as call quality and new features. Our focus will be on the newly released lighter, faster and more responsive UWP app for Windows 10, Skype for iPhone, iPad and Android as well as a web-based native version of Skype for other supported platforms like previous Windows operating Systems, Mac and Linux, which will benefit from the latest ORTC or WebRTC technology that we&#8217;ve been working on for the last year."

http://blogs.skype.com/2016/07/20/skype-the-journey-weve-been-on/

Yesterday I had a 9 hours Skype call from my Lumia 1520 with WP8.1 U2.

Had it been W10, I swear to God the thing would have rebooted after 2 hours.

W10M is still not as stable as WP8.1. At this rate, what is the point of staying with WP10 if it is as stable on a 950 as Android?

AT&T branded Lumia 950, reboots once in a while. Annoying.

D:

Edit: I've also been using a lot Lumia Panorama these past few months, and the downsampled 5MP picture is great since I am sharing a lot of those pictures over, oh the irony, Skype, and MMS.

 

[dLMN8R]

You obviously get online streaming of full albums, curated radio stations and recommend playlists based on your listening habits on Spotify. It should absolutely be expected from a music streaming service in 2016. Complete checkbox features for me, especially when Zune did all that before. Smart DJ was a thing before Xbox Music even existed, but it's cool that Groove has it back now. Streaming your own music library is really cool, there's nothing like that on Spotify, so it's a clear win. But at least you can download and save any playlist locally (to phone, tablet and PC) with Spotify and if you really want to, even sync your own music/mp3s to your devices (via WiFi, too, just like Zune <3). e3: I just saw that most of the features you're talking about just hit the service in the latest app update. That's hilarious.

The last time I used Groove on iOS, the app didn't have a scrubber. That's right, a music app with no way to control the music that being played, other than skip/back and pause. To me, that's gutter trash tier. Definitely shit.

When I switched from my free Music pass back to a paid Spotify subscription (I still have a couple of codes, not sure if they're still valid, though), the app didn't even have an iPad version. But you made me curious, so I checked the app store. And lo and behold, there's still no iPad version. It's still a blown up phone app on a big screen. I don't see how that's acceptable in a cross-platform environment and it definitely pushed me from my free pass to a paid plan on Spotify. Win32 Spotify with touch is a better experience than this.

While OneDrive access is a fantastic option, it should be mentioned that you have to pay two subscriptions, if you want to access your library via OneDrive. It doesn't really matter if you get the storage through Office 356, it's still two subscriptions. It's awesome for people who have it anyway (much like using it on Xbox), but it shouldn't be taken for granted.

I like the tip for the HTPC, though. I'll definitely test this later. Hopefully it works well with a remote. I really miss the absolutely fantastic visualization from Zune.

e: The Zune Pass codes still work, lmao

e2: In other news, Skype is dropping support for Windows Phone 8.1.

I didn't tell you why you should use it. I told you why I use it. For me, Groove is superior to Spotify because it offers all of the same features Spotify does, plus a lot of other stuff which also happens to be free even without a Groove Music pass, but centralizing it all in one place nonetheless is still nice.

 

[LukasTaves]

WTF MICROSOFT

Well, I wouldn't call that abortion of an app as something being supported.

But yeah, they should at least have a decent client and leave it alive until a few more years.

 

[StudioTan]

What are the problems with the Windows version? It works well on my desktop and even works well with touch on my Surface. The only thing that sucks for me is the radio function, but maybe I need to use it more.

The biggest thing is it doesn't have a proper full screen mode, it's just a list with a little tiny picture of the album cover at the top. If I'm listening to a playlist it doesn't even show me the artist and song except for teeny little box in the lower corner. The rest of my screen is taken up with a useless text list of songs.

Zune PC still has the nicest full screen mode but Groove isn't bad showing pictures of the artist.

Second and equally important it does a shitty job of handling my few thousand albums I have ripped and meticulously sorted on my local drive. It imported them all into, you guess it, a long ass list of individual songs instead of adding the albums like an actual intelligently designed program would do.

Groove added all my albums and has proper covers for everything.

The only thing Groove was missing was curated playlists and they just added that so that's awesome.

The only reason I have Spotify Premium is because I got it free with my internet plan for 2 years.

 

[dLMN8R]

Groove also overhauled their scraping engine in many updates over the last few months, so it doesn't take long at all to go through your local collection anymore.

 

[NeOak]

Well, I wouldn't call that abortion of an app as something being supported.

But yeah, they should at least have a decent client and leave it alive until a few more years.

Skype on Android made me want to punch the Blackberry Priv when I had it.

I know it is very feature limited and what not, but it is very stable for calls.

 

[Paganmoon]

Man the 3D touch and side sensors and such seemed really cool on the McLaren, I can see why Microsoft would drop those features.

