5 Windows 10 Mobile features we want to see before Microsoft kills the OS

By Zac Bowden
published

Here's a list of things we hope Microsoft adds to Windows 10 Mobile before the company abandons its mobile OS.

It's becoming increasingly clear that current Windows 10 Mobile devices won't be getting any new major software updates, and we're still a while away from Microsoft releasing any new phones. Between now and then, here's what I'd like Microsoft to add to Windows 10 Mobile before it abandons the OS in favor of its next attempt at phones.

Now, I'm not expecting Microsoft to add any huge changes or features to Windows 10 Mobile from here on out. So everything in this list is on the minor side, stuff that isn't too far fetched considering Windows 10 Mobile's current position.

Pick up where you left off

This is something I'm surprised Microsoft hasn't brought to Windows 10 Mobile already. Pick up where I left off, a new feature that was introduced with the Creators Update, allows Cortana to share data from apps across devices, allowing the user to pick up within apps exactly where they left off from other devices.

This feature currently works across Windows 10 desktop devices, but Windows 10 Mobile appears to have been omitted. Windows 10 Mobile could benefit greatly from this feature, and it arguably makes more sense when sharing between PC and phone devices.

I'd love to be able to browse the web on Edge on my PC, and then open up Edge on my phone and have it pick up exactly where I left off on my phone. The fact that this feature isn't in Windows 10 Mobile is bewildering.

Night Light

Microsoft already said that this feature isn't coming to Windows 10 Mobile anytime soon, and that's frustrating. Let's be honest, Night Light makes just as much sense on phones as it does on PCs. In fact, I'd argue it makes more sense on phones.

People are more likely to be using their phones at night before they go to sleep than a PC. People lie in bed and use their phones, and Night Light would be incredibly beneficial in this scenario. It's not often you're lying in bed with a PC or laptop. Most people prefer using their phones these days.

The Lumia series already has a built-in color profile feature. Maybe Microsoft could add some kind of feature that just automatically turns on the warmer color profile after a certain time.

Updated emoji

Microsoft just introduced the latest batch of emoji on PC build 16226. It'd be great if Microsoft could bring these new emoji to Windows 10 Mobile too.

If Microsoft doesn't bring these updated emoji to Windows 10 Mobile, users will slowly notice new emoji not showing up and working on Windows 10 Mobile devices. Instead, they'll see squares where the new emoji aren't displaying correctly, making for a frustrating user experience.

If you're not a fan of emoji, this isn't much of a concern to you. But I'm sure there are plenty of users out there who are fans of emoji on Windows phone.

Large tile size

Before Microsoft kills Windows 10 Mobile, I'd love for it to add the large Live tile size to phones. This was something Microsoft experimented with in the first ever Insider Preview build for Windows phones, but it was removed shortly after.

We already know Microsoft is working on this with CShell phones, but it's unlikely CShell will come to existing handsets. I want large Live tile sizes on existing phones, which will allow me to customize my Start screen just like the Start menu on my desktop.

Windows Hello improvements

Windows Hello is unbearably slow on Windows 10 Mobile. In fact, its performance is quite embarrassing when compared to the speed of biometric authentication methods on iOS and Android. When using Iris on the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL, the login experience is slow because of Microsoft's silly Windows Hello animation.

If Microsoft were to remove said animation, the login experience would be quicker. We know this is true because in an old Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview build, Microsoft accidentally removed it briefly. In that build, Windows Hello was much faster.

Unfortunately, Microsoft added back the animation because, according to the company, the animation is important. But the animation is not important, and I would much rather it be removed if it's causing the login experience to be slower.

What do you think?

That's our list of features we hope Microsoft will add to Windows 10 Mobile before moving away from it. What small improvements are you hoping Microsoft adds? Let us know in the comments.

Zac Bowden
Zac Bowden
Senior Editor

Zac Bowden is a Senior Editor at Windows Central. Bringing you exclusive coverage into the world of Windows on PCs, tablets, phones, and more. Also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices! Keep in touch on Twitter: @zacbowden.

