Photos App in 8.1 loses most of its best features e.g. Facebook/Flickr support...

I've just installed the 8.1 Preview on a desktop. The Photos App has changed:

 

1. No longer includes the ability to show images from Facebook, Flickr, SkyDrive

 

2. No longer allows images from other computers or the network -  am guessing that because there is now support for SkyDrive on RT and MS is heavily emphasizing that as the preferred storage location (when you upgrade, one of the questions asked before you even get to the desktop is if you want to use SkyDrive as your default storage area - and that seems to be the default - and MS feels the network, NAS, Homegroup, and other computers are deprecated.

 

 

 

 

3. Does have some new editing features

 

 

 

 4. Live Tile functionality has disappeared.

Edit:6/30

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1_pr-pictures/possible-fix-for-photos-app-live-time-not-showing/e0eb3bb4-3e9c-4016-aa27-4a011ccc94a3 is what a possible solution is to missing Live Tile issues.

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Barb

Windows Entertainment and Connected Home MVP

My Blog - http://digitalmediaphile.com/

Barb's Connected World Blog Reader Windows 8 App -  

http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/barbs-connected-world-blog/02f35769-52bf-461c-b1d5-06e54a58d298

 

Please mark as answered if this answers your question

 

 

I also have a lot of photographs stored on a network server and it would not be practical or cheap to store all of them on SkyDrive.

Please MS keep the libraries functionality and allow them to appear in the photo app

Thanks for the feedback, everybody.  In Windows 8, we wanted to provide a way for folks to view their photos on other services knowing there would be few (if any) apps in the store at launch that would do so.  Now there are many apps in the store that offer ways to view photos on other services and soon there will even be a Facebook app from Facebook.  We’re confident Facebook will offer great ways to view and engage socially with photos on Facebook.  We welcome Flickr to do the same.  In addition, the People app still offers the ability to socially engage with your friends and even your own photos.

That doesn't make a lick of sense to me. The hubs are a particular strength of the Windows Phone platform and you'd think that Windows borrows from that rather than backing away from it. The photo app in Windows 8 went the exact right direction and not even far enough. Now you're basically begging for someone to build a feature equivalent replacement.  Indefensible feature cut in my view.

Whats Next?? Will the Picture app in Windows Phone get the same "upgrade"? Facebook, twitter, Flick and all the others, all have apps for Windows Phone, so maybe we will se the picrure app loose integration too :( That is if Microsoft really believes that integration is not needed, if there are other apps to do the task, then we should soon see WIndows Phone Loose a lot of functionality and integration...

Microsoft say that Skydrive is more Integrated into WIndows 8.1, but it seems like its only in desktop mode. No more Skydrive Pictures in the Picture app :( No more Facebook Pictures in the Picture app :(

This sucks big time!! I have about 5000 Pictures in totalt, spread across Facebook, skydrive and my computer. So now I have to switch between these apps all the time!! Argh!

I hope someone can make a better Picture app, that integrates facebook and skydrive.

Big step down for Windows 8.1!!

Thanks for the feedback, everybody.  In Windows 8, we wanted to provide a way for folks to view their photos on other services knowing there would be few (if any) apps in the store at launch that would do so.  Now there are many apps in the store that offer ways to view photos on other services and soon there will even be a Facebook app from Facebook.  We’re confident Facebook will offer great ways to view and engage socially with photos on Facebook.  We welcome Flickr to do the same.  In addition, the People app still offers the ability to socially engage with your friends and even your own photos.

Your statement is fine IF, and only IF, there is a way for those third parties to integrate their cloud stream of Pictures into the Photo app. If you have to open each of the third party app to view the pictures this is pretty useless and a dumb move. If I want to upload pictures and do some management, yes, then I can open the app for that request.

This was one of the top 10 features of Windows 8.

Dumb move.

this is terrible.  Why would MS decide to make the photos app much less useful?  I don't understand how integration with at least SkyDrive is missing.  This makes no sense and hoping this is completely overhauled before release of Win 8.1.