14 DAY TRIAL // It’s not a secret that Windows Phone is still suffering from the lack of apps, and although Microsoft tries to tackle that with Windows 10 and a single unified store, it looks like the company still has a hard time finding the right programs to promote its mobile platform.
Living proof is the official Windows Phone page which, obviously, showcases not only some of the devices running the mobile OS but also the apps that a customer could find when buying such a handset.
And since finding the right apps to showcase Windows Phone is such a big issue, the company turned to Instagram to prove that its customers can do pretty much the same things as on the other mobile platforms.
The only problem is that this app issue on Windows Phone isn’t necessarily related to the number of items in the store, but rather to the frequency of updates on the platform. Instagram, for instance, the app that Microsoft is actually using to promote Windows Phone, hasn’t been updated in the latest 12 months.
On the official Instagram for Windows Phone page, the latest update is dated March 22, 2014, and needless to say, iOS and Android users have received a lot more improvements in the meantime, so Microsoft’s customers are getting far less love than their friends on rival platforms do.
One store, universal apps
Microsoft hopes to address the problem of apps once and for all, and with Windows 10, the company will introduce a single store available across all devices, which would basically make it easier for users to find the program they want.
And more importantly, Windows 10 will be entirely based on universal apps capable of running on both PCs and smartphones, so a similar experience would be provided across all devices not only thanks to the operating system itself but also because of the apps available for download.
The new unified store is already available in Windows 10 Technical Preview, but there’s no doubt that plenty of improvements will be introduced before the final version of the OS comes out in the fall of 2015.