Windows Phone 7 was the first release of the Windows Phone mobile client operating system, released worldwide on October 21, 2010, and in the United States on November 8, 2010.
Logo used for Windows Phone 7.5 and Windows Phone 7.8
At the 2011 Mobile World Congress, Steve Ballmer announced a major update to Windows Phone 7 due toward the end of the year, Windows Phone 7.5, codenamed Mango.[2] The new OS would address many of the platform's shortcomings, including a mobile version of Internet Explorer 9 that supports the same web standards and graphical capability as the desktop version, multi-tasking of third-party apps,[3][4] Twitter integration for the People Hub,[5][6][7] and Windows Live SkyDrive access.[8] Although the OS internally identifies itself as version 7.1, it is marketed as version 7.5 in all published materials intended for end-users.[9][10]
Microsoft started rolling out Windows Phone 7.5 to both the United States[11] and International[12] markets on September 27, 2011. The first phones that came pre-loaded with Windows Phone 7.5 were released in the last quarter of 2011.
A minor update released in 2012 known as Tango, along with other bug fixes, would also lower the hardware requirements to allow for devices with 800 MHz CPUs and 256 MB of RAM to run Windows Phone. Certain resource-intensive features are also disabled on these phones, and the Windows Phone Store will also prevent the installation of apps that are considered to be too intensive for use on weaker hardware.[13] The lower requirements were adopted in order to allow the development of lower-cost devices, particularly to target emerging markets such as China.[14]
Touch focus and capture—Tap any spot on the screen to focus there and take the shot. (This varies according to hardware—some phones will have tap-to-capture but will still automatically center focus.)[20]
Review pictures above the lock—Snap a photo when your phone is locked, then take a peek at it above the lock. You’ll only be able to get to photos you just took—better for security.[20]
Changes for portrait orientation—Now, when you take a picture in portrait orientation, you’ll see it in portrait orientation when you review it.[20]
Battery saver: phone automatically disables power consuming services and applications running in the background if the battery is low. Also predicts time remaining on battery.
Ringtone manager with custom and downloadable ringtones.
The "People" tile has been reworked and is animated differently than before.
Search icon and quick jump list added to the application list.
Support for 16 new languages: Czech, Danish, Hungarian, Dutch (Netherlands), Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil, Portugal), Finnish, Swedish, Greek, Russian, Korean, Chinese (Traditional, Simplified), Japanese.
East Asian handwriting recognition.
Support for new languages and emoticons in on-screen keyboard.
Hidden WiFi network support.
Qualcomm MSM7X30 and MSM8X55 support.
Programs menu will have alphabetical options similar to the people functionality[26]
Power off now requires a swipe down gesture after holding down the power button for a few seconds.
Third-party application multi-tasking and fast application switching.
Support for background tasks and services/agents.
Expanded live tiles that can be updated without network connection and can have two sides which flip periodically.[29]
App Connect: third-party applications can integrate with Bing search, have multiple live tiles, and can have push notifications that link deep ("Deep Toast") into various parts of the application directly.
Optional 32 bit color support for Silverlight applications with hardware dithering.
Silverlight 4 support.
Silverlight + XNA support in the same application screen.
Raw camera feed access for third-party applications.
New sensor API combines compass, gyroscope, and accelerometer.
Improved Listbox control with better scrolling performance.
Improved WebBrowser control with IE9 rendering engine and system-wide cookies access.
Clipboard API.
Hardware-accelerated video decoding in the MediaPlayer control.
TCP/IP and UDP sockets support.
Embedded database with LINQ (based on SQL Server Compact 4.0 engine, but without direct SQL execution).
Background file transfer agent.
Generational garbage collector.
NEON/SIMD support for XNA applications.
7.10.7740
2011
Fixed email issue in Microsoft Exchange Server 2003
Also confirmed are 23 additional markets[35] including; Bahrain, Bulgaria, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Estonia, Iceland, Iraq, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Ukraine, Venezuela and Vietnam. This update will also include a Skype application.
The Nokia Lumia 610 and ZTE Orbit,[36] introduced at Mobile World Congress in 2012, are the first phones to run the Tango update.
7.10.8779.8
Fixes an issue with app purchases in some regions.
