Internally, we’ve known that Windows Phone 8 Update 3 (aka GDR3) used to have an option for three columns of tiles for smaller displays. That layout is now only found in devices with displays 5-inches or larger e.g. the Lumia 929 for Verizon and the Lumia 1320/1520. Below 5-inches and Windows Phone 8 will return to the traditional layout, as seen in the 4.8-inch ATIV S Neo.
Exactly why that feature was removed is not too clear, though presumably there were some usability issues that the development team were unable to fix. Now, Nawzil has posted a photo of an early build of Update 3 running on a Nokia Lumia 920 that reveals three columns were possible. The toggle for it was found under zDev, a common tool often seen on development devices.
Nokia Lumia 929
We have had a separate source come forward a few weeks ago confirming as much, stating:
“I knew about the tile sizes for the devices with a screen resolution of the 920. During our GDR3 beta, we had the 3 row option available to us. A lot of us turned it on and loved it. During one of the updates, the option was removed. This caused a LOT of feedback to the WP Product group and they came back and said they would find a way to make it work.”
Of course, they didn’t find a way to make it work by the time Update 3 was released and the developer version many of you have is the final build. Devices like the AT&T Samsung ATIV S Neo, Huawei Ascend W2 and Lumia 1520 all ship with final builds of Update 3 on board as well.
Nawzil and our site has heard that this feature is still under consideration, and it may come later, presumably in Windows Phone 8.1. That update should go to all current Windows Phone 8 devices, though it probably won’t arrive until Spring 2014.
When we’ve shown people a device running with the new Update 3 layout, they all instantly find it more usable and prefer it over the old version. We’ll throw this out there even though we know the answer but, should Microsoft get this feature to work on all Windows Phones?
Source: Twitter
Reader comments
Windows Phone Update 3 and the missing 3 column Live Tile option
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JUST BRING TO L625! 4.7 dude! Don't want to miss it with 0.3 inches!
Personally, I think on the 4.7" 920 screen shown, the text of the latest update on some of those Live Tiles is too small. But I agree it should have been left as an option.
Also, about the speed of updates. I don't think you are comparing like with like. Think of the GDRs as 8.0.1, 8.0.2 and 8.0.3. You have to remember that these include bug fixes and new functionality. This is on top of "firmware/build updates" that fix some showstopper bugs. Apple have had 4 fix releases since iOS 7.0 came out in September, but they are only fixes, no new functions, and iOS 7 needed them, it might have looked good but on day one it was buggy as hell (and on closed hardware from the same company that makes the software, that really shouldn't have happened).
Also, each "major release number" of iOS hasn't been all that different to the one before it, until iOS 7, and that was a graphical redesign, that again kept things under the covers quite static. WP7, 7.5 and 7.8 had the same level of fairly minor function changes that you get every year with iOS, but WP8 was a major reworking, a totally new OS under the covers with a new app development environment too (its no longer Silverlight only). I would say that the GDRs introduced less new features than say WP7 to 7.5, and iOS 5 to 6, but then they have released 3 of them in a year.
What I'm clumsily saying is the two companies have a very different release schedules, and different ways of packaging new features (Apple bring out new features less often, but with more in each release, Microsoft have been drip feeding).
I made a suggestion in the Uservoice part of Windows Phone websites. I don't know if you know what it is, but it's like a suggestion-box where all WP users can bring their ideas and let the admins know where to improve in building the next WP update. I really want the third row even on my Lumia 820 and I bet someone else is interested! Here is the link to the suggestion:
https://windowsphone.uservoice.com/forums/101801-feature-suggestions/suggestions/5197440-enable-the-third-live-tiles-row-in-all-windows-pho
Please give 1, 2 or 3 votes to this, so that it can grow and be visible to other people. Through this way, we obtained custom SMS tones in GDR3, and also the task manager. Take a look even to other suggestions, as they may be interesting for you!
Why doesn't MS make live tiles (for 6" devices) 1x1, 2x2 & 4x4 (versus current 1x1, 2x2 4x2) size so the home screen could "rotate" the live tiles to view in landscape. Just got a 1520 and, honestly this thing would be unreal if home screen could be horizontal (don't be snarky and tell me to tilt my head).
Yes please bring the third row back
Can L920 at&t owners who have the developer beta of GDR3 use the third column?? If so, how?
It probably worked this way (often heard reason why cool features in upcoming MS products are canned):
One of the higher ranks in the WP group showed this function to one of his elder relatives who didn't like it too much. Maybe bad eyesight and clumsy fingers lead to a problem with correctly hitting the small icons. So the additional column was removed.
