Making Sense For WP7

[Nurhisham Hussein]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://blogs.forbes.com/elizabethwoyke/2010/12/23/htc-we-will-customize-windows-phone-7-over-time/' target='_blank'>http://blogs.forbes.com/elizabethwo...ne-7-over-time/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"One of the great debates surrounding Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system focuses on whether the design guidelines the company set for its manufacturer partners allow for adequate expression. How can companies like Samsung, LG and Dell keep their Windows Phone 7 (WP7) handsets looking cool and different when Microsoft specifies the basic button layout, display resolution and user interface framework these companies should use?"</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/wpt/auto/1293496462.usr14226.jpg" style="border: 0px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>HTC is hoping to bring it's Sense UI to WP7 - it's one way to differentiate its WP7 phones from everyone else's. They've even begun an ambitious project to bring Windows Live type services to all their Sense enabled phones across different OS types (<a href="https://www.htcsense.com/" target="_blank">here </a>and <a href="http://www.htc.com/sea/press.aspx?id=146350&amp;lang=1033" target="_blank">here</a> for reference), starting with Android. I'm not sure if this isn't really just wishful thinking on their part, given the determined way Microsoft has been protecting the consistent user interaction and performance that WP7 offers across the board. But what do you guys think? Would bringing the full Sense experience to WP7 make sense (sorry for the pun)?</p>

[Fritzly]

Personally I have never been a big fan of the Sense UI so I am quite biased here. What I really like on my HD7 is the silly "List" utility; it is the best grocery list I have ever used: simple and easy to use. "Stocks" is not bad too and "Notes is horrible: I do not like its old fashion style, I like the Hi Tech minimalist one.

[John London]

Even though I do not have WP7, the only way if HTC improved it drastically. I have the HD2 and got the SPB interface, way better. Although the clock reminds me of being a kid.:)

[Don Tolson]

I thought MS mandated that the basic look and feel of WP7 could not be altered nor 'skinned' by vendors with their own overlay. I seem to remember there were very specific instructions/requirements around yes, you could have your own custom tile on the main screen, that would take you to another interface (like HTC's Hub now on WP7 phones) but not a complete reskinning of the O/S == like what happened with WM6.x.

MS was trying SPECIFICALLY to be more Apple-like and control the look, feel, and operation of the new WP7 phones and avoid the plethora of interfaces and features (and confusion) of the old era.

[benjimen]

They should leave it as-is and concentrate on build and hardware quality. Hope they weren't expecting sales-through-the-roof, that aint gonna happen ;)

[batsai]

I agree with benjimen 100%. Why add Sense? Many of the things that Sense adds in Android are already provided by WP7 out of the box, like Facebook integration, except Microsoft's implementation is far more complete and useful than HTC's.

The things that bothered me about Sense on Android (EVO 4G):

1. The HTC Mail client was buggy. It provided a good experience, but after a while, would simply refuse to fetch my email, no matter what I did. The only solution was to delete my account and start over, only to find out I had 20 emails waiting for me.

2. The HTC Music Player refused to shuffle my music and couldn't accurately display album art for about 30% of my library.

3. The HTC Video Player was nice, but it never remembered where I left off in a video, requiring me to remember where I left off and scrub to the approximate position I remembered. WTF?

4. The full screen HTC Weather Widget was nice, but EVERYTIME I unplugged my EVO from my computer after syncing, it would freeze. I'd have to uninstall and reinstall it. What a pain.

5. The Facebook integration in contacts was buggy. For some of my FB friends (usually the ones that mattered), Sense wasn't able to show their wall or said they didn't have any albums. When I contacted HTC, they blamed Facebook, saying that Facebook had changed their security without telling anyone. WTF?

6. The HTC gallery blows. Laggy and ridiculously slow. I'd swipe through an album and wait 15 seconds while thumbnails loaded one by one.

