Month: May 2013

Paid Windows Phone apps missing!

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About a week ago, I noticed something strange in the Windows Phone Marketplace. The “Xbox Live” banner had disappeared from the Angry Birds game. It was no longer “a few bucks” – it was free. “Interesting…” I thought, “Rovio must think they do better with ad-supported games and released a free version!”

Skip forward to the weekend, I couldn’t find my phone in the last few places I had been, as a security measure (and since I had “Find my Phone” disabled), I connected to the corporate Exchange server my employer runs and sent a remote wipe command to my phone. The good news is, it worked. The bad news? I literally found my phone less than a minute after the wipe. Alright, fine, my mistake. So I started reinstalling apps.

Come to Angry Birds. An app which I had purchased while it was on sale for 99 cents. Alright, so I can’t find it in the Marketplace, but if there’s one thing I learned from Xbox Live, you can use your download history to reinstall games. So I find the Windows Phone Purchase History page and click “more” in the lower right until I find my Angry Birds purchase.


App is no longer published

Are… you… kidding. It’s gone. I can’t get it. This isn’t some questionable app using copyrighted IP that has been pulled from the Marketplace. This is Microsoft’s official release of Angry Birds. An app which I had paid for. Don’t try to tell me that I can switch to the free version. I’m an Achievement addict who lives by Xbox Live integration. It was one of the biggest features, it was a selling point for Windows Phone. And if you’re going to pull the app from the marketplace for future purchases, fine – but to remove the app altogether so that those of us who bought it can’t reinstall it? The free version is not a substitute.

I usually talk about apps, but today I’ve got nothing but frustration. Windows Phone is the 3rd place platform. Having not learned a single lesson from the Xbox Platform and how to manage apps after licensing expires, Windows Phone is going to remain the 3rd place platform. I’m trying my best to wait for a Windows Phone 8 on Sprint, I want to be deeply embedded in the Microsoft camp. But every time I turn around Microsoft is going something else to ruin this for me.

Don't give Facebook your phone number

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Facebook REALLY wants your phone number. They’ve encouraged you to add it for years, but the latest round of “pop ups” at the top of the page want to remind you that it’s important for your security. I never did it, because in the early days, your phone number was visible to anyone who is your friend. And while you might be “Facebook friends” – it doesn’t necessarily mean you want that person to be able to call or text you. Having your number on Facebook leaves the potential for them to be able to provide it to their advertisers. And now, if you don’t have your permissions set just right, then just by playing a game, filling in a survey, or liking a page, you run the risk of sharing or publishing your phone number with companies you did not intend to give that information to.

To ignore Facebook’s latest plea, and close that annoying banner at the top of the page, simply click the “X” that is hiding out on the left side of the banner (see the picture above). We’re used to looking for the “close” / “X” icons in the right corner, so it’s easy to overlook it. But for now, just click the “X” in the banner at the top of the page, and don’t give in to Facebook asking for your number. They don’t need it. It’s just another data point they can use to find out your location based on area code, your carrier based on the number, and the aforementioned “just giving your number away.”