Microsoft has just released its Windows Phone 8.1 update to developers as a preview (to find out how to get the update, click here). I installed it a an hour or two earlier and I am already liking what I found on WP8.1 so far. So I thought I would share some of it here.
Tile Background/Theme & More tiles for all devices:
The first and most obvious would be the ability to select a custom background for the live tile screen, and the ability to show one more column of tile. What I love is the ability to give the Live tile screen a bit more colour and customisability, but the downside is of course the potential to make your home screen look extremely cluttered. Simple backgrounds like the wallpaper on the Nexus 5 looks extremely nice in my opinion. But do note that not all tiles support this background theme.
Cortana:
While Cortana is still being labeled as BETA, I found that it works pretty wonderfully. What I love is the ability to determine and customise what I want Cortana to know about me. It’s like a mix between Google Now and SIRI, but it isn’t necessarily better just yet. But I think it has the potential to be.
Notification/Control Centre:
Another long awaited feature finally makes its way to Windows Phone. The implementation is nothing new or special, but works well. But I would love the ability to put in more than just 4 settings option.
Individual Volume Control:
No, this isn’t a joke. Finally in April of the year 2014, Windows Phone finally has the ability to set different volume for the ringer and media. It used to be that if i turn down the volume while playing a game, it volume for the ringer goes down as well. Well, not anymore. To some it might seem like a small issue, but any little bit of small friction across the OS adds up.
Swipe to Type:
Normally I am not a huge fan of gesture typing, but I do know that a lot of people are. So it is nice to see this feature here. And to be fair it does work really really well, and is convenient for one hand typing.
Reading View in IE11:
I like catching up on news, reading articles on my phone while on the go, so have a reading view is a huge huge plus for me. Tap that book icon on the URL bar and it turns what you see above, into what you see below.
More Built-in Apps:
I was pleasantly surprise when I found a podcast app built into the 8.1 update. Frankly there isn’t a lack of good podcast apps in the Windows Phone app store, but having a built-in option is always nice.
Camera app:
The previous default camera app was pretty bare bones, but the new one is a whole other ball game altogether. The 5 icons at the top is now customisable. You can choose from a list of options like; camera roll, resolution, lens picker, front/rear camera, flash, scenes, ISO, exposure values, and white balance. You can set them in any order you want, or even remove a few if you want the app to be less cluttered. I love it.
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These are only the features that I found in the past hour or so, and I am sure there are lots of minor and major tweaks around OS. So far I am pretty impressed with what Microsoft has done to improve to OS. While there are still some parts of it I would love to see improved, there are a lot less friction when using the OS. Also the 8.1 update works really well and smooth even on low end devices like the Lumia 520 and 625 that I am using, so kudos to Microsoft to that. :)
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