273 Comments
  • Also throw in the sync of books in Edge - They REALLY need an iOS and Android app soon if they at least want it to be slightly attractive to people.
    Other than being able to use a single account for all purchases, there is not much incentive right now to buy an eBook from MS. They also need to keep updating Edge on W10M of course, I just mean in general they need the books available everywhere to be attractive. If you buy a Kindle Book you can read it on almost any device you want. If their books are all DRM free then maybe it;s worth it but I'm pretty sure they aren't
  • I know, Edge everywhere would be really appreciated and would also help with the Edge user share. What's frustrating is that Books, Groove Music/radio, Movies, TV shows are not available everywhere.
  • Microsoft, the KING of Tease and FOOL of delivering...
  • I'd like to see an improved adblock on the Lumia handset version of Edge browser. and more detailed options to selectively disable on certain pages.
  • I'd rather have a dedicated app to read books so I can read books full screen, have a real command bar to use with real commands, and not be drawn into tabbed browser hell when I'm reading a book. It is especially cumbersome to read anything in a browser on mobile let alone on a tablet.
  • What do I think?... Well, what I think is if we're dreaming, we might as well dream big and make the list 20 feature strong. Just saying.
    All the things mentioned were nice, and definitely should've been there a year ago.
    But, "Pick Up Where You Left Off" Would be awesome, especially with Groove music. I should be able to move from my laptop, to my Surface, to my 950, (and if MS had any sense, to my car) all while keeping up with my current mix, or playlist. Heck, at first, it doesn't even have to start at the same spot in the song, as long as it started at the beginning of the song, and synchronize my mix. Later, updates could bring more synergy.
    ........
    It really is sad that Microsoft isn't a part of car infotainment systems the way iDroid are. This is the second biggest miss on MS part since missing out on mobile. It's a huge miss. A miss that will definitely sway a lot of people away from any future mobile efforts by Microsoft, even if there were apps. MS's stance with the consumer market in 2017 is sad. I would like to see that turn around this next decade. But, in order for that to change MS will have to change it's thinking completely.
  • Microsoft mobile experience is missing ecerything ything that is more than web browsing texting and reading email. It's sad but that's how it is.
  • I think one should refrain from buying some stuff from Windows Store if they like to enjoy they content on phones. You pay for something, and you don't know if you're going to be able to use it on your next phone. Because there may not be any Windows phones in future. I do still post for some stuff in the Store, but one just needs to take this into account.
  • I'd like them to fix Cortana so it bloody works!!!
  • I know. It's weird that even in the Creator's Update you need internet for basic functionality.
  • In WP8.1 you could do certain things like calls, skip music tracks, play a music track etc. whilst offline - I know some of that stuff came offline in Xbox, but I haven't tested in W10M with my data off lately. Might give it a go and see what is actually processed offline
  • 8.1 was better in SO many ways when it comes to user experience. Windows 10 mobile was and still is a major step backwards from a user experience perspective. It's got better technological underpinnings, but that means precisely dick when the damn thing doesn't work right.
  • This ^
    Cortana is rubbish post 8.1
  • ikr, at least keep basic stuff offline, even symbian do better in terms of voice dictation offline
  • Start screen live tile is probably a lost cause now and not worth doing, but I would like to see Night Light, and obviously it needs the Edge improvements. Since Edge STILL isn't distributed via the Store W10M could stop getting Edge improvements, including changes to the core engine - A web browser can still be important in Enterprise and it needs the latest security updates to Edge as a minimum. There won't be Night Light on mobile according to Brandon LeBlanc he said it's not needed for enterprise and that nobodies eyes have melted - Fair statement in a way and he gets a lot of crap on Twitter from some people. I just don't personally think the "Enterprise Focus" is 100% genuine, or perhaps better to say it's not really something they seem to believe in or have a real plan for, that statement seems to have just come out of nowhere without any action to back it up. They need to realise that young consumers today are the leaders of tomorrow - Do they REALLY still think people WANT a second work phone if they can avoid it?
  • "Enterprise Focus" is the new Retrenchment!!!
  • It's funny when I and a few other people asked Brandon, "So what do we do? Which Windows Phone to get when there are none to buy?" And he replied something like, "Just move on. If WP doesn't "satisfy" you then get something else!!" That statement from an Engineer in the Insider team really shocked me! And I remember Jez coming into the tweet war and asking WHAT ARE YOU SAYING basically. He just gave some BS reply.
    .
    He said that "our marketing has made it pretty clear that we are enterprise focused". Like WHAT!! 😧. There has been NO marketing!! For anybody! What is he even talking about?!!
  • It can't be used in Enterprise. I had to replace all of the 950 Lumia's because they crashed constantly, got sluggish. Aplications weren't available for business either. Solutions were always wipe and start over (no solution, didn't fix anything, essentially anyone using it was at best a Beta tester if not an Alpha tester and not a commercial user. The black hole litigation made 10 Mobile a non-starter period.) Mobile continued a downward spiral the moment they bought Nokia Mobile. The 920 was their last best platform in the arena.
  • Square payment is not even supported and the same with paypal here
  • Abhi,  that is what Microsoft wants.  Move on.  use their services on IOS or Android.  That IS the gameplan.  They do NOT want to be messing with mobile any longer.
  • It feels great when someone else feels the same. Talking to Brandon is POINTLESS. He shouldn't even be in that team anymore. Nothing compared to the other REALLY HELPFUL engineers.
    .
    And Dan, as a dev yourself, you think Night Light can be done for W10M too? Modern XAML? Just like they did Glance Screen.
  • The whole Enterprise Focus feels like a smoke screen, and I think they are just assuming nobody is going to bet big on W10M in Enterprise at this time, not if they've done their homework and so nobody is going to get majorly burnt. I would love to see a serious article or interview with somebody at MS that outlines why I should use or recommend W10M in the enterprise TODAY. If the focus really is there then I think they should be able to answer that, and say why in the future W10M will remain the right choice for Enterprise. But like I say I think it's a bit of a smoke screen, right now there isn't a reason to recommend it unless you want to run UWP apps everywhere, and that's valid but only if W10M can continue to get updates and run apps that target the newer SDKs. Updates includes performance and security improvements to Edge. If they want to sell the Enterprise Focus they need to be able to tell me WHY it's the best mobile OS for enterprise - Right now it isn't and there's better device management available on iOS in many ways.
  • Completely agree, Dan. Also, when there are basically no testers/insiders for Mobile remaining and they have fired the internal testers, how do they suppose, W10M bugs will be sorted out? Who will test new features (if any)?
  • Who told you they fired internal testers? Anyway for testing they usually have vendors.
  • Wait...are we talking about a software company that has no apps to run in their ecosystem... They did nothing to address the app gap and here is what the future of MS looks like... A cloud and server company at best... Thanks Nadella!!!
  • I would imagine they could do Night Light, because the function to change the colour temperature is already built into the OS / Lumia devices! Sure it might be a specific Mobile implementation and only work on some devices but all they need to really do is hook into that functionality from settings and trigger it at a specific time...I actually mentioned it's already in the OS on one of the Insider Streams and the person who answered me on there wasn't even aware you can technically already change it..You'd need to do it manually at night though right now lol
  • Nice list Zac. 🙂 But we know they won't do anything. The question is why did they name the branch feature2? It could have been the Bug fix branch or as some ppl say, "featureless2". 😐
    .
    There is very less chance of us getting any features even though the standard answers we get is, "We'll ship new features when they are ready to be shipped from the dev branch" which is really not helpful. They've been saying this since feature2 was first introduced. Jason (@NorthFaceHiker) and Jennifer (@JenMsft) are helpful but I don't think asking them will help now. They are basically "powerless" as far as decision making (regarding features) is considered.
    .
    If they do add features, then this is the order - 1) Night light (IT IS POSSIBLE because Color Profile is quite the same). 😃
    2) Pick up where we left off AND cloud CLIPBOARD
    3) Updated Emoji's 🤯
    .
    The explanation Jennifer has given in the FBH app doesn't make sense because if Color Profile can change the display saturation, color, vividness, then why can't an updated Night Light do that too? Many app developers have said it's possible to do it (and automate it). It's already inside the settings app. It just needs to be updated so that the display becomes warm automatically when required.
    .
    A note to all Mobile fans - Don't ask anything regarding Mobile feature updates to this Brandon LeBlanc guy. It's pointless. You'll most probably get sarcastic and immature replies.
  • Call it the "This is what happens when you Retrench" branch.
  • What I've seen, from Brandon (Which to be fair to him he always tries to answer realistically and honestly and gets crap for it) is that they won't be putting in new consumer features, including Night Light (which he classed as not needed, and consumer focussed). I don't think new consumer features are coming to W10M, at least not as part of the Fall Creators Update - Maybe there will be more if they decide to continue with it. I suppose we will know shortly after Fall Creators Update rolls out what will be happening to phones. For now, I'd sit tight. W10M is still a good Mobile Phone OS if you don't need access to all the hottest new apps or some of the social apps
  • His honesty is appreciated but there is a way to reply politely. It's best to not reply to people who tweet crap, but the least they can do is give us some proper information. Satya's and Terry's statement regarding Mobile feels like a huge lie today.
  • It was already clear that MS was lying about retrenchment or coming back to consumers with a mobile device was a lie. Only few ppl believed in MS. Few editors here kept on churning junk abt retrencment
