Windows Phone Marketplace Exceeds 25,000 Apps Milestone

Microsoft must be proud that its storefront for mobile devices running Windows Phone 7 has recently broken the 25,000 apps barrier.

Windows Phone Applist tracker now shows that users can search among 25,076 applications available for download via Zune software.

Furthermore, WP7applist explains that around 4,000 of the applications are now inactive, while 51% can be downloaded for free.

It appears that Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace growth rate has increased considerably since March 2011, when the application store reached the 12,000 milestone.

According to the latest numbers, Microsoft managed to add no less than 3,000 only in April, thus growing its database of applications to 15,000 by the end of the same month.

The 25,000 apps milestone is most impressive in light of the new approval policy that was introduced by Microsoft in early June.

Given the high number of complaints regarding the fact that the total number of apps in the store was inflated with too many titles from the same publishers that were similar, Microsoft felt the need to appease these complaints by limiting the number of apps that can be approved per day for the same developer.

“While these apps meet our certification requirements and give consumers a wider selection of content, we’re also finding that publishing them in bulk degrades our customers’ experience,” said Microsoft’s Todd Brix.

Although devs are allowed to submit as many apps they wish per day, they should be aware of the fact that Microsoft will only approve a maximum number of 20 apps per day from the same developer.

Even with the aforementioned limitations, it appears that around 80 apps are added on average each day within the Windows Phone Marketplace.

At this rate, it is expected that Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace will hit the 45,000 mark by the end of the year.