Windows Phone App Thread

Instagram Beta

An official Instagram app is something Windows Phone users have been wanting since the Windows Phone platform began.  There are some good 3rd party clients available, but this is the first official app from Instagram.  

One of my favourite apps right from the start was PHOTOBEAMER (which allowed you to stream your photo libraries on your phone to any internet-enabled display).   Nokia has released PLAY TO now which goes a step further and allows for streaming of all audio/video content from your phone to any DLNA device in the home.  Two of my favourite windows-phone (albeit Nokia-exclusive) apps for sure.

Nokia Camera App

This is one of the best camera apps on the Windows Phone platform, and is a must-have for any Lumia owners.  This replaces and combines some features of the older Nokia camera apps, and gives you a bunch more options and settings when taking a picture.

Package Tracker

If you ship or receive packages on a regular basis this a must-have app for keeping track of them.  It supports over 60 carriers and also syncs with the Windows 8 app.  It supports Live Tiles and you can pin specific packages to the start screen.  It costs $2.49, but well worth it.

Xbox Music

If you have an Xbox Music pass they have also released the Xbox Music app.

• See artist details with pictures, bios, album lists, and related artists
• Manage your personal music collection, shared across all of your devices
• Explore top songs, featured artists, and recommended albums to easily discover new music
• Download songs for offline playback
• Create and manage playlists that automatically sync across your pc, tablet, Xbox, and the web
• Radio instantly creates playlists based on your favorite artists
• Stream ad-free music from a catalog of tens of millions of songs

The Nokia Black update is rolling out today with several new features and improvements.  My favorite is the App Folder app which lets you put groups of apps in a single folder, much like how you do on iOS.

http://conversations.nokia.com/2014/01/09/lumia-black-update/

If you have the update through the developer preview updates, you can also download the App Folder app from the Windows Store.

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/app-folder/7d2e7de3-95e7-4143-8a9d-aedf8c3f901e

Here's to hoping this isn't considered spam.

Great deal on Windows Phone!

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Nokia-Lumia-520-No-Contract-for-AT-T/productID.283842800?WT.mc_id=PromoEmail_NoContractPhones_OnlineBM_1-7-14_Hero_Lumia520 

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Nokia-Lumia-521-No-Contract-for-T-Mobile/productID.279982200?WT.mc_id=PromoEmail_NoContractPhones_OnlineBM_1-7-14_Hero_Lumia521 

ID, if this is spam, please delete. 

Oops, I misread the OP to say Windows Phone Thread, I missed the word app. 

 Android already does this, without an app for it. Just sayin'........

Yeah, I don't care anything about Android, or Google for that matter.

It's fine.  My daughter bought a 520 to replace the iPhone she broke.  It's a great device for the low price.

i have the Folder app. it works like a champ. as for android already doing it, wp will too with the Black update. i doubt android did it at the beginning of its existence either. i am completely happy with WP and my 920. when my contract expires in december 2014, i'll get a new phone with a larger screen. an example would be the 1520. what a great phone! my ex has one and my son-in-law is considering one, also.

Well, I went ahead and ordered the Lumia 520 from MS Store for $59.00.

I'll be looking for tip and such about synching my phone with my PC.

Yeah, same here!  I had an Android phone and didn't like it much at all.  I keep hearing people saying that Android has this and that app/feature that Windows phones don't have, but my 820 does all I need it to and all the apps I want or need are available in the Windows store.  For mine, the W8 phone has a much nicer interface and is more user friendly than Android, and I'd never consider an Apple phone.  While there are some advantages to having an Apple phone with my home network [dedicated networkapps and abitities not yet available on Windows phones] they're just not enough of a magnet to draw me in.

I just checked regarding the 'Black' update and it is not yet avaiable here on my network.  It's available to some of the other models and networks but it hasn't been approved for the 820 on Vodaphone as yet.

I'm looking into getting a Lumia 520 to synch up with my home phone and internet connection, which are through Telstra.  I can get one on a plan for an extra $12.00 a month over 12 months or a PAYG one for $139 outright.  While the plan costs a tad more, there are advantages going that way... eg, lower call costs; more included features/options and never having unused credit expire.

Bing apps have been updated with sync and sharing features.

http://www.wpcentral.com/bing-apps-windows-phone-account-sync

"Microsoft has updated its Bing suite of apps for Windows Phone 8 with further integration with its Account platform. Smartphone owners who utilise any of the Bing apps on their Windows Phone will be able to connect to their Microsoft Account and have data and personalisations synchronised across the board."