  • The night light feature has nothing to do with the consumer/enterprise focus of the MS development.  Most of the time when I am using my phone before bed, it is for work (and employees need their sleep, for productivity in the workplace).  Any argument otherwise from MS is just noise.
  • Or banking apps,  or travel apps,  or hotel apps,  or store apps,  or shopping apps,  or ......shall I go on regarding apps?  thought so!
  • You can use edge for most of those...
  • This is the first time I have seen Brandon even mentioned anywhere. I was like who the f*** is that? Why the h*ll are we even listening to him? It makes no sense? He kind of sounds like a troll.
  • You forgot a featured continuum experience. I need that more than all the things you listed...lol
  • True that would be nice, but I think the ones Zac listed are the more realistic ones - An improved Continuum experience should come naturally with C-Shell on newer devices if anybody makes a phone that uses it - or if they will even be given the opportunity.
  • Yes and if Nightlight is on Windows 10 would it be logical to think that once Windows on Arm and CShell hit we will have Nightlight?
  • If you buy the new device. Current devices are not receiving updates beyond feature2.
  • I think CShell would take care of that bit --- if they ever release it!! 😆
  • CShell may only come to the W10 mobile devices and not to the W10M phones.  But that's the only thing I want to improve my L950XL.
  • Anything on the Feature2 branch almost certainly isn't getting CShell. That is a part of the main Windows 10 branch, not the W10M Feature2 branch. That is why they were separated. Feature2 is likely the end of the road for W10M.
  • Well, we all know the promises. If they can't be bothered to bring the Continuum improvements that were being touted to make us buy the 950 phones then we'll know anything promised when their next attempt eventually comes out will be hot air. Potential customers will then choose to wait and see. That's how failure is made, folks. So unless something has been missed from the list, MS may be getting a head start and planning in failure from the ground up. Nice one Satya.
  • First and Foremost....."Hey Cortana for 950 XL"
  • That should be available already (in specific regions lol)
  • Funniest thing is how 'Hey Cortana' is available on Desktop Windows in German but on my german Windows 10 mobile device it says my region is not supported for vocie activation.
  • Funktioniert bei mir auf deutsch auf dem 950XL. Anmachen vergessen?
  • Vielleicht geht es nicht, da ich ein Lumia 930 habe. Stimmaktivierung ist bei mir auch nur unter Extras zu finden :(
  • You know MS delivers the goodies to own citizens and give a **** about rest of the world. Always have been
  • Same thing for french Canadian language!
  • how about "Hey Cortana - please don't crash every time I try and use you" for 950XL
  • Works on mine.
  • I'd like to see a firmware update for the 950's to fix some of the Bluetooth connectivity issues that still plague the devices.
  • Who says it's firmware to blame? If the OS Bluetooth attack is garbage, it's not the firmware. And btw, the ease of how a build can adjust Bluetooth issues is evidence enough that it's software.
  • Agreed.  The last several Fast Ring builds broke the voice reply over BT, which had been broken previously, then fixed.  And the latest build (15226) was advertised has having fixed the issue.  Alas no, still broken on my 950XL DS NAM.
  • Can I add multiple upvotes to this?
  • Why would anyone buy the next generation of Windows Phone??? You can screw me once but not time after time...........
  • I've been fairly lucky in that I didn't buy a Lumia 900 (So I avoided that disaster), I had a 1020 that I kept all the way up to when Insider builds starting coming out for mobile, so at that time I knew it didn't make sense to buy a brand new 930 or 1520. I bought into the 950 pretty much when it launched in the UK and don't plan to replace it until 2018 at the earliest, even if something new comes out tomorrow. I kind of avoided all the mess ups - The Lumia 900 being the most ironic after the Nokia advert about the Smartphone Beta test being over lol. If a new device comes out in 2018 when I'm ready to buy something new (and does what I need) I won't feel screwed over but purely due to lucky timing.
  • I agree. I think with MS track record, anything they do now in the mobile space is dead on arrival. They just won't be able to escape the media, which they need for publicity, making a point about the lack of apps and constant reboots.
  • I felt really bad at the time when I convinced someone I worked with to get the Lumia 900 only to see Microsoft reboot shortly after.
  • Seriously, why would you assume Microsoft will kill Windows 10 Mobile? Even if they are attempting a new iteration of the ecosystem, it's not like the jump from Windows Mobile CE to Windows Phone.
  • Lack of devices and any meaningful updates hints a pretty clear path. Its been almost two years since the 950 came out and since then it's been a barely usable OS and no sign of anything better on the horizon.
  • That's fine. But not answering is also not cool. There hasn't been ANY proper public notification regarding the state of W10M. The last few remaining W10M fans are there because of some hope. MSFT is killing that hope too.
    Terry Myerson and Satya Nadella's famous statements of making phones, being committed to Mobile feels like such a lie now.
  • Ok, I think I see what you mean. It's like the jump from Windows Vista to Windows 7, same ecosystem but different OS. In that case I don't really worry about seeing any new features in W10M, let them bring everything cool at once in the new system.
  • They said mobile, not W10 Mobile. They meant Android and iOS. It may not have been totally obvious then, but now it certainly is. They have been focused on releasing great apps on these platforms. You just assumed they meant W10M, but if they meant W10M, then they would have said W10M.
  • Yeah right. Mind reading isn't our job, bleached.
  • Right! I have learned to always assume the worst when it comes to Microsoft. Then you will likely be correct and won't be disappointed.
  • It's come to that, hasn't it. Sigh. 🤐
  • actually the so called great apps people keep saying microsft has on ios and android isnt exactly true. Groove on the ipad doesnt exist and the version on android doesnt even read sd cards on 2016,s top selling phones the s7 edge, im actually forced to use play because of this. thasts not exactly a good example of microsft leading the way in software on android or apple platforms, hell even cortana sucks on android. You cant call her up via voice and you have to open her to use here which ofter results in things like location reminders being absolutly useless on android.
    I do use outlook but its not great on android and certainly not as good as it was back on my lumia 930 3 years ago.
    Skype on android is better than desktop but windows mobile got skype right in my opinion just before they decided to reboot it 2 more times lol.
  • How does one kill a product with 0% market share? The people still using it are in the rounding error of market share.
  • Installed userbase and marketshare are two different things, and with win10m, two quite different figures, based on the comScore stats, which measured userbase in the US last year at 2.7 percent. 
  • Yeah, it's a wildly successful product.
  • Based on the benchmark set by all the "new" features they brought to the so called Creators update, I would say the chances these things would be implemented are absolutely zero.
  • I actually have no issues with Hello sign-in speeds. But then I'm using fingerprint for authentication. What I want to see is for Windows 10 Mobile to be included more into the whole Microsoft ecosystem. The upcoming Mixer app is iOS and Android only. It seems that W10M gets things last if at all. I'd also like to see some apps improved. The podcast app needs help. It's barebones at best. Perhaps that should just be rolled into Groove anyways. I'm also not a fan of books being in Edge. Don't make Edge do everything. Other than that, I mainly want to see those improvements to Continuum. Make it more like the desktop experience. Continuum is the differentiator for W10M. Make it shine.
  • Pretty sure that Podcast app is a WP8.1 app too
  • The podcast app was just updated.
  • The fingerprint authentication on my son's Alcatel Idol 4S is much faster than the iris authentication on my 950XL (or my wife's & daughter's 950s).
  • Pick up where I left off.  I can't believe I'm emailing myself links between devices to be able to do that.  Feels like 2007, not 2017. The feature I'm missing the most from WP8.1 was the ability to stop Cortana from interrupting an audio stream by dismissing a toast notification.  No matter what you do in W10M you have to go through the whole process of letting her interrupt, even if the text message just says "K".   Also, why can't I post a comment using the WC app?  I can enter the text, but clicking/tapping the send icon does nothing.
  • YES!!! I thought i was alone in the emailing links department 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
  • try the app "Hand Off" and see if that does it for you
  • Large tile definitely we actually had that for some time. Why did MS removed it?
    Cortana available in much more countries and languages.
    The ability to chose the colour and transparency for each individual tile would be great. And of course full landscapemode and not that cechell crap that leaves black borders on each side. Waste of space.
    And bring the old Nokia apps back or re write them MS has enough personal for that. What about the cool 3D scanning app they demonstrated?
    My experience is that all the nice tools,options and apps are being removed and crap that almost nobody use is coming in place.
    MS is to much business orientated and that's gone kill them or at least put them in a grey area like IBM.
    Also they promise and demonstrate cool stuff but never fully implement them.
    A new CEO and personal is needed and definitely a new marketing strategy and personal.
  • I hope at least HP Elite x3, Alcatel Idol 4s and Lumia 950 XL get the CSHEL and other features.
  • No chance. No current devices will get it, that has become apparent like the article says. It will likely be limited to SD835 and newer chips. I doubt there will be anything but flagships for a while after launch.
  • Source please, lol. I  don't think we should be concerned what people consider "apparent" or what "it seems like" or what people think is 'likely" personally. I think the windows community has had more than enough of that nonsense. 
  • Time will tell. Its a positive sign, that clearly cshell is being tested on the x3, as a production/reference device. Although personally I am more interested in the openly promised, at build 2017, timeline and files on demand. I'd also love to see cortana skills, although we as yet have no timeline on that for desktop, so that may be a next year jobbie (I hope not, alexa and google assistant are gaining ground)
