Instagram for Windows phone to retire on April 30

Lol. Would've made a good April fools joke. They should've submitted a spoof app, then pulled it the next day😂😂😂😂

Unlike Satya Nadella, who gave up on Windows Phone the day he took the CEO job.

That wasn't fast enough. When WP7 failed, they should have went back to the drawing board. Wipe the whole idea and start over.

Loved my Lumia 1500, and WP8.1. Those were great devices, and exciting times, for fans. New apps coming in every day, constant device leaks, and tons of hope for the future. I worked at the Airport, and when I got my Lumia 1500 people used to always ask me about it. Tons of people coming through the airport had WP devices, but they couldn't keep them because the apps they needed were absent. The main thing they would say is "I love the device, and the OS, but it doesn't have the apps I need for work"... They (Adults) didn't ditch WP because of a lack of exciting devices, because they didn't like the OS (even, despite its "lack" of features), or a lack of social media apps, and games,, rather they couldn't get done the important things they needed done. WP could've survived if it had apps... End of story. Yet, I still blame MS, because I don't think they put 100% of their efforts behind WP, and especially dropped the ball on marketing. I bet they wished they listened to us now. We, all of us, told them exactly what to do. What a waste. SMDH 😂😂😂

Yep, good old times

Read on... There's a market for people who need to get stuff done.

That market is Android. Windows phones were just too limited. Even iPhone is more productive.

both my sisters used them as long as they could. one needed a payment Bluetooth thing. the other cracked her screen so bad and just is getting a new phone now. shes like I wish I could get another in her facebook post. I used a work phone last few years so ive switched over time. I did have my phone for takeing photos for a long time. but its to bad this happened in the end. lots of fans … and yes I blaim ms to this day. for amny things not just wp. I find it hard to trust them with other things they do now.

That's the sentiment that a lot of people have about MS these days... I don't know if that matters to them anymore, but my gut tells me that "popularity" is important in the long run.

The few fans that regularly visit blogs aren't a measure of popularity.

If enough people liked WP, it would have grown and gained all the apps. They didn't. The few people that did buy them, quickly returned them. The vast majority ignored them when they were on the shelf. Your "golden time", was actually sad as any. The most phones Microsoft sold in a quarter was only 10 million. Terrible numbers. Your experience is the few people who liked it enough to keep it. If course they are going to say that. Your study is just the fanboys, because they are the only people who bought and kept those phones.

Bleached, while a reasonable hypothesis, I don't believe the data support it. Rodney's study, while not necessarily ideal from a data perspective (as you say, could be a skewed sample), is entirely consistent with the actual marketing studies that were done at the time: Microsoft had a chicken-or-egg problem. They couldn't get apps without users, and they couldn't get users without apps. The majority of people who used the devices praised them. The OS was smooth, battery life was strong, built-in functions were frequently hailed at the top of the list. Lumia cameras were routinely rated as the best (even critics said, at worst, that the flagship Lumia cameras were as good as Apple's, the other one often called the best at the time). The problem was lack of apps. I believe Microsoft could have solved this by putting some budget toward that, showing a hardcore commitment to the product, ensuring all their own apps and services really did run best on Windows Phone, encouraging their own staff to use Windows Phones, etc. They didn't do that, so app developers on the fence opted not to develop, and the little bit of momentum they were starting to build, sputtered out. Maybe Nadella is correct that they the cost to achieve those things was too high, but I have a very, very hard time believing that the cost would have been as high as the price they're paying for having lost the entire mobile market.