Really good for Windows 8 users.

Yes, and I really need to make better use of the available apps and my user account options.  While I use some of the obvious, there is so much more I could be using to better enjoy my W8 phone.

Thanks for the head up, ID.

I got a little 520 to mess with over the weekend. Pretty impressed. Windows 8.1 and now Windows Phone 8........I'm liking the all round experience that Microsoft and Nokia are putting together.

I've posted several times now about a Nokia exclusive app called 'Photobeamer'  (see my first post in this thread), but recently there is yet another Nokia exclusive app I've been finding invaluable.

Nokia Beamer

This app shares your phone screen (Nokia phone) via Nokia's servers to/with any internet-enabled screen locally or remotely (for remote sharing you send people the link via SMS or email etc.).  You can even invite additional 'participants' (although I'm not sure how many since I have yet to test that particular app feature!).  If you choose you can also share your camera feed so anyone on the other end can see whatever your phone camera is 'seeing'.

Of course it is advisable to be using WiFi (to save data) while doing so but the app also has options regarding quality vs speed and one can set it to either share the screen constantly or only when one gives the screen a shake (thereby only providing periodic screen updates).

Absolutely fantastic app I've used quite a lot already.  Aside from how rock solid I've found the Nokia hardware I continue to be impressed by Nokia's focus on bringing out more and more worthwhile apps!

Microsoft released a preview for a Remote Desktop App for Windows Phone.  Right now, you will need Windows Phone 8.1 to install.

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/microsoft-remote-desktop-preview/299b09ab-207e-441c-9e8e-c8d66c20b76b

Features:

• Rich multi-touch experience with remote desktop protocol (RDP) and RemoteFX supporting Windows gestures
• Secure connection to your data and applications with breakthrough Network Level Authentication (NLA) technology
• Simple management of all remote connections from the connection center
• High quality video and sound streaming with improved compression and bandwidth usage

Now this is an app I will find very useful.... when I can get 8.1 on my phone.  I got the Black update about a week after folks here were speaking about getting it, so hopefully 8.1 isn't too far off.

As far as I know the official release for 8.1 is still a ways off.   You can get the 8.1 developer preview.

You have to go here:  http://appstudio.windowsphone.com/

Register.  Download the APP and enable and check for updates.

The 'official release' is likely coming mid-summer sometime.  At least to us Canucks up here! 

Ok, okay!  So it's just the developer preview people are talking about having.  Oh well, I'm not missing out after all.  Still, I will look into the developer preview and see how it goes.  I have a vague recollection that some folks had issues, so hopefully it will be easily rolled back if that happens to be my experience with it.  Uh, no... I just read at the Dev site that the updates delivered are not reversible.  Never mind, I'm sure it'll all work out just fine.

Well I seem to have the Preview for Devs app on my phone, but I have no idea how to get it to do anything.  Every time I click on it I have to accept the terms and conditions, which I do, then I have to sign into my account using my email acc and password, but that's as far as I can go.  It tells me I'm supposed to register as a developer - which I thought I had when I initially signed in with my user name - but I cannot find where to go from there to do this.  If anyone has any idea as to what I need to do, please inform me so that I may use this app.

Thanks.

It's Okay, I figured it out/solved it.  I hadn't completed the registration properly. Once I had I was able to enable the preview and get the updates.

Yeah, it was all so confusing, but after being up for 32 hours now without sleep, I'm allowed to get confuseded... and not see the obvious.

Anyway, all is well that ends well, my phone is updating and I can now get the tools to make my own apps.  Woohoo, with a bit of practice, a wing and a prayer, I'll hopefully be able to make apps that'll connect me to my internet banking [they do Android and Apple apps but not one for Windows] and another to connect me to my ISP and landline provider accounts.

The OneDrive app was updated to v4.1.  

"The new version now allows for multiple files, photos, and videos to be uploaded to a OneDrive account at once, which should be a huge time save. Users can now open and share OneDrive files in other apps. There's also a new "immersive view" for photos, and users can now sort files and photos by name, along with which file is newest or oldest, or which has the biggest or smallest file size. Finally, there are a number of unnamed bug fixes and performance improvements."

Via Neowin.net.