  • I can't see anything new coming... not at all. I bought a 950 when it went in to clearance for £250 with the display dock. Upgraded from a 735 which I loved and thought my experience would improve when actually apart from the 950 being a better device it offers a worse experience with seemingly endless crashing and issues which the 735 still doesn't have even though they are both on the same build (previously both on Insider Builds). I have now decided to leave Windows Phone, most likely for Android. Don't get me wrong, I am in no hurry as my phone is pretty much still in brand new condition and I don't fancy paying out £500 for a decent phone at this point so I have time on my side. But the point is that I won't be investing any time further in to Windows Phone and even if Windows on ARM is released soonish I won't follow for at least a few years until the dust settles and we see where MS really is. The next 'war' is definitely mobile tech (not phones) but mobile tech that can also make calls and MS only needs to make one major mistake and they will loose everything. They still exist because of PCs but that won't last forever and Windows 10 is NOT the long term future as it is.
  • Smartphone OSes certainly aren't the future. Probably nothing "as it is", is. What in your mind IS the long term future?
  • It's articles like this that drive me to reconsider iPhone and research Android. I've loved being on Windows Phone/Mobile the last few years, but no commitment from MS, wishful thinking about what could be, and vague rumors about the Ultimate Surface Unicorn that just might possibly happen in some distant future don't cut it for me anymore. My 950 seems increasingly glitchy and I'm starting to notice the app gap that never used to bother me. At least I didn't waste money on a MS Band like I was considering.
  • I had to get an andriod phone for work just this last weekend. Installed Launcher 10, and it actually looks like a win10M device now. Its very close to being the same.
    swiping left even gives you the same app list. But it also has some of the cool Andriod features... but it also has some of the crappy Android drawbacks. I'm still trying to get used to it, but its bearable at the very least.
  • I was just reading up on Launcher 10, square home 2, and checking reviews on various Android devices. I'm really not a Google fan (the NSA is less invasive than Google), but I also despise iTunes. Ideally, I'd like to stay on W10M, but I ignored the handwriting on the wall several years ago when a sliver of hope still existed that MS would support mobile. That future is clearly nothing but a wasteland now and, I believe we just need to pick our poison and get out of here at this point.
  • I'm a designer; I chose to switch from Macs to a Surface about 2 years ago.  I travel a lot, and had previously jugggled a MacBook and an iPad, and it just felt stupid.  And I'm disappointed that the iPad hasn't matured into a more usable machine.  My Suface Pro 4 is usually on my desk with an external monitor, keyboard, mouse, and 12 TB of external storage through the Surace Dock.  The pen is excellent for retouching in Photoshop, much better than the external Wacom I had before with my Mac.  I liked my SP4 enough to get a Lumia 735 so that I could text from my Surface, and since Win10 was the "same code," I looked forward to my Surface and Lumia working better and better together.   Good one.  My trust in Microsoft feels misplaced now.  As I watched the WWDC this year, I was struck by Apple's power.  If they tell gym equipment manufactures to make their machines compatible with the Apple Watch, they do it.  I have a cheap analog watch that I like, but parts of it are loose, and it'll prbably need to be replaced soon.  How long will FitBit support their Windows Mobile app?  Probably not long enough for me to consider buying one.  I've explored HoloLens, but Apple's ARKit threatens to make HoloLens obsolete before it really launches.   I was at a conference where they featured the Surface Studio, and other creative types were freaking out over it--people were literally asking why Apple isn't making this.  But switching over is not easy, and what the eff phone are you supposed to use?  Even if MS releases a Surface Phone--who's to say they won't cancel it, like the Band?  And all this Enterprise talk feels like a joke.  Sure, go after BlackBerry's market, smart move.  I'm openly critical of Apple, iOS, and MacOS, but we can say with pretty high confidence that Apple will continue churning out iPhones every year for the forseable future, and that all of the old ones able to come along for the ride will be included, too.  That's a lot more than can be said about Microsoft.  Apple's MacBooks feel overpriced, and the lack of a touchscreen is difficult to swallow.  But given the choice, I'd probably go back.  It's silly to not be able to Pick Up Where I Left Off with webpages, I can't search my calendar, none of the airlines I fly have Win10M apps anymore.  Yeah, the iPhone is dumb, and I hate its boring static icons, but what the eff else am I supposed to buy when I finally get sick of waiting 10 seconds for Facebook to open on my 735 (not including the first try crash)?   
  • While my uses are different, my sentiment and frustrations are the same. My 950 still has some life in it, but I'm so done with MS, I'm ready to switch once I determine the right OS & device for my needs.
  • mrmpal.   If I were you,  I would I would get the iphone,  ipad and use surface or something similar for your computing.   Thats what I am doing.   I have an iphone for my main mobile device,  an Ipad air 2 for my tablet (again for apps and content),  and I use dell 2 in 1s for my computing devices for photo/video editiing etc.   Windows and IOS work very well with each other once you set MS apps up properly on IOS.  The surface is a great idea,  with poor software execution since Microsoft has not pushed the main apps to come to their system.  Therefore it's poor as a true tablet.   Its great for visual creation and the reason I am not on full APPLE system.  No touch screen on apple computing devices is the main no go for me.   I almost bought a new 13" pro for me,  a 12" macbook for my wife,  and a 27" i mac for my office.   But no touchscreen,  I could not do it,  I use mine all the time.  
  • Personally I am quite happy with MSFT not showing its full hand to its competitors, I'd quite like their company to have a future, given how deeply anti-consumer google and apple are. And I think the focus currently on bugfixes is probably quite overdue, given all the complaints about bugs.  But if you'd rather have android or ios, go and be merry! :) Don't blame it on an article with as much substance as an episode of scooby doo. 
  • I'd be happy if they just added a battery icon to Glance and switched on Cortana's hearing aid so she could hear me say "hey Cortana" without shouting in a silent room
  • If you use BatteryX or a similar app there is the option to add the icon to Glance, it even includes a %.
  • I just want Windows without exceptions 😑
  • "before ms kills.."
    hey Zac why don't you move over to Androidcentral
  • He is there already...double spy!
  • You don't think Microsoft is killing W10M?
  • no I dont
  • They have confirmed it isn't moving off of Feature2 and there are no new W10M phones coming. it certainly doesn't sound good for future development. When even Windows Central is saying it is dead, it doesn't have much of a chance.
  • The kool aid is strong for some bleached.
  • Nope, one of the insider team said "there are no curent plans to move it off feature2" and also "don't read too much into feature2". Which is what everyone is doing, reading a lot into very little. 
  • I don't. There's no evidence of that. There is a currently uncertain path between where we are, and whatever MS has up its sleeve for pocket devices, but there is nothing substantial to back the claim that win10m is completely EOL. 
  • ""Windows Hello is unbearably slow on Windows 10 Mobile. In fact, its performance is quite embarrassing when compared to the speed of biometric authentication methods on iOS and Android"" This is a lie. Its instant on mine
  • It is fast on my 950 as well...
  • No, it's not a lie. It is incredibly slow AND inconsistent on my 950 AND my wife's 950.  We gave up and don't use it.  PIN is consistent and fast. Every time. Without fail.
  • Ever try to use the improve recognition feature? I taught mine to unlock when walking, laying in bed on my sides, angled etc etc, you have to teach the thing how to read your eyes. Try and i bet your experience with windows hello will change.
  • Exactly my point, i have never seen it to be catastrophically slow to the point i want to jump off a building. I find that animation nice and somewhat humanish, i mean your device winking at you, awww. But seriously, it works fine, that animation if it pisses you off maybe add a toggle no?
  • The thing is, it all depends on how often you use it, and what conditions you train it under. I've trained in low light, bright light, both with/without glasses. I've trained after I've imbibed 2-6 drinks. Windows Hello got faster with each successful recoginition.
  • Huh, for some reason I thought pick-up was already in W10M.  If not, I agree it should be.  I really have no use of the night light feature, the so-called science hasn't convinced me it's of any value.  I hate emoji and just think they're stupid, so I don't care what happens with that.  I would like the large tile size, but that needs to be fully implemented all around, since quite a few apps even on the desktop don't even support that.  Regarding Hello improvements, I don't know what can be done.  It doesn't work worth a darn in the 950 so my wife and I just don't use that.  We can get into our devices MUCH faster and more consistently using the PIN.
  • I don't get the pick-up.  I suppose to some that's a good feature.  But it adds no value for me.  Anyway on my 8.1 device all I have to do is go to recent and I'll find all the previous places I visited on my desktop and pick-up from there.  I suspect the same feature is in WM10... I'm not sure.  I'll have to see if it works the same way on my wife's Icon.  As for everything else on his list it's just blah.  I mean really?  Is this what people are really clamoring for?  I'll take all the features they removed from 7.X through 8.X back rather than these also-rans type of features.  Just one man's opinion.
  • See my comment above.
  • I'd rather have the Windows Hello animation to be a toggle to turn it off or on. I like the animation and how it shows my name, making the login feel personal and as silly as it sounds, that impresses people when they see it and they "understand" the concept of the iris being scanned to identify me.  When the animation was removed, it took the wow factor away. It is the same when I use my fingerprints on my Idol 4S with Windows and it says Hello, Demitrius and my Galaxy S7 Edge says nothing, just unlocks....it's faster but it's not personal. Yes, the animation is slower than no animation but some people appreciate, like or prefer it. With that said, I'd prefer the option to disable or enable the Windows Hello animation to help all users choose yay or nay.
  • I think people need to slow down a bit anyway. Some people are in way too much of a hurry.
  • Well we all know Microsoft is in no Hurry,  thats for sure.   it's been 2 years and windows 10 is still slow and buggy.....meh,  just relax.   Again bebo,  you need a flip phone or a nokia 252 as a phone.  
