Bring Back Windows Phone

Please do bring back the windows phone, I use to love that thing just pricing was off, otherwise it was a beast of a phone and great os. Android and ios are both very boring. Windows os was very cool and easy to use. It is something I want. Pls

that XBOX thing on games made them…. special✨✨

that XBOX thing on games made them…. special✨✨

Indeed, it was an unusual move for Microsoft and Xbox to discontinue the syncing of achievements from Windows Phone games to Xbox Live, with the exception of UWP games which are playable on PCs. The achievements on Windows Phone games were often more challenging, engaging, and distinctive compared to those tied to the iOS Game Center and Google Play Games services. The latter often require extensive repetitive play. For example, some achievements on other services demand completion of up to 500,000 levels (that figure is correct actually). In contrast, while Xbox Live achievements for Windows Phone games also involved repetition, they were not as excessive. Windows Phone had unique achievements like 'Swept the Ceiling' in Microsoft Minesweeper, which required playing with the phone screen facing down, necessitating creative positioning of the phone, such as on a car ceiling or while lying down. Such distinctive achievements are not found in the other two gaming services. The Bipolar achievement in Twins presented a significant challenge. It required switching sides on a platform 50 times during a single session, all while dodging spikes. It took me hours to accomplish. Similarly, the XBOX Addict achievement in Parachute Panic demanded the precise landing of exactly 360 parachutists in one session—no more, no less. Players devised various strategies to achieve this, including video recording, straightforward counting, and even employing calculators. Finally, Burn the Rope had an achievement, Rainbow, which required the player to have 4 different colored flames burning at once. There were only two levels in the game in which this could have been done. In addition, it required orienting the phone in all kinds of ways, including upside down and sideways. To keep the flames burning as long as possible, the player had to constantly spin the phone around so that the ropes were above the flames of their respective colors. These are just a few examples of the kinds of achievements that were there for Windows Phone. The other two services lack these kinds of interesting achievements.

There is one game on Google Play, Google Santa Tracker that had fairly interesting achievements. This game required you to play all the minigames to obtain them. Four of the achievements required screen swiping, zooming, pinching, tapping and phone shaking motions on the four characters in one minigame in order to animate them. Another set of achievements in a minigame required you to avoid obstacles the way you do in Flappy Bird as you pick up the presents. The unique thing about this was that the point value of the presents depended on how well you dodge the obstacles. Successfully dodging all of them resulted in the final trail having presents with values of 500 points each which helped to boost your score, even getting over 50,000 points (for one of the achievements). The achievements are still obtainable. It's just that you need three different versions of the game to get that done. I have a post on that on another site.

It is sad that Microsoft made this move with the WP achievements. Microsoft does not have much of an XBOX Live presence in games on iOS and Android apart from Minecraft, Microsoft Wordament, and Mahjong by Microsoft. The first one has stacks specific to the platforms (even though they sync with the online Minecraft servers for all stacks of the game) while the other two are standalone cross-plays between the two platforms. There is also Halo: Spartan Assault and Halo: Spartan Strike for iOS. The sad thing is that 5 XBOX achievements in the first game are broken from the very beginning. The second game works, even on later versions of iOS. Microsoft Solitaire and Sudoku are cross-plays with the PC. The other cross-play games such as Forza Street, and Gears POP, and stack exclusives such as old versions of Wordament and Wordament Snap Attack have shut down. None of those games work anymore. What does Microsoft have there for iOS and Android beyond Minecraft and the casual games and the two Halos (in the case of iOS)? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. They bought Activision with the games made by them, Blizzard and King (makers of the Candy Crush titles). From the way things look, only those made by Activision and Blizzard will get XBOX Live achievements to talk about. The mobile games made by King (current and future) will be totally abandoned. Do not be disappointed if Candy Crush does not get achievements.

It is rumored that a handheld gaming device will be made by Microsoft. If all it will run are remote versions of XBOX Series X and S titles and no exclusives or it has a heavy Steam presence on it, I am not interested. Handheld stacks of games are OK. But there has to be some kind of exclusivity with that device. It would be nice if an emulator is added that can run WP titles with achievements syncing to XBOX Live via a server redirection. Such a feature within the device will draw the masses.

Please bring it back. with some nice hardware like the surface tablets. I'd stand in line to get it

Thread is still alive and I think we reading this are a very small subset of people who want Windows phones to make a comeback.

Personally, I really loved the concept of UWP programs that could run on Windows, Xbox and phones.