back to article Blasphemy! Finns trample over Windows Phone home screen

Nokia's phone division has released an app that might upset the high priests at the Temple of Windows Phone Design – who will shortly become its new masters. The app allows users to add folders to the Windows Phone Home Screen – thereby desecrating the hallowed ground which by almighty decree, Must Never Change. It's part of …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Glad someone is developing Windows Phone, it's just a shame it's not Microsoft.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      MS are falling over themselves to develop for Windows Phone, have you not seen how many apps are by them? I've actually heard Win Phone nay sayers complain about MS developing for Win Phone because somehow it's a bad thing that they are developing more than others (no, I haven't worked out how either).

    2. Brian
      FAIL

      The article fails to mention that much of GDR3 is updates by Microsoft and not just Nokia updates. But, haters gonna hate.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Anyone able to paint MS/Winphone loving Orlowski as an 'MS hater' has seriously lost the plot.

        If anything he's more likely feeling hatred that yet another years old Android feature has crept stealthily into WP.

  2. Natalie Gritpants
    IT Angle

    "and adds a fraction of a delay (a folder opens in a couple of seconds) to your workflow"

    Delays are atomic. You can have a fraction of a second or a short delay. This sounds like a long delay.

    Icon for "where's the IT competence?"

  3. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Trollface

    If Nokia keep making incremental improvements like this we might soon end up with the usability at Symbian Belle's level.

    Apart from the graphic design of course.

    1. kwhitefoot

      Folders like this were on the N9 from the start.

      This feature is very convenient, it lets me unclutter the home screen and categorize the rarely used applications.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    can't polish

    but can roll in glitter!

  5. Tim 11

    that screenshot - are you serious???

    An interface that looks like Windows 3.1 would have if it only supported 2 colours and 256x512 resolution!

    It's not surprising nobody wants it!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: that screenshot - are you serious???

      Either you have never seen Windows 3.1 or you've never seen WP 7/8, which is it?

    2. Brian

      Re: that screenshot - are you serious???

      IOS looks much more like Windows 3.1 than the WP8.

    3. Andrew Orlowski (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: that screenshot - are you serious???

      I think OS/2 got there first. v1.1 had "Program Groups" but the entries were text, and had no icons. 1.2 had groups with icons, and the resemblance is quite uncanny.

      http://toastytech.com/guis/os212.html

  6. TRT Silver badge

    Ugly.

    1. GitMeMyShootinIrons

      See? It is catching up with iOS and generic Android then.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        See? It is catching up with iOS and generic Android then.

        ...and with the BlackBerry Playbook, though I doubt they want to be reminded of that.

        I might buy a 1520 if that reaches £127 in PC World.

      2. cambsukguy

        I think you mean reversing back to, this is not a great idea, it is presumably to appease some people, whether they have the phone or are reading about it. It is like the clamour for a notification display/app - totally unrequired since sensible placing of the pertinent live tiles gives a superior solution - notifications separately stated for the relevant sources.

        I have seen fancy folder apps, especially on android, they generally only work when the user knows what apps are in what folder - the person I knew had about eight of these groups and they could be displayed on the start screen in some satellite orbiting cool-looking display; only trouble was, it was impossible to see what apps there were in what groups, it was just for selecting the group by name and then (presumably) selecting the app by icon. There was all kinds of poking around... "it's in this one, no, this one, oh, I'll search for it"

        This is not faster at all than the WP method, which is pretty straightforward. If you do not have the app on the start screen (or, even if you do) you slide right and display the app list. You then tap a letter button ('a' probably) and a grid showing the alphabet is displayed. You then touch the letter required and (probably) your app is displayed, unless you have a lot of them, in which case a quick scroll may be required.

        The main benefit of this system is that the apps are listed along with their full name, making selection not dependant on the icon, some of which can be rather obscure.

        In addition, a standard search allows any part of the name to be typed if you just can't remember the app name properly (type 'bus' and get UK Bus checker - good app but is that really what iPhone apps look like - ugh).