  • Steve you talk like Microsoft owes you something. I'm the one that happy with my L650. I don't find it slow or buggy. It's actually gotten faster after the last couple of updates. If you have problems maybe it's you and not Windows Phones.
  • I own a lumia 1520 till i got L950.. Believe me.. many if ma colleagues,friends complimented that my 1520 looks good and has better In terms of design, built quality and screen too.. Many said that my L950 doesnt even look like a mid range model .. Acquiring the Nokia Mobile Unit is nothing short of acquisition of Pure Gold and legacy.. Shame for the MS still not up to that.. They've got everything to extend to be a major player but no strategy and planning.. they own a precious stash,but there's no key with them to open it.. They killed nokia and so MS deserves the position where its Mobile OS is sinking day by day... Anyway.. i just wanted to retain both of my lumias with me.. so that i can trade them at Pawn Shop as an antique item few decades later..😛 Exhausted to be a diehard Nokia and Windows mobile fan guyss.. they doesnt bother about us..,coz they doesn't abt themselves..
  • Not even HpEliteX3 and Lumia 950XL will receive any major update?
  • If MS going to give up the mobile OS, there are make no sense to further invest in to the update. Save the breath and go Android and Linux, don't event further develop its Windows.
  • I would add the Continuum improvements that were demoed at the Microsoft Ignite 2016 conference and were suppossed to be delivered with RS2. We know the code is written as it was live demoed, and it exists in the leaked Cshell build.
  • it relies on CShell, which current phones (almost) certainly won't get
  • Based on what evidence? 
  • I am new user to windows phone and I loved it very much, the system is very very good ,I used android for many years but with my use of WP , there is huge difference between them the WP is so awesome so lite so creative than android
    I no know why MS doesn't interest in it as windows system for PC.
    I hope that system to be continued not killed
  • Why are we discussing this? We all know the only reason why MS is keeping mobile afloat is so they don't get sued by HP. As soon as the agreed on support period has ended MS will pull the plug.
  • You don't need to shell 500 £ for an Android phone. For 150£ you can buy an excellent Xiaomi that beats the cr*p out of any W10M flagship model.
  • I wish they would finish the Continuum experience, multiple resizable windows, etc.  
  • Please just give us something! I can't go android or iPhone and this 950xl is sucking more and more by the day!!!!
  • For windows hello, all they have to do is let the animation play after the unlock somewhere on the screen as an overlay. Simple
  • Honestly, the OS needs optimized badly. I have 2 Lumia 950's and feel absolutely stupid for buying them. They were never stable after the first 2 months, and to this day, If I use them for a phone, they are guaranteed to crash 2 or 3 times a day. My 920's on 8.1 were so much better until they began hosing the OS with 10 beta patching. 10 Mobile would likely be best suited on a car stereo with home WiFi capabilities for updates. So far it's dead to me and a complete disappointment in most aspects. FB is dirt slow and a wasted implementation. OneDrive works just s good on Android except Android on the same hardware blows 10 Mobile out of the water. I'm sad to sy, 10 mobile and the purchase of Nokia ruined a great package that has never recovered. I guarantee the developers never used it as their main daily driver. No one with any sense of purpose would ever have let this OS be so miserable.
  • Plzz add call recorder on next update lumia 640
  • Oh, and lets look at the continuity of the OS from Mobile to PC. 1st and seriously ignorant point was swipe left to get to all apps. But on Windows OS everything is always on the left, not the right?
  • Read and use SMS text between PC and Phone? No not Skype, Skype is polluted with hacker garbage people that don't even have profiles. And the interface has never been as good as messenger was.
  • I disagree with that last point, i have a 950xl , i have never needed to unlock my phone that quickly to find that smile and wink that lasts less than a second irritating. What I'd hope to see fixed are these simple everyday things:
    1) flash light - i dont understand why this thing cannot hold lighting a given area because it goes off so inconveniently
    2) bring back small features like time since last charge
    3) make the equalizer part of groove and not extras on phone.
    3b) while on the equalizer issue, wouldn't it be nice if the damn thing worked on bluetooth headphones, i think its a tad embarrassing that this is 2017 where we have self driving cars but i cannot have equalizer for bluetooth on my phone. I HATE to admit it, but the media experience on windows mobile is horrible compared to droid.
    4) while on the windows hello bit, maybe make the thing be able to recognize you even when walking coming to a near dead stop/deadstop is bad enough if you are in a hurry but need some quick info from your phone.
    5) make it possible to add a jpeg to your mail signature, i.e logos and qr's maybe.
    6) while on mail, if i have multiple email accounts, i should be able to quickly toggle which email to use while drafting one. Its 2017, come on people.
    7) the sim applications app, if i have a dualsim phone, why does the said app not open to ask which sim i want to access instead for my second sim, i have to go into the bowels of settings to get info.
    8) why does groove not have simple things like track cross-fade and more importantly, album art download?
    9) when replying to texts from the lock screen, if i need to check something else instead of closing all i have typed, why not auto-draft the thing so that i can continue from messaging?
    10) Bring back gestures, it was so cool to just put your phone to your ear when ringing and it auto answers. I don't need anything earth shattering, just these fixes in my opinion but knowing microsoft, they probably will do nothing about it.
  • Who said Microsoft is actually killing off the OS?
  • What do you think Feature2 is? After it is released, that will be the end for W10M. It will probably get maintenance releases for another year though. The big question is how long will UWP continue being supported on W10M.
  • What do I think feature2 is? A development branch. 
  • I thought they were already running CShell on the HP Elite x3.  Not that it matters if it never comes to market, but might CShell work on current high-spec phones?  
  • Everything planned for Windows going forward relies on new hardware, specifically the 835+ generations of Snapdragon SoCs.  This is Lumia 900 all over again. While it may work, it's not an optimum experience.  Like all those Lumias who didn't get Win10M at all. Don't delude yourself.
  • Here's my wishlist: Admit it's dead.  Admit the move is to always on, or always connected cellular PCs. Quit beating the dead horse that is Win10M.   Posted from my Lumia 950XL.
  • I don't care about any of the above items listed other than pick-up where left off but it isn't important in the overall scheme of things..
    Fast Insider (15226 I think) works well on 950 and Creator release works well on 950XL. I am pleased with my phones as is.
  • People waited 18 months for Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL and they finally got it in 2016. But who knew that it will become junk after 1 year! Microsoft thinks that it can get away with these "STRATEGIC SHOCKWAVES & BLUNDERS". They are wrong. Every action has a reaction. They will suffer. I just want to warn people who are thinking about buying the next Windows smartphone. First, there has been no official confirmation and so it's very easy for Microsoft to scrap this thing known as "Surface Phone". Second, say you wait for another 18 months and get some thing like Lumia 950, there is no guarantee that it will be supported for atleast 3 years. If I have to describe Microsoft in one word, it has to be UNRELIABLE. I have started developing for Windows 10 but it seems to be a very risky decision. Any day microsoft thinktank may come with something that will create havoc for everybody and the worst part is they dont even care.
  • Anyone paying attention should have known. Microsoft wasn't exactly excited about the phones and this website didn't even review the XL. Given Microsoft's track record and actions regarding the 950 launch, it was quite obvious they wouldn't be heavily supported.
  • So true. Their brand is crap in my mind now. Looking for a new Samsung phone now. Had ENOUGH!
  • Hello needs to have added feature of selecting your security level.  I wear glasses so, it's can read Irisis sometimes.  I would like it have medium security setting we if matchs even a little bit it unlock.  Lowest setting would facial recognition yes someone could use a picture to unlock your phone but, it's your choice ;) That being said since a couple inside builds ago Hello started working for me even with my glasses during the day on my AT&T 950.
  • I would like a feature around Live Tiles & Edge.  I would like the ability to pinn a website to the home screen and have it be a Live Tile.  What I'd like if for the Live Tile to be able to grab headlines and pictures from the webpage.  In fact I love Live Tiles in general.  It's unique to Windows Mobile.  I'd like Microsoft to add functionality around it.
  • If Microsoft have to kill OS then why they bring these features
  • I still miss the ability to play radio. I have a phone with hardware radio support but there is no API for it in W10M. In WP8 there was an API available for developers, now it's gone.
  • I'd love to see them throw Astoria back in as a farewell for windows 10 mobile, there's not really a reason to worry about the developer backlash since the platform will be officially dead, would give app support for a little longer and leave w10m in a decent place to leave
  • It's been emotional. I've been with Nokia since the very first - 2110 - then Microsoft since - Lumia 925, 1020, 930 (loved it) and finally 950. But now the time has come to move platform. I, like most Nokia/MS fans are realising, have come to the realisation that the end is nigh. My experience with the 950 has left me frustrated and angry - both with MS and the awful repair outfit they are using - B2X (what a shambles). At the weekend I got an iPhone 6S - what a welcome relief !! No rebooting to fix things, no random restarts,  and yes - it is true - everything just works. I feel silly for sticking with MS now that I have seen what an iPhone can do. Good bye all - and can the last person shut the door please. 
  • YES! Pretty much everything that should be there already but isn't! I prefer to not use my phone at night due to it not having Night Light, there's always new emoji coming out and it's nice to have as well as the pick up where you left off syncing feature. I just hope they tell us something soon
  • Isn't the Continue App Experiences the same thing as the Pick Up Where I Left Off?
  • Night Light please... Since I have that on my PC my eyes are saying thanks to Microsoft... I want this on the phone too so I won't get blinded in the dark...
