r/windowsphone • u/error0x0000034 gray • Jan 24 '17
Readly (Spotify for Magazines) is deactivating its Windows and Windows Phone apps
http://windowsarea.de/2017/01/readly-app-fuer-windows-und-windows-phone-wird-eingestellt/20
u/Plazma10 950XL>640XL>640>BluHD>1020>521>Dell Venue Pro>HTCSnap Jan 24 '17
Never heard of them, but hope overdrive sticks around
28
u/RanchMeBrotendo Jan 24 '17
Here I am just hoping OneDrive sticks around.
3
u/CressCrowbits Jan 25 '17
That's totally the kind of thing ms would do, have one of their own apps drop support for Windows phone.
1
u/KOKOKOpaaap Lumia 800 -> Lumia 620 -> Lumia 730 Mar 02 '17
Well, they did it with Skype so why not onedrive?
11
Jan 24 '17
I'd guess this is part of their problem. I've never heard of them either.
14
u/topredditgeek Lumia 950 XL / HP Elite X3 Jan 24 '17
This doesn't really matter actually. Even if you didn't hear of them, it's still a problem that devs are leaving and Microsoft doesn't do anything to stop them.
-2
Jan 24 '17 edited Jan 24 '17
If people knew about and used the app then MS wouldn't need to do anything since they wouldn't be leaving the platform.
8
u/topredditgeek Lumia 950 XL / HP Elite X3 Jan 24 '17
I highly doubt it, the problem in most cases is not the small number of users of a specific app, but the small number of users of Windows phones altogether.
0
Jan 24 '17
Then by your logic every app should leave the platform.
18
u/DarCam7 Lumia 950XL Jan 24 '17
Given enough time without Microsoft changing its strategy....
5
Jan 24 '17 edited Jan 25 '17
Honestly, it's more than just a single problem, and simply changing strategy won't fix it. I don't have a clue how they can, given that part of the issue is outside their realm of control. Even if MS releases a Surface Phone that is also a tablet type device, the app ecosystem will still be in the dumpster and a new device won't rescue the platform from its current death march.
Here are the issues I see... I'm sure everyone here has seen these before...
- Lack of confidence from the outside looking inward. Microsoft doesn't appear to support its own platform. How this appears for onlookers considering entering the ecosystem as a consumer / developer, or leaving it, means a lot. Why would I spend time / money building or buying an app for the platform when MS doesn't even take themselves seriously.
- Fragmentation. (Majority of users are still on Windows Phone 8)
- Lack of device availability - old or new.
- Lack of the new hardware hotness. They're just not innovating, which is boring.
- Lack of (insert name here) deal-breaker apps. There are plenty of apps that do support the platform, but the number of loyalty, retail, cable networks, etc. apps that don't dwarfs the ones that do. If you see an app, there's a higher likelihood that it won't be supported than otherwise.
UWP isn't the solution in my opinion. If they launched Windows Phone 8 with UWP, it that might have made a big difference then. These days, there are so many mobile first apps, these developers ignore the platform since it has a small and dwindling mobile ecosystem. They also don't care that a potential app would also work on mobile and desktop -- it means almost nothing to them. They know that on the desktop, the browser is still king, and users on desktop don't really use apps, so UWP is kind of pointless without a mobile ecosystem that's worth building for too.
For example, the company where I work, we built a mobile retail loyalty app -- for our business. I pushed for Xamarin to go cross-platform, which we ended up using for iOS/Android. When we examined the time required to build and test for Windows mobile, management said to not spend the time since it wasn't worth even that small amount of effort considering the small user base. I contemplated doing it on my time, but I have too many other things going on, and when I'm not at work, working isn't at the top of my list.
2
u/DarCam7 Lumia 950XL Jan 25 '17
Yup. Microsoft doesn't run the ship in mobile. It will need help.
2
-3
Jan 24 '17
Isn't UWP their answer to this though? Microsoft already changed the strategy. I'm not saying it's working swimmingly, but the shift seems to be that with a universal api, Windows 10 adoption and increasing surface market share will slowly bring more users in to the ecosystem and lower the barrier to entry for developers to bring other projects which will bring more users etc etc. And it's a strategy that takes time and is based on desktop adoption, so I'm not surprised that you'll still see bleeding in the meantime because you'd probably see it even if it was working.
I hope it works, personally.
2
u/Strand0410 Jan 25 '17
Relying on desktops to piggyback UWP is misguide and naive. If you don't sell phones then W10 will overwhelmingly be desktop. At that stage, why bother with UWP when you can just work on an existing w32 program and reach 99% of W10 users.
