The middle of August is when the NFL released their official app for Windows Phone 8. NFL Mobile was a very welcomed app for fans of American football around the world. Then came the announcement that official NFL Fantasy Football apps would be coming to Windows 8, Xbox and Windows Phone. We’ve seen the Windows 8 and Xbox versions and they’re pretty darn good, but the Windows Phone version was absent from the Store. Today, the official NFL Football Fantasy 2013 app for Windows Phone finally comes to the Store and is unfortunately a disappointment.
Before we get into why the app is disappointing, let’s check out all the things you can do with the official NFL Football Fantasy “app” for Windows Phone. Here’s what you can do:
- Live scoring: Follow your teams and players in real time.
- Set your lineup: Start or bench players on the go.
- Transactions: Improve your team with players adds, drops and trades.
- Player News: Get official news and injury updates, direct from NFL.com.
- Manage multiple teams: Access and control all of your NFL.com teams and leagues.
- Play more games: Access Perfect Challenge, Weekly Pick'Em and more.
That sounds really cool right? That’s everything you could want in an app for fantasy football. Well, those are also all the things you can do in the mobile web version of the NFL.com website. Which is basically what you’re getting with this app. You know that idiom about a wolf in sheep’s clothing? We should have a new one for websites in app’s clothing. You’re getting what looks like a PhoneGap app.
To me, that’s really disappointing and it's hard to justify keeping this app after downloading. You might as well continue to use the website and not take up any space on your Start screen. Speaking of Start screen, this app doesn’t come with a double wide tile or any support for controlling the Lockscreen. You can't pin players or teams to your Start screen. All features you'd want in a fantasy app for Windows Phone.
Again, all missed opportunities from the NFL, Microsoft, or whichever development studio was responsible for this. Like the app? Dislike the app? Sound off below.
If you still want to download this app for free, but only for Windows Phone 8 devices. If you’re on Windows Phone 7.x don’t feel too bad about now having this app. Grab it in the Windows Phone Store, use the QR code below, or swipe to the right in our app.
Thanks for the tip Alex S!
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