Microsoft was directly paying developers to build apps. It didn't help. The number of users was always way too low for them to take it seriously. The developers Microsoft paid did the bare minimum because there was no further return on investment potential. Apps weren't the issue either. Android didn't have apps either when Windows Phone launched. WP even had Netflix before Android. Windows Phone had a few huge issues: The UI. It was polarizing and there was nothing you could do about it. You can find articles about how it overwhelmed new users. Live Tiles made the UI cluttered looking and new users didn't understand what was going on. You will find articles on this site about it. No notification center. Live Tiles weren't sufficient for notifications. Windows phones didn't have a notification center until 8.1 released. Way too late. Hardware. The restrictions on hardware kept manufacturers from being excited and limited marketing opportunities. While Android phones were touting the newest and bestest hardware, Windows phones were a year old at launch. Software features. See hardware. Same issue. Stunted marketing potential. Branding. Windows wasn't an exciting brand. People were sick of it. Again, stunted marketing potential. Carrier/manufacturer hostile. Microsoft was downright hostile with manufacturers and carriers. Forced updates and allowing their apps to be easily removed. These policies hurt the people Microsoft needed on their side the most. Google didn't make that rookie mistake. Apps weren't the issue with Windows phones. Lack of users due to above issues is what happened. It isn't a chicken and egg issue. Apps will never come before users. Never have and never will.

Funny how Bleached waste his time typing all his BS when nobody gives a ****.. 😂😂😂😂😂

I kkow, right! WTF! He's denying all the time and yet he's still here. Anyone??????

I'm telling you he's one of those trolls who has a low end Android phone, and can't talk with the big boys over on Android Central, so he comes over to WC to talk smack about a dead platform.. Lol pathetic.

Bleached is still here copy/pasting his opinion masked as universal truth? The obsession is kind of...crazy.

Everytime Rodney posts his inaccuracies, I will respond.

Explains why you don't reply when I call you an idiot. 🤷🏾‍♂️🤷🏾‍♂️🤷🏾‍♂️

What he said... Not to mention, not everyone that bought WP were necessarily fans. I owned a Blackberry, prior to my move to WP. I didn't want Android, because the OS had too many issues and iPhones were just too damn small, at the time and Blackberry just wasn't doing much to keep up with specs of its competition. The one all touch phone they created didn't do well. I considered getting one, but no one liked them. Then I saw a Windows Phone 7. Samsung Focus. It was a nice phone for its time and the OS was smooth and it just worked. It didn't require apps out the box to work well. It was funny, because I remember the sales guy trying to slide the HTC Android phone to the register and I asked, what is this? This is not what I asked for... Anyway, my point is, I wasn't a fan going in, but the OS was different and I liked different. I didn't want to be like everyone else. Overtime, I became a fan, because there were things my phone could do that my wife's Android couldn't, at the time. It's been a while, so don't ask me what those things were. I just remember constantly showing off, because my phone could do something hers could not. Over time, of course, those difference started becoming less. Then entered Cortana. IMHO, it was better than Google at some things. For example, if I sent a text by voice, it would insert punctuation where needed and I appreciated the ability to connect to Bluetooth in my car and fully use the assistant, without having to have my in car radio to have Apple or Android anything. It just worked. So, despite MS shortcomings in marketing and lack of speed to get updates out to improve or add features, there was a lot to love about WP. It wasn't for everyone, but it was smoother than Android at the time and just as smooth as iOS. Apps was the lacking part and that would be the reason many sales people couldn't honestly recommend WP 7, 8 or 10. Although, I felt 10 was a huge step in the right direction and could have matured into something much better. MS had a lot of very cool ideas that they took too long to implement. Even now, their Phone Connect app is way behind Dell's, and Dell brout theirs out later than MS, but it was more fully featured. There's no denying that MS lacks in implementation and marketing, but it doesn't change the fact their ideas, as sad as this is to say, motivated both Google and Apple...especially Apple. No on can be mad at them though, because they took good ideas, improved them and implemented them. If MS worked at the pace of Apple or Google, they could have some great products in the market, not just software...and yes, I know MS is primarily a software company, but they had good consumer products that needed commitment. The MS Band was one such product. Other than the Apple watch and other much more expensive fitness trackers, the Band had it all. My only issue with the Band was quality of material. Great and easy replacement policy, though.

