Installing Windows Background 8.1. Installing Windows Phone on Android. Description of some of the features received by the owner of the device with the new shell
The version of Windows Phone 8.1 announced at BUILD’2014 is available to developers as a beta version, but anyone can also install it on phones running Windows Phone 8, with the exception of devices from Huawei. What is the reason for this selectivity, one can only guess, but this update is not available on Huawei smartphones.
How to install Windows Phone 8.1 now
I must warn you that if you install WP8.1 you will not be able to go back to the old version, and if something goes wrong, you will have to wait several months for an official update from your device manufacturer. Therefore, you should think carefully about whether to install the beta version of WP8.1, especially if you are not sure what result you want to get.
Those who still want to do this should follow simple steps. They are very simple and do not require any special knowledge.
User functions in the interface - icons, wallpapers, settings
Icons on the main screen can be placed in three columns; a similar layout will be available for any devices running WP8.1, regardless of their screen resolution. The minimum icon size now allows you to place up to 6 icons in one row.
You can set your wallpaper, it will be displayed on the main screen with icons, but only where they are transparent. Many system applications have a fill (for example, these are all applications from Nokia), then the wallpaper under them is not shown, and they look like some kind of background that shows through in pieces. It is impossible to say that this is the best solution; moreover, perhaps, this is the worst wallpaper option that you can come up with. You never know what they will look like.
In the “Desktop + Theme” section, you will be asked to select a wallpaper - in the future they may change on a schedule, this function is currently disabled, it will be added later.
It is curious that in the list of applications, as usual, a black background is shown; apparently, Microsoft will be able to extend the wallpaper to this screen only in subsequent updates, when they realize the logic of such a step.
This version fixes chronic Windows Phone errors, which could be called funny if it weren't so sad. In particular, the status bar no longer behaves strangely. Let me remind you that it previously showed icons randomly, and all information was displayed only with an additional click, which was inconvenient. Now the line shows all the icons it contains at once - this is logical and correct.
If you drag the line from top to bottom, you will see an additional subline with the type of network signal (EDGE, 3G, 4G), under the battery - the percentage of its charge. This is already something, because before such simple things were simply inaccessible. Unfortunately, as before, the status bar is shown in some applications in some places, but not in others. It is impossible to predict its presence or absence.
If we look into the Action Center, we will find a regular curtain that displays warnings from different applications, and at the top there are quick switches. This is exactly the same approach that we see in Android/iOS, but implemented very poorly. Firstly, the number of icons to change is extremely small - there are only five. In the settings, you can select the following items for the icons: Bluetooth, VPN, Wi-Fi, screen rotation lock, camera, location, Internet sharing, screen projector, airplane mode, brightness.
When you look at these scanty settings and remember that on Android you can de facto set almost any basic settings, you understand the entire gulf that lies between these systems. But the ideological difference is not only in this, but in the behavior of the keys for quickly switching functions. In the same Android, pressing the Wi-Fi button in the curtain disables the function; in WP8.1, instead, you get to the Wi-Fi settings menu! That is, in essence, this is not a quick function switch, but a kind of shortcut for accessing an already existing menu. It is curious that a number of other buttons are classic switches - there is no throwing them into the phone submenu. Nobody worked at the level of system integrity and its perception at Microsoft; it felt like the system was created piece by piece, and no thought was given to planning.
Applications can also report their events to the curtain; here all messages are grouped by application type, and not by time. You can swipe away all notifications of the same type.
For some unknown reason, the key combination for taking screenshots was changed - now it is the power button and the volume rocker up. When you try to use the old combination, the phone tells you that it does not work and offers the correct option. To my taste, it was possible to keep both options; there would definitely be nothing wrong with that.
When you install new applications, all of them, including games, are included in the general list of applications. That is, now hubs do not aggregate content that they consider “their own.”
Separate volume control, which Windows Phone users have dreamed of for so long, has become a reality. Now the ringer volume is adjusted separately from the volume of applications and multimedia. Unfortunately, this version has some rough edges; for example, the camera is considered a bell, and its volume is adjusted with the first slider.
