Windows Phone / Windows 8 App recommendations

RainyDay · 16-04-2015 2:29pm

wrt40 wrote: »

mobile.HD Media Player

Windows 8 app. Long time favourite of mine. Plays everything you can throw at it. Cannot believe the hype over VLC when this has been in the app store for years.

Brilliant, thanks - was looking for something to play mkv files on the kids' laptop. VLC wasn't picking up the audio. Looks like this will do the job.

wrt40 · 16-04-2015 2:35pm

Scruff wrote: »

is there an app to back up camera photos/video to a NAS?

ShareFolder Explorer

wrt40 · 16-04-2015 2:52pm

Audiobooked

Great audiobook app for windows phone.

Scruff · 17-04-2015 12:18pm

wrt40 wrote: »

ShareFolder Explorer

cheers. manual though (and have to pay for it) but looks workable.

ablelocks · 24-04-2015 11:13am

i have 10 dollars (MS love me long time!) to spend on apps for my phone - any recommendations for paid apps?

theothernt · 24-04-2015 12:44pm

ablelocks wrote: »

i have 10 dollars (MS love me long time!) to spend on apps for my phone - any recommendations for paid apps?

Off the top of my head, MetroTube and Poki - both apps are free with in-app purchases.

ablelocks · 27-04-2015 9:30pm

had metrotube already and i don't use pocket (anymore)

so far I've got podcast lounge and afterlight (with an extra filter set). It's harder than I thought to spend some money in an app store.

I haven't looked at games yet though - are there any decent, universal games?

edit : (actually, should there be a separate thread for windows device games or would that even be allowed in this forum?)

Fingleberries · 28-04-2015 4:43pm

ablelocks wrote: »

had metrotube already and i don't use pocket (anymore)

so far I've got podcast lounge and afterlight (with an extra filter set). It's harder than I thought to spend some money in an app store.

I haven't looked at games yet though - are there any decent, universal games?

edit : (actually, should there be a separate thread for windows device games or would that even be allowed in this forum?)

If you've an xbox you can use the same credit there.

CatInABox · 28-04-2015 5:08pm

Hitman Go is out on Windows devices now, was in many game of the year lists last year.

ablelocks · 28-04-2015 5:14pm

Fingleberries wrote: »

If you've an xbox you can use the same credit there.

difficult, if not impossible - because the phone is on the dev preview and region is set to USA for cortana, the credit was applied to my "US account". I have previously tried to change region setting of the xbox to US (both on xbox.com and on the xbox) and it didn't allow purchases to go through.

ablelocks · 28-04-2015 5:16pm

CatInABox wrote: »

Hitman Go is out on Windows devices now, was in many game of the year lists last year.

thanks, looks good alright, so bought it

CatInABox · 01-05-2015 10:02am

ablelocks wrote: »

thanks, looks good alright, so bought it

If you've still got spare change, Monument Valley is also out now, another highly recommended game.

See here.

senordingdong · 02-05-2015 10:26am

6snap is fine acting the flute.
Word is it's getting shut down?
Anyone have any recommendations for a replacement?

theothernt · 02-05-2015 5:43pm

senordingdong wrote: »

6snap is fine acting the flute.
Word is it's getting shut down?
Anyone have any recommendations for a replacement?

There won't be any. Snapchat is cracking down on *any* non-official clients, that's why 6Snap isn't available in the Windows Phone Store anymore.

If another 3rd party app appeared (very unlikely, I think), it would only last a couple of days before being taken down. Then the app itself, even if installed and still running on your phone, would be blocked.

senordingdong · 02-05-2015 6:13pm

theothernt wrote: »

There won't be any. Snapchat is cracking down on *any* non-official clients, that's why 6Snap isn't available in the Windows Phone Store anymore.

If another 3rd party app appeared (very unlikely, I think), it would only last a couple of days before being taken down. Then the app itself, even if installed and still running on your phone, would be blocked.

And obviously, no plans to release their own official app.

