5 ms·

What was a live tile? On a side note I do wish there were strong 3rd or 4th choices for a phone OS. A shame Blackberry is now just an Android flavor.

xeromal 8y ago
A live tile in windows phone, 8, 10, etc is an app icon that contains realtime info like weather. I've never used the particular app mentioned, but live tiles are just a cool way to display info.
- philliphaydon 8y ago
  Yeah you could flick open your phone and the live tile said the current Temperature. Or rotated your latest photos in the photo app (or favourite photos depending on config), showed the latest headline in news app. I spent alot less time on my phone cos information was at a glance and I didn't need to open/close many apps all the time.
- hashhar 8y ago
  The next step in the evolution was MixView similar to the Zune software. See this for a demo https://youtu.be/uoZw5PK_6XQ https://youtu.be/uoZw5PK_6XQ. Do look at the date to see how ahead of the times they were. Also dedicated camera buttons on mobile phones with two step capture. On the first slight press the focus was adjusted and then on a harder press the image was clicked.
- wishinghand 8y ago
  Just looked them up on Youtube. It looks like a very good UI/UX idea. Surprised Apple or Android hasn't copied it, except for the useless live clock icon on their clock app.
  - Godel_unicode 8y ago
    I have a ton of widgets on my Android home screen which are exactly that. Google at-a-glance, music player, calendar, stock screener, photos, it's awesome.
    - hashhar 8y ago
      Widgets are nice but in the last 3 years of using an Android I've only ever used widgets for my podcast app, music players, a few tap to dial contacts, a calendar widget with the day view. Widgets are a good idea but they look horribly inconsistent.
avhon1 8y ago
> what was a live tile? Similar to android's "widgets".
- _mrmnmly 8y ago
  yeah but with consistent design ;)
  - WorldMaker 8y ago
    And consistent performance / battery life

xeromal 8y ago

A live tile in windows phone, 8, 10, etc is an app icon that contains realtime info like weather. I've never used the particular app mentioned, but live tiles are just a cool way to display info.

philliphaydon 8y ago
Yeah you could flick open your phone and the live tile said the current Temperature. Or rotated your latest photos in the photo app (or favourite photos depending on config), showed the latest headline in news app. I spent alot less time on my phone cos information was at a glance and I didn't need to open/close many apps all the time.
hashhar 8y ago
The next step in the evolution was MixView similar to the Zune software. See this for a demo https://youtu.be/uoZw5PK_6XQ https://youtu.be/uoZw5PK_6XQ. Do look at the date to see how ahead of the times they were. Also dedicated camera buttons on mobile phones with two step capture. On the first slight press the focus was adjusted and then on a harder press the image was clicked.
wishinghand 8y ago
Just looked them up on Youtube. It looks like a very good UI/UX idea. Surprised Apple or Android hasn't copied it, except for the useless live clock icon on their clock app.
- Godel_unicode 8y ago
  I have a ton of widgets on my Android home screen which are exactly that. Google at-a-glance, music player, calendar, stock screener, photos, it's awesome.
  - hashhar 8y ago
    Widgets are nice but in the last 3 years of using an Android I've only ever used widgets for my podcast app, music players, a few tap to dial contacts, a calendar widget with the day view. Widgets are a good idea but they look horribly inconsistent.

avhon1 8y ago

> what was a live tile? Similar to android's "widgets".

_mrmnmly 8y ago
yeah but with consistent design ;)
- WorldMaker 8y ago
  And consistent performance / battery life