Microsoft has added variety to mail accounts; now all mail that does not belong to Microsoft and is not served by its servers or software products must be allowed for Windows Phone - that is, you must give access to it (just settings are not enough). In the list, next to “problem” accounts that worked smoothly with mail before the update, there is a message “Take action.” Unfortunately, trying to agree with everything that Microsoft offers in the beta version does not lead to any result, at least the mail continues to arrive. This point is not at all clear to me, and there is a feeling that Microsoft simply wants to save all your settings for later use - in theory, so that in a couple of clicks you can set up the same mail on another Windows Phone device. But only in theory.
Judging by the direction of development of Windows Phone, Microsoft is very actively planning to collect user data and is coming up with new features for this. Thus, in the Wi-Fi section a “Wi-Fi Control” section appeared. It lets you connect to Wi-Fi hotspots and the phone remembers when you press a button to save you from this task in the future. There is something similar on iOS, but it does not work with all public access points. I specifically went down to the Moscow metro to check this function on the Lumia 1520 - it doesn’t work there, although in a cafe near my house everything worked perfectly. That is, the degree of implementation is exactly the same as that of iOS, or a little worse.
Data control is a utility that was invented by Nokia; it appeared in its devices relatively recently, but now it will be available to all manufacturers. You set a traffic consumption limit, you can limit background data transfer, and also enable traffic saving for the browser (then it will be compressed through Microsoft servers).
Memory control is a utility in which you set all the settings for applications and files, and select a place to store them. You can also see what types of files are using up your device’s memory.
Screen projector– when connected using a USB cable, you can display your phone screen on a projector, TV or monitor. Requires MHL support from the phone manufacturer, but as far as I know it's available everywhere. This is now implemented at the system level rather than as a separate application.
Synchronizing settings– the ability to save the screen theme, application settings, passwords and all Internet Explorer settings in the cloud. They will become visible on the other device or devices.
Ad ID– a parameter that takes into account your actions, increases the relevance of advertising for the advertiser. But if you want to reset it, you can easily do so. The main thing is not to forget to do this constantly, or you need to turn it off completely.
In chapter "Location" Geofences have appeared, these are zones on the map that can be tracked by external applications. This feature is not working yet.
Battery Saving- an application in which you can track who is using the most energy on your smartphone and disable these applications; there are also additional settings for monitoring battery charge and switching to energy-saving mode.
Work email and VPN– VPN support has appeared (finally!), as well as the ability to install work email, data from it will not be available for saving, transferring, and so on. The corporate security policy may apply to it. For the vast majority of consumers, this is not that important.
Changes to applications - new features and typing
One of the features used by millions of people around the world is a keyboard on which you can write text without lifting your finger. Such keyboards have become standard since the Galaxy S2 on almost all Android devices, and there are dozens of them for every taste. In Windows Phone, as always, you are limited to choosing only one keyboard - there are no other options, there are simply no third-party keyboards provided.
Microsoft's Wallet now supports Apple's Passbook format. You won’t be able to directly copy cards or coupons, but when applying for certain discounts, cards, or boarding passes, the WP8.1 phone will pretend to be a real Apple iPhone/iPad and will be able to convert all these offers on the fly into its own format. It is not very clear how Apple will react to this, whether they will be able to close this opportunity for Microsoft and whether they will pay attention to this. In my opinion, this clearly indicates that Microsoft’s own format has not caught on and the company is trying to steal people away from the more popular Passbook. It is unlikely that this will succeed, but the confrontation will be interesting.
The Skype application, in theory, is part of the system, while in practice there is not even such a field when filling out contacts, the device simply picks up your numbers from Skype and allows you to call both regular phones and a Skype number. During a call to your mobile phone, you can turn on video broadcasting in Skype.
The Calendar application has been redesigned - the weather forecast is shown for individual days (your location is used), calendars from various sources are pulled up, including social networks.
In Internet Explorer 11, it is now possible to open as many tabs as you like! There is traditional data compression, then the traffic goes through Microsoft servers, the option does not always work correctly. Phone memory can be used to store both temporary files and attachments (you can disable this). When reading, you can select a one-column layout, when IE itself selects text and pictures, discarding the site design - a rather convenient mode, but there is nothing new or revolutionary in it. A limited number of on-screen gestures are supported when browsing.
The application store has undergone cosmetic changes. Essentially, nothing has changed.