 

[Paganmoon]

After spending some more time with Edge and the swipe navigation, I'm still not satisfied. It's not as sensitive as before, but I still accidentally navigation quite often.

You shouldn't be able to navigate back if you're scrolling, it should be intelligent enough to understand that I'm scrolling and lock navigation. Also, another smart way of preventing accidental navigation (specially for websites that are touch aware, and you can interact with swiping), is to do what iOS does, only navigates if you swipe in from the edge, the Surface (and I guess any Win10 Tablet) already uses swipe in from edge for appswitching amongst other things.

 

[VanMardigan]

Also, another smart way of preventing accidental navigation (specially for websites that are touch aware, and you can interact with swiping), is to do what iOS does, only navigates if you swipe in from the edge, the Surface (and I guess any Win10 Tablet) already uses swipe in from edge for appswitching amongst other things.

One of the things I hate most about my iPhone is the accidental swipe navigation on the browser and elsewhere in the OS. Probably due to the small size of the model I own, but it was ironic to see you mention ios as a model for good swipe navigation when that's a sore point for me.

 

[n64coder]

While OneDrive access is a fantastic option, it should be mentioned that you have to pay two subscriptions, if you want to access your library via OneDrive. It doesn't really matter if you get the storage through Office 356, it's still two subscriptions.

Office365 5 user subscription is fantastic. It's like getting Office for free and you're paying a cheap rate $20/user/year for 1TB of storage. No one comes close to this option. Yeah, it sucks if you are using Dropbox or Google and wouldn't want to pay for yet another subscription. I'm pretty close to ditching my entire music collection and just do streaming only.

I didn't tell you why you should use it. I told you why I use it. For me, Groove is superior to Spotify because it offers all of the same features Spotify does, plus a lot of other stuff which also happens to be free even without a Groove Music pass, but centralizing it all in one place nonetheless is still nice.

One thing I miss about physical music is the ability to look at album/liner notes. Like who wrote the song, who played what on the album, lyrics, etc. Groove does not seem to have these details. Are there any music providers (Spotify? Deezer? Apple? Google?) that have this feature.

 

[Paganmoon]

One of the things I hate most about my iPhone is the accidental swipe navigation on the browser and elsewhere in the OS. Probably due to the small size of the model I own, but it was ironic to see you mention ios as a model for good swipe navigation when that's a sore point for me.

How do you accidentally swipe navigate on iOS/Safari though? I think it works great on my work phone (iPhone 5s), browse within the page when just using touchscreen, swipe from the edge to navigate back. Never had a problem with it.

 

[VanMardigan]

How do you accidentally swipe navigate on iOS/Safari though? I think it works great on my work phone (iPhone 5s), browse within the page when just using touchscreen, swipe from the edge to navigate back. Never had a problem with it.

I have the SE and I'm constantly error swiping forward or backward in safari while using the phone one handed to scroll. Almost happened just now while setting up this post. Happens elsewhere in the UI as well, for example in the settings and app store I often have unintended swipes. This is my daily driver too, not a secondary device so I'm constantly on it. Maybe it has to do with the grip or the difference in the newer model I have versus your 5s, but I mentioned it in the SE official thread and someone else agreed so I'm not alone.

 

[Paganmoon]

I have the SE and I'm constantly error swiping forward or backward in safari while using the phone one handed to scroll. Almost happened just now while setting up this post. Happens elsewhere in the UI as well, for example in the settings and app store I often have unintended swipes. This is my daily driver too, not a secondary device so I'm constantly on it. Maybe it has to do with the grip or the difference in the newer model I have versus your 5s, but I mentioned it in the SE official thread and someone else agreed so I'm not alone.

So you can swipe navigate, by not coming in from the edge? Maybe the SE doesn't have edge detection? or it has something to do with iOS version?

I'm right now trying to get my work phone to "accidentally" navigate in Safari, and it just will not, only works when coming in from the edge. Even if I have a finger on the edge and trying to navigate with another finger it wont, just moves within the page I'm on.

 

[dLMN8R]

I have an iPhone 6S Plus and I'm always accidentally triggering the "forward" navigation swipe in any case where I first went back.

 

[Jeels]

Possible to dual boot a Windows phone? AKA, can I get Android on it somehow to where if there's an app I want I just boot into Android to play with that one app...then go back to regular windows use?

 

[NeOak]

Possible to dual boot a Windows phone? AKA, can I get Android on it somehow to where if there's an app I want I just boot into Android to play with that one app...then go back to regular windows use?

lol no.

 

[lastflowers]

Possible to dual boot a Windows phone? AKA, can I get Android on it somehow to where if there's an app I want I just boot into Android to play with that one app...then go back to regular windows use?

