14 DAY TRIAL // Things seem to be going from bad to worse for Windows phones, and with Microsoft remaining tight-lipped on its mobile vision, developers can hardly find a reason to stick with the platform.
Runtastic is the latest developer that decided to wave goodbye to Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile, announcing in a statement published on its official website that focusing on Android and iOS is what the company needs to do right now given the bigger number of users.
“Windows Phone counts unfortunately compared to Android and iOS less users. This means that the market is a relatively smaller one. Like any company, we make some of our decision based on where we see the greatest potential. And yet, we are one of the few companies that have developed apps for this platform,” Runtastic said.
“Of course, we also want to provide our Windows Phone users with the best possible products. We ask for your understanding that our priorities are based on the platform and the market, and we are no longer updating our apps for Windows Phone.”
Windows Phone’s declining share
Unfortunately for Microsoft and Windows Phone, this is entirely true, as Redmond’s mobile platform is continuously losing users with the company itself remaining tight-lipped on both short-term and long-term mobile plans.
At this point, Windows Phone is said to be at approximately 0.5 percent market share, while Android is dominating the mobile business with more than 80 percent (some researchers put it at 85 percent). iOS is the runner-up with some 15 to 18 percent share, while the other OSes, which include Windows Phone, BlackBerry, and a few other less-used operating systems, barely have a few percentage points.
As far as Windows Phone users are concerned, the departure of Runtastic is indeed likely to have an impact on those who relied on these apps to track their activity, but at the same time, there are several other similar apps in the Store doing the same thing.
One of the best is Microsoft’s very own Band app (previously called Health), which will obviously continue to be supported for many years from now. Fitbit is also one good choice, as the company has already promised to improve its app in the coming OS updates.