  • All i want From Microsost now is to give me a Good Build for myPhone with No bugs and smooth UI. I am stuck with these annoying bugs with memory management ,with edge browser , resuming screen.. I hoped microsft would fix them in comming builds and i have been through 10 or 12 builds now..and sadly nothings changed.. Same story happens for which ever ring build i choose... And the intresting thing is i am not the only ones who are having these problems.. I have many friends who has windows phone and are insiders.. And all have same problems. . My main guess now of problem is we all have nokia branded windows phone not microsoft.. Is that the thing that causes all these builds to have bugs ?? I reported all these bugs to microsoft so many times and they havnt even replied me once.. I am using Nokia Lumia 730.. RM 1040.. Currently slow ring insider. Can any1 sujust me a fix for these bugs ?? Ty.. :) nd sorry for my bad english..
  • I would be grateful for any new things on the featureless2 branch.
  • If nobody at MS will leak their true plans, I'm curious if anyone at HP knows really what's going on. They seem to have invested a lot...they should be aware of what's on the horizon, no?
  • Have they invested much? A single phone and some accessories that weren't widely released and weren't advertised at all? They didn't invest much and Microsoft must have helped them a bit.
  • I guess for a single product that could be a drop in the bucket for those two companies, but point was you'd think HP would have some idea if it was worth even trying one, and what the next step or MS vision would be...
  • I bet Microsoft gave HP some kickbacks to make that device. No way HP expected it to go anywhere. Microsoft had to sweeten the pot somehow.
  • I am sure they amongst the few that know. After all they are working on new enterprise features with MSFT, and seem to have a new proto for an x3 refresh which was seen at the last MWC. 
  • Remember the Microsoft Kin phone? Microsoft killed it and then repurposed it for enterprise.
  • I just want them to finally release Creators Update for mobile. Other than that, I have no faith in Microsoft. I hope they can turn it around, but I'm not going to be a day 1 buyer next time.
  • No Really Need for New Features. WE NEED A ******* STABILITY !!!!! ALL MY ******* MICROSOFT PHONES CRASH ALL DAY !!!! AT LEAST 10 TIMES PER DAY THEY RESTART AND THEY SHUT DOWN WHEN I TRY TO TAKE PHOTOS OR DO VIDEO RECORDING. APPLICATIONS LIKE FACEBOOK - MESSENGER - INSTAGRAM and others TAKES Up to 30 Seconds to Open and 15 Seconds to Close.
      2 Years - 10 Microsoft Devices is Total Garbages. They took Nokia and they destroyed... NOKIA LUMIA 1020 I LOVE YOU !!!!! I Wish to See You Live Again with Your Excellent Camera 41MP Carl Zeiss Optics O.I.S. - D.I.S. and a Better CPU/GPU/RAM/SSD/Battery.
  • 1) In a way I agree with you. Hence why the current focus on bugfixes in feature2 IS A GREAT THING. My bluetooth problems only went away on the latest insiders preview, and I doubt they would have if the mobile team was focusing on new features. Bugfix focus is definately a GOOD thing.  2) I hope you are using a supported win10m phone, not an unsupported 8.1 phone whilst you complain about bugs....Because those bugs aren't going anywhere if you aren't.  3) Removeable battery issues occur on all phones with them. They can cause re-starts and if this is a problem you are having (on a currrently supported phone win10m phone), there's a thread in the forum about how to fix it. 
  • I hardly have any issues with my Windows Lumia 640 phone crashing. Very rarely does anything go wrong with the phone. I don't understand why some people have so many issues with Windows 10 Mobile. I think it has a lot of nice strong features. It still has features that beat my Galaxy S7.
  • There is official position from Microsoft for this affirmation? The present mobiles won't be updates to R3?
  • http://allaboutwindowsphone.com/flow/item/22269_Microsoft_Insider_team_p... "We have no plans to move off FEATURE2 (on mobile) currently."
  • No, there isn't. One dude from the insider team has said there is no current plan to move off feature2 (at the same time as saying, don't read too much into the feature2 thing). 
    There is no official anything. Just a lot of speculation and FUD. 
  • It can't be used in Enterprise. I had to replace all of the 950 Lumia's because they crashed constantly, got sluggish. Aplications weren't available for business either. Solutions were always wipe and start over (no solution, didn't fix anything, essentially anyone using it was at best a Beta tester if not an Alpha tester and not a commercial user. The black hole litigation made 10 Mobile a non-starter period.) Mobile continued a downward spiral the moment they bought Nokia Mobile. The 920 was their last best platform in the arena.
  • For what it is worth, This site doesn't work for replies in Chrome or IE.
  • By the way...I have used an android phone for a month to test it (the battery time for my Lumia 950 is not enough for me some days) and I love more my Windows 10 Mobile. I'm a freeak? Maybe
  • I've been on Android "full time on the telescope" for about 6 weeks (I visit with my HP x3 nights and weekends) and its been a letdown, after years of hype have faded like the grass being greener on the other side.  I find Android confusing, inefficient requiring much more care and tweaking and surprisingly prone to freezes, glitches and crashes.  More than my Windows Mobile, and this despite I live there on the Fast Ring, whereas with Android I'm stuck in the interminable horse lattitudes between Android updates.  It's a nice device and all and I like to have every app available without thinking.  But for what I do, particulalry with email, I've been cycling through a score of Android email apps, trying to find one that approaches what I have/had with Outlook on Windows Mobile.  Various Android apps will have elements of Outlook on WIndows Mobile, but lack other important features or functions.  
  • Save your wishes for the next gen!!!! So pointless to demand these features now. Everyone and their aunt know that it won't happen in the current system.
  • a) possibility to change font size and colors on the tiles - why bright tiles remains with white font? who can read those tiny characters if is older than 30? b) enhance the dialer and provide alternate languages T9 characters c) possibility to choose at what resolution the camera will save the pictures d) possibility to choose if the phone will first vibrate then ring, or ring then vibrate
  • I just wish Facebook would make their app resume properly and not take you to the top of your feed every time you come back after clicking a link. This would save me so much time...
  • Try slimsocial. agreed on the fb app thing - their two apps are the one and only dumpster fire on my lumia 950. They are a mess. Slimsocial however, not so bad. 
  • Asking the band on the Titanic to play just one jazzy number "please sir..."
    FFS...
  • I like to have USB tethering/reverse tethering, Night Light isn't urgent because we have dark mode which is much better.
  • Feels like WC has bi-polar disorder when it comes to reporting on mobile. Dead, not dead, hate it, love it, kill it already, do anything to keep it alive... et al.
  • Haha! Yeah.... 😆
  • This. I wish windows bloggers would quit the schizophernic speculation. Tomorrow the world will be saved! No, tomorrow, satan will come and eat our brains. Just stick with the facts please. The fans are speculating enough as it is. Give them grounding. Something realistic, not overly hopeful, or pessimistic. 
  • Who cares anymore? The better question is what features would you like in Android before your WP dies?
  • Of the 5 I stand 100% behind the larger live tiles. In fact I would like to see microsoft improve on the current live tile functionality as it is one of the distinguishing and, I think, valuable and useful features compared to the other platforms.
    current sizes support are 1x1, 2x2, 2x4. Likely coming as part of cshell will be 4x4, which is already available by default in windows 10 for pc/tablet. Microsoft has teased other live tiles in the past such as 4x2. I think it would be nice of the palette could be extended to 1x2, 2x1 and 6x6 as well. 4 other things I would like to see before mobile dies off. 1. continuum support for at least two snappable uwp apps side by side for current devices. We might not get multiple windowws, but I could accept a two windows side by side setup to use as a basic micro pc setup for productivity. It would be similar to how I use a two app split in tablet mode on a surface pro. For example having a browser and onenote or word open. or a youtube app with onenote, or two word documets side by side, or a word and pdf document side by side or email and calendar side by side etc. 2. Continued support of the windows store and with more uwp apps. 3. Continued support of performance and security updates 4 A boost in feature, perfomance and map updates of windows maps and navigation
    -continued support of map updates
    -option setting for smoother animation of navigation maps
    -support for voice activated navigation directions support in my language for better and safer in car navigation from a windows phone device (NL-nl)
    -bring back street numbers
    -access to speedcamera's
    -improved indexed and library store of POIs.
    -Introduction of searchable smarttags for POIs to improve easier searches and more complete search result listings. Is currently very hit or miss
    -support for bicycle routes for the Netherlands and abroad.
    -support for altiude data to improve navigation and localization.
    -support for savable auto road or path mapping when offroad or entering a new road not yet on the map.
    - support for cross border trainroutes and links to websites to buy traintickets of that specific route.
    -be able to colorcode and selectively show favorites on a map based by selected organized folder in favorites. currently all saved favorites are shown on the map by default. Map can get very crowded fast with star pushpins, making the map less viewable. Lastly I would ask for a better wordflow recogntion algorithm for shapewrite/swype. It is still my experience that the keyboard for English and Dutch is worse than what I expereinced with windows phone 8. It seems to have more difficulty with longer words and conjugated words. It's cringingly frustrating.
  • I can guarantee you UWP. Its microsofts entire vision for the whole windows platform. That's going nowhere.  Also along with timeline, files on demand, some unnamed enterprise features, official MSFT sources have said that the keyboard on the whole windows plaform is being replaced by one based on 'swiftkey', which IMO is better even as it is. This has also been seen on insider builds.   
  • Interesting list but I'm just left disturbed that people take their phones to bed. Euk! 😝
  • I Want VOLTE, FLIP TO SILENCE , SUPER SENSITIVE TOUCH, BETTER BATTERY LIFE , FOR LUMIA 950 XL
  • I just want Edge that doesn't reload web pages unnecesserally so often. :(
  • Make it faster, make it less buggier. W8.1 was the best. It was a phone worth bragging about Imo.
  • Things I would like from Microsoft before they kill W10M:
    Just let us survive till the next iteration of W10 on mobile, that would suffice. Also, make sure there is a "next iteration of W10 Mobile".
    Don't have anything personal against other platforms, just that I prefer Windows.