Windows Phone 7.8 is the final major release of Windows Phone 7. It consists exclusively of user interface improvements backported from Windows Phone 8, as existing Windows Phone 7 devices can not be upgraded to due to changes to its architecture and hardware requirements. These include a home screen with the ability to resize live tiles, new accent color options, and an updated lock screen with support for Bing wallpapers. Unlike Windows Phone 8, the lock screen does not allow third-party apps to display notifications on it.[37][38]
General Distribution Release 1, a minor update known as Portico was rolled out in December 2012 that brought some improvements and bugfixes, including enhancements in Messaging, more efficient Bluetooth connectivity, and an "always-on" setting for WiFi connections, among other additional platform updates
Microsoft rolled out a package of minor updates called General Distribution Release 2, beginning in July 2013 and spanning the following months, depending on the manufacturer and carrier. Along with this update Nokia released its own update which updated the firmware of the user, namely Lumia Amber, which was available for only Lumia phones. The update brought many camera improvements and fixed some bugs in the cameras of existing Lumia phones.
On October 14, 2013, Microsoft released the third General Distribution Release update for Windows Phone 8, which would roll out to phones over the following months. Windows Phone Developers were among the first to receive the update under a new Developer Preview Program.
NFC support added, including payment and content sharing with WP8 and Windows 8 machines (NFC is partially supported in Tango update, e.g., ZTE Orbit)
Native code support (C and C++), simplified porting from platforms such as Android, Symbian, and iOS (Native code is also supported in WP7 for vendors, carriers and key partners)
Simplified porting of Windows 8 apps to Windows Phone 8 (compatibility with Windows 8 'Modern UI' apps)
Carrier control and branding of "wallet" element is possible via SIM or phone hardware (Orange will be first)
Nokia map technology (Navteq maps with offline mode, turn-by-turn directions)
Native 128-bit Bitlocker encryption, Secure Boot
Remote device management of Windows Phone similar to management of Windows PCs
VoIP and video chat integration for any VoIP or video chat app (integrates into the phone dialer, people hub)
Minimum 18 month support of Windows Phone updates to WP8 devices
Camera app now supports "lenses", which allow third parties to skin and add features to camera interface
Camera burst mode that let users choose the best picture from a series of pictures
Camera panoramic setting using Microsoft's PhotoSynth technology
Possibility to take screenshots
Deeper SkyDrive integration, including ability to sync data such as music collections
Data Sense tracks and reports data usage, lowers data usage when nearing pre-set data cap, enables compression of websites through cloud service, locates WiFi hotspots
Google accounts. Windows Phone 8 now supports the CardDAV and CalDAV protocols that allow people to sync Google contacts and calendar information when they get new phones.
Xbox Music. Easier to select, download, and pin music. More accurate metadata and other performance improvements.
FM radio. Possible to listen to FM radio from the Music+Videos hub. (Not available for all phones.)
Data Sense. Possible to set a limit based on the data plan (already included since initial release for Verizon subscribers)
Skype. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) apps like Lync and Skype features improved stability and performance.
Internet Explorer. Better browsing experience with improved HTML 5 compatibility.
Camera. Set favorite Lens so it opens automatically when pressing the camera button. (Not available for all phones.)
Other improvements. Includes many other improvements to Windows Phone.