Thank you Microsoft, thank you very much. :-(
Soooo,sad...
I would like to see landscape support of the start screen in update 3
Seems like Microsoft is always against the users!
All I'm reading is about square tiles and more square tiles....
I'm using a 920.. a 3rd column would clutter up the screen with tiny squares. But how about implementing it with a variation of RECTANGULAR tiles, say the size of 1x2 small tiles (or 1x3, 2x1 etc )... These tiles wont be too small for fat fingers. Fonts within such tiles can be larger... etc
There are apps like Header Tile (which I like a lot), that let me have "blank" spaces on my start screen which make the screen nice and tidy
my 0.02
any chance having this in 820?
4.3 screen
yes and no
Yes, because its an amazing feature that i would personally love to experience on my 920
No, because users should have control over whether they want 2 or 3 columns. Some people find it better to reach for their favorite tiles in the 2 column layout . 3 column layout was made for the bigger screens assuming that the size of each tile will still be easily reachable. Introducing 3 column layout for smaller screensized WP phones will be useless because you will literally take double the time to focus to hit the desired small tile that will be very small in the 3 column layout
Exactly❕
Wonder that it works too on Lumia 620, it could have smaller tiles on the screen since it has a 3.8" screen size. I think it should be the standard for all manufacturers to make phones with at least of 4" screen size.
Disappointing. This was easily in the top 3 things I was looking forward to with GDR3. If it's already in the code, just make it an option for those of us that want it. I'd even download an app if someone could figure out how to unlock this. There is plenty of space on the 4.5 inch screens for 3 rows, and even the smallest tiles would still be huge compared to the keys on the standard onscreen keyboard. Seriously, why remove this feature? To what end Microsoft?
The other fix I'm hoping for, probably the only one that ranks above the tiles, is the mutually-exclusive Wi-Fi versus Bluetooth/MMS/Visual Voicemail that is at least present on T-Mobile Lumias, and causes similar errors on other brands and carriers.
Agree, this needs to be on more phones and updates need to come quicker.
- Bring it back please. I've got enough stuff in my pockets and bags already in life to have the giant Lumias. I'm rocking 3 Lumia phones, 920, 925 & 1020, and they fit my world wide lifestyle. And furthermore, the more time I spend living my Lumias the more apps, live tiles and communication becomes important or rather crucial.
I need, no, I want a 3d column of tiles to keep my life checked at a glance.
Pretty please...
So, i think microsof can make three columns for all wp8 devices. However, some people may not like it. For this reason, i think microsoft must make a special place in "settings" where people can turn on and turn off three columns.
Personally I think the WP8 interface doesnt look as good with so many tiles. The contrast between the system colored tiles and the non-system colored tiles seems wrong. Personally I think the Windows 8 team was right that each tile should have a different color on larger screens.
However the more options the better. Windows 8.1 also offers the ability to change the amount of tiles visible. Personally I hope that WP8.1 offers the ability to switch the Windows 8's tile colors in addition to the option to add more tiles to my L920. Those things combined would allow me to create one look across my phone, tablet and PC.
I think Windows needs such advanced customization options to make the die-hard detractor reconsider the modern UI.
YES!
I don't have this problem in my Lumia 920
Is 929 out on Verizon?
Does anyone know when is the release of GDR3 or Update 3 for Lumia 820? Thanks
I don't care about the third row, really.
Bring the basic notification center first..its a must..dont include it as a live tile..make it a swipe left..and also include smart dialing..these are the basic things that have to be developed..not the glance screen or three tiles a row..
I agree. But Nokia can't go beyond gimmicks like the glance screen. Microsoft in turn needed the three rows to make WP work on modern hardware. It was a feature they needed right away to even be considered an vallid alternative to Android by reviewers.
So I can understand that notification centre and other standard software features would be added after the hardware demanded features. Otherwise Microsoft would put Nokia at a disadvantage and make Samsung and HTC shun WP even more then they do now. But I do expect them to deliver these software features in 8.1. If they cant then I seriously have to reconsider my chosen platform...
This was removed for marketing purposes so ppl that love this feature are forced to buy another handset and a fking huge one at that. There is no other reason for it to be gone from 920 display. #applemove
More likely this was because the tiles are too small to accurately touch on smaller screens. On my HTC 8X with 4.3" screen, the small tiles are less than 0.5" in size. That's about the limit for accurate touch interaction.
They will not add it, one more reason to buy 1520 !!