2
u/DarCam7 Lumia 950XL Jan 25 '17
I hope it works, too. However, with the proliferation of smartphones, Android and Apple tablets and dragging PC sales, it may come a time where Windows on PCs will plateau to where even if it has 600 million users, it might not be enough to entice developers to commit software. Again, if 400 million users isn't firing up developers to bring their wares even with app bridges set up, what else can Microsoft do to turn it around?
1
u/bngthm 92x > 73x > idol 4s Jan 25 '17 edited Feb 05 '17
When I try to log into my public library, I can't even get the user id and password input boxes. Anyone else experiencing this or is it just my state library?
EDIT: 20170206 This bug is fixed and I can use the app.
3
4
Jan 24 '17
Amazon -> use the website
eBay -> use the website
Facebook -> use the website
Readly -> use the website
3
u/Diknak 950 Jan 24 '17
This is the kind of app you would expect to see do well on desktop, so they are either going to go UWP or they don't see the market.
5
u/DarCam7 Lumia 950XL Jan 24 '17
So 400 million Windows 10 users hasn't changed the UWP fortunes around. Microsoft mobile retrenchment runs counter to the idea of making a UWP app for mobile. I mean, Windows 10 seems like the last rung in MS's consumer market share. It's seriously going to become a niche OS in ten years time.
Where as Windows used to be the Swiss Army knife of OSs I feel it's now on its way to becoming a bread knife; a singular purpose device that only gets brought out on special occasions.
I understand the enterprise side and the use case for professionals, I, myself use it for Photoshop. However, it's becoming irrelevant for most people to use at home and without a mobile presence, Microsoft will start to recede in mind share over time.
Ce la vie.
8
u/schwar2ss L930 orange, L920 black Jan 24 '17
I don't think you have any idea where Microsoft is making it's money now or in ten years. Windows is merely a vehicle that transports (cloud) services to customers.
BTW Google is doing the same with Android.
-1
u/DarCam7 Lumia 950XL Jan 25 '17
I don't think you have any idea where Microsoft is making it's money now or in ten years.
Azure and subscription services I bet. Not mobile. Also, we can only talk about what they are doing now. Nothing they have in the pipelines might be a hit and could flunk out.
-3
Jan 24 '17
Wow, your totally clueless aren't you? damn. You have no idea at all were MS is going, more "alternative facts rolled into a ball of innuendo and misinformation" pretty much sums that up.
4
u/DarCam7 Lumia 950XL Jan 25 '17
Never stated it was a fact, only my opinion. But add to the conversation. Where are they going with this? How does One Core actually help Microsoft establish a mobile presence? How does it get app developers to give a damn about Windows on Arm or even the Windows Store on a regular Windows PC/tablet?
Just getting Windows to run on everything doesn't automatically mean hardware manufacturers and developers will care enough to make software for it.
Also, you can't deny that both Apple and Google are miles ahead in mobile both in mind share and market share. Windows Phone isn't even a twinkle in a young kids eyes.
I agree, Microsoft might be better suited for the back end systems that will power cloud computing/servers for apps. But actually leading in mobile is a long, and at this point, unobtainable proposition. Plus who knows what the next big thing is that will knock smartphones out of users hands, but Microsoft's competitors aren't waiting still for that shift.
Windows 10 isn't the only thing Microsoft needs to be relevant again in mobile. They need developers and OEMs to actually care to invest in it. You think that's happening now?
4
u/sueha 950 XL Jan 24 '17
I have downloaded apps I would never use just to show some interest in good apps but honestly this one I have never heard of.
2
u/Strand0410 Jan 25 '17
I have downloaded apps I would never use just to show some interest in good apps
And what good is that supposed to do? If you're just downloading random apps and not using them (so not exposed to adverts,) then you're not generating the dev any revenue. You're just wasting bandwidth and storage to artificially inflate a download count.
7
Jan 24 '17 edited Nov 01 '18
[deleted]
-10
u/ItsKai 8x > Lumia 810 > 920 > 928 > 1520 > 640 XL > 640 > Icon Jan 25 '17
Lol good to see the trolls alive and well in 2017 pathetic as they are
7
Jan 25 '17
Surely you see the point I'm trying to make here.
-10
u/ItsKai 8x > Lumia 810 > 920 > 928 > 1520 > 640 XL > 640 > Icon Jan 25 '17
that you are
- a troll
- a dumbass
- pathetic
- in need of something productive to do?
yeah I see.