Music, Video, Podcasts and FM radio are new sections in the phone, each of which is clear from the name, nothing has changed inside, everything remains the same as in the former Music and Video hub.
Cortana voice assistant - in order for it to work, you need to select English from the menu (reboot), US region (reboot again), and then you may be lucky and can try this function in English. You shouldn’t expect Cortana to be released in Russian in the next year; this function won’t be available. Unfortunately, Microsoft has not been able to get rid of an annoying bug on their own servers for several years now, when it breaks any voice search on Windows Phone devices (connection to servers is required), I encountered this after the update - all voice functions in any language, as well Cortana didn't work. An example thread that discusses this issue is .
In any case, this voice technology is quite crude, it can be used for pranks, jokes, but not for real use in life. Especially in Russia, where the quality of search from Bing leaves much to be desired, but Cortana is based on it. Let me remind you that any search improves if it is actively used - almost no one in Russia uses Bing. Understanding this, Windows Phone 8.1, when regionally configured for Russia, sets Google as the default search (in beta version 8.1 this is exactly the case, which somewhat surprised me).
Therefore, I can only show a few screenshots of how Cortana launches. It's possible that Microsoft's servers will die, as they have in the past, and then I'll add screenshots of this feature here.
Short conclusion
It is possible that I overlooked some individual functions in this review of the beta version of Windows Phone 8.1; when the first devices on this OS are released, this review will also be updated based on the commercial product. Unfortunately, a full update for current owners of Windows Phone 8 devices is planned for early summer, that is, a month after the start of sales of the first devices with WP8.1 on board. In principle, this was the case in the past, when only new buyers received the updated version out of the box. I don’t like it, but this is the company’s policy - they strive to increase sales of new devices.
It is impossible to say that the number of changes in Windows Phone is huge. It’s hard to say that a revolution has taken place, especially given the fact that the vast majority of functions are either useless or poorly implemented, as happened with the curtain. We can say that the system is catching up and lags behind iOS/Android by a large margin. Someday in a galaxy far, far away, hundreds of millions of years from now, perhaps it will catch up. But in our lifetime, apparently, this will not happen, since since 2010 we have been told that the system is young and we need to give it time to get on its feet, and then it will show everyone Kuzka’s mother. It's a pity, but as long as Windows Phone copies old functions from other systems, nothing will change in this world and Android can sleep peacefully. On the other hand, the few Windows Phone fans that exist embrace everything that is shown in WP8.1 with such sincere and genuine joy that we can only be happy for the company that it has such loyal fans. But this is not a mass market, as the sales of the devices prove. For the average consumer, Windows Phone 8.1 doesn't bring anything that makes it a better choice than an iPhone or Android smartphone.
Related links
The smartphone market is growing at an unprecedented rate, which means there is a lot of money circulating here. All this prompted such a computer giant as Microsoft to start creating their own phones with the Windows Phone operating system. And although Microsoft has excellent marketing specialists, the Windows Phone operating system never became popular.
The reason for this was the lack of popular applications running on the Windows Phone operating system. Ordinary people don't want to buy such a phone because the app store is scarce, and app developers don't want to create them because Windows Phone phones aren't in demand.
How to run android apps on Windows Phone?
But what should people who have already purchased such a phone do, how should they use their favorite applications? Especially for such people, Microsoft developers and third-party specialists are creating special programs - Android emulators for Windows phone. They should enable Windows phone users to install and use applications based on the Android operating system.
Microsoft is most interested in solving this problem. The corporation itself has high hopes for the new version of the Windows Phone 10 operating system. As the developers themselves stated, this system should become truly universal and give a new impetus to the development of Windows phones.
Instructions:
Download from the Android SDK from this repository.
- Unpack the downloaded files into a folder on your computer.
- Open the folder in Explorer where you copied wconnect and launch the command window (hold Shift, right-click on an empty area of the window and select the appropriate option in the context menu.
- Connect your smartphone to your computer. This can be done in two ways. The simplest is using a USB cable. If for some reason this method does not suit you, use a local Wi-Fi connection. In the first case, in the command window, write “wconnect.exe usb” (without quotes) and press Enter. In the second case, enter the command “wconnect.exe 192.168.xxx.xxx” (also without quotes). Here 192.168.xxx.xxx is the local IP address of your smartphone. This address can be found through the device settings or router.
