91% of Windows Phone clicks were only for Camera Roll, urging Photos Hub redesign in 8.1

Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore shared today why they gave the Photos Hub a drastic makeover in Windows Phone 8.1. For instance, opening the app now takes you directly to your Camera Roll, organized by date instead of the old menu system. This change reflects how iOS also organizes photos, though it deviates significantly from how the old Photos Hub did things.

Telemetry data, which is collected from how users interact with their phones, was collected and revealed today by Belfiore during his Reddit AMA. The most interesting aspect was that a massive 91% of users only opened the Photos Hub to go to their Camera Roll, with just 0.5% using the ‘apps’ integration. That’s a stunning number, but reflects how many of used Photos Hub in the past. In that regard, it makes total sense to put the crowd favorite Camera Roll front and center, leaving Albums and Favorites to the side and omitting the Apps section.

While we’re sure some of you really like the old Photos Hub layout, we’re with Joe on this one. But what say you? Does the telemetry data reflect your usage? Has it changed your mind?

Source: Reddit

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and wearable tech. He has reviewed laptops for over 10 years and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, Arm64 processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, performed polysomnographs in NYC, and was a motion-picture operator for 17 years.