New Driving Mode feature to ignore texts, calls and quick status alerts, plus auto-reply via SMS to people trying to contact you
Accessibility improvements for visually impaired
Improved Internet Sharing (pair over bluetooth with Windows 8.1 devices and ICS is set up automatically)
Ability to leverage custom notification sounds, including instant messages, emails, voicemails, reminders and custom ringtones to contacts for text messages
Screen Rotation lock
Better storage management
Ability to close applications in app switcher
Wi-Fi access during phone set up
Bluetooth bug fixes and improvements to connection quality for Bluetooth accessories
"Hundreds of under-the-hood performance tweaks and enhancements"
General Distribution Release 1 (GDR1; also referred to as Update 1) adds new language and region support for Cortana, the option to organize apps into folders on the Start Screen, SMS forwarding of multiple messages, improvements to Xbox Music, a live tile for the Windows Phone Store and an option for sandboxing applications. In addition, Update 1/GDR1 also includes new VPN and Bluetooth features for enterprise users, as well as support for interactive cases such as HTC's "Dot View" case, larger "phablet" screen resolutions such as 1280x800, 540x960 qHD and 1280x768 and the Qualcomm QuickCharge 2.0 standard.[44][45]
Microsoft has made several changes to Internet Explorer Mobile that brings the browser experience closer in line with the experiences on Safari (iOS) and Chrome (Android). To accomplish this, Microsoft moved away from open standards and adopted non-standard features used in Safari and Chrome, implemented browser detection, improved page rendering by detecting legacy WebKit features, brought support for HTML5, and fixed interoperability issues with bad HTML code.[46]
An example for the comparison of the changes made to the user-agent string in Update 1/GDR1 in order to overcome erroneous methods of browser detection and correctly deliver mobile content to Internet Explorer Mobile.[47][48]
IE11 on Windows Phone 8.1: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows Phone 8.1; ARM; Trident/7.0; Touch; rv:11; IEMobile/11.0; NOKIA; Lumia 928) like Gecko
IE11 on Windows Phone 8.1 with Update 1/GDR1: Mozilla/5.0 (Mobile; Windows Phone 8.1; Android 4.0; ARM; Trident/7.0; Touch; rv:11.0; IEMobile/11.0; NOKIA; Lumia 720) like iPhone OS 7_0_3 Mac OS X AppleWebKit/537 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile Safari/537
Information regarding GDR2 (also referred to as Update 2) was released in February 2015 it was revealed that Microsoft was working on a 2nd update for Windows Phone 8.1 that would provide increased security for OEM's, add extra languages and additional technology support and is also reported to bring an anti-theft mode.[49]
Action Center showing either standard or silent toast notifications, accessed by swiping from top to the bottom
Quick settings access in action center with four (or five on large screens like 6 inch Nokia Lumia 1520[50]) configurable shortcuts to: Airplane mode, bluetooth, brightness, camera, internet sharing, location, project screen, Quiet Hours, rotation lock, VPN, Wi-Fi [items in this list cannot be changed]
Start screen backgrounds
Support for start screen live tile rows of up to 6 small or 3 medium live tiles[51]
'Cortana' smart personal assistant, based on the Bing service [available only on limited number of markets]
Swipe down to close apps in multitasking view
Recently installed apps are annotated with 'NEW' in the app list[52]
Support for virtual on-screen buttons called 'Navigation bar' with custom background color selection
Gesture keyboard, that is, swipe across letters on keyboard to type (Shape Writing) [not available on all languages / keyboards types]
General user experience changes
Bing smart search (similar search system as Windows 8.1)
Back button doesn't close application
Contact speed dialling
Ability to show only Contacts with phone number
Contacts with 'Inner Circle'; up to 40 Contacts (requires Cortana support)
Double-Tap to unlock your phone (Feature from Lumia devices on Amber Update and newer)
Favourite photos by tapping a heart icon
General keyboard enhancements including show emoji when typing and recognize names of Contacts
In-call speech commands
Notification if charger isn't of adequate power
Quiet Hours - Disable notifications during pre-selected time-frame or when 'Busy' in calendar (requires Cortana)[53]
Screenshot button combination is now Power + Volume Up
Search button will be the new way to open Speech (aka ‘Cortana’)
Separate volume controls for ringtones/notifications and music/media
Set default Voice Navigation app for the OS
Voice Narrator for Accessibility
File picker
Wi-Fi Sense: sharing secured Wi-Fi Networks with contacts if they have Wi-Fi Sense
Wi-Fi can auto re-enable after a set duration of time
Status bar with Signal strength, Wi-Fi, Battery etc. is always visible (doesn't auto-hide)[52]
Phone history group repeat calls from a user annotated with number of calls[52]
Miracast; PlayTo and mirroring of Windows Phone screen to TVs and/or monitors
Bluetooth 4.0 LE (requires phone firmware support, temporarily removed from DP version)
Dual SIM
Mouse and keyboard (HID) (in fact there is no HID support in WP 8.1 currently, true HID support is expected in WP 8.1 GDR2 somewhere in middle of 2015)
The phone will have to update to the latest version before you can restore it to factory settings
Trusted app list for NFC that will remove the need for asking whether you want to open a particular app
Virtual SmartCard support
Wallet supports tickets, membership cards, and Passbook
Ability for operators to install certain applications once SIM card is detected
Ability for operators to control Data Sense limits remotely
Enterprise
S/MIME to sign and encrypt email
Enterprise enrolled phones can have their passwords changed and remotely locked
Access to corporate resources behind the firewall with app aware
Certificate management to enroll, update and revoke certificates for user authentication
Enhanced MDM policies to lock down functionality on the phone for more enterprise control, in addition to richer application management such as allowing or denying the installing of certain apps.