It might be possible with the current hardware out there--but likely not easily done. I bet at xde they might be able to figure out (or have already figured out) a flaw in some piece of hardware that might enable one to dualboot.

That being said, no, it's not possible.

 

[Paganmoon]

I have an iPhone 6S Plus and I'm always accidentally triggering the "forward" navigation swipe in any case where I first went back.

Only way I can get it to trigger is if I'm scrolling at the very edge of the screen. And even then it doesn't really navigate, but I see it has triggered the animation.

On Edge, every other time I try to scroll it navigates.

 

[SCHUEY F1]

Got bored so I put the slow ring on. Great so far. Liking the panorama app.

 

[VanMardigan]

Only way I can get it to trigger is if I'm scrolling at the very edge of the screen. And even then it doesn't really navigate, but I see it has triggered the animation.

On Edge, every other time I try to scroll it navigates.

If I had time to kill I'd do a short gif of my finger sliding down and the browser beginning the process of moving forward. Very easy to trigger for me.

Edit: yeah my finger is near the edge but it's a small screen and that's where it falls naturally when I hold it in one hand. And the motion on my finger is still up and down not left to right.

 

[yankeehater]

Hey I am trying to buy a new phone to replace the one that I stupidly dropped in the toilet. I was wondering if any unlocked phone would work with Verizon? If not is there a list of phones that do work with Verizon? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[BeforeU]

Hey I am trying to buy a new phone to replace the one that I stupidly dropped in the toilet. I was wondering if any unlocked phone would work with Verizon? If not is there a list of phones that do work with Verizon? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Icon is the only high end WP that works on verizon. lol

 

[lastflowers]

Hey I am trying to buy a new phone to replace the one that I stupidly dropped in the toilet. I was wondering if any unlocked phone would work with Verizon? If not is there a list of phones that do work with Verizon? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Very few will work on Verizon because of CDMA. I'll search for my Icon this weekend. If I find it, I might be able to send it to you fo' free

 

[yankeehater]

Thanks guys. I saw a HTC m8 cheap online but I didn't know if it would work. Damn. Lastflowers that would be amazing if you could find it.

 

[clav]

If I remember correctly, supposedly Microsoft laid off the programmer responsible for certifying CDMA devices 1-2 years ago, so don't expect new Windows 10 Mobile devices to support CDMA carriers any time soon.

Not like it matters considering the marketshare.

 

[LukasTaves]

After updating to what I think it's the rtm I restored my phone and now it's almost perfect!

One odd exception, 6tag won't install (and only that app). I tried forcing to sd or internal and it's the same.

The Instagram app is working fine for me again, but I have two accounts (one personal and one for business), so I usually leave both installed.

 

[juliushandle]

After updating to what I think it's the rtm I restored my phone and now it's almost perfect!

One odd exception, 6tag won't install (and only that app). I tried forcing to sd or internal and it's the same.

The Instagram app is working fine for me again, but I have two accounts (one personal and one for business), so I usually leave both installed.

I get that issue with 6tag after I restore. There's a fix but I can't remember it at the moment.

 

[M3d10n]

Since they are releasing point updates now, I guess this is the RTM. It's been pretty solid so far, but then again I also upgraded my old slow ass SD card by one that scores even faster than the internal memory.

 

[LukasTaves]

I get that issue with 6tag after I restore. There's a fix but I can't remember it at the moment.

Oh, so it's known? Great, at least I know it's fixeable, will try to look for a solution.

 

[LukasTaves]

Since they are releasing point updates now, I guess this is the RTM. It's been pretty solid so far, but then again I also upgraded my old slow ass SD card by one that scores even faster than the internal memory.

Yeah it's really solid, and a surprise because for the last months I practically couldn't use the phone.

Now apps open fast, don't crash and the OS itself is super snappy too.

 

[lastflowers]

Yeah it's really solid, and a surprise because for the last months I practically couldn't use the phone.

Now apps open fast, don't crash and the OS itself is super snappy too.

This was the same feeling I felt the month before WP8 released

 

[LukasTaves]

Oh, so it's known? Great, at least I know it's fixeable, will try to look for a solution.

I tried erasing the WUDownload folder on my SD card, now 6tag gets into a loop, it downloads, restore my user data, tries to install and then back to downloading.

Edit, a soft restart after erasing the folder did the trick!

Edit 2: So now 6tag is installed, but it doesn't open. Doesn't feel like a crash, it just displays the splash screen and closes instantly.

This was the same feeling I felt the month before WP8 released

You guys rock

 

[Raide]

Currently rocking the Lumia 930. Is the 950 worth upgrading to or should I wait it out for the fabled Surface Phone?

 

[clav]

Since they are releasing point updates now, I guess this is the RTM.

14393.3 is now and 14393.5 (or newer) will be pushed out soon.