Att/msft/nokia $$$$$$$$$$$
I hope they bring this back, i hope they wont keep it as an exclusive thing for larger displays! I would love 3 rows -exciting
Personally, it's unlikely I would use 3 columns on my 920. But, they should give people the option.
Looking at that 920 in the picture makes me realize that small tiles would be too small for the 4.5" screen. But those same small tiles are already too big on the Lumia 625. In my opinion, this 3 column thing should be an option for 4.7" phones and bigger. It just doesn't make any sense to lose resources creating compatibility for 3 columns on a Lumia 520 for example!
Curse you microsoft... All i was waiting for my L920, and now you say it won't fit... If im driven to another disapointment because of microsoft, im going to change phone. This is ridiculous.
I expect my freakin lumia1020 to get some interest in updates from Microsoft its a flagship i believe
this might be a dumb question... but why couldnt we have columns as part of our settings. Meaning that we can chose to have 4, 5 or 6 columns. I would imagine that 5 columns would be appropriate for a 920 screen.
929 is a sexy looking bitch! haha cant wait.! needs to hurry up tho
We have had consistent updates since 7.5. Typically every few months until 7.8 & 8.0. e.g. The disappearing keyboard issue was fixed in 3 months. 7.5 was released Sept 27 2011 and then them 7.5 'refresh', with the keyboard fix, came out January 4 2012. I know that I received the update in early-to-mid February 2012. In June 2012 we got tango, a few more updates after that and then 7.8 in Jan 2012.
AT&T simply don't care and released the updates much later, but that doesn't mean the WP update cycle is universally slow.
I have to say its a bummer. And given that the last Update before bricked my L920, and the warrantee runs out Dec 31, it looks like I won't see three columns until I guy another phone.
I wouldn't mind trading a third column in for say, a working XBox Music client, but that is probably too much to ask.
Over and over again MS is underperforming and lagging behind. This isnt good.
What a horrible application xboxmusic, even as a player is ridiculous....
If I could order to play a folder at list....
This doesn't fuss me too much, three columns look far too cluttered in my opinion
As soon as 8.1 computers gave the option to make smaller tiles, I jumped on that and made everything smaller. I love it! But I don't know how I'd feel about that option for my phone. I'd rather get different pages, like swiping to the left to have a whole different start screen.
I rather not know information like this. I LIKE my 920.
I'd like the option of having 3 columns on my 928.
Tiles tiles tiles.. What would you do with it?? Just a cosmetic update. Tell them to incorporate some actual useful features.
For some (most of us), being on Windows Phone and all, more glanceable information on the Start Screen is a useful feature.
Nah, that would be too easy, actually making the OS more functional is overrated. Fluff all the way! /s
Great, there goes another feature.
I just want the three row so I can use all wide and medium tiles. The layout would look really sleek.
Yup. They really should. I would love to have that option. For some reason that i don't really know, they disabled it. For some reason too, i hope they will come out with solution and options soon! Those will look amazing on my 920. ;p
Yes they should even for low end Lumias like the 520 and co
The way I see it, Microsoft should do it like THIS:
4.5" and up => 3 medium tiles.
4.3" => 2 medium tiles + 1 small tile.
<4.3 => 2 medium tiles (the as as it is now)
This change should come with a toggle option of course. MS, give us options !
As a proud owner of a L820, I wouldn't even mind 3 medium tiles on this 4.3 gorgeous device. If there is a toggle for it, why not?
Just let Nokia handle it!!
Does anyone else feel that Spring 2014 is a little too late for Microsoft to dish out Windows Phone 8.1 which may not have everything the uservoice feature list is asking for?
3 mid sized tile columns are too much for me. I hope they give the user an option to choose should they decide to give this "feature" to older Lumia devices. Personally, an extra row of icons on the iPhone 5 didn't make a difference to me, but this does. Microsoft, if u plan to give this to older Lumia devices, please give a toggle.
Give us the option if its not perfect update with improvements that make it better!
Yes!!!!! I'd love to have 3 columns on my 928!
Y do u all need 3 columns. Yeah its tru dat i wil also love it. But more than that i hope if they can make a new tile size. It wil be perfect in small screen sizes.
Ryt now we have full. Half and the small sizes. Y cant they make 3/4 live tile? Is t possible or im just dreaming? Does any one have a thought about this?
I was sooo pumped for this feature. Both me and my gf. We would both like more tiles on the screen at a time and we'd both be so pumped if they made it available! Please bring it back!!!
Tiles are one thing, they need to push out the notification center. That is a very lacking feature for WP.
Microsoft has no manners. You should at least wine and dine your consumer before you screw them.
I personally would find it awesome if they could figure it out!