- You will need to pair your smartphone and computer. A code will be shown on the smartphone screen. Remember it, enter it in the command window and press Enter.
- Go to the folder with ADB and open a command window.
- Make sure that your smartphone is correctly detected by the computer. To do this, run the command “adb devices” - you will see a list of connected devices.
- And the last thing: copy any APK file to the ADB folder and issue the command “adb install xxx.apk”, where xxx.apk is the name of the file that you want to port to Windows 10 Mobile.
- Wait a few seconds or minutes while the application or game is installed on your device. After that, you can try to start him (or her).The second method of installing Android applications is more automated, so it is much easier.
Download the program and run it on your computer.
- Open on your smartphone, go to the update and security section and enable developer mode and device detection.
- Pair your smartphone with your computer. To do this, connect your smartphone to the computer’s USB port with a cable and wait until the code appears on the smartphone screen. Remember it and enter it into the program window.
- Drag the APK file you need into the program window and wait a while while the application installs.
- Try launching the application.Initially, not all applications can be run on Windows 10 Mobile. Those that require Google services to function properly will not launch. Blackberry owners are familiar with this problem, so there is a special tool for the Canadian company’s smartphones that “dissects” the code of APK files and removes links to Google services from applications.
Download the program from the crackberry.com forum, install it, run it and feed it the APK file of the application that does not want to run on Windows 10 Mobile. The application will patch the file, remove the link to Google services from it and save a new version of the file, much less capricious. Try installing it - with a high degree of probability, the installed application will work on Windows 10 Mobile.
It is worth keeping in mind that installing APK files can be very harmful. Firstly, in most cases you will violate copyright (of course, unless the application developer himself posted the APK file on some site and did not allow it to be ported to different platforms, which happens extremely rarely). Secondly, malicious code is very often distributed through APK files, which can conduct unwanted activity on the smartphone (send messages, generate traffic to sites with dubious content, steal money, files, correspondence, photos, etc.). In addition, Astoria is an experimental project intended exclusively for developers who want to port their own apps or games from Android to Windows 10 Mobile. It is, of course, not intended for ordinary users, and even more so for those who intend to use it for the purpose of piracy, and this is more than obvious. After all, an incompatible APK file can easily damage your smartphone, turning it into a hard-to-recover brick. In any case, we cannot recommend that you port applications that you did not create from one platform to another. If you do decide to do this, we have warned you of the consequences.
There have been rumors that Windows 10 Mobile has a built-in virtual machine for running Java code for Android applications, but now we are sure that this is the case. Microsoft found itself in a rather strange situation. As we know, the number and quality of applications for Windows Phone (and now for Windows 10 Mobile) largely leaves much to be desired, and support for Android applications could solve this problem.
Microsoft has long considered the possibility of running Android applications on Windows Phone, but could not come to a final decision on how to implement this feature. If you let developers port them themselves, there would be a risk that many of them would simply not want to spend the time porting the code, even if the process were as simplified as possible. On the other hand, it is impossible to allow Android application code to run unmodified on WP smartphones for several reasons. Firstly, applications still need to be optimized, and secondly, in this case, many users would pirate the most popular games, including those released on Windows Phone.
Surely Microsoft still hasn’t decided whether Windows 10 Mobile needs such simple support for Android applications, whether it will be useful to the platform or, on the contrary, will only bring harm and suffering. Still, we are talking about the mass market, and not about experimental functions. What's good for Android can be deadly for Windows 10 Mobile. Viruses, piracy, is this what we have been striving for all these years? We were proud of the security of Windows Phone, but what will happen to Windows 10 Mobile? Second Android?
There are no boundaries for perfection. Users of modern devices constantly suffer from a lack of certain capabilities on their mobile devices. Therefore, gadget manufacturers, together with software developers, are constantly searching for new ideas or thinking about how to improve existing features. So by 2014, Microsoft engineers were able to figure out how to improve the Windows Phone mobile tiled system and implement their ideas in the Windows Phone 8.1 update. Despite the fact that this update became available to a wide range of devices with G8 on board back in the summer of 2014, there are still some instances that have not seen it. This guide was written especially for owners of such smartphones.
Which smartphones will work well with this OS?
