[sc:mobile-category ]Microsoft has released Update 1 to developers for Windows Phone 8.1 and it hasn’t been a smooth ride for me so far 🙁
Installation
The first issue was Microsoft’s, I was one of the limited number of users that the update would not install for and instead received an error (8018830f) after downloading the update and it was being unpacked. It took Microsoft a few days to track down the issue, turned out that it was a packing error on their part and after re-packing it, it installed without further issue. The update is pretty small overall, the two big items that interested me are:
- Live Folders
- Cortana activation through the address book
Cortana
I’ve already been using Cortana in Canada by setting my region to the USA and really haven’t found any issues, however in 8.1.1 I’m now able to set the region back to Canada. The part of 8.1.1 was interested in with Cortana was being able to assign an address book entry to her so that you can voice activate her from a hands free device. I had to manually add Cortana to the Address book, she’s supposed to be automatically added but apparently that’s not working in this preview. I have my phone connected to the in-car entertainment system and it works pretty well, but sometimes Cortana will stop listening too soon or miss the initial connection. I’m sure Microsoft is working on it though as this is just the preview.
Live Folders
Live Folders are more interesting, they work well but I’m not sure if I like them yet. For some things they make a lot of sense, like my weather apps. For others, like my e-mail folders, not so much. At the moment I’m using two live folders, one for the above mentioned weather apps and the other for my instant messaging clients. I’m going to play with them a bit more, but I’m not convinced they’ll be used much beyond what I’ve already done with them.
Other Issues
The other issue that came up with 8.1.1 was Twitter and WhatsApp stopped working. Twitter would start to load and just immediately exit back to the Start screen, where as WhatsApp would hang during load. The fix was the same for both, uninstall and re-install from the store. Now both work fine.
Final Thoughts
I think most people are going to like the Live Folders and the other small tweaks seem to be fine as well. Overall it’s been stable, now if only they could fix Xbox Music…