Can I enable this extra column in GDR3 preview? If yes, how? I couldn't find anything about zdev on google :(
Maybe read the article before commenting?
Yes, duh. The two column tiles are stupidly large even on a 4" screen.
Don't you all think that the 3 columns is, for now, a selling feature for the larger phones that are soon to be released??? I think that allowing current phones the 3rd column option would most likely hurt sales of the new, large-screened devices on the horizon.
While 3 columns might have been enabled at one point for 900 series phones, it doesn't mean it meets Microsoft's usability standards. So I can totally understand them disabling that option until "they can make it work". Even though you could do it at one point, doesn't mean it "works". If it breaks usability guidelines, then from a design perspective, it doesn't work. As a former software designer and progammer, I totally understand why MS would hesitate in this.
I see a couple issues in enabling this. They probably have a minimum landing area size for tiles and buttons in WP8. The third column on a 4.5" screen may break that, especially on a narrower screen like the 8X. Also, they probably have a minimum font size specification for tiles, and the third column would probably break that too. So in order to stay within design guidelines like that, they'd have to create exceptions within the OS to detect that scenario to increase font size. But now you'll have to create another specification, and then subsequently, change the SDK too. Now all devs who have made apps with small tiles with text will have to revisit and recompile their apps and push an update. This is fine if you are someone like Rudy who is super keen, but there are also a zillion apps that are on a poor maintenance cycle. Most of these apps won't get updated to reflect the new design guideline. Now all of a sudden, you might have the majority of apps in the store breaking design guidelines, and that would undermine the whole design principle of WP, which is: ultimate clarity and relevancy of delivered content.
So seriously guys, it's not as simple as flipping a switch as most of you seem to think. A change like this goes much much deeper than what you see on the surface. Something so simple can easily undermine your entire mission.
+920...That was exactly what i thought about the feature.I look at that pic posted and i m lyk,where the hell is the clean design of windows,twil look totally messy with all that info in a screen less than 5 inches.When notification center comes in GDR3,it will solve many of the complaints on having an extra row for the majority i think..
Microsoft is like IBM in the 1980s. Slow and corporate, and other companies run circles around them. The best thing for WP would be to fire all the developers and transfer it to Nokia in Finland.
Well, the thing is, nobody is forcing you to use MS. All the ecosystems have their share of serious problems. Android is compromised on usability. They practically have no standards and any manufacturer can do whatever they wish. You get totally inconsistent UI across apps and especially widgets, many of which are really compromised in the clairty of content delivery. It's a clusterf__k. Widgets of varying sizes, shapes, font size, colour, shading, background, opacity etc... it's like you are using a schizophrenic device. That's what sucks. What is great about it is how anyone can make anything for android and it can get published FAST. But there is no curation or strong design guidelines and language to ensure that you get a great user experience that is consistent across apps and widgets.
iOS feels like a dinosaur in this day and age. The pieces feel disjointed, and you have screens and screens of icons and folders. Isn't that was MacOS System 1 looked like in 1984? Yup. And now it looks like they are trying to move to a more modern design, but are still stuck within their archaic framework. They are stuck in a halfway place between old and modern, and it looks and feels that way IMO.
Windows phone is a very tightly controlled system with a priority on the Clarity and Relevancy of Delivered Content. It achieves clarity through design guidelines and language, and while it's not strictly enforced, it's userbase has come to demand that devs follow the design language for best ratings. This gives us a beautiful interface and makes it super duper easy for us get the information we want, as quickly as we can, in the clearest manner possible. This is the beauty of WP. It's downside is that any tightly controlled ship will be more difficult to change and update while not breaking their own design guidelines.
So pick your poison. Nobody is perfect. But in terms of OS design, I chose WP8 a year ago because the design is so far ahead of Android and iOS, making simple day to day usage as nice as it can be.
I graduated with a degree in computer science with a specialty in Interface design, and WP8 is definitely worlds ahead of the others IMHO. Second place, honestly, is BB10. But too little too late.
"...it's like you are using a schizophrenic device."
Nah, Windows 8 is schizophrenic. Android is just messy. But a little messy never hurt anyone. It's not normal or healthy to be neat freak.
Yes, because Nokia Finland was really great at making Symbian relevant...
Yep! You read my mind! It could be a cluster bleep if rushed!!
Fking belfiore its his fault, I'm sure Rudy could patch something for us..... Sigh gdr3 was the biggest disappointment because of this missing
I would love to have this feature too! L920/Vodafone/Uk
Yes, please include that extra 3rd column of tiles. Choice is good. For me, the ability to view more live tile info in one screen would be very handy. On top of that, I'd like to see the tiles rotate when the phone is put in landscape mode (ie if I'm using it in the car for music & Here Drive). Now that would be nice.