All devices with a tiled system on board get along perfectly with the Windows Phone 8.1 version. It works equally well on both budget phones and flagship models. For the most part, this is the merit of Microsoft engineers and specialists writing drivers in the offices of smartphone manufacturers. Thanks to their joint efforts, this version of the mobile system works smoothly and quickly executes all user commands, and also clearly coordinates the operation of all modules of each smartphone. So you can “roll” it onto all gadgets with Windows Phone 8 pre-installed, without worrying about major glitches. Yes, 8.1 can only be deployed on devices with G8. Phones with 7.8 are left behind and are already just part of history.
How to install Windows 8.1 on Windows Phone: step-by-step instructions
- Before downloading updates, make sure that you have at least 1 GB of free space available on your smartphone's internal storage. If your phone memory doesn't have that much free space, prepare it yourself by temporarily moving files to your computer or deleting apps.
- Make sure that your device is connected to a smoothly functioning Wi-Fi access point that will not cause problems during the process of downloading files. Please be aware that you will not be able to download all updates via mobile internet. The system simply will not allow you to do this due to the fact that it contains an option that cannot be disabled in the usual way. This is all to ensure that the user does not accidentally waste the remaining megabytes that were provided to him by the mobile operator according to the terms of the tariff plan. Alternatively, you can ask someone to distribute the Internet to you if there is no known or open WiFi hotspot nearby. But again, you must make sure that your assistant's smartphone has enough megabytes to download updates, and he is ready to donate them to you.
- Check the battery level on your gadget. It should not be below 50%. It is better if the battery is 100% charged. After all, installing updates is a fairly energy-intensive process and it will be very awkward if at this stage the smartphone suddenly turns off, and after starting again it falls into an endless reboot cycle. Therefore, do not be lazy to charge its battery to the maximum level.
- If you are ready to download the update, go to the “Phone update” section, which is located in the OS settings, and run the update check mechanism.
- The smartphone should detect the update and begin downloading it. Since it is not large, this procedure may take 1 minute to complete. After this, the device will begin preparing the update for subsequent installation. This process may take 3 minutes to complete.
- Next, you will see a message indicating that the update, designed to smooth the transition to Windows Phone 8.1, is ready to install. You will need to click on the “Install” button and wait a bit. The device will reboot itself, after which gears and a progress bar will appear on its screen. The deployment process of this update should not take more than 5 minutes. However, upon completion, you will have to wait the same amount of time until the system finishes transferring the data.
- Go to the “Phone Update” section again and force it to check for updates. If everything is fine with the Internet, the system should detect the Windows Phone 8.1 build for your model and begin downloading it.
- Since it is quite heavy, the loading and preliminary preparation process can take about 40 minutes.
- After a message appears indicating that the update is ready for installation, click on the “Install” button and accept the terms of the agreement. The smartphone will reboot and gears with a progress bar will appear on its screen again. Deploying the update and migrating the data back into place should take 35 minutes.
This is how, in fact, you can install Windows Phone 8.1 on all smartphones running Windows Phone 8.
There are no boundaries for perfection. Users of modern devices constantly suffer from a lack of certain capabilities on their mobile devices. Therefore, gadget manufacturers, together with software developers, are constantly searching for new ideas or thinking about how to improve existing features. So by 2014, Microsoft engineers were able to figure out how to improve the Windows Phone mobile tiled system and implement their ideas in the Windows Phone 8.1 update. Despite the fact that this update became available to a wide range of devices with G8 on board back in the summer of 2014, there are still some instances that have not seen it. This guide was written especially for owners of such smartphones. You can read more detailed information about “How to install Windows 8.1 on Windows Phone” in the full version of our review below.
Which smartphones will work well with this OS?
All devices with a tiled system on board get along perfectly with the Windows Phone 8.1 version. It works equally well on both budget phones and flagship models. For the most part, this is the merit of Microsoft engineers and specialists writing drivers in the offices of smartphone manufacturers. Thanks to their joint efforts, this version of the mobile system works smoothly and quickly executes all user commands, and also clearly coordinates the operation of all modules of each smartphone. So you can “roll” it onto all gadgets with Windows Phone 8 pre-installed, without worrying about major glitches. Yes, 8.1 can only be deployed on devices with G8. Phones with 7.8 are left behind and are already just part of history.