Developer features
Background tasks: Bluetooth signal strength, Chat message notification, Device connection change, Device use trigger, Gatt characteristic notification, Location, Push notification, Rfcomm connection, System event, Timer
Geofencing API for location-based reminders
Native HTML5/JavaScript app development support
Audio/video transcoding (same API as in WinRT), hardware accelerated
Media editing: audio and video effects; slow motion video
Apps can capture audio/video from themselves
New APPX app package format for new Windows Phone 8.1 apps, similar to Windows 8.1 APPX format
Stereoscopic 3D support
New developer tools including: SemanticZoom, DatePicker, TimePicker
New country support for Cortana; China, UK, Canada, India and Australia
Support for a store live tile when the tile is medium-sized
Store tile size has been standardized for all layouts and some tiles have changed places on the Start screen.
Improved Xbox music app and live tile support.
Support for app folders.
Enable phone cover apps to launch when a phone cover is closed and specify the default setting for the lock screen's auto unlock setting.
SMS merge & forwarding
Apps Corner; specify which apps are displayed in a special sandboxed mode or boot straight to an app
Hundreds of Internet Explorer 11 enhancements that greatly increase compatibility with the mobile web[56]
General user experience changes
Add phone book entry for Cortana to allow users to initiate speech from a car that doesn't have support for activating speech on the phone that is connected over Bluetooth.
USB action choices
User-customizable snooze settings for alarms
Improved selection, possibility to delete multiple calls, messages or contacts
Network Time Protocol support; automatically set the time using an NTP client in a Windows Phone device that doesn't support NITZ or when cellular data is not available.
540 x 960 qHD resolution support for diagonal screen sizes up to 6"
1280 x 768 WXGA resolution support for diagonal screen sizes of 6.01" to 7
Possibility to install Wi-Fi Feature Pack which removes all cellular-related functionality from the operating system
8.10.14157.200
August 19, 2014
Bug Fixes
8.10.14176.243
September 24, 2014
Fixes error 80188308 some users were experiencing during update ( works in HTC 8X India model- in preview for developers )
HTC Windows Phones 8X, 8S, and 8XT will now be able to get the Windows Phone 8.1 Update
Fixes an Access Violation in "minuser" component which caused WinRT apps and WebViews to crash if scrolled by the user while (or 2–15 seconds after) loading, which was a regression introduced in the 8.1 Update 1 release (8.10.14147.180).
8.10.14192.280
October 24, 2014
Tests Microsoft's ability to distribute a "Critical Update". Note that this update does not actually contain critical fixes - it's just a test.
8.10.14203.306
November 13, 2014
"Critical Update" for unstated reasons
Allows for real-time Live Tile for the Battery Saver App (also allows you to add Battery Saver to the Quick Settings found in the Action and Notification Center)
Adds preferred install time for automatic updates
Made NTP time sync support enabled by default for CV devices (instead of rely on OEM to enable it)
8.10.14219.341
December 5, 2014
New country support for Cortana; Spain, France, Germany and Italy (alpha). (However, due to a widespread bug in the deployment, Cortana is not available for many users)
Cellular Data Toggle for Quick Settings access in Action Center.
Support for offline maps storage on MicroSD card
Hardware keyboard support
Ability to use the SD card storage space temporarily for OS updates (must be enabled in the ROM)
8.10.14226.359
December 24, 2014
Fixes screen issues on the Microsoft Lumia 535
8.10.14234.375
February 24, 2015
Fixes screen issues on the Microsoft Lumia 535 (not be solved with the previous update)
Windows 10 Mobile was announced on January 21, 2015, as a mobile operating system for smartphones and tablets with screens smaller than 8 inches, with the first build released on February 12, 2015.[66] It is the successor to Windows Phone 8.1[67] and replaced the Windows Phone brand, while Microsoft has since ceased active development of Windows 10 Mobile. Windows Phone 8.1 devices were eligible for upgrade to Windows 10, pursuant of manufacturer and carrier support.[68] Some features may have varied depending on hardware compatibility.[69]
^ ab"Windows Phone 8 update history". windowsphone.com. Windows Phone How-to (United States). Archived from the original on December 30, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