Absolutely, Microsoft, make it happen... at least as an option to turn on/off.
They should bring it all the phones. Let the user choose between the two options
A little off topic: I wonder if you can have no tiles on the start screen. Can't be bothered to try it. :)
It will just show the app menu, no start screen, until you pin an app again :)
actually you can use one of the tile creation apps like wiztiles or skinery themes and make a static black tile.
Upgrade release at Spring 2014? But I don't wanna wait for so long... :(
We better have it in 8.1 I really want that 3 row column Microsoft I have Xbox windows 8 windows phone too windows 7 too windows XP all in perfect condition in good computers no viruses made software for them too Microsoft better start improving this shit here!
So there is no 1080p display coming for 920
Lol um no, never
Spring 2014 is just too late. I hope someone will find a way of completely hacking WP8 till then.
Now I am irked Microsoft it was going to be an option and you removed that grrr everybody we need to send feedback about in every spam this shit all over Nokia feed back and other place ap reviews!
You'd just get users blaming app developers that their live tile images are too small and unreadable. They must be scaling the size to fit, since there's not enough resolution. I would prefer a landscape start screen, way cooler.
I will wait for a stable version for smaller screens!
May I know when will a Nokia Lumia 820 get a GDR3 or Lumia Black Update?
Probably wouldn't use it, but I see no reason why it shouldn't be available as an option...
As long as it doesn't loose the signature looks, customization is fine. Just leave 2 columns as default, 3 columns only if the user really wants it.
Should be ok for people who don't use the smallest tiles in small screened phones.
I sure would like to have the option of switching between 2 or 3 rows. If i had to have only one of the options i don`t know which i`d chose. It´s hard to say whitout trying though i have to say the 3 rows looks appealing. (and cluttered?)
I think that users should be given the option of either not having the third column or having a third column for small icons only which would help in accessing certain aps quickly or having a third column with medium sized tiles.
I personally would use the third column of small icons as I have a few apps like email , sending text, the AAWP app etc that don't really need a live tile as I go into it so frequently but want it on the front screen for easy access.
I don't think an extra row of tiles is that good!! What we need (at least I do) and what I think is right, is an option for a smaller tile size!! ... From what we see in the pic above, the medium tile we have now is smaller here! What about, if you take this tiny tile as reference, I say we need, large tile (sized 3x6 tiny tiles), medium tile (sized 3x3 tiny tiles), small tile (sized 2x2 tiny tiles) and the tiny tile!
Daniel, can we expect to have a Preview of 8.1 earlier than the Spring 2014 or Spring 2014 will be for the Preview with the broadly release only to Summer 2014?
I'd like the option. People who think it's pointless never need to touch it. People who want it can have it. I don't see why it shouldn't be included in the future once they make it work without issue. I'm sure the tiles on my 3.7" Lumia 710 are the same size as they would be with three columns on my 4.5" 920.
They should give the option. If people activate it or not, thats another thing.
if it is possible why not just let it in . if people dont find it any good they can switch back to the normal rows. so why keep software producers keep deciding what soncumers want.
One of the many reasons I prefer my 920 to my 4S is that the screen is so small and hard to read on the 4S, which is not the case on the 920. Adding a third row and squishing them down would not be something I'd use at all.
If it's possible the option should be included, you'd just never see it used on my phone. :)
No, this is simply unusable. Any 3rd column of devices lower than 5" would imply a complete redesign of the current sizes to squash in a 3rd column. Such redesign would imply turning the small tiles unusable (many people already find them too small...well, guess what? To have 3 columns they would have to be even smaller).
There's no way to make this work.
Well...unless they redesign the way the tiles work and make it so that instead of 3 sizes we have free hand to resize them to the sizes we want, which means we could even manage to fit a 4th column.
To add such a feature would imply a severe redesign and recode on the OS...and that's never gona happen, given how lazy Microsoft is to fix smaller issues.
They can toggle the option for this, of course...but only a few fanatics will end up using it. The general consumer will just find the screen cluttered and downright horrible to look at and unmanageable. And I'm with the second group. I don't want a 3rd column...not even on a 5" screen.
I like it, though I fear tiles could be too small. In all, I guess they did make it work but are saving it for a bigger update, to get the most user impact out of the feature.
If I had to guess, I'd say that on screens below 5" the small tiles were simply too small. I think the current tile size is already at the ideal lower limit of usability, and any smaller would just result in unintentional presses. I imagine that the pin and resize controls would overwhelm the smallest of tiles.
