Lumia Beta Apps

Lumia Beta Apps
Available in English
Owner Microsoft Mobile (2014-2015)
Nokia (2007-2014)
Created by Microsoft
Slogan(s) Try what you like. Say what you think.
Commercial Yes
Launched 16 April 2007 (as Nokia Beta Labs)
14 August 2014 (as Lumia Beta Apps)
Current status Discontinued

Lumia Beta Apps (earlier Nokia Beta Labs) was a UserVoice based website in which beta applications for Microsoft Lumia devices were available for public download.

After the sale of the Nokia mobile devices division to Microsoft[1] and after the announcement of the CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella to concentrate all its efforts on Windows Phone,[2] the 14 August 2014 it was announced the relocation of the Nokia Beta Labs website to a new site that host all new beta trials for Lumia apps.[3]

On September 11, 2015 Microsoft announced that they would no longer accept any feedback via the Lumia Beta Apps site and would archive all older feedback and encouraged users to send feedback via the Windows Insider feedback application or through the Windows Phone Store, despite the discontinuation of the website no Lumia Beta App would be immediately removed from the store.[4]

Overview

Beta Labs homepage prior to Microsoft moving it to UserVoice.

The applications provided by Beta Apps are in development, but are considered "mature" enough to be released in order to be tested by users worldwide. Anyone can submit feedback about applications, which goes to the development team. After a period of time, an application either "graduated", meaning it is released as a final version, or is removed from the site and placed in an archive.[5]

The site facilitates beta applications being developed by Microsoft or select 3rd party developers for Lumia products. The applications are, of reasonably good quality, but may have rough edges and occasional service breaks, not commercialized yet, not guaranteed, and not officially supported, under active development, free of charge and not be used for commercial purposes

Applications may graduate to become commercial offerings, or they will be archived along with the lessons learnt based on user feedback.

History

Beta Labs logo under Nokia

Lumia Beta Apps was launched as Nokia Beta Labs on 16 April 2007 only as a page linking to other Nokia beta applications, namely Sports Tracker, Wellness Diary and WidSets.[6] On 13 August, Nokia employee Tommi Vilkamo announced the website's renovation and his role as the new Beta Labs manager on his blog.[7]

After the rebranding Microsoft collecting feedback through UserVoice and has since launched several new applications such as Cinemagraph Beta and Gestures.[8] Originally the site was operated by Nokia but Microsoft moved the development to a more feedback-orientated design in August 2014 to allow more users to add their feedback rather than just Nokia-developers.[9] Microsoft has discontinued the Nokia Camera Beta trial and re-released the Beta app as "Lumia Camera Classic" while implementing the new features in the Lumia Camera app,[10] and has added OneDrive integration to Lumia Cinemagraph (formerly Nokia Cinemagraph) after first trialing it in the Lumia Beta Apps site.[11] On 25 February 2015 Join Conference (previously Nokia Conference) was made public for all Windows Phones but republished under the Microsoft Garage and reduced the number of markets it was available in.[12][13]

In May 2015 Microsoft released the Lumia Camera Beta app reminiscent to the Nokia Camera Beta app to test improvements, among the new features is the ability to select Office Lens from settings.[14] Though these features are exclusive for newer PureView powered handsets, these devices include the Nokia Lumia 930, Nokia Lumia Icon, Nokia Lumia 1520, Microsoft Lumia 640, and Microsoft Lumia 640 XL.[15]

On July 22, 2015 Microsoft launched a new version of the Lumia Creative Studio called Lumia Creative Studio Beta that added support for living images if the photographs were captured with the Lumia Camera.[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-closes-nokia-acquisition-2014-4
  2. ↑ http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/17/5912289/microsoft-kills-feature-phones-in-favor-of-windows-phone
  3. ↑ https://betalabs.nokia.com/blog/2014/08/14/Beta-trials-for-Lumia-apps-to-continue-at-new-site
  4. ↑ Fuh, Oliver. "Lumia Beta Apps uservoice website to shut down". WinBeta. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
  5. ↑ Ziegler, Chris (10 March 2008). "Nokia sits us down and tells us where Beta Labs apps go when they die". Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  6. ↑ Constantinescu, Stefan (16 April 2006). "Nokia Beta Labs launched today". Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  7. ↑ Vilkamo, Tommi (31 August 2007). "Announcement: I'll start heading Nokia Beta Labs". Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  8. ↑ Al-Riyami, Fahad (15 December 2014). "Flip-to-Silence makes a return to Lumia along with other intuitive gestures". WinBeta.
  9. ↑ Doe, Ron (18 August 2014). "Microsoft discontinues Nokia Beta Labs in favor of new UserVoice site, lets you try Lumia Beta apps". WinBeta.
  10. ↑ Markow, Seventeesix (4 November 2014). "Nokia Camera Beta trial concluded. Please uninstall beta and use Lumia Camera from Store.". Microsoft Developer Network - Lumia Beta Apps.
  11. ↑ Viswav, Pradeep (16 January 2015). "Lumia Cinemagraph Beta Trial Concluded, New Sharing Features Now Part Of The Main App". Windows Mobile PowerUser.
  12. ↑ Saleem, Hammad (25 February 2015). "Microsoft's Join Conference App Now Available For All Windows Phone Devices.". Windows Mobile PowerUser.
  13. ↑ Chansanchai, Athima (25 February 2015). "The Microsoft Garage delivers a second wave of diverse apps for consumers and developers.". Microsoft Garage.
  14. ↑ Viswav, Pradeep (5 May 2015). "Microsoft Releases Lumia Camera Beta App Update For Some Lumia Devices.". Windows Mobile PowerUser.
  15. ↑ Vasile, Cosmin (5 May 2015). "Microsoft Updates Lumia Camera Beta App for Windows Phone, New Features Added.". Softpedia.
  16. ↑ Viswav, Pradeep (22 July 2015). "Microsoft Releases Lumia Creative Studio Beta With Support For Editing Living Images.". Windows Mobile PowerUser.
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