        You can also speak "start <something>" and the app with that word in will start (Note: This is actually useful if one is driving and the app is Nokia Drive). It even reads multiple app names so you can ask again ("Start Amazon...Amazon Kindle or Amazon Mobile?")

        I have no idea why haters here think WP owners are all 'suffering' their phones; most of us specifically chose our phone, are able to change if we wanted but stick with the tougher, slicker, better camera phone for a reason (or, more likely, many reasons).

        If you have a valid comment to make like "I prefer slim, metal phones" or "I love a grid of icons" or "I want to be able to change every single thing on my phone including the entire OS" then fine but this crap like "I hope the two owners are happy with this change" then you will be thought of as the ignorant trolling douche bags you undoubtedly are.

  7. John Tserkezis

    You mean like groups I can have on my Samsung Android? Useful in keeping things tidy while not overly occupying 'desktop' space.

    And Windows Phone needed Nokia to help them catch up? No wonder WP has a poofteenth of a percent market share.

    1. Jack Faust meets Mephistopheles

      Optional widget is optional

      Folders aren't a missing feature, in the great OS parity list it's not even a footnote. There are many apps which perform this or a similar function but as little developers they don't get to mention them in firmware patch notes.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sorta looks like....

    the folders that you can set up on your iPhone - just blue

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Sorta looks like....

      Is that meant to suggest that the concept of folders was invented by apple for use on the iphone? If so can i recommend a visit to WHSmith for some discovery of prior art.

      1. ukgnome

        Re: Sorta looks like....

        I never knew that WHSmith made operating systems, mobile or otherwise.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. GitMeMyShootinIrons

      Re: Sorta looks like....

      "the folders that you can set up on your iPhone - just blue"

      Oh, the ones iOS ripped off Windows 3?

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Almost.....

    ...in danger of making a Windup phone attractive

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Re: Almost.....

      It already was, to those who have used it.

  10. Captain Scarlet Silver badge
    Paris Hilton

    Folders

    Didn't realise WP had enough apps to warrant folders (Same with my Blackberry not enough apps to warrant folders).

    1. Montreal Sean

      Re: Folders

      I use folders to clean up the cruft I'll never use.

      Though I suppose I should just choose to hide the icons I don't want.

      1. Captain Scarlet Silver badge

        Re: Folders

        Why not just uninstall?

  11. Jim 48

    "a folder opens in a couple of seconds"

    After you've tapped, a couple of seconds for a response can feel like a lifetime. People want instantaneous, no0lag, nowadays.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Phrasing Perils

    > imaging enhancements, including raw DNG support (for 1020 owners - which 1520 owners already have)

    So that's a total of 2540 phones sold then?

    1. Steve Knox
      Trollface

      Re: Phrasing Perils

      So that's a total of 2540 phones sold then?

      Well, he did say that Nokia makes 90% of Windows phones, so that sounds about right...

  13. Bladeforce

    Oooh

    ..can you stop the close up pics of that awful looking UI. Its bad enough when its further back!

  14. Seanie Ryan
    WTF?

    lovely

    it is a thing of beauty….pure brilliance

    1. Piro Silver badge

      Re: lovely

      ... Said nobody, ever.

      1. GitMeMyShootinIrons

        Re: lovely

        "... Said Nobody, ever."

        Said the ignorant.

    2. Dan 55 Silver badge
  15. Duke2010

    Already done

    This isn't such big news. Samsung made an exact same app for their Win Phone Ativ devices. I had it on my Ativ S ages ago. I have a Nokia now and the new App is great but the Samsung app runs faster.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Fan-bloody-tastic

    Finally, I can bend my start screen to MY will....

    Bloody excellent news this.

    PS, all naysayers, GFY...

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How bizarre is this?

    An OS that is NOT designed around file-management and hasn't even got a file manager, will get the ability to create folders. Doh?

    Why don't these bloody morons concentrate on the really needed features instead of this crap! Where's the bloody callrecorder, or why is that dialer on a WP8-SMARTphone not a SMART-dialer for example and most importantly where the hell is that bloody file manager in the first place!

    The only thing I wonder myself is: Why is that corporation still here at all?

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