Question for Windows Phone users

Posted by saposmak on April 9, 2012 01:40 pm 24

I guess this is in relation to the many recent claims about the allegedly dire situation regarding the Windows Phone third-party software ecosystem. I agree they have a long, long way to go before they can be competitive with Android and iOS in this category. That being said, I wonder, for regular use, how significant is this gap?

Does Windows Phone satisfy most of your regular app use?

I'll be the first to answer, but first, some context: I switched from an iPhone 3GS to a Samsung Focus S last November and initially I was put back by the fact that so many of the apps installed on my iPhone didn't seem to have counterparts on Windows Phone Marketplace.

A list of those include Pandora, The Hype Machine, Audible, Dropbox, Tweetbot, ATP/WTA Live, Google Talk, Skype, Mint.com, Chase Mobile, Instapaper, Hulu Plus, HBO Go, DomainTyper, Band of the Day, YouTube (the official ones suck).

At the beginning I got around my new phone's seemingly barren app marketplace by using the missing apps on my iPad... Some of these are still without an adequate substitute, but as time went by I found not only satisfactory, but sometimes better third-party alternatives to the official apps, with two important exceptions: Audible and ATP Live.

  • Pandora - Radio Controlled
  • Hype Machine - The Hype
  • Dropbox - BoxFiles for Dropbox
  • Tweetbot - Mehdoh (Tried Rowi and Carbon, the scrolling pisses me off).
  • Google Talk - IM+ (I honestly wish there were better alternatives)
  • Skype - Skype beta came out recently
  • Instapaper - InstaFetch
  • DomainTyper - DomainSearch (if you know of a better one please let me know)
  • YouTube - MetroTube

After 4.5 months of using Windows Phone exclusively I can say most of my regular app usage is satisfied. Audible (I heard this one's coming soon), Band of the Day, Chase Mobile and Mint.com are the ones I mostly miss at this point. I very rarely play games on my phone (can't stand gaming on a touch screen), so I may not be a good point of reference to determine the platform's adequacy, which is why I'd like you to comment on whether or not your app needs are satisfied.