Would It Be a Good Thing or a Bad Thing?

Many of you may not realise this, but back in the early days of smartphones and smartphone operating systems, Microsoft also had an operating system and they called it Windows Phone.

It was first launched with Windows Phone 7 back in 2010, then succeeded with Windows Phone 8 in 2012. I remember those days incredibly well. My first Windows Phone was the legendary Nokia Lumia 520 which from what I remember I liked using. 

But the one huge disadvantage to the Lumia 520 was that it didn’t have a front-facing camera. I mean let’s face it, it was before the time of selfies! – No pun intended. 

But in all seriousness, Windows Phone has been subject to many controversies over the years, even back in its heyday. The main reason for the hate was the lack of apps and app support. But for many including me, this wasn’t a massive issue.

At this moment and time, you’re probably wondering why they would bring it back if there were issues. The truth of the matter is that Windows Phone as well as the devices that used it were impressive in other ways.

So without any further ado, here are my thoughts on Microsoft reintroducing Windows Phone in 2023…

It would be great to see a new player on the field

I think it’s fair to say that smartphone operating systems have gotten boring these days. I know what you’re thinking, but let me explain!

When it comes to these operating systems all we ever hear is Android and iOS and I’m not even gonna mention the massive divide that exists between those two systems and their users. Yes, I am aware that Android has various user interfaces depending on what brand of phone you are using, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make.

That’s why, I think it would be great to see something fresh or something brought back to life in a new and improved way, something like Windows Phone!

I definitely think that it would be a great addition to the current smartphone market. But if Microsoft were to reintroduce Windows Phone, they would have to think things through, a lot and one of the things they would have to think through would be app support.

They would need to improve app support

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, app support was one of the main reasons Windows Phone failed. There was just no interest in developing apps for the platform which is why Microsoft discontinued the active development of Windows 10 Mobile in 2017.

That was a sad time because Windows Phone still had quite a large fan base and many businesses still used these devices.

That’s why if Microsoft was to reintroduce the system, they seriously need to consider app developers. In my opinion, there are two ways for them to do this. The first way would be through the use of influence, good documentation as some form of benefit for developing for the platform, and maybe an incentive of some form.

The other way is far more simple and it will include utilising one of the biggest smartphone operating systems in the world, Android! 

Windows Phone had a pretty impressive UI!

You either loved it or you hated it, Windows Phone had a pretty impressive UI. The proof of how good it was lies in the fact that you can download several Windows Phone launchers for your Android phone to make it look like a Windows Phone.

Personally, I really liked the interface, especially the tiles as you could do so much with them and get some pretty useful information without even opening an app. They just worked so well!

I’m actually disappointed that Microsoft decided to get rid of the tiles in the Windows 11 start menu as they were pretty cool. On a completely separate note, I would like to see Microsoft move the Widgets menu on Windows 11 to the start menu and turn it into tiles. I mean I never use the Widgets menu, but I use the start menu a lot!

How I think Microsoft should reintroduce Windows Phone in 2023

It would be nice to see Microsoft reintroduce Windows Phone as a system, but here’s the thing, developing a new system from scratch takes a lot of time, effort and money, and we would definitely not see it this year, if they were to reintroduce it as a new system, we may not even see it next year or the year after.

The way I see it is that Microsoft should utilise a system that is already in existence, Android. Now don’t get me wrong, it would be nice to see a new player in the smartphone operating system field, but I don’t see the point as Android is already very well optimised and built.

Technically, Microsoft could simply design a new launcher and make it look and function like Windows Phone and they could introduce it to their line of Microsoft Surface Phones. They could even make it downloadable for other smartphones.

Final Thoughts

To summarise this article, I think it would be nice to see Windows Phone make a return, but realistically speaking it’s unlikely to happen any time soon, especially as Microsoft has abandoned tiles.

If Microsoft was ever to reintroduce Windows Phone, they would have to introduce it as something completely new and something that matches the Windows 11 experience, which let’s face it, isn’t as well optimised to look nice on small screens as previous versions of Windows were such as Windows 8.

Having a look on YouTube, there are many really cool concepts on what Windows Phone would look like today, I think this one by eian seems very reasonable…

What are your thoughts on this, would you like to see Microsoft reintroduce the Windows Phone? Let us know in the comments!