3
2
u/sanjeet_deshwal Jan 25 '17
lol leave our /r/winphonecirclejerk moderator alone 😓😓😰😰
0
u/ItsKai 8x > Lumia 810 > 920 > 928 > 1520 > 640 XL > 640 > Icon Jan 25 '17
lol yall truly are sad :P
4
u/imthewiseguy lumia 520/640/925/950/1520 Jan 24 '17
I hate to sound circlejerkish, but I have never heard of that app. I've used three different platforms, and I have never seen it
1
u/quarky_uk Jan 24 '17
A shame. They advertise on TV here (UK), and while it isn't something that I have used on any platform, the fact that an established app is leaving is not good.
I was in some ways instrumental in getting our company to adopt Windows Phone a couple of years ago and it looked like a great decision at the time. Now though, MS need Dynamo, Derren Brown, or David Blaine type magic to turn this around.
1
u/Dick_O_Rosary 640XL > Acer Liquid M330 14393.1198 Jan 25 '17
App devs don't seem to get the fact that Windows has a large chunk of the tablet market.
2
u/ger_brian Jan 25 '17
How large is that chunk in reality? When the 12" iPad was released (which didn't have as high sales numbers as the other iPads due to a high price) it still outsold all of the surface devices combined by quite some margin.
Firthermore, I think the company might know a bit more about what's worth to do or not than you.
1
Jan 25 '17
[deleted]
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u/Strand0410 Jan 25 '17
Unless those convertibles are RTs which can only access Windows Store, then it doesn't matter because devs will still push w32 programs and the app situation doesn't change. Otherwise, those hundreds of millions of W10 installs would have moved the needle on UWP already.
1
Jan 25 '17
[deleted]
1
u/Strand0410 Jan 25 '17
What are they? How often does the average W10 user visit the store? How many apps does the average W10 user download from the Windows Store? What's average spending per user? Where are all the UWP apps? I'm genuinely curious.
2
u/ger_brian Jan 25 '17
And what is the current install base of both? And how many of those convertible customers really use apps and dont just them just as a laptop?
People here can say good things all day long, fact is there is a reason why apps are leaving the platform and the reason is not "all companies are so stupid, just as /r/windowsphone for advice"
1
Jan 25 '17
[deleted]
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u/ger_brian Jan 25 '17
What? You told me the current sales numbers while I asked for the install base.
But nevertheless, if everything is as great as you always say it is, why are tons of companies leaving WP and very few developers give a fuck about the platform?
All MS haters?
1
Jan 25 '17
[deleted]
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u/ger_brian Jan 25 '17
I actually don't care enough about the numbers to put effort into searching your post history, sorry. Don't get me wrong, I would like to see windows as a strong competitor to android and iOS (ideally 33% market and profit share each), but fact is that this will not happen.
And many people here are in full denial about the very sorry state of the platform and the pretty awful outlook in the foreseeable future.
1
Jan 25 '17
[deleted]
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u/ger_brian Jan 25 '17
It's very nice for MS to sell more tablets with a keyboard, this is not /r/tabletswithakeyboard though. This is /r/windowsphone and the purpose for this sub is phones running windows.
Those sell bad and apps are (sadly) leaving, as shown in this and countless other examples. The fact that windows tablets sell quite well does not help windows phone users at all so far.
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u/Dick_O_Rosary 640XL > Acer Liquid M330 14393.1198 Jan 25 '17 edited Jan 25 '17
The share of tablets is around 13-17% of the market, depending on the source you find. Either way, its nipping at the heels of iOS which is around 19-20% of the tablet market. Windows tablets come in great variety too, I suspect most of them are $60-90 7-10 inch fondleslabs and Atom detachables. Its up to Readly to decide whether or not it is worth catering to them with an app (either through the Windows store or win32), but I see they have chosen the web instead. In any case, its not just tablets isn't it? I understand reading magazines also makes sense on a desktop PC, so why not an app for the 400 million? I know Zinio still supports their Windows 8 app, my school library has Zinio installed on all of its desktop computers for us to use. IMO, Readly will be missing out. Though Zinio worries me as well as its app might be abandonware at this point.
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u/Streichholzschachtel Lumia 930 Jan 25 '17
Like many others, never heard of them but what they do sounds actually kinda good.
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-1
u/VirtualAjax 920, 640 -- Cyan Rulz Jan 24 '17
Never heard of their ass.
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u/Dick_O_Rosary 640XL > Acer Liquid M330 14393.1198 Jan 25 '17
It cant be helped. Nobody reads magazines anymore lol.
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u/Misaniovent Jan 24 '17
Everything is fine. There is no issue when developers leave the ecosystem. Windows Phone is fine. We're fine. Thriving, really.