WP7 is a MUCH better experience for me than Sense. Sense on Android had WAY too many bugs for me- it felt like beta software. On WP7, everything just works, for the most part. Also, adding Sense might mean delayed updates and who wants that? Until HTC cleans up their act, I'd rather have them improve on the quality of their hardware- better cameras, better screens, and better build quality.

[Paragon]

Whether it is HTC's Sense or something else, I think it is in the platform's best interest to be more flexible, and allow some UI changes and additions. I know there are a lot of people who like the Metro UI and want nothing else, but there are also a lot of people who don't like it, or want more flexibility, presently they are going elsewhere. I think if Microsoft continues to see nothing more then mediocre sales they are going to have to seriously consider this issue, if they are going to appeal to a broader market.

There are lots of ways to implement more flexibility without interfering with the base UI, which seems to be a concern for some.

However.......I think this discussion is all for not. I don't see Microsoft loosening their grip on the platform any time soon. :(

Dave

[Sven Johannsen]

I'm another one that never really got into Sense. I never enjoyed having to slide sideways or through a tray of icons to see the info that is summarized on my WP7 Home Screen, and was on my WM6.5 with the appropriate add-ins. Some of their treatment of basic functions was pretty good, but they had the tendency to glitz it up with no funtional enhancement. You can see that with their current Hub. While impressive, having to fly through clouds everytime I just want to get to the weather gets old. Their standalone apps are pretty good though. Lets leave the interface alone and let folks get used to it. It's way better out of the box than WM was, though once I got it set up the way I wanted, I could actually get around it pretty well with just touch. I intentionally bought an HTC Pure, with no keyboard to try to work it that way. Rarely pulled out the stylus for basic functionality. Just saying, This UI doesn't take a geek to get it set up so the stuff that matters to you is up front, but is customizable enough to sooth some of the folks with fidget fever.

I think of it like a car. My next door neighbor has cars he tinkers with, changing this, ugrading that. He drives them around the block, and tinkers some more. I bought a car, added a few things to make it mine, and I drive it.

[Paragon]

I think of it like a car. My next door neighbor has cars he tinkers with, changing this, ugrading that. He drives them around the block, and tinkers some more. I bought a car, added a few things to make it mine, and I drive it.

Hey Sven, that's exactly my point.

Presently you are the only one buying WP7, your neighbor isn't. Wouldn't you agree that increasing the flexibility of the platform would bring more people like your neighbor into the fold? And remember it's not that difficult to allow things such as side loading apps, and making minor UI changes without affecting other users experience.

Dave

[batsai]

I think adding Sense to Windows Phone 7 would be like putting ketchup on filet mignon. The thing is, what would adding Sense do for the UI? Facebook integration? WP7 already has far superior and far more elegant Facebook integration than Sense. Plus, in my experience with Sense on Android (EVO 4G), it was buggy:

1. The mail client wouldn't retrieve new emails after a time, even when I tried to manually refresh it.
2. The weather widget would ALWAYS freeze when I unplugged my phone from the computer. The only way to get it to respond again was to delete it and re-add it. Quite the pain.
3. The Facebook integration with contacts never worked quite right. For some contacts, it refused to show their most recent posts or photo albums. When I contacted HTC, they blamed the problem on Facebook. It's interesting that WP7 doesn't have those problems.
4. The HTC music player never shuffled my music when I selected shuffle- it would play them in order no matter what I did.
5. The HTC gallery was awful. Slow and laggy. WP7's blows it away.
6. Shipping the EVO with all the graphics locked at a choppy 30fps was a big deal in the Android world. That HTC would ship their flagship phone with a horribly stuttering UI really angered a lot of people. To their credit, HTC fixed it, but it is a problem that should never have been there in the first place.

Now, I'm not saying that everyone has these problems- some people love Sense. I am not one of them. I am not convinced that HTC's implementation of Sense UI is usable enough on a daily basis- it felt like beta software to me on my EVO 4G. Coming from all those bugs, WP7 is a godsend. It may not have multitasking, but for the most part, everything just works. I DO NOT want to see HTC taking WP7 and adding their "customization"- it doesn't need it. It would be like putting chocolate sauce on top of asparagus.