There's really no good solution for that other than to not implement it at all. I suppose some could argue that they should give the user the choice. But all that would happen is that is that people would try it and then complain that it doesn't work well.
Will people with an HTC 8x get the option of 3 columns?
Yeah I would like to see this as an option on my Lumia 920. Hopefully they come through with this for 8.1.
If GDR3 doesn't give me the extra row on my Lumia 920, i will be very disappointed! They should release it for all WP8 devices, and let the users choose if they want to enable it or not!
The extra rows of tiles is one of my forthcoming favorites! Come on Microsoft!
You will be very disappointed.
And you know that for sure? 100%?
Since GDR3 isn't officially released yet, i cross my fingers and hope that MS change their opinion about this, and put the extra row back!
They tell us all the time not to get scroogled, but this isn't much better! I had bigger hopes for Microsoft than this!
GDR3 has been officially released. Phones are getting the update.
Damn! Disappointed!
"I told you so" =P
(and they said it on the article: the developer version is the final build)
I know you told me DJCBS, but i still think its unbelievable that they removed this option on existing Lumia models in the GDR3 update.
I think its a stupid choice of Microsoft to use their resources to release the totally useless Glance backgrounds, instead of making something useful like an extra column on the start screen!
So still....i am disappointed! :-(
I have it on my 1020. No 3rd row and I'm just fine with that.
I would've prefer a third row, there are 28 apps that I use on a day to day basis and out of the 28, the 24 most used are pinned to my start screen (all small tiles so there is no scrolling needed). But some I would prefer to have as medium sized for example the WPCentral App and Weather app, I use the nokia reading app (it supports the small tile - images changes) which is linked to the WPCentral RSS feed along with the other sites like the nokia blog, microsoft news and wmpu.
And there we have the "elephant in the room" when it comes to x & y. What you say should be true, except that unfortunately our live tiles don't rotate with screen orientation. Thus, sadly, x & y and the accepted row & column thing is relevant. I also will stop complaining though and let you get back to the great writing and advocacy for Windows Phone! ;-)
What's wrong with Microsoft ?
Yes it would be nice to have the option to see how we could like it
And who cares about rows or columns, jeesh
I have a question. If I am a programmer, do I have to pay a subscription fee or something to put my apps in the Windows Phone Store?
I am no expert in programming, but I dabble :P And I wanna try out programming for Windows Phone.
You have to pay at the least $19. I believe you can only upload a few apps or less. Its more to be a full developer. Never free though. I have an app I made and I need to pay at least $19 to upgrade my acct to submit it.
$19.99 per year fixed. You can submit an unlimited number of apps.
Well poop! I was so excited to get a Windows Phone..greatly because of the app development I was expecting. Guess my apps are gonna have to be mine alone..or I can create a blog or something to post 'em. But it's never gonna be the same..!! :'(
Question though. Do I have to pay subscription fee even if my apps are free in-store? :O 'Cause that's just nasty.
Well, $19 per year is not much. You can publish apps to both windows phone store and windows store with a single subscription. If you are a student, it's free through the DreamSpark program.
I AM A STUDENT! Now then...let's Bing DreamSpark program.
And yes..$19 per year isn't much..but I can think of a few better ways to spend that cash especially when I'm not gonna make money off my apps and I don't have a job yet.
And just to keep things real, I'm not even sure my apps are gonna be good enough for uploading. But thanks for the help man.
Also, No monthly subscription fees.
I can't tell if you are replying to me or to one of the guys who replied. But I guess my reply to your reply (reply-ception :P) is the same as my reply above..if you would be so kind as to scroll up and read it.
Thanks :D
I was wrong. Sorry. I didn't"Bing" for the info. I was right about the $19... But didn't know it was monthly. Kind of a downer for me actually.
$19 is not monthly. It's yearly. Big difference.
Jesus. I feel so misinformed. I see now though. I'll be doing this. Couple apps I want to upload. Thanks
Lol. You were helpful to me.
And..I just realised that you are the guy who replied first (I didn't notice that earlier)..and the "No monthly.." message is a continuation of your first reply.
I got confused by the replies-layout. Now I feel stupid D:
Thanks. I try to be helpful. Part of my work is helping people and teaching ppl.
Lets step back for a second. MS knows you want 3 Rows. Ok. They know. And they know it works on old phones. There only shortcuts anyways. So lets think about this... Why would they put them on next Gen and NOT the ones you ALREADY purchased? Bcoz they want you to buy the next Gen? Which is the ultimate functionality of the company... Push product? Lol. If they add 3 Row... It will definitely be after the new devices release. I hope they do. Or release a 5" device.