  • I wouldn't be surprised if the "Surface Phone" isn't a complete fork of Android that looks like Windows 10 similar to very brief Nokia X series phones that were axed. Or similar to what Amazon did with the Fire phone and what it continues to do with the Fire tablets and FireOS. I don't see Microsoft shrinking Windows 10 into a 6" form factor similar to the X3 unless this new Surface has no phone component and can't make calls which then makes it no different than the never released Surface Mini.
  • Ha! I like most of these and more of course but not sure about Windows Hello being slow??? On my X3 it's fine, of course 95% of time I use the fingerprint reader to unlock - it's awesome.
  • For me, suggestions one through four would be IMPROVE RELIABILITY. W10M is still incredibly, inexcusably, exasperatingly flaky. Rounding things out, wish No. 5 would be optimize it for existing hardware so it runs faster and doesn't chew through so much battery...
  • That's what I was just thinking.
    It needs to get the basics first. Speed, performance, stability and battery life all need optimisation.
  • That's pretty much what the mobile build team HAS been focusing on. Bugfixes and optimisations. If you try out insiders preview, or slow ring, you'll see what I mean. Its better. In fact, this focus on improving performance and stability is the considered 'evidence' by many that msft is dumping win10m, lol - when it is in fact a nessasary and important focus, given all the complaints of bugs.  This said, its never going to run well on unsupported win8.1 phones, and since going insiders preview, I have experienced not one issue. 
  • At this point, I don't care about any of those things. Just stop ruining stuff that used to work, and stop removing features and apps. It seems that again they have made navigation with Maps even worse. Now it zooms in so aggressively that you can barely see one street ahead while navigating. It also will throw out your requested route if you vary even slightly from the path (or if GPS thinks you are a few feet from it). This means it will send you on a freeway you specifically told it not to use, or it will just exit navigation while you are driving. Nav worked perfectly at the end of 2016, I don't understand why they repeatedly insist on making it worse. There is also Groove and the volume settings, which they have recently ruined. Apparently I am deemed "too incompetent" to prevent my own deafening hearing loss, so they have lowered the max volume setting. Now much of my music is barely audible over headphones while set to the max 30 volume. It's like some at Microsoft are intentionally trying to sabotage their own product. The only thing I would request of Microsoft, is that they produce some type of mobile device until their new not-a-phone, phone product is ready. Either that, or just close the Windows store and admit that they are no longer catering to consumers. It will die off anyway without any serious products to run apps on. Every day that passes without an official product from Microsoft is another nail in the coffin of not just any future mobile efforts, but affordable tablets, Windows S, and the Windows Store. They are literally handing everything except the very top of the consumer space over to Apple and Android.
  • None of yours do I care about. What I care about: Make windows 10 mobile/Lumia 950/XL work on 3G only cell sites. Currently you can not make or receive calls. It takes two tries to connect due to attempting 2G first. Texting works fine. Make glance work again. I miss being able to turn over my phone and put it into silent mode. Make Cortana announce missed items while it's was in silent mode. Enable automatically going into silent mode during a busy calendar entry. Make bluetooth reliable. I have frequent issues when connecting and disconnecting bluetooth. My car rarely works twice in a row. It frequently hangs the bluetooth interface where I have to reboot the car bluetooth to make it work again. Sometimes it is the phone that has to reboot. iHeart, never survives changing bluetooth connects. Always have to reboot the phone. Make data switching reliable. When I am transitioning from a WiFi to a cell site and back, many things fail. Cortana will quit working. iHeart wil die. Make Cortana reliable. I would say that barely 50% of the time I attempt to use Cortana does it work. Especially when moving between WiFi and Cell sites. 50% Cortana works from the lock screen as designed. 50% of the time I have to go all the way into Cortana and some times even press the microphone icon to get it to work. Make Texting via Cortana work. It use to be perfect. I would say "Text Bob Bogus, I'll meet you at 8PM." Cortana would write exactly that. Then Cortana would prompt me, who do you want to text? I'll say "Bob Bogus" and (because I have sort by last name) Cortana wil reply "Texting Bogus Bob, I'll meet you at 8PM." It never gets the person correct even though it use to be perfect (a year ago or so) and it hears exactly what I said.
  • " Before Microsoft kills Windows 10 Mobile"... I'd rather them tell us what they are planning instead of speculating on one last hurrah. "Before Microsoft kills Windows 10 Mobile" ... I'd like them to acknowledge their plan for mobile was a failure and describe why.  So they can make changes for the future.  Show they have learned. " Before Microsoft kills Windows 10 Mobile"... I'd like them to acknowledge WP7, WP8 and WP10m users for their loyalty and support Anyone care to add?
  • A nod to the fans is not a bad idea, commercially. Also, "speculating on one last hurrah" - absolutely, sick of this rumour mill nonsense. 
  • You can have all the features you want. No apps means no go!
  • Hyperbole never does anyone's argument any good. Windows store has more apps than bb10, or the amazon app store. Its just lacking in _some_ areas, that may or may not be important to a given person.  
  • Oh Zac...no one told you? It's already dead, mate. Microsoft already abandoned it. Come on buddy, you have to move on, ok?
  • don't care about the "Night Light" feature... I'm happy as long as it works...
  •  "before it abandons the OS in favor of its next attempt at phones." Really? I've heard that the new MS mobile device will work on Windows 10 OS. And I would like to hear from you at least 20 Windows 10 Mobile new features you want to see on the next generation of the mobile device. You are so incredible boring with the same old story that "the mobile platform is dead. " If you don't have any smarter and better idea what to write about, I suggest - do not write at all. 
  • But current mobile devices are no longer on W10. They are a separate branch and are being killed.
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNxtMtlrm6U
  • you can install the Creators Update on a Lumia 620 if you wish so. but that does not mean MS delivers it officially to this device
  • Lumia 620 is very old device.
  • So?
  • So what is your point anyway? I mean do you really expect to have the new builds on the same old phone in the next ten years? 
  • My point is that whether the Lumia 950/XL nor the x3 will get the CShell update
  • That just shows Microsoft is using the X3 to test builds of W10. It does not confirm that the X3 will be merged back into W10. Microsoft directly said they have no plans to merge them. https://mspoweruser.com/windows-10-mobile-will-remain-feature2-indefinit...
  • You should read and learn more about https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-windows-10-composable-shell
  • We already know what CShell is. It is (almost) certain that it won't come to existing phones
  • The "almost" is the most important word in your sentence. 
  • I guess there is that tiny chance that Microsoft will change its mind and merge Feature2 back into W10. I certainly wouldn't put any money on it.
  • I say almost because there's a 1% chance existing phones will get it.
  • Based on what? The speculative rumblings of a manically depressive consumer fanbase? 
  • I know what CShell is and it is a feature of Windows 10. Windows Mobile is no longer part of W10. It has been separated into its own branch called Feature2. Microsoft directly said they have no plans to merge Feature2 back into W10. Current devices are not getting CShell. Feature2 will be the end of the road for them. CShell will only be available on new devices and not until the middle of next year. Mark my words.
  • Well, even if it's true, Feature 2 will be alive for the next two years at least. And it's really time for the new mobile devices anyway.  One Windows 10 OS across all devices, that's the future I would like to see and I can hardly wait to see it!  " Lumia era" is finally over and it's time for the better future and far more better devices. I have L950 and it will be my phone until  the Surface Phone arrives.  
  • One person on the insiders build said "there are no current plans to take win10m off feature2". Which means almost nothing, in reality. But please, storm in a teacup away!
  • Dude, a MS developer who is working IN THE INSIDER program said they won't move W10M off of the feature2 branch. How much more do you need?
  • Really I heard that santa claus was the new CEO of microsoft, and the next windows 10 mobile phone was going to be a cake? lol, can we stop with the speculation dressed as fact please! There is no official or even insider leak claiming a reboot, or an end of the current win10m. In fact win10m is listed along side the yet unreleased andromeda SKU branch of win10m, under the composable shell code in current windows builds. Completely contrary to all the FUD and speculation, there is no evidence of a "windows on arm phone", or a "windows reboot" or "the end of win10m" or anything of the sort, just a lot of people reading a great deal, into very little of substance.   
  • absolutely, it's exciting times for Windows phone users. the next revamp is going to be amazing. Amazingly, i'm not even joking.    
  • The reboot conspiracy theories continue.....lol.
  • Because it didn't actually happen before?
  • The company has promised a raft of features to win 10m, and some of them have been demo'd. Like files on demand, timeline and the enterprise late summer features. Those are the ones we will get. The company has said nothing about abandoning win10m, or rebooting it, and there is no evidence for that whatsoever. Stop treating wild speculation as fact, thank you.
  • Microsoft confirming that they have no plans to merge Feature2 back into W10 is certainly a sign that Feature2 is the end of the road for current phones. It matches all the rumors and insider information saying that W10M is dead after the next update and will then be in maintenance mode for one more year.
  • God, I wish the blog rumour mill would stop fuelling this nonsense. What _one insider team member_ said was "there are no current plans to take win10m off feature2", and he also said "don't read too much into the feature2 branch". One insider team member, talking about plans he was privvy to. Nor does that in fact mean nessasaruily anything - in fact he specifically said not to read into it. They could bring a hundred features to feature2, if they felt like it, and it could remain a fully supported development build for a year. The fact that they are focusing for a few months on bugfixes is not the face of jesus on a peice of toast, or a sign of the impending appocalypse, its just common sense - win10m has been a big buggy and MSFT has a lot of other projects going on, including writing THREE new SKUs of windows 10 (andromeda, windows on arm64 and windows s), as well as writing the updated console SKU - that's a lot of working that all overlaps on onecore, which is also shared by windows 10m. What would even the point be of investing loads of effort and money into win10m right now? UWP needs the wind in it's sails that windows on arm on tablets and notebooks will bring, and windows s will bring. The app platform needs even more work, than win10m has needed bigfixes.   Could it be the end of win10m soon? Maybe, but its fairly unlikely - I don't expect MSFT to be intentionally lying when about a month ago they said they'd be bringing enterprise features late US summer, nor when they said at build they'd be bringing timeline and files on demand to windows 10m (and demo'd files on demand on a lumia 950). 
