WinPho teaser app for Android: You almost had me (not really)
I swear I went in with an open mind, primed to give it five stars for just for effort. The app which you may have heard about (if not, here) scans through the apps you have installed and attempts to find and list identical or presumably acceptably-similar apps for Windows Phone, the idea I believe being that it quickly snuffs out what may be a heavily-exaggerated reluctance to switch from Android to Windows Phone due to a perceived lack of apps. Right?
As I was installing it, I saw some harsh reviews, the term bait-and-switch here, used car salesman there etc. Whatever, hit the install button, it went through my apps, came up with a 77% match figure — higher than I had anticipated actually, I was impressed and wanted to take a closer look at the list and explore the notion of getting a Windows Phone (or at least playing along). I imagine the bait-and-switch remarks were along the lines of this app failing to find a significant portion of your apps on Windows Phone made by the same developer and therefore quite similar, rather making matches under the perhaps liberal discretion of the app’s producer. But I didn’t get to that bait-and-switch. I didn’t get to a list.
I didn’t get there because I encountered a sign-in box for a Microsoft account (Skydrive/Live/MSDN/Hotmail/Xbox/MSN/etc) that I either had to sign into or go through the motions of creating an account with them and then sign in to have this list dumped someplace else unnecessarily. Seems using Google Drive or, heck, just displaying the damn list without involving cloud storage was just not good enough an idea in Redmond where you gotta juice these opportunities, they seem to feel, to take advantage of this situation to get a few more Outlook.com signups. So what if it’s much less effective in its ostensible purpose. So what? Screw just pushing WP, got the original bigger picture to think about, golden opportunity to get a couple new Hotmail users!
Anyway, thanks a lot Microsoft, or whoever made this thing that might otherwise have impressed me were it not for this bullshit. Just another sign that Windows Phone rides in the back seat of priorities still at Microsoft. So I guess that’s the takeaway..
Related Posts
About The Author
Doug Simmons
Biographical info.. hmm. I have a history of not being able to strike the balance between what is "safe" to put into these forms and what is, in my mind at least, funny. Can't do it.
I think u missed part of the reason it wants you to login to SkyDrive. First of, if you get an outlook account you automatically get a SkyDrive account and free 7gb of cloud storage. The app uploads the list to SkyDrive so that when u get your new windows phone you download the list and your new windows phone will install all of the apps for you. Its there to make the transition as smooth as possible.
good point anyway, I think it should display the list and then give you the option to upload instead of requiring registration to even get the list.
it would be more effective that way I think.
Well then they’re kind of diluting the purpose of this app in a manner that is self defeating. How about an app for this and something else to push Skydrive versus Google Drive, and then as an experiment to see which approach is most effective, a third to do this hybrid operation.
Nice comment robbiegod, I like your style. Like I can hear you talking to me through your words, it’s good writing bro.
I think if you had a windows phone you’d know google has shown it no love, I believe that includes a native google drive app/support. So if you add that to the mix along with google changing things “for the better” when ms releases products that are compatible with a google service, I think there may be a reason they opted not to support alternative cloud storage in addition to generating accounts. I do agree that they probably should have given an option to sync after the list was shown.
HAHAHA! You said push SkyDrive versus Google drive!
Yeah, no contest there.
Push? I went in expecting to be pushed to Windows Phone, I was fine with that, just as once was here, and I had an open mind and I figured that the thing would probably be impressive and that I was ready to give it five stars without even seeing the thing, but for absolutely no reason whatsoever that would be necessary to get its point across with respect to app-matching to make me realize the fruity tiles were within reach, suddenly I gotta make a Microsoft account. For what purpose? Can’t just pop up the stupid list? Damn.
I believe it was explained before, but I’ll do it again.
So if… err, excuse me, WHEN you ditch the silly little half-retarded robot for a phone with the “fruity little tiles” you will only have to put in your MS account credentials and the apps that you found on the “switch to WP” app will auto download.
Makes things easier.
Doesn’t mean MS is saying you CAN’T cripple yourself with google drive (google is the one saying that), but the MS account is the way to login to the marketplace as well as SkyDrive.
Sean, I came for a list, I thought I was getting a list, they could have given me a list, instead they gave me a signup box I had no interest in rather than a list. Perhaps had this thing told me what the app alternatives were they might have fished a signup out of me and maybe my next phone. Why do we need to involve cloud storage to make that 77% figure more specific? Why not give me the list, and then after it dazzles me offer to let me sign up or sign in to Microsoft so that I can go buy my phone and have my new apps all laid out for me? Wouldn’t that not only make the inevitable so much easier like you said but keep me happy as well without this surprise hurdle?
Would you rather go through and search and download all the apps one by one, or would you rather put in your username and apssword and have it download for you?
Most people (average types) would rather it be done for them.
Maybe their figuring you ARE going to switch over, so having a MS account is inevitable…?
What r u talking abt dude.. Y don’t you speak abt the actual effectiveness of the app rather than complaining abt the login process.
As much as it pains me to say this, but I have to agree with Doug on this one..
This process should be simple and quick.. People are skeptical as is..