Don't bother replying to bleached. He is obsessed in his opinions and thinks they are facts beyond reproach. Do yourself a favor and ignore him.

Agreed. But, if u did asked them why, u knew the answer. Windows Phone is too advance. It's for advance users. Most of them said the same thing, because 'I don't really know how to use this phone'. Even windows pc is hard for some users. That's why they turn to Chromebook or ipad. How sad this kind of users

Windows phone was barely beyond feature phones. The UI was confusing for new users and too limiting for power users. Worst of both worlds.

You can't reason with a complete idiot... Just let him rant.

Well said, rodneyej.

I know it was... I know it was.. 😢😢😢😢😢

It won't be available anymore but will it still work?

Yes, on iDriod🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

They killed the Swarm app too and nobody said nothing about it. A shame.
For Instagram I'll keep using 6tag. Never really used the oficial app, to be honest. Came about too late to be relevant.

I'm curious if 6tag will still work. It was a cool app, for sure.

Of course it still works. Rudy Huyn was always a WP prime developer very loyal to MS...
https://news.microsoft.com/stories/people/rudy-huyn.html

I still use 6tag, I love the WP start screen and being able to Pin users and tags from 6tag on to the start screen. That way, I've been bypassing the "Instagram algorithm" for years....

the last nail in the coffin .. are they pulling the windows 10 app too?

No, article says specifically that's sticking around.

website will still work. *shrug*

How’s that song go... and another one gone... another one gone... another one bites the dust...

Bleachedjr... Lol.... Funny stuff

I came here because I'm seeing that Facebook is leaving too according to Engadget https://www.engadget.com/2019/04/03/facebook-windows-phone/

I did too. Engadget says it's Facebook and Messenger.

The Facebook app was never any good (at least for me). It crashes constantly. I use Slim Social.

Real shame, probably the app I use the most. Especially out of the social apps. I remember celebrating so much when WP finally got the official app. Looks like no Andromeda is coming, and it may soon be time to make the switch to Android.

I'm hanging onto my 950XL until I can get a 7" tablet running WindowsOnArm with LTE and a dialler/sms app.

Yes, same here. :-)

WP lovers. Consider it like vintage cars or vintage synthesizers. There is a lot of people who cherish their Porsche 911 - 1973 version or their SY99 synth and they still use it on a daily basis. You might need to invest in some spare batteries, so what....

I'm surprised it lasted this long

For the hard fans there is an article how to make your android looking like WP, for the others...just say good bye and embrace the new android smartphone whatever you've picked up, it doesn't hurt :) The bitter end of WP has been reached long time ago.

My Lumia 950XL decided to dive onto a corner and shatter. I used a Windows 10 skin on my Galaxy S8+ for a while, but now I'm using the Android interface. It's not as intuitive, smooth, or reliable as Windows Mobile was for me, but I don't have a choice.

It was unusable anyway.

When Windows Mobile fully shuts down later this year, what services will stop functioning? What things will remain? I'm guessing text and calls will work, but push notifications will stop. Or will a Lumia become just a camera? I know a couple people still rocking a Lumia 950, and despite my warning that we don't know what will happen, they are choosing to ride it out.

It's already paid for, so they can ride it out without any real risk, right?

No, because if there was a major exploit caused because basic security updates weren't happening MS would be held accountable, and WP isn't woth that kind of trouble.

I am still using my 950xl, 950 and mostly my HP Elite X3 which is an amazing phone. The screen is brilliant. **** that CEO.

Microsoft sucks butt for killing Windows phones. Easily the best OS. Forced to got inferior, **** u CEO. Eat iPoo!

Even though I finally changed to Samsung galaxy S9+ I really have to give props to all those companies that supported windows phone till the end. Instagram, Facebook, Fitbit and there hardware, Waze, Netflix, Plex and any other apps I might have missed. Loved my 950XL and still struggling with my new phone.