Software: Windows Phone Today

Over the years I've been both kind and harsh to Windows Telephone. Microsoft'due south mobile operating system remains visually excellent, giving a lot of information at a quick glance from the homescreen. I beloved how Microsoft are trying to deliver the i master look beyond all of their main products – Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox – and the pattern familiarity between apps is something Google has failed to attain with Android.

In the past I've criticized Windows Phone for its poor app selection, both in terms of overall scope and quality of individual apps, especially those from third parties. However, as expected, ecosystem maturity that accompanies growth in popularity has improved the situation. There are few reasons to complain most the app selection, especially with the recent inclusion of Instagram and strong third-political party offerings for services such as 6tag.

There are however some cases (the official Twitter app is 1 that comes to listen) where Android counterparts for Windows Phone apps are significantly meliorate, but these cases are getting fewer each day. Google account sync is likewise no longer the considerable mess it was final time I used the platform, despite Google's insistence on ignoring Microsoft all together. The improvements all make the jump to Windows Telephone much easier, but of course, things yet aren't perfected in the Microsoft camp.

The Nokia Lumia 1520 comes with the latest version of Windows Phone out of the box: Windows Phone 8 Update 3 (or General Distribution Release 3/GDR3). The update brings support for a lot of the hardware seen in the Lumia 1520 specifically, such equally 6-inch displays, 1080p screen resolutions and Snapdragon 800 SoCs, but at that place's more going on that simply that. As you may have noticed from screenshots and photos of the device thus far, a large visual change is the inclusion of a tertiary homescreen tile column for large-screened devices.

The change means that you lot tin now see a 5x3 grid of standard tiles without having to scroll, or a 6x10 filigree of smaller tiles for incredibly dumbo information. At first I thought this may crusade an information overload through a massive ataxia of tiles, but in actual usage I like having so much content right there without having to scroll. And Windows Phone'southward tiled homescreen is equally customizable as ever, so you tin can choose to have as few or equally many tiles every bit you'd like.

Diving outside the Beginning screen, though, and information technology'southward apparent that very little has been done to optimize Windows Phone for the large display. Literally everything else is just an enlarged version of the OS, and as yous might recall, I tore into the Xperia Z Ultra for doing the same affair in its stock applications. I can forgive third-party app developers for not optimizing their software for the screen existent estate, especially as half-dozen-inch 1080p Windows Phone displays are new, merely I'm not going to requite Microsoft and Nokia the same laissez passer.

To be off-white, some font sizes are standardized between large- and smaller-sized Windows Phones, then SMS text (for example) is the same size on the Lumia 1020 as it is on the Lumia 1520. Some graphics are as well appropriately scaled, which is nice to run across, but this isn't the main effect. Putting it simply, most stock apps on the Lumia 1520 waste a phenomenal corporeality of infinite and have few gains over their small-screen versions.

One groovy example is the People app. On the Lumia 1020's 4.v-inch, 56 sq. cm display, I can see the header, a contact image for myself plus a condition update, and two contacts at the elevation of my list. On the Lumia 1520's 6-inch display with most twice the real estate, I see exactly the same, but with only two more contacts on the screen. In the agenda I can see 1 more upcoming result in the agenda on the Lumia 1520 compared to the 1020, merely with significantly more empty space.

Of form on the other hand it doesn't matter in some apps. A photograph does appear larger in the Photos app, you tin view more than of a website in Internet Explorer, and in games there is more than space to enjoy your gaming feel. Simply these are mostly just by take chances, as it just doesn't feel like Windows Phone is built for large displays like the Lumia 1520 has.

Whatsoever sensible developer would have reduced the size of the absolutely gigantic app headers beyond many apps for six-inch displays. The 'games' text in the Games app is literally three centimeters tall on a xiii cm tall display (meaning information technology occupies close to a quarter of the usable infinite), and I can still read the text from over x meters abroad. Information technology'southward the same state of affairs in other apps also, including Office, People and the Windows Phone Store. The Estimator app feels like information technology's designed for the elderly with buttons and so large.

To me, there's no betoken having a six-inch display if oftentimes-used applications don't make use of the actress screen existent estate. I want to run into more information – like the Starting time screen provides – in apps like People, Agenda, Messaging and Email, but Windows Phone only doesn't evangelize.

Aside from the screen space consequence, there are a few other gripes I take with Windows Phone on a more than general level. The settings menu is an absolute mess and needs some serious consolidation to amend discovery. Viewing and sharing photos is also very clunky, especially when y'all have a sensor that captures xx+ megapixel images and you're normally using Nokia Camera for photography; I shouldn't have to leave the Photos app to view total-resolution images taken in Camera.

It's not all bad though, as Nokia's range of applications are extremely solid. Hither Maps, Bulldoze and Transit are all fantastic mapping-related applications, especially Bulldoze which offers offline maps and speed limits for those car trips that require navigation. Many of the photographic camera-related apps are too swell, especially Pro Photographic camera which will get a full rundown in a few pages' time.

Nokia Storyteller deserves a specific shout out (although inexplicably non actually installed past default). The app is a perfect companion for anyone using the Lumia 1520 every bit their main photographic camera, specially when travelling. It automatically collates images from sure locations or events, making it easy to go back and view what you've done at sure points. Yous tin can annotate images equally well, making information technology a perfect companion for recording your travels.

A few other improvements were made in GDR3 that enhance the Windows Phone experience. There'south now a Driving Mode that can exist enabled through the settings, blocking notifications to cease y'all from getting distracted while on the route. The automatic SMS response is quite nifty to let people know you can't respond to a call because y'all're driving, and I promise the feature sees a good deal of use, especially considering the dangers of texting while driving.

Other modest enhancements include a screen rotation lock, the power to kill apps in the multitasking window, and improve cyberspace sharing options.

Is the unoptimized Windows Phone build included on the Nokia Lumia 1520 a pregnant barrier that will keep y'all from enjoying the handset? While the situation could certainly be better, it's not really a massive issue. Windows Phone provides most of what you demand from a smartphone OS in a cracking packet, and the application state of affairs has improved plenty that it's no longer the huge barrier it one time was.