It is hard to imagine someone buying a new phone solely for this feature. The usability issue must be the reason, and for those saying, "Well just make it an option" don't understand that OEMs get to choose which options are on or off by default. So the scenario would exist that a device could be configured with this option On by default and provide a shit experience. We all know that your average moron does not change any settings and so would simply hate the phone and return it, never to consider WP ever again.
I agree. And as for the "Morons"... You were one at some point and so was I. Lol. I vote "Optional". A setting. Just so everyone wins. And ppl won't buy the new phone just for 3 rows. Its simply a bonus, an attraction. And it doesss look pretty damn attractive. Aka L1520.
Honestly, it looks too tiny and cluttered. I like itbut I think I will just invest in a bigger screen to get it.
I agree with you ultimately. But there should at least be the option. Something that has high demand that MS doesn't suggest should at least have an option. Then MS can make everyone happy. Which should be there focus....... Right?
If there was technical/performance issues with 3 columns, then no, do not release it. This may be a problem for cheaper phones so no, don't do anything to harm performance.
If it is just a UI/preference issue, then give the power to the user to decide, however, to not sacrfice stability of the platform.
If it was pulled due to the merging of the Windows 8/Phone 8 APIs, then that sucks.
Regardless, seems like there is enough interest that they should have the feature at least for phones where it makes sense. At a minimum, they should tell us why.
One more reason my 1520 will rock! They should keep it on larger devices for a few month and then roll it out to the rest. That wold give the 1520 a nice boost, but not forget about everyone else.. and if you don't like 3 columns (not rows :) you can always just use two...
I would really like having three rows on my Lumia 925!
You're not the only one. :) Count me too. I really am a strong supporter of the WP8 platform as are most people logged in at WPCentral. I hope the dev team considers the feature for our current phones! Still, it won't destroy my anticipation for GDR3 and Lumia Black.
Why is the term "row" used for columns here? Confusing.
Personally, I think the 3 column option looks WAY too cluttered on smaller devices, and rather unattractive on larger ones too, though there it's understandable. I certainly hope it doesn't become standard - I really like the look of when the largest tile stretches from side to side, instead of being cut off.
I NEED MORE TILES (scratching my neck like Dave Chappell ) :P
Haha.. I'm going to guess you also didn't just eat a powdered jelly donut before you said that.
+like for the Chappelle Show reference lol
"Is this the 5'oclock free crack give away!? No Tyrone this is an intervention.."
have a good laugh lol http://www.comedycentral.com/video-clips/ycjdk7/chappelle-s-show-tyrone-...
Why would I want a more crowded Start Screen? Honestly, I think some people are on drugs.
If you do not want it... Do not enable it.
what is the problem with giving people choices ?
Because there is no notification center.
Definetely YES, it´s very sad that Microsoft, dont give us the option :(
I'd guess it helps give the 1080p phones coming out an advantage. After the release hype dies down it will probably show up in 8.1 for the other phones to put some life back in them.
Columns!!!! Columns, not flipping rows!
I do really hope that the 3 column rows feature will be going to live! For all windows phone version is a must! It's awesome!
In all honestly, it doesn't look good on 4.5" devices like the 920. On 4.8+, it should though.
Wouldn't work well on displays that size anyway
They would "find a way to make it work?"
They already did, clearly, as it worked before. I've seen this crop up more and more as we go mobile, where devs act like enabling options is some kind of major technical hurdle. It always feels so transparent that the reason it's done is to make you want to get a new thing.
"Hey guys, everybody's gonna love this, so let's make sure it's only on the new crap. We'll tell 'em that some tech BS prevents it somehow."
What's sad is I know people who *actually believe* those BS reasons why things don't work. I guess folks think that these objects are somehow different from other computers just because they're small. Same people who think that smartphones were "a great invention."
There's more to working than actually just enabling an option. Usability is obviously a concern for them.
The three columns are great for larger devices, but on that Lumia 920 the tiles look ridiculously small. They miss the whole point of live tiles, which is probably the reason why they removed it.
I think it will make sense with the WP8.1 and the assumption that there will be a Large tile size, in addtion addition to the current Wide, Medium, and Small tiles. You would probably want to limit the use of the Smail tiles on the 920, but it would be nice to have a Wide tile next to a Medium tile on the same row.
Exactly.
I would love to have this on my Ativ S! I hope they get it working...