How to install Windows 8.1 on Windows Phone: step-by-step instructions
- Before downloading updates, make sure that you have at least 1 GB of free space available on your smartphone's internal storage. If your phone memory doesn't have that much free space, prepare it yourself by temporarily moving files to your computer or deleting apps.
- Make sure that your device is connected to a smoothly functioning Wi-Fi access point that will not cause problems during the process of downloading files. Please be aware that you will not be able to download all updates via mobile internet. The system simply will not allow you to do this due to the fact that it contains an option that cannot be disabled in the usual way. This is all to ensure that the user does not accidentally waste the remaining megabytes that were provided to him by the mobile operator according to the terms of the tariff plan. Alternatively, you can ask someone to distribute the Internet to you if there is no known or open WiFi hotspot nearby. But again, you must make sure that your assistant's smartphone has enough megabytes to download updates, and he is ready to donate them to you.
- Check the battery level on your gadget. It should not be below 50%. It is better if the battery is 100% charged. After all, installing updates is a fairly energy-intensive process and it will be very awkward if at this stage the smartphone suddenly turns off, and after starting again it falls into an endless reboot cycle. Therefore, do not be lazy to charge its battery to the maximum level.
- If you are ready to download the update, go to the “Phone update” section, which is located in the OS settings, and run the update check mechanism.
- The smartphone should detect the update and begin downloading it. Since it is not large, this procedure may take 1 minute to complete. After this, the device will begin preparing the update for subsequent installation. This process may take 3 minutes to complete.
- Next, you will see a message indicating that the update, designed to smooth the transition to Windows Phone 8.1, is ready to install. You will need to click on the “Install” button and wait a bit. The device will reboot itself, after which gears and a progress bar will appear on its screen. The deployment process of this update should not take more than 5 minutes. However, upon completion, you will have to wait the same amount of time until the system finishes transferring the data.
- Go to the “Phone Update” section again and force it to check for updates. If everything is fine with the Internet, the system should detect the Windows Phone 8.1 build for your model and begin downloading it.
- Since it is quite heavy, the loading and preliminary preparation process can take about 40 minutes.
- After a message appears indicating that the update is ready for installation, click on the “Install” button and accept the terms of the agreement. The smartphone will reboot and gears with a progress bar will appear on its screen again. Deploying the update and migrating the data back into place should take 35 minutes.
Windows Phone 8.1: update, install games and ringtones
The eighth version of Windows Phone has many interesting and useful features: a convenient and beautiful desktop, the Xbox Video application (for watching movies) and Xbox Music (for receiving new music tracks), Wi-Fi control, an application for searching, copying, moving various files, as well as the ability to make settings that suit you. In addition, the G8 allows you to take a series of pictures, project your phone screen onto your computer using the Screen Projector application, use a smart calendar, and much more! In general, a lot of useful things. Of course, you urgently need to update and use the capabilities of your smartphone to the fullest! How to do it? Let's explain now. Nothing complicated, just follow the steps and everything will work out.
Of course, the first thing you'll need to know is whether you can pull off the upgrade trick. Here everything will depend on the brand of your phone: look on the Internet for information about whether your smartphone is included in the list of phones for which the G8 is suitable. If your phone is on the list, congratulations! So everything should work out.
The useful Windows Insider application will help you update; find it and download it to your phone. It's basically a Windows Insider program, so it helps you download updates. Launch the application, you will need the “Get Preview Builds” item. After that, select “Microsoft Account”, go to your account, where, in turn, you will need to select the “Insider Fast” button. If you don't have an account, then create one, it's really useful, you can do it on the Microsoft website. After downloading the updates, you must check how the process went: in the settings, go to the “Phone update” item, check for updates. Remember, we are only interested in the “eight”, because the “ten” is fraught with many bugs. And we don't need it. If you install it, then you will have to roll back to an earlier version, which has been verified by experience. So, carefully check the “Update is ready to download” window; it should not reflect Windows 10. If this is the case, select the “Not now” option, and then cancel the settings. If you see that Windows Phone 8.1 has loaded, then agree that this is what we need! After installation, reboot and enjoy the new features of Windows Phone.
How to find and open files on Windows Phone 8.1?
