Spotting the Nodo Bug on Windows Phone 7 Handsets
When Updates Aren’t Successful
The long-awaited NoDo update for Windows Phone 7 added various enhancements to the device, such as improvements to the Facebook app, faster app and game launching and most notably the arrival of copy and paste to the platform.
However, it seems that NoDo also delivered at least one problem for users of a particular Windows Phone mobile device, one that, while seemingly innocuous, can prove remarkably frustrating.
Following the NoDo update, users of the Samsung Focus will experience unusual behaviour when attempting multi-touch gestures on the display.
Is there a fix for this, or will owners of this particular model be unable to play piano-based Windows Phone apps forever?
Image credit: Windows Phone: What’s Next, https://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/features/whats-next.aspx
Identifying the Bug
If you own a Samsung Focus Windows Phone, you should be able to identify the fault by downloading one of the many piano apps available in the Marketplace.
The problem is related to the device’s ability to use three-point multi-touch, best demonstrated by tapping and holding three separate keys on a piano app. If your Windows Phone device can do this without a problem, you don’t have the bug.
However, you will probably find that your Samsung Focus doesn’t have this issue. In fact research suggests that the fault is restricted to one version of the firmware, 2103.11.3.3 on these devices only.
What Is the Cause of the Bug?
Ultimately, the cause of the NoDo bug is the massive undertaking that upgrading the Windows Phone 7 platform involves.
By releasing their new mobile OS with multiple device manufacturers and network carriers, Microsoft have given themselves a far tougher job than Apple and Google with their mobile platforms when it comes to releasing updates.
For instance, carriers and device manufacturers can effectively release updates to Google Android devices when they feel like it, regardless of what the users (who remember are paying customers) might want.
Similarly, Apple has control of updates and firmware for all of their devices which are made by Apple themselves. As there are no third party manufacturers releasing devices, this makes the update process on iPhone and other iOS devices remarkably easy.
It seems that the NoDo bug can be traced to a single version of the firmware on a single device model. Considering the scale of the Microsoft Windows Phone update process, that’s not bad going.
Are There Other NoDo Bugs?
So far it seems that this multi touch bug is limited to one device and one firmware version – not bad going for a platform that sits on over ten current devices by different manufacturers on mobile networks around the world!
Of course, this might change. Bugs and issues are always being discovered on different mobile platforms and devices on an almost daily basis, thanks to the addition of new apps which while intended to work in a particular way perhaps don’t thanks to a minor difference from device to device. Some have reported issues on other devices with the “tap” sound activated when typing only tapping once a second, but again this doesn’t seem to be widespread (and certainly doesn’t occur on my own device).
If you know of any other bugs caused by the Windows Phone 7 NoDo update, please leave some details in the comments box below…
References
Ponder, George. “Possible Nodo Touchscreen Bug”, https://www.wpcentral.com/possible-nodo-touchscreen-bug
