Yet another app pulled from the Windows Store

Feb 3, 2017 22:43 GMT  ·  By

The number of developers leaving Windows in general, and Windows Phone in particular, is growing with every new day, and a new name is being added to this list.

The developer of Package Tracker, an app whose purpose you can easily guess by simply reading its name, is leaving Windows because of a reason that Windows Phone users are already familiar with: the dropping market share and Microsoft’s reduced interest in keeping its mobile platform relevant.

In an announcement today, the creator of the app blames Microsoft for not making Windows Phone successful, explaining that the small number of users doesn’t generate enough funds to cover costs with the servers. In other words, investing in a Windows app simply doesn’t make any sense, and this is exactly what almost every developer jumping ship says.

“I would like to inform you, that I say goodbye to the Windows app store and took the servers offline. I am really sorry for that, but the purchases in the Windows store could not cover the server costs in the past months. In my opinion Microsoft has no strategy to make the Windows phone platform attractive for the consumers although it's a really good platform in comparison to the competitors. Maybe I will join this platform again if Microsoft has a clear strategy for it's mobile platform...” the dev said.

Windows 10 on ARM not enough

The app has already been pulled from the Store and no longer works on devices where it’s already installed, so it’s safe to say that you can remove it from your PCs and phones.

The biggest question right now is “what does Microsoft plan to do about this?” In short, not much, although the company is investing in bringing full Windows 10 on ARM chips.

While this project indeed sounds exciting, the mobile platform doesn’t receive too much attention from the company, and the super-anticipated Surface Phone is still an uncertain project.

And it is this uncertainty that’s pushing developers and users alike away from the platform, so expect more of them to do the same thing in the near future.