You sure can get it on the ATIV S right now: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2486387
Man, you have the ONLY PHONE now that CAN have it.
IM currently using it on my Ativ s, which is slightly larger than the average wp8 device, im sure the option was removed because of small font sizes being an issue for anyone with less than perfect vision, it is a great option but on a smaller screen you will have to struggle to read wpcentral live tile updates , but if your not using live tiles with info then its all good.
Why does everyone keep referring to this as "3 rows???" It's a third COLUMN not a row! I've got 3 rows on my 920 running GDR2, hell I've got twice that many rows.
Rows and columns are interchangeable in the setting. There is no X or Y axis here. Still, I'll change if you stop complaining ;)
So... tell me, why do we call it horizontal scrolling and which axis is the horizontal one?
Lmao... U better change it... He looks mad, that young man. Lol
I would agree with you if the home screen wasn't orientation locked.
OMG, this is getting out of hands!
Duly noted... :-)
On the start screen the orientation is locked though... ;-)
<stepping off soap box>
929???
Exactly!! COLUMNS, not rows. (Sorry, Daniel.)
It's nor 3 rows nor 3 columns. It's 3 colums if you use 3 medium tiles. If you use say ... only small tiles, you have 6 columns. Eh?
Shhhh!
I want it for my 928. May not be for everyone so have a option to turn on and off.
Yes
I still want the option of having a large tile span the whole width of the screen even on the larger phone. That's one of the main reasons I'm not getting the 1520.
Yeah, a 2x2 medium tile would be awesome.
Good point, a "large" tile atm i feel would look out of place you would have to put two small tiles on the left and two small on the right. A medium and a large tile don't look right..
Maybe 8.1 will be like w 8.1 as in extra large tile ;)
More and more customization, sighs! Soon WP will be like Android. Keep it simple, that's y I'm using a WP right now. But then again options/choices is a good thing.
Android now has 80% market share. So I wouldn't cite Android as a reason to not do something. And like you said, options is a good thing, this doesn't have to be mandatory.
Exactly! Give us the option to customize our phone the way we want. Leave a default UI on how Microsoft believes it should look like but gives us the freedom to give it a personal touch. Simple things like this make customers less likely to return a device. What about a damn color wheel for theme options?
Not seeing how this would work? What about devices that have screens smaller than 4 inches? Would they have to resize all the tiles to make them fit?
If they can restrict it to devices with 5 inch displays or larger, they can restrict to 4.3" or larger too. Also: it's a toggle, not mandatory.
It should be available to all WP phones with 720p screens or higher resolution. What do you think?
The feature is in theory restricted to display size, not resolution.
Thor almighty, they have to bring this feature back.
Absolutely it should be an option. Once I saw the 3 columns displays, it made me change my mind about an early upgrade and wait for a 1080p instead.
I would love the 3rd row on my 925, maybe with 8.1 or if by then T-mobile gets a 5 inch phone then I'll just get that one ☺
Wo, that's a lot more tiles than i expected. Does 1520 even have that much?
We have to wait till spring 2014 for wp8.1 ? :o
For me that's the key information from that article. That will be 18 months before initial release, a joke (I don't consider GDR proper updates).
GDR updates are like maintenance updates to fix bugs. MS really is slow three years after WP release.
Dat first picture layout is horrible which is why I can see they removed it lol.
Agreed.
But if it is mostly used for 3 tiles across arrangement, it looks pretty good (see link):
http://forums.wpcentral.com/attachments/windows-phone-gdr3-preview/47528d1382367924-gdr3screen.png
These medium tiles don't appear to be any different in size from WP7 tiles to me. I forgot that WP7 tiles were a different size from WP8 until I pulled our old Quantum out the other night and fired it up. (I can't speak for 7.8, as this phone was never updated).
Exactly. I assume they have to down render the 1080 screen to the smaller res, dropping lines.
No thanks.
Agree 100%. Way way way too busy.
Personally would love to have the extra row. Main reason is due to the pinning of multiple inbox folders for work purposes. And that limits the amount of stuff I actually want to see above the fold. Third row on my 1020 would be perfect.
People are scared to buy windows phone because of this. They gave same treatment to windows phone 7 users... Learn from apple iPhone 4 which was launched by late Steve jobs still got ios 7...
I hope they improve cause they wont get another chance now
So you're saying people are avoiding buying windows phone because the 4/4s didn't get the extra row of tiles that the iPhone 5/5c/5s got?
**falls off chair**
Nice comeback
Every client I have that's on a iPhone 4 with iOS 7 complain its slow and lags. Why give an update if it's going to work.
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