Consumers Unhappy Over Change In Windows Phone Update Notifications

Word of the planned changes came as Microsoft issued an update for Windows Phone, fixing a handful of bugs including one that caused the soft keyboard to occasionally disappear.

The update, officially version 7.10.8107.79, is "available to all carriers that request it," said Eric Hautala, general manager of customer experience engineering, in a blog post, in what he described as Microsoft's "ongoing maintenance of Windows Phone."

Microsoft also will no longer post detailed Windows Phone update information, such as country, carrier and phone model, on the "Where's My Phone Update?" site, Hautala disclosed. While Microsoft is expected to publicize major updates to the mobile phone OS, that won't be the case with all minor patches and updates.

"In the months ahead, we’ll continue to send out firmware and maintenance updates as needed," wrote Hautala. "These will be available across the globe—although not everybody will receive or require them. It depends on your country, carrier, and phone model. But remember that you’ll never have to guess when a Windows Phone update is waiting: Just watch for the pop up notification on your device.

"There are also a few changes on the way for the blog and website," Hautala continued. "As we continue our growth, we won’t be individually detailing country, model, and carrier details on the 'Where’s My Phone Update?' site any longer. And instead of my weekly blog posts, the official Windows Phone website will be the primary place for news and information about our updates, just as Microsoft Answers is there for your support questions."

The changes aren't going over well with Windows Phone device owners, judging by the 208 comments to the blog post, who are concerned that they won't know what updates and patches are available.

"So we've now been thrust into the same update/non-update Hell as Android users?" wrote Kevin Daly, in one typical response. "Somebody actually thought this was a good idea? I can only assume this is part of Microsoft's inexplicable commitment to helping Apple sell as many iPhones as possible. Really, why do you expect us to bother anymore?"

"As a Microsoft partner that develops applications for Windows Phone, I have to protest this decision, and I will also speak to our contacts on the Microsoft Phone team," wrote Darrenwbaker. "This is a mistake of major proportions. You entered your second year, customer satisfaction is at an all time high and increasing. Making a change to allow the carriers to request updates hurts the end users, the hardware OEMs and ultimately the developers (and partners) that build applications for your platform. We will be going to the way it was, wondering why certain devices don't work the same or run the apps properly only to find out the carrier didn't apply a specific update. Please change your mind."

"Very disappointed," wrote Xsled. "I feel like I have to constantly defend carrying a [Windows Phone] and you guys just keep making it harder and harder to do that. I love my phone, but I will not put up with fragmentation."