[Sven Johannsen]

Hey Sven, that's exactly my point.

Presently you are the only one buying WP7, your neighbor isn't. Wouldn't you agree that increasing the flexibility of the platform would bring more people like your neighbor into the fold? And remember it's not that difficult to allow things such as side loading apps, and making minor UI changes without affecting other users experience.

Dave

There are a lot more of me than there are of my neighbor. I think the belief is/was those like me weren't buying WM because of the impression you had to tinker with it, not totally unfounded. You can't change that impression. You can offer something new that targets a different segment at the outset. Maybe you lose some, but gain a lot more. Maybe the neighbor keeps his toy and decides he needs a family car too. Maybe after a while the option to tinker is revealed, but its understood it is not required.

[Paragon]

There are a lot more of me than there are of my neighbor. I think the belief is/was those like me weren't buying WM because of the impression you had to tinker with it, not totally unfounded. You can't change that impression. You can offer something new that targets a different segment at the outset. Maybe you lose some, but gain a lot more. Maybe the neighbor keeps his toy and decides he needs a family car too. Maybe after a while the option to tinker is revealed, but its understood it is not required.

I guess I'm not making my point properly. As I said, it would be easy to add some minor UI changes, allow apps to be side loaded, yet have no effect on those who don't wish to use those options. This way you serve both and increase your market.

I don't mean this to sound rude, but otherwise it is a bit like saying "I don't want it, so you can have it either."

Dave

[Fritzly]

There are a lot more of me than there are of my neighbor. I think the belief is/was those like me weren't buying WM because of the impression you had to tinker with it, not totally unfounded.

While I personally did not like and used Sense I appreciated the fact it was there; replacing it with the original MS GUI was not so difficult too.

As for the count of how many of "me" against how many of "my neighbor" I have no idea of the real numbers so I would not comment on it.

While I like my WP7 device I do agree that the platform is too much restrictive and locked down; I hope MS will open it up allowing sideload of apps etc. If not this policy will hurt WP7. Do not forget that the reason Windows PCs were so succesfull was their openess.

[mas98110]

My experience with HTC Sense was like batsai "bad". My HTC HD2 would freeze up all the time and the battery drain was horrific. 50% gone in 3hrs. I installed SPB Mobile skin and love it. Battery drain is now70% after 12hrs!
I can't comment on the new Win Phone 7 because I needed the active sync with my desktop so I got the HD2 instead to replace my old Wizard.

[Sven Johannsen]

I guess I'm not making my point properly. As I said, it would be easy to add some minor UI changes, allow apps to be side loaded, yet have no effect on those who don't wish to use those options. This way you serve both and increase your market.

I don't mean this to sound rude, but otherwise it is a bit like saying "I don't want it, so you can have it either."

Dave
You are making your point just fine, and I understand it. What I'm saying is if you hand a regular person a device with a million knobs, they may be adverse to it in the first place, even if you explain you only have to use the on/off switch. Possibly to get a reasonable amount of adoption amongst the masses you need to hide the controls at the outset. Some are of course necessary, and it is a judgment call on the developers part which those are, and how the defaults are set. Once established, shouldn't be any reason not to expose the 'advanced' control kit. I miss the configurability of WM myself. Really never understood the issue folks had with it, and why it so vilified in many reviews...but it was. Seems to me it did years ago, what Android is lauded for doing now.

So I'm not against providing user options, but I don't see the point of allowing every OEM to design and load whatever they think is the holy grail of user interfaces. From what I have been reading, folks are generally pretty happy with the basic functionality of the Windows Phone interface concept, and it is details of some of the (lost) capabilities that are aggravating WM users, and some shortcomings for users that had never considered MS before.