The app problem still exists on Windows 10 Mobile

Dec 27, 2015 16:35 GMT  ·  By

The lack of apps on Windows Phone has definitely been the biggest problem of the platform, and even though there are fans out there willing to ignore this issue, there's no doubt that it's one of the biggest setbacks especially when coming from Android or iOS.

Windows Phone's adoption has been significantly impacted by the somewhat reduced developer interest in the platform, and despite Microsoft's efforts to address it, big developers don't seem to be in a hurry to join the Windows bandwagon. Google, Snapchat, and Facebook are some of the companies that preferred to stay away from Windows Phone, but the social network changed its mind when Windows 10 Mobile was announced and started work on a universal app for the new platform.

So Windows 10 Mobile is here (more or less, because the new OS is currently available only on new Lumia phones while Windows Phone devices are still here), and Microsoft promises to address the lack of apps once and for all.

The company first tried to solve it just as BlackBerry did for OS 10: by adding support for Android apps. Microsoft aimed even further and planned to introduce support for iOS apps - or at least to offer iOS developers an easy way to port their apps to Windows 10.

In the meantime, both projects have been suspended, and there are now sources claiming that Microsoft might not even plan to introduce support for Android or iOS apps in Windows 10 Mobile anymore.

No Android apps, at least not now

And judging from some statements coming from none other than the company's CEO Satya Nadella, the company might indeed abandon this plan.

After former CEO Steve Ballmer questioned the company's new mobile approach and said that Android apps must arrive on Windows phones, Satya Nadella explained that universal apps, which are Microsoft's new bet in the app world, would eventually succeed. But he asked for more time because it can't happen overnight.

“This is new. We’ve had different efforts in the past but we now have one store and one app platform. Give us time to keep focused on it,” Nadella said in early December.

“We are seeing, for example, for the first time on the core of Windows desktop, with 100-plus million users, active engagement, the fact that they can find these Windows applications in the store, some of the developers like Netflix are seeing more engagement for the Netflix app vs. the web. So that’s an early indicator of data that I think will entice more of these developers to build more of these applications.”

Painful results: no Google Maps app on Windows 10
Painful results: no Google Maps app on Windows 10

More recently, the company bragged about universal app adoption, explaining that more developers started coding for Windows 10, including companies such as AccuWeather, Netflix, Pandora, Shazam, Twitter, and a few others.

And while some universal apps do arrive on Windows 10, it's way too early to call this a huge success. It's more of a step in the right direction, but there's one thing that both Microsoft and users must have in mind. Big developers, including the ones mentioned above, such as Google and Snapchat, not only that are not yet working on Windows 10 apps but are not even interested in doing it. At the same time, the companies that Microsoft has praised for building universal apps were already Windows Phone supporters, and their apps were in the store for older Lumia devices and Windows 8 PCs.

Windows 10 Mobile does come with a new concept of universal apps, which is a huge opportunity for developers who want to target a growing audience on multiple types of devices using the same code, but the lack of apps is far from being a solved problem.

Top smartphone apps in 2015 - most are not on Windows Phone/Windows 10 Mobile
Top smartphone apps in 2015 - most are not on Windows Phone/Windows 10 Mobile

The chart you see here shows the top smartphone apps of 2015, according to US research firm Nielsen.

Facebook is on the first spot, followed by YouTube, Facebook Messenger, and Google Search. Not only is Microsoft nowhere to be seen in the top 10 (Redmond has actually become one of the biggest developers for Android and iOS, and apps such as Outlook, for instance, are enjoying a really huge success on these platforms), but most of the apps here are not available on Windows Phone or Windows 10 Mobile.

Out of the top 10, five of them belong to Google - YouTube, Google Search, Google Play, Google Maps, Gmail - and are not available on Windows Phone (with the exception of Search, which has been around for a while but has rarely received updates). Facebook is only now landing on Windows while Apple is out of discussion for the moment.

For the moment, Windows 10 Mobile seems to have the same problem as Windows Phone, at least as far as apps are concerned and with or without universal apps. Big developers don't seem to be very keen on coding for Windows, others haven't even expressed their intention to consider a Windows app, and third-party alternatives (such as for Google's services) are impossible to develop until the parent company specifically allows it (which is unlikely to happen, especially in Google's case).

So despite the fact that many believe that Windows 10 could lose its identity by bringing Android apps on the platform, it might be the only way to save the platform. Steve Ballmer's right this time.

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Universal apps are Microsoft's big bet for Windows 10
Painful results: no Google Maps app on Windows 10Top smartphone apps in 2015 - most are not on Windows Phone/Windows 10 Mobile
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