Sir Oxman · 03-05-2015 9:54pm

Pocket Casts is now on WP
It's the only cross platform podcast app I know of now - WP/Android/ios
No trial, have to pay for all versions
Have it and it's exactly what I wanted (sync across devices)

GB store: 2.69
https://www.windowsphone.com/en-gb/store/app/pocket-casts/55b093dc-219e-472e-9545-4c317f59cb57
IE store: 3.99
https://www.windowsphone.com/en-ie/store/app/pocket-casts/55b093dc-219e-472e-9545-4c317f59cb57

wilser · 14-06-2015 11:23pm

Runtastic pro is free in the store atm.
Not sure how good it is but I think it's only free for a short time.

Bayberry · 15-06-2015 3:14am

Just came across the "Official GAA" app, published by the GAA, and recently updated. Even if you only have a passing interest in the GAA, you might want to check it out, if only to reward them for supporting the platform.

From the App description:

The GAA is the largest amateur sporting association in the world promoting gaelic games and Irish culture. The Official GAA Windows Phone app provides latest news, fixtures, results, photos, videos and venue information, including a map with traffic flow and driving directions. You can also use the app to find your favourite county's fixtures or results hands free using Cortana integration.

Features Include:

*Cortana integration (speech settings need to be US/UK for now). Ask Cortana when Dublin play next or what Cork's last result was.
*Traffic flow integration with venue map using Bing Maps
*Driving directions from the venue map
*Remembered settings to remember your favourite county and sport
*Pin fixtures/results or venues to your start screen for quick access
Added Cortana integration (speech settings need to be US/UK for now). Ask Cortana when Dublin play next or what Cork's last result was.
Traffic flow integration with venue map using Bing Maps
Driving directions from the venue map
Remembered setting to remember your favourite county
Improved UI, including performance improvements
Bug fixes

The Cortana integration actually works! But it took about 6 tries before Cortana actually got "GAA When do Dublin play next", and Kerry was transcribed as Carrie, but it worked when I typed the question in, so I guess eventually Cortana might learn that Kerry makes sense for GAA questions. And Cortana actually reads the result out when it gets one - but she can't pronounce Pairc an Chrócaigh

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-ie/store/app/official-gaa/17695908-22d7-4160-8053-47db7741de26

RainyDay · 15-06-2015 10:42am

Any suggestions for a video player app for a Windows 8 hybrid laptop that can handle frame-by-frame play? VLC is normally my video player of choice, and the standard Windows version does frame-by-frame, but I can't see or find any controls in the Windows 8 touchscreen version to allow me to do frame-by-frame.

Thanks in advance.

Gipo3 · 18-06-2015 3:50pm

Bayberry wrote: »

Just came across the "Official GAA" app, published by the GAA, and recently updated. Even if you only have a passing interest in the GAA, you might want to check it out, if only to reward them for supporting the platform.

From the App description:

The Cortana integration actually works! But it took about 6 tries before Cortana actually got "GAA When do Dublin play next", and Kerry was transcribed as Carrie, but it worked when I typed the question in, so I guess eventually Cortana might learn that Kerry makes sense for GAA questions. And Cortana actually reads the result out when it gets one - but she can't pronounce Pairc an Chrócaigh

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-ie/store/app/official-gaa/17695908-22d7-4160-8053-47db7741de26

I couldn't disagree more on this app. Apart from cortana feature, which would be used rarely the app actually takes you to their website for each news story, the picture gallery crashes the app, and the live tile is never updated.

The Unofficial GAA app is much better, it includes live match updates, league tables, all news stories, club and county ground locations and a live tile that is regularly updated.

Bayberry · 18-06-2015 5:10pm

Gipo3 wrote: »

I couldn't disagree more on this app. Apart from cortana feature, which would be used rarely the app actually takes you to their website for each news story, the picture gallery crashes the app, and the live tile is never updated.

No problems with the Gallery here (though it's not terribly up to date, and doesn't have any videos, even though it has a videos page). The news stories are displayed within the app, by embedding the browser - that seems reasonable enough, though they could handle the cookies warning a bit beter.