It's not difficult at all. You'll need to download the free Files app for Windows Phone 8.1 from the Store. This is a convenient file manager with which you can easily perform all operations with any documents that you save on your smartphone - move, copy, search, delete! You can operate with files of any format; it can be music, video, photographs, pictures or text files.
How to install games on Windows Phone 8.1? And how to do this using a computer?
The easiest way to install the game is directly from the Windows Phone Store, using the “Install” button. If you want to download the game from your computer, then there are some nuances here. The problem is that the Windows Phone operating system is closed. Therefore, to trick the system, you will need special Microsoft Windows Phone SDK software. This program is a set of tools for creating games, but it will also be useful for installing third-party applications on your phone.
Find the Microsoft Windows Phone SDK application on the Internet and install it on your computer, carefully following the instructions (we recommend choosing standard installations), and then reboot. The application is installed! However, that's not all.
Connect your smartphone to your computer using a USB cable and unlock it (during activation, the device screen must be unlocked).
How to unlock your phone?
From the Start menu, open all programs and find the newly installed Windows Phone Developer Registration application to register your phone. It is logical that you will need to register; to do this, launch the application and select “Register”. A Microsoft account login window will appear here. Remember your credentials and log in to your account. We have already written about the importance of creating your account. So, after you have logged in to your account, a window will open notifying you that your Windows Phone smartphone has been successfully unlocked. Congratulations! Now you can install files in XAP format, which is what we need. Begin.
So, we have games on our computer that are interesting for you. To install them on a smartphone, we perform standard steps: connect the phone to the computer using a cable. Let us remind you that you now have the useful Microsoft Windows Phone SDK application installed on your desktop computer, and we will work with it. Find the Windows Phone SDK 8.0 folder in the Start menu, All Programs, and select Application Deployment. Here our choice will stop at the Device item (we are talking about your phone). Here, in the window that opens, select the “XAP file” item, where we will be able to find the xap file we need in the folders located on the computer. After that, click on the “Expand” button, it is located at the bottom of the window. You will have to wait for some time; installation will not happen instantly. If everything went well and the game was installed, a message will eventually appear: “XAP file deployment complete.” Only now you can disconnect your smartphone from your desktop computer, find a game on your phone and launch it.
There is another method for installing games from a computer.
To do this you will need another program called Windows Phone Power Tools. Find it on the Internet and install it on your work computer. After that, as usual, connect the phone to the computer using a cable, making sure that the screen is unlocked. In the open program window, you need to click the Connect button, and then in the window labeled Browse, find the file you need. After you click on the game file, you need to click on the Install button and just wait a little. After installing the game, disconnect the cable, open the application on your smartphone, and start playing!
How to set a ringtone on Windows Phone 8.1
First of all, you can go the simplest way: a sea of music is available to you in the Store. If this is not enough for you, you can use your own sound files as a melody, as well as music that was sent to you via SMS. In the latter case, you will need to tap the melody file attachment, and then select the option to save the attachment as a ringtone. If you want to call the music something else, you can always rename it.
If you have the melodies you need on your work computer, you can also use them. To transfer your favorite melodies from your computer to your smartphone, you will need to connect your phone to the computer using a cable, open the melodies folder on your phone (Start Computer Portable Devices Phone Ringtones). Then simply find the sound file you want on your computer and transfer it to a folder on your phone. Or copy the music and then paste it into the desired folder (remember, the folder you are interested in is called “Ringtones”).
To use downloaded music for its intended purpose, find the “Settings” section on your phone, where select “Ringtones and sounds”, then “Ringtone”, where all available melodies are displayed. You can find the music that you transferred from your computer in the “Custom” section. Install and enjoy!
You can also select a variety of ringtones or sound files for various notifications; this can be done in the “Ringtones, sounds and volume” section.
Just in case, to ensure that the sound file is definitely available for use as a call, before copying the melody to your phone, open its properties, select “Details”, and write ringtones in the “Genre” tab.
By the way, think ten times about whether it’s worth installing the entire song, it’s too long, and besides, the intro to the song is usually not too bright. It’s better to take the most interesting segment, the one that you like most, most likely it will be the chorus. This will really be better, and the melody will be more suitable for use as a ringtone. You can cut this fragment without any problems using any online music cutting service; you can easily find it on the Internet by searching for “cut melody.”
