14 DAY TRIAL // It’s a well-known fact that a number of top developers have decided to ignore Windows Phone and bring their apps to Android and iOS, and despite Microsoft’s recent efforts to make its platform more appealing, this trend seems to continue.
reddit, who today has launched its official clients for Android and iOS, has absolutely no plan to release a Windows Phone version, which means that users of Microsoft’s platform have no other option than to stick with third-party clients.
That’s not at all a problem, given that Readit is already a pretty good app, but Windows Phone users are thus losing some features, such as the 3-month free reddit gold promo that the service is offering to those who install its official client.
A big “no”
Microsoft has worked a lot in the last 12 months to make Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile platforms more appealing to developers, but despite all of this, there still are some pretty big names who refuse to bring their apps to these operating systems.
In addition to Google, Snapchat and others, reddit doesn’t seem to be interested at all in coding for Windows Phone, and in an answer offered today, the company’s Vice President of Consumer Products Alex Le has clearly stated that there are absolutely no plans to create an official client for Microsoft’s mobile OS (via MSPU).
Without a doubt, the Android and iOS versions of the client will continue to receive updates and improvements, but this is how it usually goes when new applications offered by large companies are released to mobile devices. Android and iOS are the two platforms getting all the attention while Windows Phone is left behind in the majority of cases.
Windows Phone still going down
And although news that reddit isn’t looking at Windows Phone for an official client is clearly frustrating for the Windows community, this decision pretty much makes sense.
Windows Phone has been losing ground for many months now, and despite the launch of Windows 10 Mobile, the platform collapsed even in its top markets.
In Europe, Windows Phone has lost significant market share, and the arrival of Windows 10 Mobile seems to do more harm than good. Given the fact that Microsoft’s offering Windows 10 Mobile only to select devices, many users have decided to jump ship and move to Android. Stats show that Android has improved nearly in every single big market.
For the moment, it seems like 2016 is going to be a difficult year for Windows Phone, especially with Microsoft planning to focus less on the platform. 2017, on the other hand, is going to be critical for the platform, as Redmond is expected to launch the flagship Surface Phone supposed to breathe life in an operating system that has always been struggling to become relevant.