Of course it's a bit of a tip-of-the-hat to the Unofficial GAA app that the GAAs own app is listed under O for Official, rather than G for GAA, which is where you'd expect to find it!!!

beauf · 18-06-2015 5:31pm

I don't really understand how the Windows Phone Store is so bad. Or how so many apps in it are so flawed.

Bayberry · 18-06-2015 5:51pm

beauf wrote: »

I don't really understand how the Windows Phone Store is so bad. Or how so many apps in it are so flawed.

Chicken and egg. Commercial developers aren't putting the effort in because they don't see the market share, market share doesn't grow because the apps aren't being developed.

Windows 10 and Universal Apps should help this to some extent, but developers who are solely focussed on the small screen mobile user won't necessarily be jumping to Windows 10, but "couch apps" and "3rd screen apps", where the tablet/laptop user is the prime audience should definitely find Windows 10 Universal apps more attractive - Windows tablets are now competitive with Android tablets, and the app-gap there might be a bit easier to overcome. We'll have to wait and see, though.

Bayberry · 18-06-2015 6:07pm

I just went back and checked, and I don't see any mention of Duolingo on this thread.

It's an app for learning languages - Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Irish, Dutch, Danish, and English (and Turkish in the most recent update). I started using it a couple of months ago to refresh my Irish. By setting daily targets and "losing a life" when you make a mistake, you have an incentive to keep at it, though the phone client doesn't give any guidance on the actual grammatical rules that you're dealing with - you have to log into the website to get that.

It's definitely expanded my vocabulary, but I still can't get my head around the tuiseal ginideach!

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-ie/store/app/duolingo-learn-languages-for-free/2d89520e-d360-4b5b-ba5a-5a15064aa935

theothernt · 18-06-2015 7:31pm

beauf wrote: »

I don't really understand how the Windows Phone Store is so bad. Or how so many apps in it are so flawed.

There are many reasons, some of it is Microsoft's fault and some is the developer's fault. How long do you have? :pac:

Bayberry · 19-06-2015 4:49pm

Gipo3 wrote: »

I couldn't disagree more on this app. Apart from cortana feature, which would be used rarely the app actually takes you to their website for each news story, the picture gallery crashes the app, and the live tile is never updated.

Funnily enough, the Official GAA tile was "live" this morning, though right now it's just showing me the GAA logo. And I also notice that when I use the Pin option within the App itself, the Tile says GAA News, rather than Official GAA (that's why I have two different tiles in these screenshots).

Bayberry · 19-06-2015 7:55pm

Bayberry wrote: »

Funnily enough, the Official GAA tile was "live" this morning, though right now it's just showing me the GAA logo.

I rebooted the phone this afternoon, and when it came back up, the GAA tiles were live again. I had selected a different county to check fixtures, and I think that's when the tile stopped updating, but I can't tell for sure. I just changed the county again, and the tile is still "live".

Gipo3 · 21-06-2015 4:23pm

The Official GAA tile only updates after you go into the app and see the latest stories, whereas the Unofficial GAA tile updates properly in the background with the latest story.

Bayberry · 25-06-2015 1:07pm

Gipo3 wrote: »

The Official GAA tile only updates after you go into the app and see the latest stories, whereas the Unofficial GAA tile updates properly in the background with the latest story.

I just checked the app this morning, and checked to see if it had results from last weekends games, and it didn't - until I manually pressed the refresh icon at the bottom of the page.

I think the developer may have made a misguided choice to require manual refreshes, to save bandwidth, rather than automatic updates when the app loads, but that really should be a user choice, and not the default choice.

It's a pity - it's a nice app otherwise.

g0g · 05-12-2015 11:28am

Daily Mail UK now have a WP10 app. I know a lot of their content is probably muck, but the interface of the whole thing very nice! You get instructions first time you run it.

Windows Phone / Windows 8 App recommendations

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