Windows Phone 8.1 preview

Question

Hey Guys,

I just want to say a few things that I have noticed with the windows phone 8.1 dev prev is that;

Negatives and needs Fixing:

1. The battery drains a little faster when using wifi
2. The battery saving sometimes shows that its last charge was in the last hour when it was actually a day ago, then when you turn the phone and turn it back on, it gives the correct estimates.
3. No cortana on my one and Im in NZ.
4. Some notification settings drains the battery a little faster as well.
5. Location drains the battery a little faster as well (it didn't on the windows 8 version).
6. The back button don't close apps like it did on windows phone 8, it just keeps them open in the back ground.
7. Still cannot get Firefox on my windows phone.

Positives:

1. Faster connection to the net through Data and WiFi.
   
2. Loving how I can customize the start screen with pictures.
3. Faster with responding on taps.
4. Faster with sending and receiving calls and texts.
5. Love how the icons at the top are all together instead of all over the place.
6. Using the internet is a lot more faster and responsive.

Answer 1

Hello Kiwiprobie,

I'll try my best to answer some of these questions for you.

1 - Regarding battery life using WiFi
In Windows Phone 8.1, there is a new feature called WiFi Sense, which will automatically log you into WiFi hotspots and detects them around you. To save battery power, you can turn this feature off.
To turn WiFi Sense off, go to Settings > WiFi > WiFi Sense and switch the slider to off.

2 - Battery "last charge" wrong
Please remember that this is a developer preview, so expect some bugs!

3 - Cortana support in New Zealand
Cortana is currently not supported in New Zealand at this moment in time. To get Cortana now, you'll need to go to your phone settings and set everything, such as language and region to English (United States). This includes keyboard and speech.

4 - Notifications drain the battery
You can turn certain notifications off. To do this, go to Settings > Notifications + Actions and select an app. Once tapped on an app, turn "Show notification banners" off and slide "Show in action center" off.

5 - Location
The reason for this is because Cortana (if enabled) would be using the battery, as Cortana works in the background. If location is turned off, Cortana won't work until you turn it on again.

6 - Closing apps using the back button
To close apps, hold down the back button to reveal the multitasking screen.
To fully close applications (not in the background), drag the app screen downwards to close it.

7 - Mozilla Firefox for Windows Phone
Currently, this is a decision which relies in the hands of Mozilla themselves. You'll have to contact them for this.

Hope this information helps and I will pass feedback around.

Answer 2

Hi Ryan,

Sorry for the very late reply.  In response to the replies of yours:

1 - Regarding battery life using WiFi, Cool thank you I have now done that Why is there even that feature on there?

2 - Battery "last charge" wrong;  Yes I know that, I though that who ever creates the OS for phones would be reading it, its not a complaint just a feed back so they can fix it.  Its one reason why I wanted to join up to dev so I can help make it better hopefully.  I have already changed peoples minds about going to windows phones instead of android cause windows phones are more secure and you cant bypass certain things like you can with android. (I tried lol even tested out how to connect to the phone VIA my laptop and found that I cannot do anything unless the phone is unlocked, so I like that)

3 - Cortana support in New Zealand, I can wait, I just been hearing things about it that's all and now looking forward to trying it.

4 - Notifications drain the battery, I have noticed that since the last update; its been working perfectly now.  I am going to be doing a new list soon about what Im finding with working etc again, cause I have noticed that things had changed for the better :)

5 - Location, Thats pretty awesome I think.

6 - Closing apps using the back button, This part I did know, its just that for some reason when i had the WP8 OS on there it was doing that part automatically, well on my phone it was anyway.

7 - Mozilla Firefox for Windows Phone, yeah I did email them about it and they recon that its because microsoft say no open source software allowed on the phones, (which is understandable) and they are not going to change that any time soon.  So I told them that there is no way in hell that Im going back to android.

Answer 3

Hey Everyone and Microsoft,

Just want to give an update of things from a customers perspective.

Negatives and needs Fixing:

1. No cortana on my one and Im in NZ. - I have been told as to why this is so far so its ok, but still.
2. Need more colour themes to choose from, like a whole lot more.

Positives:

1. Faster connection to the net through Data and WiFi
2. Can use any photos etc on my tiles, I like that
3. The battery is not draining so fast any more, including with the Facebook app, and notifications.
4. Last charge is working correctly and giving the right information first pop.
5. Location is not effecting the battery much any more which is AWESOME.
6. Syncing with my laptop is working way better and faster, Im getting another windows phone so Im going to have 2 plus my laptop to sync with.
7. Wider screen option in the themes settings.
8. My phone dont freeze much any more.
9. Since the last update, call connections and texting are extremely fast, I LOVE IT.

They say that Microsoft are listening to customers more, Im seeing it this time and so I say THANK YOU.