    That's just illogical. Could they wind up support at the end of the year or next year? Maybe even probably. But again, I don't expect speakers at build, or heads at MSFT to be intentionally lying to consumers. Changing their mind later on? Perhaps but unlikely. Shifting the dates back, or delaying or adjusting plans - more likely.   I'd just rather deal in the realm of the logical and plausible right now, rather than come at everything from an emotionally driven, speculative perspective. And I'd especially like that emotionally driven, speculative perspective, which takes tiny, insubstantial things and turns them into complicated and detailled factual stories, NOT to represent itself as fact, but at least _possibility_ - which this article does not do, nor do a majority of FUD mad fans.  Lastly "all the rumours and insider information"? No. Rumours amongst speculation heavy bloggers and fans? yes. Amongst insiders - not once, not even once. You are welcome to try and provide even a single direct quote from any supposed insider on the matter - I've widely researched the topic, and I've not seen a single instance in terms of direct insider quotes, only wild speculation on what those quotes mean, that often don't even match their original language. Insiders have been saying things like "there is a new branch of the OS, based on windows 10m, and new matching hardware". A branch is no a reboot, its a sibling.  I've actually seen people quote "branch" and then go on to talk about reboots. They amount of wild speculation, negative biase, and general IDK, misinformation is staggering. 
  • I just wish fans and blog writers would stop pulling made up speculation out of their nether regions. Facts are facts, guesses are guesses. Don't treat one as the other.
  • All I am looking for is the erstwhile Windows CE 3 pda features with added telephony and other communication related apps. Don't need anything more. Compaq had the right idea.
  • I'm anxiously awaiting the delivery of my iPhone 6S+. My 950 will become a backup. I have another backup phone as well an android
  • No one talks about Interactive live tiles anymore;")
  • You mean widgets?
  • No he was talking about something that works. 
  • I do not like the gray background in most applications. 🤓 It aggravates the readability. Maps in the sun are totally unusable. What is then the amoled display ?
  • Landscape mode
  • My perfect 950s dont need a feature update.
  • For all the camera tech Nokia/Microsoft used to be ahead in it makes no sense in 2017 that they haven't really overhauled the camera app. No Windows Phone user should be left "shooting blind" still with no live view preview for shutter and ISO speed changes. When it's a bright sunny day and some newbie sets the shutter speed to 2 seconds and the screen doesn't turn white to let them know the shot will be overexposed that's a huge problem.
  • why should a newbie fiddle with manual camera controls? why should the shutter speed change the live view? i don't get it
  • Because you probably haven't used a DSLR or an Android/iPhone before. Live preview saves you the pain of not knowing how the settings will affect your shot until after you take it. And why not a newbie? Sometimes you just want to learn things on your own or mess around with the settings. The camera app is ancient in every area except Rich Capture. I learned by messing around and reading the then popular Nokia photo stories when it use to be popular. They just really need to catch up with everyone else. https://flic.kr/p/Ueg1kZ
  • But what might you possible get from these if they kill it after bringing these updates?😂 And furthermore, why would they bring these if they are about to kill it?😆 I think that the best for all of us would be to stay with a stable OS.
  • i just hope my L950XL survive and get Cshell if there is any for mobile.
  • Microsoft should splitup their mobile line Lumia series : Microsoft version of Android handsets Surface series : Microsoft Windows 10 version of handsets people have choice. no point in fighting with android. android belongs to anyone
  • At which point I would probably move to apple, and hate myself for it. The last thing in the world I want to invest in, is the advertising funding model and progressive ad creep. 
  • Unfortunately none of that is gonna happen. MAYBE emoji in some distant future, assuming WM10 even gets anything after RS3-but-not-really-RS3-because-feature(less)2.
  • I agree with Zac on the Windows Hello feature. I've disabled the option because it is slow and doesn't work most of the time.
  • I would love to see an "Extra Large Tile Size" too, something like 3:2 aspect ratio on both desktop and mobile or at least on desktop. I think a 3x2 tile size would be great for many apps like multimedia and news...etc...
  • I'm sad to see win 10 mobile go...
  • I want to once again be able to put my phone on loudspeaker when having an incoming call, while the jack is plugged in. Or at least have the sound of the incoming call on the jack.
  • As long as my W10 Phone works, I'll use it. And when it stops, I will have to go elsewhere (and yes, I'm sad because of that, and I can't believe why MS did give up so early). I can't really think of one reason why MS should add those features to the existing W10M platform, which is going to die, without any doubt. And actually I have a hard time to believe they will restart phones again, anyway. C Shell or not.
  • Is there a chance for me to upgrade again to a new os that will be release years from now
  • Is there a chance for me to upgrade again to a new os that will be release years from now
  • Is there a chance for me to upgrade again to a new os that will be release years from now
  • Is there a chance for me to upgrade again to a new os that will be release years from now
  • Is there a chance for me to upgrade again to a new os that will be release years from now
  • All 5 pointless to me.
    I need a Default App setting and Network Drive support in File Explorer.
  • The sole feature I would want is an app, consisting of a single large button labeled "Slap!", and when you press it, someone at Microsofts Windows division gets slapped. Make it "early available" (which means buggy and halfassed in MSFT jargon), and in 2021, add a Slap-o-meter... feature surrrrgggee.
  • Oops... forgot... we absolutely need an Android version of this first, otherwise there will be to few slapping.
  • Come on, Windows Phone is dead. Stop with this type of questioning. Surely we need to be asking what windows mobile attributes need to come on over to tablets and vice versa via CShell and ARM? Swipe in from the tight for all programs pease and down for action centre. Will the order of the three icons change? (Windows start, Back , Cortana - Back, Windows start, Cortana.) 
  • The article is really beautiful and the first two features are a must have on phones....but not sure whether they will bring them. 😒😭
  • Guys, stop wasting your time being Microsoft's b!tches. Microsoft clearly doesn't give a crap about Windows 10 mobile at the moment. Until they start taking their platform seriously, no one should.
  • WHAT ABOUT GIVING US THE CORRECT CONVERSIONS ON CALCULATOR ON DATA
      INSTEAD OF GIVING US WRONG INFORMATION LIKE 100 GIGABYTES = 100,000 MEGABYTES GIVE US THE CORRECT CONVERSION LIKE 100 GIGABYTES = 102,400 MEGABYTES. MICROSOFT CAN'T HAVE AN ACCUSE ON THIS !!!!!!!  
  • Apart from those needed features, I just really hope Microsoft do not abandon the mobile area, cause nowadays there are only 2 choices talking about mobile software, the premium one (iOS) and the other (Android). I wouldn't mind if MSFT do not release new hardware, until they find "the next big thing", but please do not leave W10M without support for those who are really committed with Microsoft OS vision.
  • I really doubt they would do such a thing. I wouldn't worry....
  • I actually find Windows Hello to be fairly quick. Even if it's slightly slower than iOS or Android phones. Using my 950 XL, it takes 2-3 seconds for it to recognize me, unless I have the phone too far from my face. As for Night Light, it would be a nice option to have, even if I wouldn't likely use it on my phone. I would definitely like to see the large tile option. I would also like to see full screen rotation to include the notification center. It's annoying to have to be watching a video, playing game or anything requiring you to have your phone in landscape and have to turn it around to read notifications. It should be a fairly easy thing to do, I would think, considering notifications show in landscape when they pop up.
  • Will there be clash of clan for windows phone soon ? I just wondering why the developer of that said game is not planning to make a version of clash of clans for windows 10 mobile phones.
  • Maybe you could elaborate on exactly when MS is going to sh**can mobile. Oh, that's right, you don't actually have any insider information. Didn't any of you read the disclaimer/warning before signing up for insider builds?
  • Nighlight is a must - it's a massive benefit on my ipod that I certainly miss on my 950
  • Cortana search from selected text like 8.1 had, Damn I miss that in 10. Used to be able to highlight text in an article or document and just hit the search button to search.
  • hoesntly I couldn't care less about a night life. Gestures beta from windows 8.1 mobile was a simple and awesome feature yet 2 years later and uits still missing from windows mopbile 10, that's kinda been the growing trend on mobile and desktop. Skype on desktop rebooted 2 times and just as its become acceptable and given us things like the ability to send pics, vids and textes it starts to reboot all over again. Outlook and callender all had things missing for 1 year before they were put into them, again on both mobile and desktop. I don't see microsoft has any mobile chances now, I think they just treated their own customer base with ignorance and contemt, the result is no user base and developers abandon the platform. Itsa another ibm all over again.
    The 10 things I wanted windows mobile to do was things I wanted 3 years ago, sadly they gave us most of them but months later rebooted 8.1 mobile and that left a lot of things incomplete and missing, and that's not the insider versions.
  • would also love plex to work with Cortana as this site suggested and so did the plex forums but guess what, asking play force awakens or anyother movie to play on plex results in Cortana showing in text the correct lines then saing it is trying to open groove. whyyyyyy.
  • Agree 100% w/ list. I do miss Gadgets, and Glance though...